Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Playing by the Rules”
Our Bible verse for today: “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “The Bible is the rulebook.”
Yes, there are rules. Sorry, but that’s just how it is. It’s true that we in the New Testament age live in what is called “The Age of Grace” but that doesn’t mean that there are no rules and therefore everyone is free to make it up for themselves. That would be anarchy not grace (you can read the book of Judges to see what that looks like).
The primary reason God gave us the Bible is to reveal Himself to us. Another reason is so He could clearly communicate His will to us. But another reason He gave us the Bible is so that we would have a guide for Christian living. This is what Paul was writing about in 2 Timothy 3:16-17. All Scripture comes to us from God and is meant to provide us with all the structure we need in order to live life within God-ordained boundaries.
Now, let’s be honest. We know this. If you’re a professing Christian, and if you’ve spent any time at all in a good Bible-believing Bible-teaching church, then you know this. But we also know that we can be prone to cherry-pick the Scriptures. Sometimes we pick and choose which verses and passages we will accept and obey, and which we will conveniently ignore or attempt to explain away.
And so, a man obeys the command about not committing murder, but he finds ways to rationalize in his mind the occasional viewing of porn. His thinking is, “At least I’m not having an affair and cheating on my wife”. Or a woman attends church faithfully, as Hebrews 10:24-25 instructs, but quietly behind the scenes she’s a terrible gossip. But she dresses the gossip up in God-talk by saying, “I’m only telling you this so you can pray for her.”
You get the idea. From time-to-time we’re all guilty of this. But some people live this way. Some people have adopted patterns of living which are in direct contradiction to the clear guidance provided by the Bible, and then attempt to rationalize why it’s really ok and understandable.
Well, it’s not ok and it’s not understandable. God gave us the Bible for a reason and He didn’t make any mistakes when He wrote it. It’s not as if He just wasn’t thinking about your particular situation when He provided mankind with His guidance on the issue you’re currently dealing with. Therefore the Scriptures about sexual immorality, or financial stewardship, or church attendance, or (fill in the blank) apply as much to you right now as they do to everyone else all the time.
“All” Scripture is inspired by God. All of it. So as the people of God we must know it, we must live by it, and in those cases when we are straying from it, we have to correct our behavior and come back into line with it.
The truth is that God is smarter than us. He knows what He’s talking about. The best life any of us will ever have is the life that is lived right in the center of His will. That life is described and explained in the Bible. It’s our rulebook.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 