Expecting Christians to be Familiarised with God’s Word

Many Christians from various factions have essentially accepted God’s offer of salvation in blind conviction as attempts to seek clarification of doubts beyond the prescribed bounds are invariably met with their well-meaning mentors’ platitudinous refrain that God works in mysterious ways.  Such a mind-set of what they colloquially call simple faith is usually coupled by a lack of drive to delve into the scriptures — other than, it is supposed, the basics of what the four Gospels and Pauline Epistles teach.

 

Truly, the Lord has proclaimed that “My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9) with Paul marvelling in awe “how unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out” (Romans 11:33).  This should not come as a surprise.  After all, God is the creator of the entire universe and by this reckoning He pre-existed all of His created beings (inclusive of the human race); accordingly, no one born before Job (who is believed to have lived during ancient times) had been in attendance to catch sight of the creation process on the first day “when I laid the foundation of the earth” (Job 38:4) and no intellectual determined to unlock nature’s mysteries can proffer any response to God’s teaser that asks “where is the way to the dwelling of light” (Job 38:19) since the second day.  Furthermore, the Bible does not contain information deemed by the Lord as out of bounds to His people because “the secret things belong to God” (Deuteronomy 29:29) and “it is the glory of God to conceal a matter” (Proverbs 25:2).

 

Does the preceding paragraph then imply that Christians should not venture to formulate questions that may possibly irritate the Almighty because non-suppression of doubts is presumably tantamount to lack of faith?  That this cannot be true is evident from the following instances when God interacted with different mortal men in need of inputs from Him:

●     Still childless despite God’s promises much earlier, Abram is known to have wondered when conversing with Him, “Look, You have given me no offspring.  Indeed, one born in my house [viz Eliezer] is my heir!” (Genesis 15:3)

●     After reaching the Red Sea during the Hebrews’ flight from Egypt, Moses has been documented in Exodus 14:15 as crying out to the Lord for guidance on how to overcome the water obstacle obstructing their path ahead with Pharoah’s army in hot pursuit from the rear.

●     Jonah 4:2 records the disobedient prophet’s protest to God with respect to His mercies in sparing Nineveh from divine punishment: “Ah Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country?  Therefore I fled earlier to Tarshish …”

●     Bewildered by the Lord’s reply regarding His choice of punishment for the lawless Jews, the perplexed prophet posed a follow-up query and expectantly waited “… to see what He will say to me and what I will answer when I am corrected” (Habakkuk 2:1).

●     When Ananias was directed to meet Saul for the purpose of restoring the latter’s sight, he took it upon himself to express his concerns to God, “Lord, I have heard … how much harm Saul has done to Your saints in Jerusalem” (Acts 9:13).

 

In addition to the afore-listed (as well as many other) question-and-answer sessions with the Almighty in active participation, the Bible furnishes a wealth of information (throughout its compilation of 66 books) detailing how God had dealt with human beings in the past since creation and what He has planned to do for His people come the end-times.  By the way, there is no mention in scriptures that God works in mysterious ways (for this oft-cited sentence is likely a misquote from a 1774 hymn entitled God Moves in a Mysterious Way); in point of fact, God has readily foretold many of His intentions because “the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secrets to His servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7) with both messianic verses and end-times prophecies being notable examples.  Given His eagerness for reaching out to believers (whether the chosen race in the Old Testament or the Christian community in the New Testament), there should not be any hesitation among His children to approach the Bible for answers to their inquiries.  As advised by Paul (who is acknowledged as a prolific author of many epistles), believers should not be content with only the basics of what the Bible teaches “for whatever things were written before were written for our learning that we through … the comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15:4).

 

Christians should therefore familiarise themselves with the Bible in much the same way the chosen race immersed in scriptures as can be seen from their daily routines: “You shall lay up these words of Mine in your heart and soul, and bind them bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.  And you shall write them on the door-posts of your house and on your gates …” (Deuteronomy 11:18-21)  For those who retort that these are Old Testament instructions as well as for Christians who have learned by rote that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1), it ought to be underscored that the New Testament is actually replete with exhortations for them to study the Bible as elucidated in the following passages:

●     Evangelists tend to focus on I Timothy 2:3-4 drawing attention to “… God our Saviour Who desires all men to be saved” but the latter verse (which is normally overlooked) proceeds to state that those thus saved are thereafter “to come to the knowledge of the truth”.

