Knowing truth is not enough…

One of the spiritual gifts in Romans 12 is teaching. It means having a great desire to gather information and pass it along to others. Those whose gift-mix has this at the top of their motivational strengths might be found in a class and a classroom, but the gift motivates libraries, many websites including Pinterest, newspaper columnists, books, home-keeping hints, and all schools and colleges.

God gave His people this inner desire for a reason. A few examples from the OT:

For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel. (Ezra 7:10)
On the second day the heads of fathers’ houses of all the people, with the priests and the Levites, came together to Ezra the scribe in order to study the words of the Law. (Nehemiah 8:13)
Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. (Psalm 111:2)
Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. (Ecclesiastes 12:9)

Spiritual education is vital. Without a hunger to know the will of God, I would be ignorant of how He works and how He enriches my life. Yet Bible study is not merely for gathering information. What I learn is useless unless I do what it says. Otherwise, stuffing my head with facts and data is a negative waste of time:

My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. (Ecclesiastes 12:12)

When Jesus taught in the temple, the religious leaders were amazed and said, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?” (John 7:15) This shows more about them than it does Jesus. He knew because He relied on His Father and obeyed Him. He told these leaders:

My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law... (John 7:16–19)

Paul later picked up on the same theme: knowing but not doing what you know makes learning a farce:

But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. (Romans 2:17–23)

The NT stresses that gathering information from God and about God is to transform my life, not make me into a gifted theologian who does not put to use what I know. The Lord says: “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)

That is why sound study includes application. It is not information gathering per se, but life changing. So when seeking to be educated about the Lord, I must understand the historical and cultural context, the literary context, make observations, and diligently apply it to my life. Otherwise, I may get the meaning but all it does is swell my head!

PRAY: Application is the hardest for information gatherers. I like to know reams of data, but often fail in the most important reason for knowing. Doing that would be like the person who collects the best way to clean out a refrigerator, but their own is absolutely filthy. I want to know the truths about You, but also be transformed by that knowledge into Your likeness. Enable me to zealously apply what You are revealing to me.

Knowing not just knowing about. . . .

A few weeks ago, a woman sat with us during church brunch and asked me how I knew Jesus was real, and how I knew whether He had returned or not. For me, it was like she asked how I knew if my children are real, or my friends, or even her. She claimed to have visions of what God  is doing and asked questions about spiritual warfare. The next week, I loaned her a book on that topic, but haven’t seen her since. Interesting.

The philosophical questions about reality abound. How do we know what we know, and so on.  While some might dismiss this as silly speculation, the Bible makes it an important, even a key part of our existence, and about the way we live now and, and determines our destination. The OT says this:

Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 9:23–24)

God desires that my main passion in life is knowing Him and knowing what He is like and what He does. In His NT prayer, Jesus said this:

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (John 17:3)

How do I  know that I know Him? It is by faith, a faith that affects me to the point that I must tell it to others, say it with my mouth. Not faking it, and not pretending in any way. It is a knowing that is difficult to explain for it is not like saying “I know my husband” or any other visible person. It is a knowing based on what the Word of God says:

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:8–13)

This hints at more than head knowledge. For example, I know who Donald Trump is, would recognize him if he walked by, hear all sorts of things about him, but I don’t ‘know’ him like I know Jesus. The Bible says that knowledge means I know His voice, have His mind and hear Him tell me what to do or not do. Knowing Him means intimacy. He gives me His love, peace, joy, and a desire to be like Him. And that is more evidence of the depth of this relationship:

And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. (1 John 2:3)

While many doubt, or scoff, or even deny such a thing is possible, a few could see how Jesus makes a difference: “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13)

PRAY: Jesus, today is one of those days where I feel totally unlike You, as if I’m more uneducated and common than bold. However, You are with me because You said so, not because I’m always aware or feel like it. Your word is far more reliable than my feelings. Because I know You and that You do what You say You will do, I walk into this day in confidence that knowing You is all that I need — and I can be all that You desire of me.

Faith measured by its object . . .

Faith means believing God exists and believing that He rewards those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). The disciples had no problem with the first part, but they did have trouble with the second. They had been approached by a man whose child was afflicted by a demon. They tried to cast the demon out of him, but could not.

Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:19–20)

In this instance, Jesus said that the reason their faith was not rewarded was because it was ‘little’ — and its deficiency showed up when they tried to move a mountain (a demon) and nothing happened.

This prompted me to search for other places where “little faith” is mentioned. The New Testament offers several instances where faith is insufficient. For instance, if I worry over what will I eat or wear (Matthew 6:30, Luke 12:28), or I am fearful in a dangerous situation (Matthew 8:26), or if going after Jesus becomes difficult and I give up (Matthew 14:31), or anytime I doubt God will take care of me (Matthew 16:8), then my faith is too small.

Yet faith is also believing in God even when He does not respond the way I want. For instance, I have prayed for years concerning the salvation of loved ones and it does not happen. Do I throw up my hands and stop trusting God to do His work in their hearts? Or do I realize that God’s will is perfect and He will do as He sees fit in their lives?

Faith in God is not about telling Him what to do and then believing He is going to do it. Faith means knowing He hears and that His answers to my prayers are always the right ‘reward’ — no matter what I think that answer should be. I have prayed for things that seemed such a great idea, but God said ‘no’ and I later realized that His ways are far better than mine. Had that ‘no’ been an ‘okay’ I would have suffered.

Faith is often blind to what God is doing, but faith keeps me holding His hand and willingly going with Him, even in darkness, fog, and confusion. Faith is not about events or situations but about the character of God and about my relationship with Him. I trust Him because I know who He is, not because I understand or even know what He is doing.

Faith also accepts that He does not always let me in on His plans or His secrets. Great faith shows up in being calm even in chaos, in being joyful even in sorrow. Faith also knows that His ways are higher than mine and as I rest my confidence in Him, He will do even more than I ever thought to ask Him.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20–21)

For me, little faith is revealed most when I am trusting myself instead of trusting God. Since great faith is about believing in a great God, then believing in me is certainly evidence of a very small faith!

Perfect Peace

Isaiah 25:1–26:21, Luke 9:1–27, Job 6:1–13

Today’s OT reading includes one of my favorite verses: “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” (Isaiah 26:3)

What does “perfect peace” look like? The Bible is filled with descriptions, so these selections from Luke, Job, and here in Isaiah offer only a glimpse. It is an internal peace, sometimes based on circumstances, sometimes not, but always grounded in the Lord Jesus Christ whom I trust with my death and my life. He is my peace.

“O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure.” (Isaiah 25:1) Perfect peace includes praise based on what God has done and that His plans are dependable.

“You have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat . . . .” (Isaiah 25:4) Perfect peace is being sheltered and cared for by Almighty God.

“On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.” (Isaiah 25:6) “And taking the five loaves and the two fish, (Jesus) looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd (5000 men plus women and children). And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.” (Luke 9:16–17) Perfect peace is knowing God is able to take care of my most basic needs.

“He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 25:8) Perfect peace is knowing I have eternal life and eventually God will make all things right.

“Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.” (Isaiah 26:4) Perfect peace is having an anchor for life that will never change and the ignorance of those who say He does not exist or is dead cannot change Him.

“O Lord, you will ordain peace for us, for you have indeed done for us all our works.” (Isaiah 26:12) “And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.” (Luke 9:1–2) Perfect peace is knowing that my life is in His hands, but not only that, I will do all that He wants me to do, for He gives me His power to make it happen and is with me to make it so.

“Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.” (Luke 9:20) Perfect peace is knowing without a doubt the divine identity of Jesus Christ.

 “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” (Luke 9:23–25) Perfect peace is answering the call of God to lose myself in Him, and knowing that when I do, my life has eternal significance and God will be glorified.

“Oh that I might have my request, and that God would fulfill my hope, that it would please God to crush me, that he would let loose his hand and cut me off! This would be my comfort; I would even exult in pain unsparing, for I have not denied the words of the Holy One. What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is my end, that I should be patient? Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze? Have I any help in me, when resource is driven from me?” (Job 6:8–13) Perfect peace is knowing God is in charge when all of my resources are gone and I have no strength. I might not feel too happy about it, but perfect peace goes beyond being happy. It is that inner sense that the Lord knows what He is doing, even if it hurts.

