THINKING
GOD’S THOUGHTS AFTER HIM
Did you know that some liberal theologians accuse Bible
believers of checking their brains outside the church door before they enter to
worship? Because we accept the inerrancy of scripture, the deity of Christ, the
miracles of the Bible, Christ's bodily resurrection, his ascension to the
Father and his second coming, liberal theologians criticize us for being
gullible, naive or even worse. They sometimes ask: How can intelligent people
accept the Bible's account of creation, the story of Jonah and the big fish,
the stilling of the storm on the
The truth is very different from the unfounded and foolish
accusations of the liberal theologians. The Bible demands that we use our minds
to examine God's revelation. In the seventh century B. C, the Lord God
challenged his people: "Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red
like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isa. 1:18). You may remember hearing
former president Lyndon Johnson quote these words from the great Messianic
prophet. I am not sure president Johnson wanted others to reason with him. He
seemed to be more concerned that others would agree with him. He often bullied
people into accepting his views. Our God does not bully anyone into accepting
his will. He appeals to our minds. Paul commanded the Roman Christians:
"Be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of you
mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, wilI
of God" (Rom. 12:2).
Did you take note of Paul's emphasis on the mind? The word
"prove" (dokimazo in the Greek) means to examine with a
view of accepting or rejecting the will of God. A different Greek word is used
in the following passage, but its import is basically the same. John admonished
his readers: "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits
whether they are of God: because many false prophets have gone out into the
world" (1 John 4:1). The Lord does not demand that we accept whatever we
hear or see. We must use our minds to examine what is being taught. We are not
little birds sitting around with our mouths open to see what will be given to us.
We must be discerning. The author of Hebrews tells us: "Strong meat
belongs to them who are of full age (or who are mature), even to those who by
reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil"
(Heb. 5:14). Discernment always involves the use of the mind.
No Bible writer ever offers a formal argument for the
existence of God, as many philosophers have done through the years. But the
Bible writers appeal to our minds to show that men who do not believe in God
reject an abundance of evidence for his existence. The Psalmist David appeals
to our minds: "The heavens declare the glory of God: and the firmament
shows his handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night shows
knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of
the world. In them has he set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a
bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoices as a strong man to run a
race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the
ends of it: and there is nothing hidden from the heat thereof' (Psa. 19:1-6).
Romans 1:18-22 provides an inspired commentary on Psalm 19.
If a man can examine our physical universe, including human beings, and not
believe in God, he will be without excuse in the day of judgment. He cannot
say, as Bertrand Russell, the infamous agnostic, once said. An interviewer
asked Russell: "What will you say to God, if there is a God, in the final judgment,
if there is a final judgment?" Russell replied: "I will tell him that
he did not give me enough evidence." The truth of the matter is: There is
evidence everywhere; if a man will use the mind God gave him to examine the
evidence. Is it possible some atheists, agnostics and other unbelievers are
like the people Paul described in Romans? "And even as they did not like
to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do
those things that are not convenient" (Rom. 1:28).
Dr. Thomas B. Warren was one of my graduate professors. Not
long before I became one of his students, he had debated one of
Does God have the authority to tell people: "Do this
or that simply because I tell you to?" There are hundreds of examples of
God's speaking without providing the rationale behind the command or law. But
even when that occurs, it is understood that God gives the instructions and
information for our good. Moses asked the Israelites: "And now, 0 Israel,
what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, and
to walk in his ways, and to love him, and to serve him with all your heart and
with all your soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes,
which I command you, for your good" (Dt. 10:12-13)? Even if we do not have
the wisdom or the foresight to understand why God has given certain
commandments, we must remember that they are for our good.
But many times when the Lord gives commandments for us to
obey, he furnishes reasons why we should obey those commandments. There are many
examples in both testaments, but I shall concentrate on examples in the New
Testament. Paul outlines the purpose of the Roman letter in these familiar
words: "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of
God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the
Greek. For therein (that is, in the gospel of Christ) is the righteousness of
God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by
faith" (Rom. 1:16-17). Paul develops that theme in the first eleven
chapters of Romans. He tells us, for example, that men cannot be saved by
keeping the Law of Moses. "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall
no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But
now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by
the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of
Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them who believe: for there is no
difference" (Rom. 3:20-22).
Paul believed that the Mosaic covenant came from God
almighty. But he knew it was no longer binding on anyone. He asked the Romans:
"Do you not know, brethren, (for 1 speak to them who know the law,) how
that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? For the woman who has
a husband is bound by the law of her husband so long as he lives; but if the
husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then, if while
her husband lives, she be married to another man, she shall be called an
adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she
is no adulteress, though she be married to another man." Please listen to
Paul's conclusion. "Wherefore, my brethren, you also are become dead to
the law by the body of Christ; that you should be married to another, even to
him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto
God" (Rom. 7:1-4).