●     Is being “fed with milk and not with solid food” (I Corinthians 3:2) to be commended for those with so-called simple faith?  Applicable to any such Christian is the accompanying rebuke that “you are still carnal” (I Corinthians 3:3) and likewise Hebrews 5:13 portrays him unflatteringly as a “babe” for “everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness”.  Instead, believers are urged to progress beyond milk towards solid food for nourishing their growth in faith as “solid food belongs to those who are of full age” (Hebrews 5:14).

●     If Christians professing simple faith remain unmotivated to familiarise themselves with scriptures, there is then no purpose for the Bible to include (for posterity’s benefit) the ardent prayer of Paul “to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord … being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:9-10).

●     As highlighted by Peter, believers should “always be ready to give a defence to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you” (I Peter 3:15).  There is no hint from Peter that Christians are to share experiences and/or testimonies when providing reasons for their faith; rather, they should turn to “the Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (II Timothy 3:15).

 

In particular, church leaders and lay helpers must take cognisance of Paul’s instruction for his protégé (Timothy) to be “a worker … rightly dividing the word of truth” (II Timothy 2:15).  Why is it imperative for all engaged in ministry work to do so?  The companion verse of II Timothy 2:17 furnishes the context: in any congregation, there will always be those “who have strayed concerning the truth” (where “Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort”) with the apprehension being that “their message will spread like cancer” and as a consequence “they overthrow the faith of some”.  How can this negative outcome be pre-empted?  All leaders/helpers cannot afford to be conversant with only their favourite or apposite portions of the Bible but must instead have a good grasp of “all scripture … [so] that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (II Timothy 3:16-17).  Opting to be partially equipped with only a limited repertoire of frequently-regurgitated verses is definitely not a viable alternative in view of Paul’s preceding verse warning that “evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse” (II Timothy 3:13) for “in the last days perilous times will come” (II Timothy 3:1).

 

Even though Moses has been credited in Deuteronomy 31:24-25 for having “completed writing the words of this law in a book” and thereafter “commanded the Levites … [to] take this Book of the Law”, the following accounts show him being subsequently unsure how he ought to proceed when faced with unanticipated circumstances:

●     “There were certain men who were defiled by a corpse [during Passover] and they came before Moses … who said, ‘Stand still that I may hear what the Lord will command concerning you’.” (Numbers 9:1)

●     “And the Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the name of the Lord and cursed; and so they brought him to Moses.  …  Then they put him in custody, that the mind of the Lord might be shown to them.” (Leviticus 24:11-12)

●     “Those who found the man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day brought him to Moses and Aaron, and all the congregation.  They put him under guard because it had not been explained what should be done to him.” (Numbers 15:33-34)

Given that there are always situations (like what Moses encountered) necessitating clarification of uncertainties, it will be imprudent for modern-day Christians to suppress doubts that are bothering them deep inside.  Each inquirer must take the initiative to seek spiritual counsel for the issues gnawing at the foundation of his/her faith.  If the leader/helper offering succour is not adequately equipped for the task at hand, the inquirer should be encouraged to search the scriptures and in the process learn how the doubt(s) ought to be resolved “for the word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword … and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).  In actual fact, the New Testament epistles contains many solutions — especially those penned by Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit — to faith-related quandaries involving, for instance, Corinthian believers already married to agnostic spouses or Thessalonian Christians refusing to work while awaiting Jesus’ return.  Moreover, believers are at liberty to approach the Lord for help in understanding spiritual matters: “if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask in faith of God, Who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given him” (James 1:5-6).

 

Before concluding the present discussion, it is apt is throw up the following poser: since there are repeated allusions in the Bible to the proliferation of false christs and false prophets, shouldn’t Christians heed the commandment issued by God Himself that “this Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth but you shall meditate in it day and night” (Joshua 1:8)?  Also to be borne in mind is the ominous forewarning that “in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, …” (I Timothy 4:1-2).  Only those fed on “solid food ... [will] by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14) so that “we should no longer be children tossed about to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men [steeped] in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting” (Ephesians 4:14).