Chapter 6 – A Change for the Better
What does it mean to be taught by God? How can we grow in spiritual discernment? This chapter will consider these and other points that can help us to build on a firm foundation.
How Repentance Relates to Truth
The idea of repentance may bring to mind the idea of giving up particular sins, and such a change is good. But repentance is also required to receive the truth since we must stop resisting the truth if we are going to receive it. Scripture speaks in these terms when it talks about "repentance to the acknowledging of the truth" (2Ti 2:25), and Paul told Timothy how proper instruction might bring this change about in people who "oppose themselves." We learn this from an admonition found in 2 Timothy 2:24-25:
"the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth."
What does it mean for people to "oppose themselves?" The term makes perfect sense and it identifies the problem. No one says they want to believe a lie. People always claim they want the truth. So, when people resist the truth, they are opposing the very thing they claim they want. People also "oppose themselves" when they hold contradictory beliefs, for to believe mutually exclusive ideas requires one to engage in thinking that opposes itself. The people whom Elijah rebuked for worshipping the Lord and Baal engaged in this kind of thinking, and followers of Jesus can also fall prey to self-contradictory thinking, as we see in this rebuke for doing so:
"If Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen" (1Cor 15:12-13).
Belief in one who "rose from the dead" is not compatible with the idea of "no resurrection of the dead." Both ideas cannot be true.
In tolerating falsehood, the Corinthians were acting as if light and darkness can coexist. But verses like "what communion hath light with darkness" (2Cor 6:14) show these two things are not compatible. The Corinthians were rebuked because one cannot respect Jesus who rose from the dead and also respect those who say there is no resurrection. They claimed to believe in Jesus but sacrificed honesty in their reasoning for the sake of inclusiveness.
Respect for the truth is not shown when contrary ideas are treated as equals. Jesus said, "to this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice" (Fourth gospel 18:37). The link between Jesus and the truth is unbreakable. So, when contradictory views (i.e., truth and falsehood) are both considered to be valid, Jesus is not being honored.
Divided Loyalties
How can people justify God? In Luke 7:29-30 we see how:
"the people that heard him [John the Baptist], and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him."
When they were confronted with the truth, some of those people repented and submitted to God's authority. They "justified God" because to receive correction, they had to admit they were wrong and conform to God's standard of what is right. Being educated did not lead the Pharisees and lawyers to invite correction, for this would call into question their training and the authority of the men whom they followed. This is why training and/or group affiliations can lead people to resist correction. If we have loyalty to a man or group that holds beliefs that are contrary to God's word, this will pit us against the truth. We tend to associate with those who think like us. But if we take our cues on what to believe from those who we associate with, we are not relying on God's word. (Relying on the views of those who agree with us is a self-validating fallacy.) If people resist the truth, they are rejecting the counsel of God, instead of justifying God.
Who Decides What is Important?
When scripture tells us what issues are more important, we need to heed that counsel. For example, Jesus discussed "the first and great commandment" (Mt 22:38) and went on to say, "the second is like unto it" (Mt 22:39). Therefore, one of them is ahead of the other. But God's word gets to make this call, not us. Jesus once said, "woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone" (Mt 23:23). Here we see Jesus and the scholars did not weigh things the same way.
Those leaders claimed they valued the law, yet in their opinion, the "tithe" was more important than "judgment, mercy, and faith." If they had said, 'those are minor issues, the tithe is the main thing' would this have made it so? No, because the opinions of men are not the measure of what issues are weightier. Judgment, mercy, and faith were the "weightier matters of the law" long before he rebuked those scholars on this issue. We will take a closer look at this passage a little later. The point for now though is God's word establishes what things are more important, not men.
If we rightly identify the weightier issues, it does not mean we can ignore lesser issues, for Jesus also told them, "these ought ye to have done." We do not get to discount what the Bible teaches on the things we decide are secondary and only respect it on issues we say are essential.
Of God or of Men?