After arguing for eleven chapters that the Mosaic covenant
has been replaced by the gospel of Christ, Paul makes an application of his
argument. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that
you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is
your reasonable service" (Rom. 12:1). Incidentally, the word
"reasonable" is a translation of the Greek logikos from which
we derive our English word "logical." The apostle Peter uses the same
word in the following passage. "Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all
guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes,
desire the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby" (l Pet.
2:1-2). The word "sincere" is from the Greek logikos. According
to the apostle Peter, the word of God is logical, rational, reasonable. You do
not have to leave your brains outside when you go to worship the true God as
revealed in the Bible.
1 Corinthians 15 is a powerful argument for the final
resurrection of the dead. Paul bases his argument for the resurrection of all
people on the fact that our Lord was raised from the dead. There were people at
In this great chapter, Paul presents one argument after
another to inspire and to comfort us that death is not the end of our
existence. He uses reasons-logical, unanswerable reasons-to give us hope for
eternity. And because we are going to be raised, we must always abound in the
work of the Lord. If there is no life after death, why not eat and drink for
tomorrow we die (1 Cor. 15:32)? The apostle Paul and thousands of first century
Christians made great sacrifices for the cause of Christ. In many cases, like
Stephen, they paid with their lives. But if there is no final resurrection,
such sacrifices make no sense. In fact, if people really understand the meaning
of life, they know there is no real motivation for doing good, if we are not
going to be raised and if there is no eternal home of the soul.
The book of Hebrews proves beyond any doubt that the Mosaic
covenant has been abolished and the new covenant has been established. Hebrews
1 shows why the new covenant is better than the old covenant. To put it in very
plain language: We have a better prophet, priest and king. "Therefore we
ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at
any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels (that is,
the Law of Moses) was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience
received its just recompense of reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect so
great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was
confirmed unto us by them who heard him; God bearing them witness, both with
signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit,
according to his will" (Heb. 2:1-4)?
How can anyone escape the powerful reasoning on the part of
the inspired author of this book? Throughout Hebrews, the author continues to
provide reasons why we must live by the gospel-not the Law of Moses. Hebrews 7
teaches that there has been a change in the priesthood. And where there has
been a change in the priesthood, there has to be a change in the law (Heb.
7:12). Since the law had faults, it had to be removed so that we could have a
better covenant (Heb. 8:6-13). Now please listen to the words of the Master
himself. "Lo, I come to do thy will, 0 God. He takes away the first
(covenant, that is) that he may establish the second (covenant). By the which
will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all" (Heb. 10:9-10). After showing that the new covenant is superior
in every way to the old covenant, the author of Hebrews makes an application of
the new covenant to the lives of all who live under that covenant. We must use
our minds to ascertain the significance of this great book and to apply it to
our lives.
I hope you took notice of the reading from Hebrews 2. The
inspired author affirmed that Jesus Christ began to speak the great salvation.
What did our Lord say about the way we are to be forgiven and to become a part
of the
Did the apostles confirm what Christ began to preach? A
careful examination of the conversions recorded in Acts of the Apostles will
provide an answer to my question. I shall provide several pertinent passages
for your consideration. The apostle Peter commanded the believing Jews on
Pentecost: "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus
Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit" (Acts 2:38). Did the Jews obey the divine command? "Then they
who gladly received the word were baptized: and there were added unto them the
same day about three thousands souls" (Acts 2:41). When they repented and
were baptized, were their sins remitted? Did they have to do anything else to
be forgiven? You cannot be unaware of the answers to these questions. How can
anyone ignore the events on Pentecost, that is, if they are really interested
in doing exactly what the Lord demands? Can you discover in these verses the
Calvinistic doctrine of salvation by grace alone through faith alone?
One of the most unusual conversions in the book of Acts is
that of the Corinthians. As you know from your study of ancient history, the
city of
When the Corinthians believed and were baptized, were their
sins forgiven? You know they were. Did their obedience to the Lord in baptism
make them members of the body of Christ? If you have the slightest doubt,
please listen. "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body,
whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have all been
made to drink into one Spirit" (l Cor. 12:13).
I have one final question before our times expires. Did God
almighty bear witness to the apostles' preaching by enabling them to perform
spectacular miracles? Luke makes this comment on Paul's preaching at
In this brief study today, have I thought God
thoughts after him or have I been guilty of imposing my thoughts on his
inspired word? Please think seriously about these matters.
Winford Claiborne
The International Gospel Hour
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