2017-06-09
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week, I wrote about the impact of God’s mystery-Christ in the believer-on both the church and on believing individuals. This week, I’m led to recall the apostle, Paul’s, concern about the competition of false teaching with the true word of God. Paul didn’t come up with this concern by himself. Jesus also had it, as seen in MK 16: 15-16 spoken just before His ascension to heaven. “He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the Good News to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.’” The importance of accuracy to the truth is seen in Paul’s words, in 2 TIM 1: 13-14, “What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the Treasure entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit Who lives in us.” Jesus and Paul are not alone in this concern. John weighs in at the very end of the book of Revelation. REV 22: 19, “And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy City, which are described in this book.” No discussion of this kind would be complete without citing HE 4: 12-13, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to Whom we must give account.”
In the way of a reminder, the false beliefs of Gnosticism, the main competition to the truth of teachings of Christ in Paul’s time, are listed: ceremonialism-strict rules for consumption of food and drink, religious festivals, and circumcision; Asceticism-a long list of do nots; angel worship; deprecation of Christ; secret knowledge-wisdom only given to a few; reliance on human wisdom and traditions. We all know that other forms of false teaching are still prevalent even today.
It’s not hard to understand that false teaching has its origins in sinfulness. In MT 16: 11, Jesus utters to His disciples, “How is it you don’t understand bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” We must understand that yeast is symbolic of sin here. Not long after this conversation, Peter hears the Lord say, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this Rock [a reference to Christ] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” [MT 16: 18]. (The Greek word petros means Peter or rock). We know that later an agreement was reached between Peter and Paul in Jerusalem that Peter would minister to the Jews there and Paul would travel, taking the Gospel message to the Gentiles). Now look at 1 Peter 2: 4-8, which describes the Lord Jesus as “the Living Stone-rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to Him.” Moreover, He is said to be “A Stone that causes men to stumble and a Rock that makes them fall. They stumble, because they disobey the Message-for which they were destined.” Jesus is not only the Living Stone, but He is the Cornerstone, as described in EPH 2: 19-22. This metaphor is a great way to describe the church’s relationship to the individual believer and what is truly meant by the “bride of Christ” [see REV 19: 5-10]. Take some time this week to examine your own relationships with Christ and with others in the church. Don’t forget to consider not only how you can serve Christ in the church, but also how you can obey the Great Commandment of MT 28: 19-20, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
PRAYER: O Lord, we acknowledge the importance of truth as You define it, and we are grateful for Your patience with us, as we go through the processes of learning it and making it our habit to “keep to the pattern of sound teaching in faith and love” for You. Often it is difficult for us to avoid the temptation to lie to ourselves or others, for that is what comes natural to us in complex situations. But avoid this temptation we must! We are cognizant that our very place in heaven for eternity is at stake, which is sufficient motivation to go against our natural desires by taking the easy way out [COL 3: 9-10]. You have promised us that You will never put is in a situation so difficult that our resolve to remain faithful is overcome [1 COR 10: 13]. You have promised never to abandon us, and we believe You are keeping that and all other promises You have made to us. We are all too often weak, and we confess our weaknesses to You, which shows Your strength [2 COR 12: 7-9]. With our bodies in an attitude of prayer and our expression of reverence and awe, we ask for Your presence and intervention to help us overcome our sinful nature. We ask this for our thoughts, decisions, relationships, and everyday life. Only a loving and generous God like You can grant these requests. We offer You praise and thanks for all the blessings You give us. In the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: We need to look into the way the church evolved from its inception in Christ’s time to the present. That will be the subject of next week’s devotion. I remember a time in my distant past when I would read a story about a character I liked and then, at such a tender age would pretend with others that I had that character’s traits. Adults around me knew I was making up such a heroic story and maybe even recognized the book I had read. Both my parents worked outside our home, so these adults were either babysitters or friends that drove me to places I needed to be. When I look back into these experiences with the maturity of an adult, I see them as childish attempts to cover up lack of self- esteem. This led to a lot of unhappy and foolish decisions I made during my teen-age and young adult years, decisions that caused me and others around me a lot of pain. I can be introspective about this dysfunctional time in my life, because I can clearly see what a difference having Jesus Christ in my life has made. It is He and serving Him that has wiped away that old painful, foolish behavior, and unhappiness in my life. I can take no credit for this sharp contrast [PS 115: 1]. Why write about this? I do so in the hope that someone reading it will have the same thing happen to him. And to think, all one has to do is to confess his sins to the Lord and profess genuine faith in Him! Praise and thanks be to our Lord Jesus!race Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2017. All rights reserved.
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