Upon the first syllable of
utterance by the world on Scripture, there should be an internal alarm going
off, “Incoming falsehood!” Ignorance has a way of muting the alarm setting. Let
me ask you another blind question. “Would you employ a blind man to lead you on a hiking adventure across America?
Yeah, this is part of a line of
questioning that results in duh answers in this series. I get it, but what I am
having a hard time understanding is why any believer would see any spiritual
value in asking the world about anything pertaining to spiritual truth in God’s
Word? I mean; the world is spiritually blind, for goodness sake (2 Cor 4:4)!
So, are you going to trust a bona fide spiritual blind man to safely guide you
into spiritual truth while he leads you across the biblical landscape from OT
coast to NT coast or vice versa?
I like John Owens simple definition
of illumination, “The process by which God’s Holy Spirit enables us to
understand His word and apply it to our lives.”
Illumination does not contradict
the Scripture by virtue of its Source. If it does, it is not illumination from
the Spirit. When I share my enlightened experiences in my writings, it takes on my thinking, personality, experiences, words, and style. It pains me to say this, but my writings
are not immune to mistakes or errors. I do my best to communicate the truth consistent with the teaching of Scripture, but we all have prejudices and blind spots. Things like this concerns me because I do not not want to mislead anyone on anything pertaining to the Word of God.
Readers should act like the
Bereans when Paul came into their town and expounded upon the Word; the people of Berea
searched the Scriptures to corroborate what Paul was speaking about was true to the Scriptures (Acts 17:11); I love their response! Would to God it should be the default setting
for all believers to “search the Scriptures,” rather than simply dismissing out of ignorance or laziness and later accusing someone of heresy! When someone teaches or proclaims
spiritual truth to us, unless we have prior knowledge, we should go Berean.
God used man to write His
inspired Word during inspiration, employing their thinking, experiences,
vocabulary, and style. It was nothing short of miraculous! The end product of
inspiration or breathed out by God is this; when the Word speaks, God speaks. This is what a Biblicist
acknowledges and declares that the Bible is the supreme authority in all matters of
faith and practice. The world, however, stands headstrong in the belief that the Bible is a work of man and fraught with errors.
So, when a believer agrees with the
world’s interpretation of the Bible, in part or whole, he or she is in reality
siding with an opposition that literally hates anything and everything related to God. The world
of the lost considers the message of the cross as foolishness or silliness (1
Cor 1:18a). Why would a believer side with these guys on certain truths of Scripture? Normally, if the lost agrees with the truths of Scripture, they have already twisted it out of context to their satisfaction. Sometimes, the world can make an observation that is right about Scripture. Recall that a broken clock is right at least twice a day.
I have known of an eminent Greek scholar who agreed that
the Greek New Testament taught that Jesus was God (much to the dismay of Jehovah Witnesses), even though he didn’t
believe it personally. You think the fallen angels (demons) believe Jesus is
God (Jas 2:19)? You betcha, but they are heading south for a permanent vacation in the lake of fire! There are
people (not demons) in this world who are “not far from” the truth but still lost and
without hope in the world (cf. Mk 12:34; Jn 8:24). All truth is God's truth, but merely knowing something to be true is not salvation. Let me paraphrase John 3:3, “Truly, truly I say unto you [singular], unless one is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
These verses on illumination from
Corinthians are very enlightening (no pun intended) in providing us the main
reason when believers are going into theological absurdity by taking the
world’s interpretation of Scripture. Ignorance and disobedience have taken hold
of God’s people who are agreeing with the world on certain spiritual matters.
Is theological absurdity becoming a movement? Could there be a Bonkers Baptist
Church in the future? I have shared with you some things about the ministry of the Holy Spirit, but now after all my yapping, we are reaching the very core of my
proposition.
Paul introduces us to two different
people: the psuchikos man (the natural, sensual, unregenerated man, 1
Cor 2:14) and the pneumatikos man (the
spiritual, the supernatural,
regenerated man, 1 Cor 2:15).
(1Cor 2:14) But the natural man (psuchikos de anthrōpos) does not receive the things of the
Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned [understood, emphasis mine].
(1Co 2:15) But he who is spiritual [pneumatikos] judges all things, yet he himself is
rightly judged by no one [emphasis mine].
Two reasons are given in v14 on
why the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God: (1) for
they are foolishness [absurdity] to him (cf. 1 Cor 1:18), (2) nor can he know,
because they are spiritually discerned [understood]. Please make a note of
this; the natural man lacks the capacity to spiritually understand the
truth of God, regardless of pedigree, status, or title!
How can we better understand the
identity of this natural man? By going to Jude 1:19 and looking at the same
Greek word (psuchikos), translated
“sensual” and “natural” in 1 Cor 2:14. There is a qualifying phrase in Jude
that is very revealing in identifying this natural or sensual man. He is the
same psuchikos man many believers (the
pneumatikos man) take advice from!
Read Jude,
(Jude
1:18) how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would
walk according to their own ungodly lusts.
(Jude
1:19) These are sensual (psuchikos) persons, who cause divisions,
not having the Spirit [emphasis
mine].
Did you see that? The sensual
(Jude 19) or natural (1 Cor 2:14) psuchikos man does not have the Holy Spirit living within him,
says Jude, “not having the Spirit!” Paul told the believers in Rome, “Now if anyone does not have
the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Rom 8:9b).
