April 30, 2016 THE WAY
Acts 19:23: “And at about that time there arose no small disturbance concerning the Way.”
Galatians 1:8: “But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed.”
To our own hurt, the culture in which we live resist the idea of absolutes and embraces the belief that all is relative. The popular message of the culture is to live in whatever way pleases you the most; after all, self-fulfillment is the goal and the “right” of every person. How extreme and how prevalent this idea of self-fulfillment is in the culture was recently demonstrated when a court ruling issued an order saying that if a man “felt like a woman”, he was free to use the women’s bathroom! Even among Christians, it is commonly accepted that it is ok if we all believe different, and as a result the church fails to present the clear message of the gospel to the culture. Man likes to interpret, or even twist the scripture in such a way that it is more palatable to his own preferences. Saul, who became known as Paul, had an encounter with God, in which God gave Paul an understanding of the gospel and Paul spent his life proclaiming this gospel and he was far from “tolerant” when it came to proclaiming and defending the gospel. Before the early believers were called Christians, others referred to them as being part of “the Way.” It may come as a shock to some in our culture, but there is one gospel, one message, and it does matter greatly that we believe the gospel as presented in the scriptures. The gospel is well defined, its message is clear, and a degree in theology is not required to understand its message. There is a maturing process in the faith and in our understanding of the scriptures that should be taking place, and because of this, we may find that we had a misunderstanding of a particular part of scripture, but then we came to understand the true meaning of that particular scripture. We find a good example of a proper view of scripture in Acts 17:11 when we learn that the Berean believers “searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth.” It also must be understood that the Holy Spirit reveals the scriptures to us, and He often gives us a personal application of a particular scripture but He never contradicts the scriptures. As Peter Parris once said: “The scriptures do contradict themselves-but only in our mind.” There is a right way; there is a wrong way; there is a way that leads to life; and there is a way that leads to death. This is not to say that we can’t have dialogue, and perhaps some disagreement at times concerning how we interpret a particular scripture, but as we grow in our understanding of the gospel, we will find that we will be coming into unity in our understanding of the scriptures. The scriptures were not given as a set of rules by which we are to live, but were given as a revelation of God and given to reveal our identity in Him. God looks at the heart of man, and indeed He has given a new heart to those who believe in Him as Savior. The gospel-the scriptures, were given so that we might learn of Him and learn what it means to be a “new creation.” Yes, we are a part of the Way. May we not be “tolerant” and may we be “absolute” when it comes to seeing the scriptures as THE Way to life.
Proverbs 16:25: “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”
Blessings,
Buddy
Acts 19:23: “And at about that time there arose no small disturbance concerning the Way.”
Galatians 1:8: “But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed.”
To our own hurt, the culture in which we live resist the idea of absolutes and embraces the belief that all is relative. The popular message of the culture is to live in whatever way pleases you the most; after all, self-fulfillment is the goal and the “right” of every person. How extreme and how prevalent this idea of self-fulfillment is in the culture was recently demonstrated when a court ruling issued an order saying that if a man “felt like a woman”, he was free to use the women’s bathroom! Even among Christians, it is commonly accepted that it is ok if we all believe different, and as a result the church fails to present the clear message of the gospel to the culture. Man likes to interpret, or even twist the scripture in such a way that it is more palatable to his own preferences. Saul, who became known as Paul, had an encounter with God, in which God gave Paul an understanding of the gospel and Paul spent his life proclaiming this gospel and he was far from “tolerant” when it came to proclaiming and defending the gospel. Before the early believers were called Christians, others referred to them as being part of “the Way.” It may come as a shock to some in our culture, but there is one gospel, one message, and it does matter greatly that we believe the gospel as presented in the scriptures. The gospel is well defined, its message is clear, and a degree in theology is not required to understand its message. There is a maturing process in the faith and in our understanding of the scriptures that should be taking place, and because of this, we may find that we had a misunderstanding of a particular part of scripture, but then we came to understand the true meaning of that particular scripture. We find a good example of a proper view of scripture in Acts 17:11 when we learn that the Berean believers “searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth.” It also must be understood that the Holy Spirit reveals the scriptures to us, and He often gives us a personal application of a particular scripture but He never contradicts the scriptures. As Peter Parris once said: “The scriptures do contradict themselves-but only in our mind.” There is a right way; there is a wrong way; there is a way that leads to life; and there is a way that leads to death. This is not to say that we can’t have dialogue, and perhaps some disagreement at times concerning how we interpret a particular scripture, but as we grow in our understanding of the gospel, we will find that we will be coming into unity in our understanding of the scriptures. The scriptures were not given as a set of rules by which we are to live, but were given as a revelation of God and given to reveal our identity in Him. God looks at the heart of man, and indeed He has given a new heart to those who believe in Him as Savior. The gospel-the scriptures, were given so that we might learn of Him and learn what it means to be a “new creation.” Yes, we are a part of the Way. May we not be “tolerant” and may we be “absolute” when it comes to seeing the scriptures as THE Way to life.
Proverbs 16:25: “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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