My Trustworthy Guide

My Trustworthy Guide

“Do you sit in judgment on the Bible or does the Bible sit in judgment on you?”  I don’t remember who first asked that question or where I read it, but it is an extremely important one.  When we encounter teaching that goes counter to our preferences or even cultural conditioning, whose authority will prevail – the Bible’s or our own ‘wisdom?’  In our time, there are a plethora of issues on which the Scripture speaks challenging conventional wisdom;  speaking to gender issues, to leadership issues, to our sexuality, about our origins.  We, yes those who are Spirit-filled Christians, will be tempted to sit in judgment on passages that seem ‘out of date,’ as if we are wiser than God.

Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, author of The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert, was a gay woman, a professor of English and women’s studies, who encountered the Bible. After observing the lives of a couple of authentic Christians, she re-examined the Bible.  She writes, “I started reading the Bible. I read the way a glutton devours. I read it many times… in multiple translations. …  A transgendered friend corned me and warned, ‘This Bible reading is changing you, Rosaria.’ … I continued reading the Bible all the while fighting the idea that it was inspired. But the Bible got bigger inside me than I.” (Christianity Today, 2/2013)  Today she is a Christian, serving God, but it did not happen without a struggle of her will with the wisdom of God!

When I come to certain parts of the Bible I am tempted to dismiss them as ancient superstition and would, except for one major fact! I have a high view of the Scripture as the inspired word of God. There is a big step between saying, "I just don't get it," and outright rejection of a passage.  Some people seem to delight in tearing up the Bible because of obscure and difficult passages. Ignoring the beauty of much of the Holy Scripture- the prayers and meditations of the Psalms, the accounts of God's love and provision for His people, the amazing revelations of the grace of God in Jesus Christ - they go to passages like Numbers 5 and say, "That's your Bible?" Yes, I answer, that is a part of my Bible, a part that I honestly admit I do not understand. But I do understand, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16, NLT)

We are called to "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15, NKJV) That includes the "huh?" passages that defy our full understanding as much as those that yield easily to our minds and that feed us with Truth.  We must come to the Bible with humility. We cannot assume to be its judge. It judges us! Yet, at the same time, I am not gullible, nor do I give up my mind to simplistic, overly literal methods of interpretation of the Scripture.

If we would please God, we will remain submitted to the God who gave the Word to us. This is the Truth: "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. It is God’s way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do." (2 Timothy 3:16-17, NLT)

Are you a student of the whole Bible? Do you read the words with reverence and love, praying for the Spirit to guide you into all Truth? 

Here’s a word from the Word. Make it your prayer. "How sweet are your words to my taste; they are sweeter than honey. Your commandments give me understanding; no wonder I hate every false way of life. Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. I’ve promised it once, and I’ll promise again: I will obey your wonderful laws." (Psalm 119:103-106, NLT)

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How Firm A Foundation

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,

Is laid for your faith in His excellent word.

What more can He say, than to you He hath said,

To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed!

For I am thy God, I will still give thee aid.

I'll strengthen thee, help thee,

And cause thee to stand,

Upheld by My gracious, omnipotent Hand.

Anne Steele | George Keith | John Rippon | Joseph Funk

Public Domain