We are finally at ground zero when believers go into theological absurdity; they listen to the natural or
sensual man who does not have the Holy Spirit! The Bible is the thoughts of
God, right? The Holy Spirit knows the mind of God. If a man or woman does not
have the Holy Spirit living within their heart, they have not been born again
(Jn 3:3). Does darkness comprehend the light, no! They are spiritually blind (2
Cor 4:4). I know; I sound like a broken record, but this is an egregious spiritual error when light approaches darkness for light. Do you think that the Holy Spirit (involved with revelation, inspiration, and illumination) is grieved over such “in your face” nonsense? Believers who inexplicably shun the Holy Spirit for the doctrines of darkness for political expediency are unwise and heading for a troubled future. It's called the law of the harvest.
What is the greatest difference
between the saved and the lost anyway? The former has the Holy Spirit living in
his heart (Cf. Jn 14:17; Rom 5:5; 8:9, 11; 1 Cor 3:16; 6:19; Eph 2:22; 2 Tim
1:14; 1 Jn 3:24); the lost or natural man does not (Jude 1:19; cf. Rom 8:9). There
is only one race, the human race, but spiritually, they are disproportionately self-divided. The vast majority do not know Jesus (not having the Spirit) and a
small minority have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior (having the
Spirit).
Whenever a believer goes to the
world to understand the teaching of Scripture or embraces the interpretation of
Scripture from the psuchikos man
(lost), he or she is going into theological idiocy or stupidity. It is so
glaring that it is analogous to going to a critic of Bach who is deaf or going
to a critic of Michelangelo’s works who is blind (idea borrowed)! You may be thinking,
“I believe the Bible is the Word
of God; I don’t look to the world for spiritual answers or embrace the world’s
doctrines! I’m more spiritual than that!”
Perhaps you are not; many will compromise spiritual integrity out of political convenience? It's a heartbreaker. This is where intentional spiritual ignorance or sinning in knowledge comes into play. I wish this was not true, but I know a fair amount of people who claim to believe the
Word, but take the world’s position on “judge not.” It grieves my soul, and I am looked upon as “self-righteous! Their rebuttal is always the same refrain, “We are not to judge others! Only God knows the heart!” I disagree and agree with that position, but I will
refrain from commenting until Part 6 on this, but this is certainly an illustration of going into theological absurdity as a believer. It is always a slippery slope when we take a cafeteria-styled approach how to interpret the Scriptures: by the Spirit here, by the world's standards there, or anywhere by mine.
In 1 Cor 2:15 we see the pneumatikos man, “But he who is spiritual [pneumatikos] judges all things, yet he himself is rightly
judged by no one.”
Unbelievers can judge a believer’s faults and shortcomings
all day long but are incapable of making a spiritual evaluation because they
are spiritually blinded by unbelief (2 Cor 4:4), and not having the Spirit (Jude
1:19).
(1 Cor 2:16) For "WHO HAS KNOWN
THE MIND OF THE LORD THAT HE MAY INSTRUCT HIM?" But we have the mind of
Christ.
“Mind” (Gk, nous) is the same word translated “understanding” in 1 Cor 14:14-15;
Lk 24:25. It is through the Word and the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit that
we can know the deep things of God because we are pneumatikos men and women, meaning, we have the Holy Spirit and
have the mind of Christ. The verb “have” (1 Cor 2:16) is in the present tense,
meaning we have the mind of Christ continuously without end. The Holy Spirit
has opened our minds to a new worldview of knowing and doing the will of God
(Rom 12:2; Php 2:5). It is a Christ-mindedness of, “O My Father … not as I will
but as You will” (Mt 26:39). This kind of mindedness
can be very challenging because it is applicable in every situation. There is
no such thing as selective obedience in heaven, and it is unacceptable down
here (Mt 6:10).
The meism world is absolutely
baffled about why we would choose God’s will over our own! This was me before
regeneration, doing what Michael wanted to do. During those years of wandering in spiritual darkness, the will of God never gained entrance into my mind until I saw my need for salvation! This is the thought and behavior pattern of the lost
– ego mania.
The number one reason for going
into theological absurdity as a believer is in thinking that the natural man, who
does not have the Holy Spirit, has something to say about God or His Word. The
sensual man is blind to God’s truth due to unbelief (2 Cor 4:4). He is not a
victim of sin but a volunteer, and he or she cannot seek your highest good, to be like Christ because they do not know Him.
Why in the world would believers
go into theological absurdity? In a word, it is a sin. If you know the teaching of Scripture, any believer can recognize when another believer is taking the world’s position on something said in
the Bible. Obviously, we do not know the heart’s true motive, but the duck test is revealing: if it looks like a duck, if it walks like a duck, if it swims like a duck, if it quacks like a
duck, then it is probably a duck. No, this didn’t come from Duck Dynasty! It came
from Jesus, “You will know them by their fruits” (Mt 7:16a). <><
“He who is of God hears God's words;
therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God” (Jn 8:47).
THOT: When a believer embraces
the world’s interpretation of Scripture, it is always wrong.
Tender moment: God wants for you
to embrace His Word, His will, and His ways, not the world that is passing away.
%20MG%20t-bkgrd%2060x44%20png.png){kind=small}
%20sunflower%2045x63%20png.png){kind=small}
 |
| To Part 6 |
