Have you ever caught yourself thinking or saying something along the lines of, “I wish that the Bible did not say this,”? In our words, we may say that we love Scripture, but practically-speaking we show little fruit. Our love for the Word can be selective and, in effect, we are saying that we do not actually love all parts of Scripture.
We live in a culture that is hostile to the Word of God, and sometimes we allow the culture to plant seeds of hostility in our own hearts without even realizing it. While there are compatibilistic traits to Scripture (i.e. God’s sovereignty and human responsibility), Scripture never contradicts itself. To pick and choose which pieces of God’s revealed Word we wish to love is not only offensive, it is inconsistent. When the world around us attempts to redefine terms like “goodness” and “compassion,” those of us who lack a firm trust in the Word of God begin to impose these foolish understandings on Scripture. The authority and measure of the truthfulness and loveliness of Scripture is then at the mercy of the culture, not God. It is in these subtle ways, our love for Scripture is undermined, leading to the sadly all-too-common statement: “I wish the Bible did not say this…” If this is a statement you relate to, or you have heard many times from Christians, I encourage you to keep reading, as this is merely a symptom of a dangerous epidemic in our churches today. For the extent to which we do not love the Word of God in its entirety is the extent to which we do not love God. While I do not intend to make this piece about correct interpretive methods, it is important to understand, also, that this same warning could be applied to being careful to understand Scripture rightly. The moment we make Scripture interpretation about finding comfort in God’s approval of our own ideas, we miss the point. Scripture is supposed to change us, not make us comfortable in our own sin. It is to conform us to the image of Christ, which means we must die. Christ must increase and we must decrease. Scriptural Considerations: I must admit that I was not prompted to write any of this on account of my offense at someone else saying these things. It was after reading Romans 7:22 that I was convicted of my sin and prompted to study more on the topic. “For I delight in the law of God” Paul says. The NASB reads, “For I joyfully concur with the law of God.” The context is even more telling as Paul is speaking of the conflict of the inner man versus the outer man. Paul shares the struggle of living according to the law, but still he writes that he not only agrees with God’s law, but that he is in “joyful” agreement--that he “delight[s]” in the commands of God. I offer as a consideration how often we wish that God’s law did not condemn certain lifestyles or practices. As we may be tempted to think of what Scripture calls “sin” as something that “is not harming anyone,” we must consider Paul’s attitude toward his very own fight against sin. Paul writes in verse 24, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” The diction found in this passage illustrates well the nature of sin--not as an innocent thing we should tolerate, but as a wretched thing that, apart from Christ, leads to death. As we read Romans 7:22, it is clear that delighting in and joyfully concurring with God’s commands is a fruit of salvation. I understand that this is a lofty thing to ask, but just because something is difficult does not mean it should not be done. If this is something you may struggle with, it is important to take seriously how your worldview may be infiltrated by worldly thinking. Another verse to consider on the issue is Proverbs 8:13, which reads: “The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.” Not only are we to delight in God’s Law, which is perfect, we are to hate evil. In our culture today, evil is a relative thing. There is a spectrum dictated by society that says “this is bad, but that is much worse.” The danger of taking this approach from the culture is that many things God calls “evil” are not even included on the worldly spectrum. In fact, it is more likely that the Christian’s disapproval of said evil would be condemned before true sin would be identified as such. While all of this may be deeply convicting, we should not despair. Scripture also gives us many assurances in our fight against the culture’s worldview. John 15:18-24 reads, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.” While these verses may seem self-explanatory, there are two assurances I want to highlight in light of our topic. First of all, it is obvious, but important to note that the world hates Christ. We can take comfort in the fact that we are not only in the greatest of company, but also not wrong by virtue of the world’s hatred of us. It is tempting, for the sake of relief from the ridicule or persecution of the world, to give up and side with the world for once. But imagine for a moment of the inverse--the unrest of the soul in knowing that the world loves you, but Christ hates you. After knowing the Truth, we should understand and tremble at the thought of being an enemy of God and a subject of His wrath. And let us remember the sweetness of that hour we first believed, that we may recall the overwhelming kindness of God in our lives. Being hated by the world is a part of being united with Christ, and a small price to pay for such a treasure as this. Secondly, we should listen and be humbled to these words of Christ: “A servant is not greater than his master.” There is a pride that often may exist among Christians--a moral pride--in which we truly believe that somehow our political correctness makes us somehow more compassionate, kind, or correct than God’s very Word. It is a slippery slope that begins with a timid reticence on the topic of God or His Word in the culture and ends with an appeasing answer like, “I hate 1 Timothy just as much as you do.” We ought not think ourselves more highly than God, who wrote 1 Timothy. If Christ himself was hated so much, we should find comfort in being so hated. Even Peter himself can attest to the dreadful remorse of denying his association with the Lord Jesus. Oh that we would learn from Peter’s weakness that we may not attempt to hide our allegiance with Christ when it is most controversial! As I conclude, I find it fitting to include one final piece of assurance. As the world continues to diminish the holiness and goodness of God in any way possible, it is important to dwell in the safety of the Word of God. In the Word of God we find all the assurance we need that God is compassionate, kind, and merciful. When the world reminds us of the harshness of God’s Law, may we be reminded of the full image of God: “Oh taste and see that the LORD is good” (Ps. 34:8) “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matt. 9:36) “But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” (Ps. 86:15) “Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath. He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again.” (Ps. 78:38-39) “And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” (Ex. 33:19)
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