|
Study
to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that
needeth not to be
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
-2 Timothy 2:15, KJV
When
was the last time you walked down to your neighbor’s mailbox, took out
his mail, and starting reading it so you would know what bills to pay,
how out-of-town family was doing, and what this month’s issue of your
favorite magazine had to say? That would be absurd, wouldn't it? After
all, your mail has your name on it and is found in your mailbox, not
your neighbor's.
Your
neighbor’s mail is intended for him and your mail is addressed to you.
The information and instructions found in those envelopes is for the
addressee’s personal review and action. Your obligation is to respond
to what your mail requests or demands, not your neighbor's. Can
you learn from reading other people’s mail? Well, besides having a
first-hand understanding of the penalty for mail theft, you can probably
learn a great deal. But learning from things written to others
versus being obligated to them are two separate worlds entirely.
The
same holds true for the word of God. The manuscripts that were penned by
the inspired prophets of God are the very words of our Lord. He made
sure that what He wanted communicated, when He wanted it communicated,
and to whom He wanted it communicated was accomplished. All that is
found in the Scriptures was written for our benefit and for our
encouragement. Nevertheless, just like the mail that the U.S. Postal
Service delivers is not all ours, neither is everything found in the
Bible.
For
example, according to the Law that was given to Israel 3,500 years ago,
if a man was caught working on the Sabbath, the people were commanded by
God to stone him to death. Yikes! I thought we had some strict covenants
in our neighborhood for rules violations but this takes the prize! Does
this mean that obedient, bible-believing, Christians should prowl their
communities on Saturday mornings with rocks in hand listening for the
familiar hum of push mowers? Heavens no. These instructions, along with
over 600 other commands, were given to Jews under the law of Moses, not
Christians under grace. That was their mail back then, not our mail
today. Friends, if we are going to make sense of the Scriptures we will
need to rightly divide what is written to us, the body of Christ, and
what is not.
There
have been several ages since the beginning of time and each age has had
its unique set of marching orders for man. Thankfully, we now rest in
the age of grace wherein righteousness is attained not through any
external works of our own but solely through the completed work of our
Savior, Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul was raised up by God for the
unique purpose of communicating this good news, a "mystery which
has been hidden from the past ages and generations; but has now been
manifested to His saints" (Col. 1:26) This mystery, this gospel for
today, is sent to us special-delivery through Paul's epistles and, for
now, supercedes all that was pronounced beforehand (Ephesians 3:1-12).
It
is in his gospel, the gospel given personally to Paul by the risen
Christ, that we discover that God is no longer dealing with mankind
based upon nationality, ethnicity, race, gender, or works (Galatians
1:11-12). He is now dealing with us based upon the cross of Jesus Christ
and a new creation. Paul’s deepest longing was that those to whom he
wrote and visited in the first century would understand and be
strengthened by the knowledge of all that was theirs in Christ according
to his gospel (Romans 16:25). It is no less the will of God for us today
that, through the Scriptures written to us, we too might discover
the riches that are now ours in Him. Do you want to start making sense
of the Scriptures? Then start by opening up and reading your
mail, sent to you with love by your risen, glorified, ascended
Savior courtesy of the apostle Paul.
Grace and peace to
you always!
John
|
