If the light that
is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Every now and then
I see someone who seemed to be well grounded in the
faith fall for one of the many deceptions doing the
rounds of Christendom today. I frequently struggle with
the reasons for this, especially, when that person is a
teacher who seemed to have a good grasp of the
fundamentals of the faith. How can this happen? Is it
possible that one who has had great understanding can be
taken in by deception and error and if so, how does that
happen?
It is clearly
possible that someone, well-versed in matters of
doctrine, can be deceived by some error or another.
There are many examples in history of men who were
mightily used of God, but who held to some teaching
which is not fully orthodox. The reformers were no doubt
powerful tools in the hand of God and yet, held to many
teachings that most of us would reject. The same could
be said of many others. Of course, there are teachings
that are not essential to the faith and salvation while
others are vital.
Now, our faith is
a very logical one. We are not only called to love Him
with our heart, but also with our whole mind (Mat
22:37). I am very much against the idea of parking your
brain at the door when you begin to deal with the Word.
God and His Word are not irrational or illogical. One of
the evidences for the existence of God and the
inspiration of His Word is that the Bible and creation
clearly reveals a rational, logical designer and author.
Our faith is not irrational and if you have been taught
to commit intellectual suicide in order to be a
believer, then you have been moving in the wrong
circles. Yes, we will never fully understand God or His
Word, not because it is irrational, but simply because
He is too profound for our puny brains.
But in spite of
the evidently logical dimensions to our doctrine, there
is also a very important spiritual dimension. "But
the natural man does not receive the things of the
Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can
he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
(1 Corinthians 2:14). A university professor will not
receive or know the things of God’s Spirit unless he is
born again. I have met many such men who had the best
education, brilliant minds and years of study in
theology, yet remain ignorant of spiritual things
because they are simply “natural men”. Nicodemus was
such a man. He had a great education in the Law, he was
a very prominent rabbi of the Jews and yet, Jesus told
him that unless he was born again, he would not “see”
the Kingdom (John 3:3). Saul had a pedigree and
righteousness more than anyone would be able to boast of
(Philippians 3:4-6), but he still missed the point
entirely until Jesus apprehended him on the way to Damascus. Saul’s mentor, Gamaliel was one of
the greatest sages in all rabbinic history, but he never
got the message that Jesus is the Christ!
So because
there is this spiritual dimension to our understanding
the things of God, the answers to knowing the truth and
the whole truth do not lie in a purely academic study of
the Bible. We must have a spiritual condition which is
conducive to learning and retaining spiritual truth.
This is clearly illustrated in the parable of the sower
where Jesus mentions hardness of heart, shallowness and
worldliness as things that will prevent the seed of the
Word from bearing fruit. The teaching of this parable is
clearly that we must create the right environment within
our hearts and minds in order that the Word may bring
forth fruit and achieve its purpose.
If the right
environment will cause the seed to grow, then the wrong
environment will also cause the seed to die as it does
in the case of the stony and weed infested soils. At the
conclusion of Luke’s version of this parable, Jesus
says: "Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever
has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not
have, even what he seems to have will be taken from
him.”" (Luke 8:18) (The word “seems” is also
translated “thinks”). How we hear is very important. If
we hear with a rebellious or unbelieving heart or just
an unwillingness to be fully obedient, the Word will not
benefit us. If we hear with a willingness to submit to
the Lord and His Word and an eagerness to do His will,
the Word will bring forth much fruit.
The verse also
says whoever has, to him more will be given. This is
clearly in the context of the sowing of the Word,
hearing and truth. This has nothing to do with material
wealth or anything else outside the spiritual. So as we
have the Word, hold and cling to it and obey it He will
give us more revelation. By this I do not mean
extra-biblical visions or revelation but simply that
enlightenment of the Word which comes by the Spirit of
God and which reveals Truth.
But here comes
the flipside: “and whoever does not have, even what he
seems to have will be taken from him”. Jesus is speaking
about people who have a semblance of knowledge because
he says “he seems to have”. So they appear to have an
understanding of the Word and of Truth, but it is in
appearance only. There is no substance. Did the
Pharisees seem to have knowledge and spiritual aptitude?
I am sure they did, else how could they have fooled so
many people? Even as we read their writings today there
is often a lot of sense in many of their ideas. They
certainly thought they had their ducks in a row. Was
there any substance to their knowledge? No, Jesus called
them blind leaders of the blind. (Matthew 15:14). Many
of them could recite the entire Hebrew scriptures but
when confronted by the Word become flesh, face to face,
they did not recognize Him.
How can we
protect ourselves from error? Even if you understood
everything that was wrong about every false teaching in
the world today, that would not protect you against the
very next repackaged heresy that comes along. Our only
protection is to remain humbly obedient to our Lord. As
we harden our hearts against those parts of the message
that we don’t like, we become more and more vulnerable
to deception. As we obey and cherish every single word
that proceeds from the mouth of God, whether pleasant or
not, more will be given to us.
"The coming
of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan,
with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all
unrighteous deception among those who perish, because
they did not receive the love of the truth, that they
might be saved. And for this reason God will send them
strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that
they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth
but had pleasure in unrighteousness." (2
Thessalonians 2:9-12)
Anton
Bosch
antonbosch@sbcglobal.net
www.abcd.co.za/offi
www.abcd.co.za/plumbline
Tel 818 846 5520
Fax 818 846 4357
3310 West
Magnolia Blvd
Burbank, California
91505-2907
USA