If we ponder the question of maturing we can find out that it is exactly the same in our physical world. Children have no consciousness of the world and no ability to see it and understand it, no ability to judge anything. Young people should increase in these abilities and knowledge and acquire MORE of everything. The more we mature physically, the more we see and understand this physical world, the more conscious we become of its facts and problems. We are more able to judge wisely and solve its manifold problems. Yet, no matter how mature we become physically, we can never see, hear and understand the spiritual world, never be conscious of it in any way unless we become born-to-it. But when we do become born-to-it, we become spiritual toddlers that see, hear and understand nothing of their “new” spiritual world. Though we may be 50-60-70 years old or more physically, we may still be spiritual children that never matured! Why? Because spiritual maturing is not “automatic” as is the physical maturing where, if we eat, drink, sleep and breathe we grow up without any further effort on our side. Should we “eat and drink the Word”, not read It, but eat It and drink It; and should we “breathe the Spirit”, we would also live and grow up spiritually. But who is doing it? Our fruits show the truth. But immature believers cannot distinguish their fruits either.
How can then any believer find out whether he is matured or in a baby stage? If year after year he/she has to be told what to do, how to do it, when to do it, where to go, where not to go, what is wise, what is foolish, what is of God, and what is not, what will be profitable, what will not, etc., then he/she is a baby who needs a constant nursing and instructions in real life by his/her tutors, pastors, spiritual advisers, elders or more mature brethren. A mature believer knows all these things in himself and he is able to instruct others. Are you able to see where you are? However, let us also understand that our natural ability to instruct others does not necessarily mean that we are spiritual!
A natural religious soul may produce a vast amount of work for the Lord with a vast amount of time and energy spent. Yet, it never asks the Lord what SPIRITUAL fruit has been produced, whether the fruit of that vast amount of work shall REMAIN or not. (Jn. 15:16) A natural religious man is able to build magnificent, imposing and costly structures, write mountains of books filled with imposing religious knowledge and rake in a lot of money. Sometimes it takes one match to reduce them all to ashes! (1Cor. 3:12,13) Do we truly know whether, what we have built, is of gold, silver or of wood, hay, stubble or paper? Why must we wait for God’s match to see and know?
Another typical example of this problem of our natural soul, its imagination and reasoning power is the following. Let us add to these “virtues” of our natural soul feelings – EMOTIONS. Also, consider the personal “weight” where OUR SOUL HAD FORMED JESUS CHRIST INTO “OUR IMAGE”! We find throughout the New Testament many passages of the Word where we can clearly see that “God is love”, (1Jn. 4:8) He is compassionate, forgiving, merciful, patient, faithful, good, gentle, meek, lowly in heart. (Mt. 11:29) It is a very soothing, sweet and comfortable truth to our natural soul and we thus always expect to experience this truth in all of our natural, earthly life. Hence, our soul does not search for any deeper truth. Is there more to it?
How about the Word where we can equally clearly see that our “God is a consuming fire”? (Heb. 12:29) Or that God’s Judgment can terminate our earthly life (Acts 5:1-10) or even our eternal life, if we walk and live like fools and refuse to overcome? (Rev. 3:5; 21:7) How does THIS TRUTH apply to our Christian life? Will our natural soul believe and trust also these passages of the Word of God? Will not our natural soul believe and say that these Words of God are only for pagans? So, will our natural soul start fearing God, His Ways and Judgments? NO, it will not, it cannot! It needs to go through God’s consuming FIRE to change its course and beliefs!
Let us realize and even draw from our past experiences that every natural soul is quite able to create its own image of God based also on various events in its life, living conditions and circumstances. Any serious event in our life is usually interpreted and understood not by God’s Word and reality, but according to our own natural character, feelings and understanding of those events and circumstances.
This understanding and interpretation of our natural soul then form OUR JUDGMENT OF THE PERSON OF GOD AND HIS WAYS which is always FALSE! But our image of God and our judgment of Him thus formed may redirect our life to a completely different road and may not change even after many years. The result may be a huge loss of time and blessings just because we did not search His True Character and ways from His Word. We will return to this topic later on when we will talk about LOVE.
