I Believe the Bible's Twofold Message
Centuries ago, a gathering of the world’s top experts on Scripture summarized all the teachings of the Bible under two headings. Here is their finding:
Centuries ago, a gathering of the world’s top experts on Scripture summarized all the teachings of the Bible under two headings. Here is their finding:
Question: What do the Scriptures principally teach?
Answer: The Scriptures principally teach:
- What man is to believe concerning God, and:
- What duty God requires of man.
· What We Are to Believe About God
I covered some basic Biblical truths about God in the first article of this series, I Believe in God. In that place I said that God is the personal/infinite Creator of all things.
I also pointed out that Bible teaches that His character is holy and just. Further, He is worthy of our worship.
· Why People Deny Him Due Respect
Some people are atheists. Others follow false gods. Still others live as though He is irrelevant. In the second article, I Believe God is There, I pointed out that the human race from nearly the beginning has estranged itself from God.
I said that within each of us there lies an inborn impulse to live independent of God. The Bible puts it this way:
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way . . . . (Isaiah 53:6)
Specialists in what the Bible teaches about God call this inborn impulse Original Sin. Original Sin’s impulse toward autonomy (another term for independence from God), leads us to break His Laws.
· God’s Law: What He Requires
The Law of God does not consist of a spur-of-the-moment list of arbitrary rules. That is, His Law in no way arises out of some supposed whim.
God’s Law originates from His character – His ways (i.e., the way He is and thinks and acts). Consider these passages:
Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in His ways, and to fear Him. (Deuteronomy 8:6)
And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, (Deuteronomy 10:12)
For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to cleave unto Him; (Deuteronomy 11:22)
We make two observations from these Scripture portions. 1) The close association between God’s ways and His Law. 2) That to love and follow God’s Law is to love and embrace His character. It is a strange and sad commentary that many who call themselves Christians recoil in horror from God’s Law. If they do this, can they truly love Him?
This simply shows how deeply our inner impulse away from God runs.
· Heaven and Hell
There are churches that teach that all will go to Heaven and live happily in God’s presence forever. These churches do not understand the heavy consequences of humanity’s impulse to autonomy.
Sadly, left to themselves, people would not want to be in God’s presence for even a moment. Such a prospect would inflict untold suffering because they are so averse to following His ways and embracing His Character.
And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. (Rev. 6:15-16)God’s Grace in Christ Jesus
Scripture tells us that the second person of the Trinity, God the Son, came in the likeness of human flesh, performed great signs and wonders, lived in full conformity to God’s Law and character, and died to fulfill divine justice, restore us to God and repair our inward rebellion.
His grace does not passively invite you to believe this. It is one of the duties He requires of you. Scripture says that He “commandeth all men every where to repent [i.e. change their minds] (Acts 17:30)
In fact, many who have given full faith and allegiance to Christ will testify that His Spirit positively pursued them until they yielded to Him. If He pursues you today, the sooner you yield, the sooner you will know His peace.
The Hound of Heaven
I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;I fled Him, down the arches of the years;I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways Of my own mind; and in the mist of tearsI hid from Him, and under running laughter. Up vistaed hopes I sped; And shot, precipitated,Adown Titanic glooms of chasmèd fears,From those strong Feet that followed, followed after. But with unhurrying chase, And unperturbéd pace, Deliberate speed, majestic instancy, They beat—and a Voice beat More instant than the Feet— “All things betray thee, who betrayest Me.”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“All which I took from thee I did but take, Not for thy harms,But just that thou might’st seek it in My arms. All which thy child’s mistakeFancies as lost, I have stored for thee at home: Rise, clasp My hand, and come!” Halts by me that footfall: Is my gloom, after all,Shade of His hand, outstretched caressingly? “Ah, fondest, blindest, weakest, I am He Whom thou seekest!Thou dravest love from thee, who dravest Me.”Francis Thompson (1859-1907)
