For the word of God is alive 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. (Hebrews 4:12-13)
Alive. Living. There are some people who say that the Constitution of the United States of America is a living document. By that, they mean that they believe the Founders intended it to be adapted (not adopted) by future generations. This is often taken to mean that the Constitution can mean whatever we want it to, and can be used to do whatever we want it to. They forget the fact that it is a legal document with a clearly stated set of procedures by which it can be changed.
The word of God is described as alive and active, meaning that is can be described as living. To some extent, we all tend to try to justify ourselves with regard to it, trying to change its meaning to suit our needs, or to excuse ourselves from its application for one reason or another. Proponents of the so-called “Higher Criticism,” however proclaim Scripture to be a dead document that never wall truly alive or valid, while Progressives claim it to be alive in the sense that they can take it to mean whatever they want.
I finished reading a book whose premise I thoroughly believed to be wrong when I started reading it. I actually hoped it would prove me wrong, to prove that Scripture does not say what I believe it clearly says. Unfortunately, two of the main arguments used were the idea that the word of God is nothing more than a collection of documents written by men. We don’t even know who the men were, but they were completely culturally bound so nothing said on the subject can be said to apply today. And, what the Bible says isn’t really what it says. You’d think people would realize that the argument of “Did God really say…? No, He didn’t really say…but if you…you will be like God…” is bound to set off alarms. Sadly, people still bite.
So, I must say, “Yes, the word of God is living and active,” but that doesn’t mean that you or I get to be God over it. There are rules for correctly handling the Word.
1) We err greatly in our interpretation
and application of God’s Word when we subordinate the revelation of God’s truth
to our own reason. Alive. Living. There are some people who say that the Constitution of the United States of America is a living document. By that, they mean that they believe the Founders intended it to be adapted (not adopted) by future generations. This is often taken to mean that the Constitution can mean whatever we want it to, and can be used to do whatever we want it to. They forget the fact that it is a legal document with a clearly stated set of procedures by which it can be changed.
The word of God is described as alive and active, meaning that is can be described as living. To some extent, we all tend to try to justify ourselves with regard to it, trying to change its meaning to suit our needs, or to excuse ourselves from its application for one reason or another. Proponents of the so-called “Higher Criticism,” however proclaim Scripture to be a dead document that never wall truly alive or valid, while Progressives claim it to be alive in the sense that they can take it to mean whatever they want.
I finished reading a book whose premise I thoroughly believed to be wrong when I started reading it. I actually hoped it would prove me wrong, to prove that Scripture does not say what I believe it clearly says. Unfortunately, two of the main arguments used were the idea that the word of God is nothing more than a collection of documents written by men. We don’t even know who the men were, but they were completely culturally bound so nothing said on the subject can be said to apply today. And, what the Bible says isn’t really what it says. You’d think people would realize that the argument of “Did God really say…? No, He didn’t really say…but if you…you will be like God…” is bound to set off alarms. Sadly, people still bite.
So, I must say, “Yes, the word of God is living and active,” but that doesn’t mean that you or I get to be God over it. There are rules for correctly handling the Word.
(2) We are on very dangerous ground when we seek to “integrate” God’s truth, as revealed in Scripture, with “man’s truth,” as currently understood and taught from outside the Scriptures.
(3) We twist the Scriptures when we “strain gnats and swallow camels.”
(4) We twist the Scriptures when we take them farther than they were intended to be interpreted or applied.
(5) We twist the Scriptures when we accommodate our own culture in the interpretation and application of God’s Word.
(6) We twist the Scriptures when we isolate the teaching of one part of the Bible from the teaching of the rest of the Bible.
(7) We twist the Scriptures when we fail to hold seemingly contradictory truths in tension.
(8) We twist the Scriptures by privately interpreting them (2 Peter 1:20-21).
(9) We twist the Scriptures by the misappropriation of truth.
(10) We twist the Scriptures when we selectively deny biblical teachings or commands. (https://bible.org/seriespage/scripture-twisters-2-peter-314-18)
No, the Word of God is alive and active. It’s sharper than a two-edged sword, which means that it cuts us – judging our thoughts and attitudes of our hearts (wills). It not only sets the standards; it is the standard. We are not swords. If we duel with it, we’ll end up ribbons.
This is excellent! It is deep, and needs to be read over several times. It is meat that needs to be chewed rather than milk which is quickly swallowed.
ReplyDeleteOne of the goals of all of my blogs is to "make you think" and one of the things most likely to result in an explosion from me is a refusal to think. So thank you!
DeleteWe live in a sound bite society. Whether it is advertisements, Twitter tweets or Facebook memes, we try to communicate in short bursts of words and pictures designed to appeal to emotions and hammer a point home. But that kind of communication lacks context, balance and nuance. Unfortunately we sometimes treat the Bible as a whole bunch of sound bites. We often quote verses out of context, and carefully choose the version that says it "just right". We put ourselves over the scriptures instead of under them. The Bible needs to be read carefully and prayerfully, and then we need to believe the truth and submit to its demands on our lives.
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