A verse written to the church of the Thessalonians reveals our real moment of decision. When the word of God is presented to us, how will we receive it? When God's word was presented to them, they made the right choice, as we see in this verse – "when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe" (1Th 2:13). They rightly distinguished between what was "of God" and what was "of men" and, as a result, God's word effected the way they lived their lives.
If we rightly receive God's word, we can get the same blessing of having it effectually work in our life. But this blessing only happens if we properly distinguish between words that have God's authority and those that do not. Furthermore, as we seek to subject ideas to biblical scrutiny, we may not always do so accurately. Even so, in seeking to do this we uphold scripture as the standard of truth and this keeps us grounded in "the fear of the Lord" (Prv 1:7).
A scale measures weight, not length. Likewise, the method used to assess truth on biblical issues must be appropriate to the task. If we rely on the opinions of others to tell us what is true, then we are using a wrong approach.
As to the Lord
- "Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus" (Col 3:17).
- "Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men" (Col 3:23).
What would happen if we applied these admonitions to our study of the Bible? It would remind us our approach to scripture should please the Lord. The traditions of men lure people by seeming to offer a shortcut to the truth. Some say tradition ought to be given the benefit of the doubt. But Jesus never encouraged this, nor did his apostles. They pointed people to scripture and we should also do this when we are discussing biblical issues.
If everything in God's word has already been discovered by men, why read the Bible? If the scholars have it all figured out, why not just read their writings?
If we read scripture we might misunderstand it, but if we follow experts then this will guarantee we know the truth, right? No.
The religious groups in Jesus' day advocated this sort of thinking and he rebuked them for it, calling them "blind leaders of the blind" (Mt 15:14). In that verse, he went on to say, "if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." So, the question this raises is, how can people determine if they are following a blind leader?
The followers of blind leaders end up in the ditch, but they do this to themselves, since they pick who they will follow. Is there hope for them? Yes. It happens when scripture or anything else reveals something is amiss. This is their "fall into the ditch" moment, and they should thank God for this wake-up call.
1 Corinthians 13:6 says love rejoices "in the truth," so if we love the truth, we will change and strive to do better when evidence or some experience proves we have been misled. If a man says, 'Jesus will return on April 1st,' what happens if we believed this (because we put confidence in that man)? If April 2nd passes and Jesus has not come, it is our "fall into the ditch" moment. We were wrong. The question is, what will we do next?
When the data proves people have been misled, only some will admit they were wrong. Others will assume the error was about one issue, like date-setting in the example above. But the fact is, their standard of judgment led them to choose to follow someone who was blind, and this is why they ended up falling into the ditch.
Judgment, Based on What?
A challenge was put to Jesus when "the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders?" (Mk 7:5) What authority did they cite? What they used to judge the disciples of Jesus was the tradition of the elders. They did not cite God's word! The opinions of men had supplanted scripture as their measure of right and wrong. Mark 7:6-7 tells us how Jesus responded when they pointed to those traditions:
"He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."
This shows the bait and switch that was involved. Here we see religious leaders who claimed they were honoring God, but they were "teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" (Mk 7:7). In their eyes, their views about scripture could not be wrong.
They promoted a substitute authority, and their desire to hold on to their traditions is what led them to do so. We know this because Jesus identified their self-interested motive when he told them:
- "laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men" (Mk 7:8), and
- "ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition" (Mk 7:9).
Their belief in what they had been taught came before God's word. Jesus said they were "making the word of God of none effect" through their "tradition" (Mk 7:13). They could not have it both ways, since "no man can serve two masters" (Mt 6:24). So, either scripture or our beliefs will dictate how we view things, but it cannot be both.
If we view God's word through the lens of our beliefs, then we have made our opinion the measure of truth. "Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven" (Ps 119:89) and "O Lord: give me understanding according to thy word" (Ps 119:169) are just two of many passages that teach us God's word is the right measure.
