Happy Wednesday

Troubling Questions

 

            During the course of nearly four decades of being in the Gospel Ministry I have seen more than a few instances of people being in severe distress over something they read in Scripture. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It can mean the Spirit of God is working on them about something in their lives. There is an old saying that has an element of truth to it. That is that the Word of God will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from the Word of God.

            There is another side of the coin and that has to do with the work of the Evil One in his role as the accuser of men. He can use the Scripture as a tool to attack the believer and cause them to falter by becoming overly concerned about one matter or another. He is the greatest distorter of the Holy Writ in the world. That is why it is appropriate to acknowledge false preachers and teachers get their inspiration from him.

            One of the great burdens that afflict people is the fear they have gone too far and have reached a point where they cannot be forgiven and renewed unto the Lord. One of the things said to people in distress with such an idea is that if they are concerned about having done something unpardonable, that is proof they have not. This has an element of truth but it is not absolutely so. In Hebrews an example is made of Esau who sold his birthright for the desire of the moment. The Scripture says “For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.” (Hebrews 12:17)

            There are two powerful things a believer can do in order to avoid being vexed by fears concerning his relationship with God, The first of these is to live a holy life, avoiding the things he knows to be wrong while filling his life with prayer, study, and meditation upon the things of God. The second is related to the first. That is, learning to rightly divide the Word of God, so one can understand the things in it. When a person is busily engaged in doing these things he will find springing up within himself a great peace.