"What saith the Scripture?" I don't believe there is any single area of the typical believers life that has any greater lack of consistent use than the one that is addressed in the question title of this article.
It is a question posed in both Romans 4 and Galatians 4 and has relevance to every single thought, action, and word in which we engage on a daily basis. It is the essential assessment question to be asked at every turn in our lives. Anything received by our senses of touching, feeling, hearing or smelling will elicit a subsequent response in our thinking, our actions or our speech.
Since all the issues of life are rooted in the heart, according to Proverbs 4:23, our assessment of those responses must be on the basis of Scripture, not on the basis of history (what my family did), habit (what I've always done),? Or happiness (what makes me feel good).
"What saith the Scripture?" Is that a question that we often deal with ourselves, or discuss with others over a meal, or teach our children in the faith, or instruct those over whom God has given us responsibility? When we ask ourselves that question, we will readily see whether our responses are righteous ones of the Spirit, or sinful ones of the flesh, in the light of God's revelation to us - His inerrant, infallible, immutable, eternal Word. Biblical assessment can be quickly made by whether we are righteously allowing the what the Scripture says (Spirit) to override human desires (flesh); or conversely, whether we are sinfully allowing human desire (flesh) to override what the Scripture says (Spirit).
While we may conceptually recognize sin vs. righteousness, there is a critical need to develop the Christian discipline of specifically knowing God's Word both academically and applicationally. This is accomplished by reading, studying, meditating, praying and then applying the written Word of God. Hebrews 4:12 is incredibly clear in the function of the Scriptures, "for the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two- edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." God, by His Spirit, will use His Word to accomplish His glory in their lives.
May God help each of us to increasingly know and use the Word of God!
(C) 1993, 2005 N.A.Collins. Copy permission for one personal file copy
It is a question posed in both Romans 4 and Galatians 4 and has relevance to every single thought, action, and word in which we engage on a daily basis. It is the essential assessment question to be asked at every turn in our lives. Anything received by our senses of touching, feeling, hearing or smelling will elicit a subsequent response in our thinking, our actions or our speech.
Since all the issues of life are rooted in the heart, according to Proverbs 4:23, our assessment of those responses must be on the basis of Scripture, not on the basis of history (what my family did), habit (what I've always done),? Or happiness (what makes me feel good).
"What saith the Scripture?" Is that a question that we often deal with ourselves, or discuss with others over a meal, or teach our children in the faith, or instruct those over whom God has given us responsibility? When we ask ourselves that question, we will readily see whether our responses are righteous ones of the Spirit, or sinful ones of the flesh, in the light of God's revelation to us - His inerrant, infallible, immutable, eternal Word. Biblical assessment can be quickly made by whether we are righteously allowing the what the Scripture says (Spirit) to override human desires (flesh); or conversely, whether we are sinfully allowing human desire (flesh) to override what the Scripture says (Spirit).
While we may conceptually recognize sin vs. righteousness, there is a critical need to develop the Christian discipline of specifically knowing God's Word both academically and applicationally. This is accomplished by reading, studying, meditating, praying and then applying the written Word of God. Hebrews 4:12 is incredibly clear in the function of the Scriptures, "for the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two- edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." God, by His Spirit, will use His Word to accomplish His glory in their lives.
May God help each of us to increasingly know and use the Word of God!
(C) 1993, 2005 N.A.Collins. Copy permission for one personal file copy
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