The Antidote for Error
Paul gave Timothy this warning regarding deception, "evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived" (2Ti 3:13). Then he added this:
"But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (2Ti 3:14-15).
Would Timothy have thought the words "knowing of whom thou hast learned them" referred to some human teacher? No.
Lois, Eunice, and Paul all taught Timothy. However, if Timothy received this teaching "not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God" like the Thessalonians had done (cf. 1Th 2:13), then he was taught those things by God.
Paul also told Timothy, "the holy scriptures" could make him "wise unto salvation" (2Ti 3:15). Those who delivered God's word to him played a role, but the holy scriptures are what made Timothy wise unto salvation.
Truth is the antidote for error. So, Paul urged Timothy to "preach the word" consistently, even though it would cause some people to turn away just as he forewarned Timothy in this passage:
"Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (2Ti 4:2-4).
"A fool despiseth his father's instruction: but he that regardeth reproof is prudent" (Prv 15:5). Even so, the words, "today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts" (Heb 3:7-8) were directed to the holy brethren. So, the brethren may be tempted to resist when the voice of God calls on them to change. Furthermore, there is no reason to think the followers of Jesus today are immune from this temptation. In fact, this temptation may be even greater in our internet age when people can "turn away their ears from the truth" and "be turned unto fables" in a few clicks.
People joke, 'it must be true because it was on the Internet.' However, we make the same mistake if we think something is true because a famous person said it or because it was said in a book or because it appears in notes that have been added alongside the words of scripture in our Bible.
Taught by God?
Jesus said, "I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes" (Mt 11:25, Lk 10:21). Unless God no longer does this, being wise and prudent would not ensure that a man or any group of men would be more likely to have the truth.
While others may understand scripture better than us, scripture urges against letting others tell us what to think simply because they are more educated. Why not let God teach us?
The idea of being taught by God may sound strange to us, and it may have sounded strange to the brethren in Ephesus when they first read the words, "if so be that ye have heard him [God], and have been taught by him" (Eph 4:21). Thus, their teacher was God. They "heard him" and were "taught by him." The question is, since this was written to "the faithful in Christ Jesus" (Eph 1:1), would it also apply to those who follow Jesus today?
Who teaches us? "All scripture is given by inspiration of God" (2Ti 3:16). Therefore, when we are taught by scripture, God teaches us!
Jesus told his disciples, "the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things" (Fourth gospel 14:26). One way this happens is via God's word.
Jesus also cited this prophecy: "it is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God" (Fourth gospel 6:45). Then he went on to show this did not mean being taught about God, it meant being taught by God, as we saw when we looked at this verse earlier.
God's Word Can Change People
After noting that the Ephesians had been taught by God, the letter to the Ephesians went on to say, Christ "loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word" (Eph 5:26). We find a similar idea when Jesus told his disciples, "ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you" (Fourth gospel 15:3). So, the word works to cleanse the brethren. But the cleansing effect of God's word is undermined when the opinions of men are treated as an authority.
James cited another work of the word when he told the brethren the Father had begotten them "with the word of truth" (Jas 1:18). This same idea was also taught in this verse: "being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever" (1Pt 1:23).
God's word brings about birth, growth, cleansing, correction, etc., and faith comes by hearing the word (cf. Rom 10:17); so let us dive in.
Not everyone has a Bible or the ability to read, let alone access to the Internet which lets people utilize a wide array of free Bible study tools. Those of us who have those things need to thank God for them. We can show our gratitude by making a diligent effort to let scripture be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.
Scripture says, "unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required" (Lk 12:48) and, for us, this verse must be weighed considering the resources we can easily access in this age.
Once when Jesus prayed for his disciples, he asked the Father to "sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth" (Fourth gospel 17:17). We must uphold this standard because God's word was, and still is, what changes and sanctifies those who believe in Jesus.
Wise? By What Standard?
