“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” — 2 Timothy 2:15 NASB
When I started writing devotionals and people started reading them and learning things, I made a particular promise to God. I had a vague understanding of the responsibility I was taking upon myself, and I’ve understood that responsibility a bit better over the last couple years since I’ve started this ministry. The way I preach and teach the scriptures to people can greatly affect their understanding of God and their relationship with Him. My teachings can help determine whether or not a man has a right relationship with God, or he’s trusting in his own works and good deeds. Is he going to humbly submit his will and sin to God, or is he going to work and work and work to do good and even Godly things in an effort to overcome sin?
The promise I made to God is that “I will never preach my conscience. I will always preach scripture as it is written.” I work to leave out my own ideas, my own preferences, and just preach Christ.
There are two things that I’ve seen people do that are inaccurate ways of handling the scriptures, wrong ways to divide the word of truth (as the KJV puts it).
- We take one passage or a smattering of passages and preach our truth while ignoring other correlation and relevant passages.
I came across someone recently who preached with passion that “we should resist sin and the devil, we need to keep the ten commandments given in the Old Testament, we need to do everything we can to live free from sin and sin habits.” Not exact quotes, but he used scripture after scripture to preach living rightly and sinless before God. Was he wrong? No, but yes. The way he was using those scriptures put all the pressure of avoiding a life of sin on me and you. The battle against sin and the devil is not one that you can win. You give the battle to God.
“Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” — James 4:7 NASB
I’ve written on this before, people ignore the first part of that verse. This man I knew was preaching “resist the devil”, but ignoring “submit … to God”.
“This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?” — Galatians 3:2-5 NASB
Your good works do not make you holy, your obedience to a bunch of rules does not make you holy and right with God. It just makes you strict with yourself and very self-disciplined. Submit to God, let God defeat the sin, and then you’ll find victory over it.
The way this young man used these verses to preach keeping the Old Testament laws shows a lack of understanding why they were put in place to begin with. God put forth the old Testament Law to show us our need for Christ.
“But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” — Galatians 3:23-27 NASB
“and (I) may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” — Philippians 3:9-11 NASB
Get away from what I’ve dubbed the “Christian’s Rule Book” and just love and follow God. When you truly love God and let God live thru you, you’ll end up living by many of the “rules and regulations” that legalists put forward. But it’ll be thru God’s strength and grace, not in your own power. No, we didn’t love sin, we don’t live in sin. But if your focus is on fighting and avoiding the sin, that sin still has control and power over you. Focus on God and living for Him, God will remove the sin. God will fill you with Himself so that there is no room left for the sin.
- We add in our own conscience on minor issues and preach it with the same passion and authority as scripture.
I’ve heard of and seen other men preach proudly and sternly from the pulpit add things into scripture that are not there. They preach their conscience. A simple example of this is in Deuteronomy.
“A woman shall not wear man’s clothing, nor shall a man put on a woman’s clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD your God.” — Deuteronomy 22:5 NASB
There are men who pound the pulpit and shout “women should never wear pants”. Um, I’m sorry, that’s not in there. Moses’ never knew what a pair of pants was in his day and age, but even in Moses’ day, there was men’s clothes and women’s clothes. Today, there are styles of pants that are designed for women. Many styles, I find, are very modest and good for women of today. You may not think they’re modest, we’re told in the New Testament that men and women both are to dress modestly, but what does that look like? That’s between you and God. You may be a woman who can’t find pants that look modest on you. That’s acceptable, that’s your conscience. Romans 14 tells us not to sin against our own conscience, so if you don’t think pants on women are modest, then don’t wear pants. If you’re a man who finds it very tempting to stare at a woman in pants, take that before God and ask Him to help guard your eyes and heart. He will. God is always willing to help you.
But understand the difference between applications of biblical principles and obedience to Bible facts. The fact given in Deuteronomy 22:5 is that men are not to wear women’s clothes, and women are not to wear men’s clothes. That’s the truth, that’s the facts. That’s all it says. What exactly that looks like is left up to your society. I will never wear a skirt. In America, that’s women’s clothing. But if I ever go to Scotland, you might find me wearing a kilt. That’s men’s clothing over there, tho it looks similar to an American women’s skirt.
Don’t add your conscience to scripture. Don’t preach and teach your conscience. The styles of gospel music in your house are likely different from the gospel music in your neighbor’s house. Are they less Godly because they have a different style of music? No. Are people less Godly because their style of modest dress is different from yours? No. Are people less Godly because they watch different movies than you do? No. Is a man less Godly because his hair is not as short as yours? No. Those are conscience practices. Those are minor issues. Understand the difference between the major doctrinal issues and the minor conscience issues.
So, the question that I need to keep going back to, and it’s the same for any pastor, preacher, or teacher. “Am I handling the scriptures well and accurately? Am I doing it the right way? Am I teaching Bible truth, or my own ideas?”
We need to understand the differences between, on one side, issues of the conscience or Bible principles, and on the other side, Bible facts. Teaching the whole scripture the way it’s meant to be taught. Not adding in our own ideas, and not misunderstanding God’s ideas. It’s easier said than done, but it’s worth it when it is done.
0 Comments