Let us take another example. Preachers often quote Jn. 3:16 as it were a “pivotal verse” from the whole Bible because it shows the great love of God. Well, it does show His great love! Does it also show the whole Character of God and the whole Truth about Him? NO!
The natural soul takes all those soothing facts and creates its own image of God, of His Ways, Judgments and of His Righteousness, what is of Him and what is not, what is His truth and what is not, what His Word truly means and what His Word cannot mean. Yet, the Scripture can challenge our natural soul and prove it wrong every time. But first He must destroy the pride in that soul.
Let us now take that natural soul with its “own image of God” and bring it to other passages of the Word of God and see how it fares there. In Jn. 3:16 God so loved the world; in Jam. 4:4 you are the enemy of God, if you love the same world! And in Gen. 6:6,7, right at the beginning of the world, GOD DESTROYED THE WORLD THAT HE LOVED SO MUCH and drowned all mankind as rats! How is your image of God now? Can your natural soul reconcile Jn. 3:16 with Gen. 6:6,7 or with Jam. 4:4? Can it now understand the Love of God, His Grace, Mercy and His true Character better? NO!
Furthermore, that same Jesus Christ, Who is merciful, compassionate, forgiving, loving, meek and lowly in heart commands king Saul TO KILL EVERY MAN, WOMAN, INFANT AND SUCKLING of the Amalekites! (1Sam. 15:3) What will your natural soul say or think now? Oh, this can’t be Jesus! OH YES, IT IS HIM! This same Son of God in His pre-Bethlehem existence commanded Joshua (Deut. 7:2,3) to UTTERLY DESTROY MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN of all the nations named in Deut. 7:1! Jesus Himself said that “…he (Moses)WROTE OF ME”! (Jn. 5:46; Moses wrote the Book of Deuteronomy and thus wrote about Jesus Christ!) Jesus Christ also declared that “things in Psalms and Prophets concerned Himself”! (Lk. 24:44)
But Moses, David and the Prophets did not write about a “terrible, unmerciful and unloving God”. True? Can we absorb this truth or comprehend it in our natural mind and heart? NO, never!
We surely cannot comprehend that God became Man and had to learn obedience to men whom He created! (Is. 45:12) Can we fathom that? NO! Why would God learn obedience? (Heb. 5:8) Jesus Christ, being God, (Jn. 14:9// 1Jn. 5:7// Jn. 1:1) never had to obey anything and anyone. But without obedience Jesus, the Man, could not save us, conquer and destroy man’s disobedience and thus become the Author of eternal Salvation unto all them that… well, again… OBEY HIM! (Heb. 5:9// Rom. 5:19) Therefore…
THE KEY WORD OF OUR SALVATION IS ALSO
OBEDIENCE AND NOT FAITH ALONE!
YOU MAY KNOW THE BIBLE FROM COVER TO COVER AND AGREE WITH IT ALL AND BELIEVE IT ALL AND BE LOST…
IF YOU DO NOT OBEY IT!
And there is much more to this mystery of obedience than meets the eye and we will return to it and ponder it later on.
If you should say that those peoples in Deut. 7:1 were pagan nations, then let us understand that they were the same living human beings created by God as were the children of Israel. Simply said, HOW CAN A LOVING GOD COMMAND SOMEONE TO KILL SMALL INNOCENT CHILDREN? Herod, yes (Mt. 2:16), but God? Is this quite acceptable to your natural heart and mind?… or to your feelings or reasoning?… or to your sense of justice, righteousness, mercy, love, goodness, meekness, temperance? REALLY? If you are honest, then you must say: NO!
Furthermore, they did not have to be exterminated just because they were pagans. God was not sentencing people to be killed just because they were pagans, but because they became active enemies of God and of His people Israel by disregarding and opposing His Will in His choice of Israel. When they touched Israel, they touched the “apple of His eye”. (Zech. 2:8) The question is: Did God sentence His own people also to be killed? YES, HE DID! And for the same reason, when they disregarded, opposed, resisted His Judgments, His Choice, His Government! They had the right to oppose Him by their free will, and God had the right to terminate their earthly life because HE gave that life to them, they did not own it, HE held their soul in life! (Ps. 66:9)
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To be continued next week in chapter 3 – part 5
brother Hanola
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