Men sometimes will raise other measures of truth, such as when the chief priests and Pharisees asked this about Jesus, "have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him?" (Fourth gospel 7:48) Notice, their question implied the beliefs of the religious leaders determine what is true and it suggested only a fool would disagree with highly educated men. Because nobody wants to be the target of ridicule, such questions work to bully people into going along with the views of those who are seen as scholars.
2 Timothy 2:23 says, "foolish and unlearned questions avoid" and Titus 3:9 says, "avoid foolish questions" for "they are unprofitable and vain." So, we must distinguish such questions from questions that further the cause of truth. The prior paragraph showed how a foolish question can be used to turn people away from God's word and how the opinions of experts can be used to bully people into putting confidence in men. Jesus did not let the teachings of men dictate his view of God's word, but the rulers and Pharisees did. Since they had no evidence against Jesus, those scholars cited their own beliefs and implied he was not worthy of anyone's belief simply because the scholars had chosen not to believe on him.
The people who trusted the scholars in Jesus' day were led astray. Can this still happen today? Yes, it can. This happens whenever the opinions of men shape our view of God's word. We can avoid making this mistake if we get into the habit of putting everything to the test of scripture.
When men cite their own beliefs or other sources instead of citing the word of God, let this be a red flag. Does it make sense to cite a lesser source if a greater authority is available? No. So, when people cite a source other than scripture, we should wonder why they would not just cite scripture if it actually supported their view.
Some think 'objectivity' means looking at a lot of ideas that men have proposed and picking the one that seems best. Such people will be led astray more often than not because they are not using a God-honoring method, just as the counsel of God's word shows.
Jesus once said, "whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock" (Mt 7:24). He defined godly wisdom as hearing and doing his sayings. 1 Corinthians 3:20 says, "the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain." Obviously, this is not referring to people like the "wise man, which built his house upon a rock." So, by what standard do we define the word "wise?"
"The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God" (1Cor 3:19), so what some consider to be wisdom is the opposite in God's eyes. If we want to employ godly wisdom, we need the right measure when we are making judgments.
After Jesus said the "wise man" built "upon a rock," he talked of those who are foolish. He said, "everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand" (Mt 7:26).
The "foolish man" thinks what he is doing is fine because he is using a wrong measure. "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes" (Prv 12:15). Thus, foolish thinking is self-justifying and Isaiah 5:21 says, "woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!"
Becoming Skillful by Exercising Discernment
In Luke 16:17 Jesus said, "it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail." A few verses later, his teaching on Lazarus and the rich man ended with the following words, "if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead" (Lk 16:31). As was noted earlier, those who reject the word of God that comes via scripture will not be persuaded by a miracle (since both manifest God's authority). A consistent regard for the authority of God is needed for proper judgment. When this is lacking, one's ability to make right judgments will be impaired.
Drunkenness impairs both a man's ability to drive and his capacity to judge his fitness to drive. Similarly, false assumptions will impair our ability to discern the truth and our capacity to judge whether our judgment is good or not. When we put confidence in a man or group, we assume that this is a wise thing to do when it is not.
Being persuaded by the conclusions of others is not the same as being persuaded by the evidence. If someone says, 'here is what I think…,' what should we do? If people tell us what they believe, we know what they think, but not why.
The cause of truth is better served if we ask people to tell us about the biblical evidence that led them to hold their view. Weighing this data for ourselves will help to keep us from falling into the trap of basing our beliefs on the conclusions of someone else.
When a person says, 'the Bible says…,' then it is up to us to check to see if they are speaking the word of God faithfully or not.
If you were on a jury and a witness testified, 'that man was driving that car and he ran over that woman,' you would weigh it one way. Yet, if the witness said, 'I believe that man was driving that car and I think he ran over that woman,' you would have a reason to be skeptical. On biblical issues, when someone says, 'I think…' or 'I believe…,' they are telegraphing their punch and letting us know they are giving us their opinion. At that point, we should ask them why they did not quote scripture if it teaches what they say it does?
