October 11, 2017 THE VEIL TAKEN AWAY
2 Corinthians 3:14-16 “But their minds were hardened; but until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; but whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
We should not be surprised or alarmed when one who is not a believer does not understand the scriptures or the things of the Lord and rejects Christianity. As this scripture says, those who do not know the Lord have a veil over their minds and their hearts, making it impossible for them to see and understand the truths of God’s word. One might then ask if one is blinded by the veil, and they cannot remove the veil themselves, how will they ever be able to see. The hope for those that do not know the Lord and are blinded by the veil, is that by turning to the Lord, the veil is removed. Having the veil removed does not happen as a result of understanding the scriptures alone, but rather the scriptures can be understood once the veil has been removed by turning to the Lord. We need to understand the order-first there is a turning to the Lord, then there is understanding-not vice versa. God certainly uses the teaching and preaching of the scriptures to reach those that are lost, and hearing such teaching and preaching may cause them to realize their lost condition and in turn cause them to turn to the Lord that they might be saved. Once they turn to the Lord, and the veil is removed, then the Christian faith and God’s word makes sense! I also think that it is possible for a believer to allow a veil to develop over his or her mind and heart. Should a believer continue to live according to self instead of walking according to the Spirit, they become callous to the things of the Lord, and in a sense, become blind. Also, when a believer reads and interprets scriptures according his own preferences and is not open to the teachings of all the scriptures, he develops blind spots. A major part of having the veil removed is understanding all of the implications of our salvation under the new covenant, mainly, that of understanding the nature of our new birth-that we have died to self and have been raised with Christ to a new way of living. Another danger that can cause us to become callous or blind is to be content with reading the scriptures but not obeying the teachings of scripture. James 1:22 warns us about obeying God’s word by saying “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” And in James 1:25 we read: “But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it-not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it-they will be blessed in what they do” Note in the verse for today, that it is when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. The veil will not be removed by turning to church attendance, more self-discipline, the traditions of man, the doing of good deeds, making personal sacrifices, or anything else. Only as our heart fully turns to the Lord will the veil be removed. God is desiring to reveal more of Himself to us, but He has chosen to do so if we seek Him first above all else. Only in Him or our eyes opened, and only in Him do we find life, light, wisdom, understanding, and freedom, and only in Him are we made complete.
1 John 1:5: “This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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