In Scripture truth is both said to necessarily dwell in us in Jesus, and we in the truth (as found in Scripture and in Jesus). Truth must become nothing less than a part of us.
Head knowledge can be both underrated and overrated. It's important that we keep working at loving God with all our minds, along with all the rest of us. But head knowledge alone is not enough. We must work the truth of God in Jesus into our lives. We must seek to live out the truth as it is in Jesus. Both individually in our private and public lives, and together with other people in Jesus in this world.
Christians are notorious for professing truth yet not living it out well. Hypocrisy is the word here. This is why we're to keep working at getting rid of all deceit in our lives. The truth of God in Jesus we find throughout Scripture can help expose us so that we can deal with the lies in our life. If my heart is moved in a certain direction away from God's will then I must repent and believe in God's deliverance for me in Jesus. It's important to see not only the truth exposing us, but the grace of God in Jesus bringing forgiveness, cleansing and new life. Grace and truth together in Jesus is what can change us. Only by grace can truth become a part of us.
Of course this is ongoing. We don't arrive in this life, and we do need both private and corporate confession of our sins.
Sometimes I grow weary of what I know is wrong inside of me. I know that my heart or my life is not measuring up with the truth revealed in Scripture. Sometimes I can feel as hopeless as humankind in Adam, rhetorically depicted in Romans 7. But I must not give in to that. We're not in Adam, but in Christ. It's a matter of life and nothing directly to do with how we're feeling or not feeling. And it's available to us through God's grace for us in Jesus. And it takes time; this is ongoing.
What might you like to add to my meandering thoughts on this, here?
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9 comments:
yes, it is a matter of life, brother. i thank God for His Grace upon us through Jesus the Christ, for none of can ever measure up. so, we take the gift of Grace and we are thankful to our God our Father that He loves us so very much to cover us with the blood of His Son and to give us the Holy Spirit to live in us with our spirit. a pretty sweet deal, if you ask me.
i would like to do more study on what the Holy Spirit does for us.
Amen.
"Sometimes I can feel as hopeless as humankind in Adam, rhetorically depicted in Romans 7. But I must not give in to that. We're not in Adam, but in Christ."
The hopelessness you speak of is exactly where the enemy of the soul would like us to reside.
We need to constantly break loose from what could be a suffocating oppression. We must remind ourselves that we are indeed free!
Just thinking.
"Head knowledge can be both underrated and overrated" - Amen to that! We want to swing the pendulum on that one way or the other!
Truth is knowing Christ and his commands and ALSO yielding to His Spirit working that truth out in very tangible ways. We can't have one or the other. We need both.
This is definitely "ongoing" - but this is the wonder of the eschatological community in which we yield ourselves.
I had this Bible study teacher some 25 years ago that said she needed to understand scripture well enough that it made a difference in her life when she scrubbed the toilet on Monday morning - it's always struck with me as very sage advice. So - for me - it's the working out of scripture that does its working into me.
Nancy,
Amen to that, a sweet deal indeed!
This book would be one you'd appreciate that would give you good solid Biblical teaching on the Holy Spirit, one I'd highly recommend. By Gordon Fee, one of the very best evangelical New Testament scholars, who just happens in faith and practice, to be Pentecostal to some extent (I knew you'd be interested in that). An excellent, solid study which any Bible believer would appreciate. Clearly written, he communicates well (and true in his teaching and from the pulpit- from what I've heard).
Lanny,
Yes, we're free, though we still do sin. So we easily fall into some sort of bondage momentarily. But we need not remain in that, unless I'm reading Scripture wrongly. Though our complete freedom awaits the resurrection of our bodies when the new creation in Jesus is made complete.
Bob,
Great to hear from you!
Amen to that- about the pendulum.
Good points too, about following Christ by the Spirit in the eschatological community. All are important in this quest for truth to become a part of us. Thanks.
Susan,
I really like that lady's advice. Working out God's word so it is at work in us. I think that's good, because God sees that we've set ourselves to work out his living word to us. And so he is at work to deeply plant that word in our lives to change us from the inside out. So I guess it works both ways, but when we hear the word we must act on it- intrinsic in the Hebrew word for "hear" as I recall.
And we can be assured that God will bring the fruit as with a noble and good heart, we "hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop." (Luke 8:15) I also like the down to earth illustration she used: scrubbing a toilet. Who likes that? But God's word if it makes a difference at all, should make a difference in all of life, in everything. But we have to keep working at it, for sure.
Good for me to think through.
thanks for the book recomendation, brother.
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