For all of that, I can say with Isaiah, “My soul yearns for you in the night; my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.” (Isaiah 26:9) Perfect peace is trusting God completely.

Knowledge and faith

When asked about my spiritual gifts, I say that I am mainly an information collector. There is danger in knowledge for the Bible says, “knowledge puffs up” meaning something like “don’t become an educated fat head” but I cannot help my curiosity. If I look up a word in the dictionary, I’m apt to read the entire page.

Knowing new things does mean that they have to be weighed in the light of the old. That is, how does this information fit into my life now, or does it fit? If not, what needs to change? Do I toss the information out, or is it making a demand that I rethink everything else and change my old thoughts and ways?

New knowledge does not always bring liberty or power. Sometimes it produces inner conflict. For example, when Eve ate the forbidden fruit from tree of the knowledge of good and evil, her eyes were opened and she was illuminated. However, that new light did not bring peace or gladness, only struggle and sin. 

When I became a Christian, that new light also brought a struggle, but it was of a different kind. Eve did the wrong thing and her innocent and tender conscience fought the intruder. I did a right thing and my guilt and defiled conscience also fought the intruder. Sin does not want the knowledge of God; the knowledge of God does not want to sin.

Sometimes new Christians have friends who become hostile to their new life. Their knowledge of Christ and way of life offends others, so they are shunned and find themselves seeking out new relationships. Their old friends may even persecute them.

But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. (Hebrews 10:32–34)

In my delight to know Jesus, I didn’t fully notice the conflict and the changes. After many relocations, I was used to change. After a recent divorce, I was used to conflict. However, as I look back, I can see how new information and a new life affected me, and I remember how I struggled with it.

New knowledge still affects me. I’ve never stopped being an information collector and am currently studying for a master’s degree in theology. The more I know the more I want to know, yet in the case of God, the more I know about Him, the more I realize how much I don’t know. He is transcendent, beyond me. As one of my online professors says, eventually a student of theology gets to a place where they must say, “I don’t know” for our understanding has a ceiling. God is knowable, yet beyond human capacity to understand fully. 

At that, there is a choice. I can struggle with the uncertainty of not knowing everything, of wanting this “you cannot know” information to be resolved and fit with my desires to grow in knowledge. Or I can accept this as reality and live in the tension between knowing God as my intimate “Abba, Father” without fully knowing everything that He is and does.

The former choice may be that of idol makers who really don’t want God, but instead fashion a god that they can know and control. The latter choice is that made by faith. I know enough about God that I cannot control or fully understand Him, but also that He has given me enough information to trust Him.

How is this practical? A friend and I discussed a wayward child whose parents pray for that child. She is abandoning her faith because it does not fit with her I-wants. We know God is aware of this and that He loves this child. We also know He is powerful and by His Spirit can “bring her to her senses.” What we don’t know is why He hasn’t made a move in her life. If we insist, we could press the issue and try to make her choose differently, but would that interfere with the plan of God? What will her struggle between knowing God and having her own way do in her heart? Does God know things about her that we don’t?

Faith is based on knowledge. Yet it is not about what we can see or figure out, but about our knowledge of God. What does faith say? It says things like, “For God so loved the world . . . .” and “He works everything for good to those who love Him . . . .” and a host of other descriptions and promises. All our information says that God not only knows what He is doing, but He will “finish what He started” in this child’s life.

But that faith does not nor cannot make God do what we want. It cannot fill out our knowledge to our total satisfaction. Instead, faith simply trusts that God is God. He will do whatever is right according to His will, and we need to live in the tension between that knowledge and not knowing.

Helpless without the Holy Spirit

Children do not know how to budget, drive a car or get and keep a job. Such knowledge and skill may come later, but at three or four years old, money, transportation and employment are not even in a child’s frame of reference. Children need time and experience before they know the realities of adult life.
 

In the spiritual realm, those who do not have the Spirit of God are unable to know certain realities either. This is not about experience or education but the need of an addition to their lives. As Scripture says, the truths of God are hidden to the human mind. Time and experience will not reveal them; only the Spirit of God can do that. 