When people cite their beliefs, one way to get the focus back on what scripture says, is to ask questions like, Where can I find that in the Bible? or What statements in scripture teach that view?
Jesus said, "thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind" (Mt 22:37). Those of us who have access to the Bible have been given a great gift. So, we should heed the admonitions of scripture that urge us to think on God's word throughout our day (cf. Jos 1:8, Ps 1:2 & 119:97, et al.).
The Book of Hebrews contrasted the brethren who were "dull of hearing" and "unskillful in the word of righteousness" (Heb 5:11 & 13), with those "who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil" (Heb 5:14). The growth that comes from exercising discernment will not happen when we let other people do our discerning for us. To avoid becoming "dull of hearing," we need to have our "senses exercised to discern both good and evil" and this comes about "by reason of use." So, we must keep it up.
We All Have Blind Spots
If we are not aware of something, we have a blind spot. This was the case with Apollos, who we meet in Acts 18:24-25. It says he was "mighty in the scriptures," "instructed in the way of the Lord," and "spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord," but he only knew about "the baptism of John." When Aquila and Priscilla "expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly" (Acts 18:26), he received the correction, updated his teaching, and immediately started sharing what he had learned (cf. Acts 18:27-28). His willingness to change after he was corrected is a good example for anyone who wants to honor God. As we saw earlier, Jesus linked himself to truth when he said, "to this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth" (Fourth gospel 18:37). We are urged to be vigilant and loyal to God's standard in verses such as, "prove all things; hold fast that which is good" (1Th 5:21), "let God be true, but every man a liar" (Rom 3:4), and "blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies" (Ps 40:4). A bible study process that puts no trust in the opinions of men and relies only on the data in God's word conforms to these verses.
As has been noted, scripture says, "it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man" (Ps 118:8). Still, many seek to learn what the Bible says by turning to non-Bible sources and weighing the opinions of men. But the practice of relying on the teachings of men was rejected by Jesus and it should also be rejected today. Moreover, if opinions from non-Bible sources are held in esteem, people tend to drop their guard.
For example, if someone says world-class Bible scholars believe a certain idea, many people will assume the idea is true and think there is no reason to subject it to biblical scrutiny. Yet verses like, "let God be true, but every man a liar" make no exception for world-class scholars or other elites.
The Lord said, "them that honor me I will honor" (1Sa 2:30). If we want the Lord to honor us, we must first honor him. We honor him when we exercise a high regard for his word. This takes more than just knowing what it says. James wrote to the beloved brethren who had been begotten "with the word of truth" (Jas 1:18) and in his letter he told them "be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves" (Jas 1:22). People who hear God's word and do not act in accord with what it says, cause themselves to be deceived.
The Pillar and Ground of the Truth
Paul talked of "the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth" (1Tm 3:15), yet some restate his words and say, 'the church is the pillar and ground of the truth.' What happens when scripture is edited in this way? In the verse, "the house of God" is "the church of the living God" and "the living God" is "the pillar and ground of the truth." In the restated version, "the church" is said to be "the pillar and ground of the truth," i.e., the church replaces the living God as the fixed point of reference. But, Paul would not say this because he knew those in the church, including church leaders, could be in error. He made this clear in verses like, "O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you" (Gal 3:1), and in his criticism of Peter and others who "walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel" (Gal 2:14), and in his rebuke of the church in Corinth (cf. 1Cor 15:12).
Whenever the church strays from the standard of the word of God, it runs into trouble. Jesus provided a critical lesson on this in the Book of Revelation. Read the letters to the seven churches and consider what caused these churches to become the targets of a whole series of stern rebukes from Jesus (cf. Rv 1:4, 11, & 20, 2:1-3:22).
When people let the church be their measure of truth, they are failing to obey a directive that was repeated by Jesus seven times. He said, "he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches" (Rv 2:7, et al.).
Jesus did not say his followers should hear what the church says. He directed those who have an ear, to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. So, what is said by those who are in the church must not come before the word of God.