Paul wrote to the church at Corinth about this reality. He first shared that he could not even tell them the truths God had revealed to him unless God helped him do it.

And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.

Then he went on even farther, saying that no one even understands this revelation of hidden wisdom without the Spirit of God being involved.

None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

Paul continues. He says that those who know Jesus have been given the Spirit of God. This is how a Christian “knows” the truths of God. This is not about intelligence or study or anything we can do apart from His work in our lives.

Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:3–14)

As he says, we are like children, helpless and ignorant of spiritual truth apart from the Spirit who reveals it. Besides revealing truth, He also interprets it for us, and makes it part of our understanding. This affects how we live and talk because as truth becomes obvious, it is also believed. This is why faith is vital to being a Christian.

One of those revealed truths involves the grand plan of God for the salvation of the world. When He makes this clear and plain to a receptive and believing heart, then that person has the ability to see what he formerly rejected and even tell others what he once did not understand or believe.

And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. (1 John 4:14)

John wrote this to Christians. We can see, understand, and give verbal witness to the reality of God the Father sending God the Son to save the world from sin. This is a reality revealed by the Holy Spirit. Without this revelation, we would remain like children who have no idea what it means to be an adult, or like the blind who cannot describe color. Without the Spirit, we cannot see Jesus, never mind testify that He is the Savior, the One who has delivered us from sin.

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Lord, there are days when my helplessness to explain who You are and what You have done becomes an overwhelming sorrow. I know that I cannot convince anyone to believe in You. I cannot even convince them of who You are or why You came. Yet knowing You are able to do these things brings renewed hope. As I pray today for my unsaved family members and for unbelieving friends, may Your Spirit go to work in their life, hearts and minds, showing them who Jesus is and granting them faith to believe.

People of the Kingdom

Last night I finished reading John Piper’s book, Finally Alive, for the second time. In it, he shows from Scripture why we must be born again, how it happens, what it looks like, and more about what it means to have eternal life as a gift from God through faith in Jesus Christ. 
 

One major point is that a person who has the life of Christ is different from those who do not. The one who is truly born again cannot help but behave in ways that show his or her life is changed. Today’s reading includes a description of those changes. This passage is Jesus telling His disciples about the kingdom of heaven.

For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (Matthew 25:14–30)

Jesus used illustrations from ordinary life to illustrate extraordinary life. In this case, the illustration is about cash (called talents), but those who see themselves with no money or special talents can still identify with this story because God’s gift is far more than mere money; it is His very life. Those who are reborn have the life of Jesus Christ in them and will use what they have been given, wisely investing that new life in ways that bring an increase.

However, at the crux of the story is the importance of understanding of the true nature of the Master. Here, the servant who didn’t produce sees his master as a harsh person making impossible demands. He blames him for his own lack of obedience.

Applying this as Piper does in his book, the person who has the life of Christ knows what Christ is like. There is no mistake about the nature of our God when we are infused with His life and reborn into His family. However, those who do not know Him in this way may claim to be His servants, but in reality they have no idea of the goodness and mercy of God. Instead, they think God demands certain good deeds and will never be pleased with anything less.

The Gospel is not about earning the favor of God. It is about God bestowing His grace and life on us. When this happens, we believe in Him and are made new. He gives us His life and with that comes all the resources of the Lord and a changed attitude toward God. We know Him and want to live out the life He has put in us, not hide it or blame Him for making more demands than we can possible muster.

The “servant” wannabe cannot please God, even if he tries. Sin spoils all our efforts for without Christ, sin permeates our deeds, words, motivations, even our idea of who God is and what He wants. Without new life, there is no return on our deeds, no faithfulness, no rewards from God, no joy to enter. Those who are not reborn cannot see or enter the kingdom of God and wind up in outer darkness.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God. (John 3:16–21)

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Lord, the gospel is the most amazing reality possible. You, in mercy and grace make it possible for sinners to have new life. Not only that, we can serve You in faithfulness because of that life that comes from You. Then You turn around and reward us for doing it, doing what we never could have done without You. This morning I can only shake my head in amazement at the wonder of Your great love for sinners such as I — and then determine that I will be faithful with today’s opportunities to serve You.