Differentiating Bible Precepts
August 24, 2024
To differentiate is to discern differences, “to mark or show a difference in…contrasting element{s} that distinguishes…to separate into kinds, classes, or categories.” I extracted this from definitions found at MerriamWebster.com.
Understanding that verb is essential to combining Bible precepts into a stronger alloy than as separate metals. It is not unlike the directive from Jesus’ teaching, “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you {Religious Leaders}. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income, …but you ignore the more important aspects of the law — justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.” — Matthew 23:23, New Living Translation, my edit { }.
What Jesus’ opponents were doing ties into the errant process in which people have “…twisted {Paul’s words} to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture…this will result in their destruction:” — 2 Peter 3:16, ibid, my edit { }.
In a Biological frame of reference in which dissection pulls things apart, having the main purpose of scrutinizing the parts, there is no concern for putting the frog back together again. The frog is dead.
However, the Bible is a living and breathing revelation that cannot be treated in the same way.
Denominational Christianity — whether Roman Catholic, Protestant, or other — bear a great resemblance to that process of dissection. In my observation, it has a similarity to those who, way back then, Jesus was reprimanding.
This whole essay is not about which denomination is the “right denomination,” but the theme hinges on what and who you believe Jesus to be.
I suppose, if you believe Him to be just some kind of guru or existential philosopher of ethics and morality, none of this will really matter. However, if you still are seeking answers to life’s essential questions and are pondering whether or not God of the Bible really exists, this writing might help…
You must understand two things: First, there is a differentiation between hoping that there are answers by endlessly pondering pipedreams, and second, finally discovering that answers really do exist.
There is a difference between wishing there is a God in Heaven and the knowing that God in Heaven really does exist. There is a vast difference between meat and potatoes on the table and the vague hopefulness that, just maybe, there’s a store somewhere nearby and we have enough money in our wallet…
Now, I grew up in a Protestant family. My wife grew up in a Catholic one. Our perspectives began to meld when, separately and at very different times and situations, we turned to Jesus to be rescued from the petrified forests of our beliefs which we had been aimlessly wandering through.
All denominational Christian churches are the fossilized bones of Religious leaders who have always been like long dead and extinct relics in their understandings of God, Jesus, and the Bible… I am comparing them not only to the Scribes and Pharisees Jesus had dressed down, but to the historical assembling of Believers recorded in Acts 2:38–47 (ibid) :
Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized {into} the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away — all who have been called by the Lord our God.” Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!”
Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day — about 3,000 in all.
All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.
A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity — all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. — ibid, my edit { }.
By comparison, what are today’s Religious Leaders doing?
Are they preaching repentance? By my Bible reading, the Apostles weren’t preaching salvation by joining their group or by church membership, nor by all the various sacraments, rites, and observances. From the above verses, can you?
How ever did Religious Leaders ever get that dogma from what the Apostles taught? (Now, I know all about all the governing Leaders who established these things throughout Church History in various jurisdictional councils and synods, but I guess I would put it to them, “Who do you think you people are?!?”)
Are they explaining and encouraging justice, mercy, and faith?
Are they inspiringing actions like those early assemblies of Believers?
Have they introduced you truly and experientially in receiving the Holy Spirit? Or, is it just a ritualistic “it’s automatic, because we say so?”
Are you filled with awe on Sunday mornings and during the week?
Where is the continuous love and joyous fellowship?
Where is the sharing of personal property and wealth?
Where is the zeal to praise and worship God with thankfulness?
Where is the generosity to the poor?
I suppose I should make sure to admit, right here and now, that there are plenty of teachings to do good works… Yes, tis true, but without knowing what works God actually has planned for us to do, or, for that matter, knowing what exactly are good works — as opposed to what are just self-serving enterprises or simply ways to feel good about ourselves to balance out the times we feel bad about ourselves…
Just what and where exactly is the lit path?
“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” — Micah 6:8, New International Version.
Please allow me to point out that there are three essential elements in this short verse:
- acting justly,
- loving mercy, and
- walking humbly with God…
And that last one is not simply walking humbly, but what makes it an essential is using the whole phrase “walking humbly with God.” Maybe I can’t speak for all people, but when I go for a walk with Patty, I am right beside her, and we’re talking, pointing out whatever grabs our attention, and even talking about stuff — from everyday family events to questions and answers about life.
Oh, I know this has been a rather harsh and even cynical assessment of we humans and our Religious Leaders, and I am glad that there are a bunch of folks who are genuinely nice people, demonstrating generosity to their neighbors in so many ways. My life has been full of such people, as well as the phonies..
After all, I have sometimes joined in some work I thought was beneficial to my fellow man, but when I got home, it would be just a matter of time before, all over again, I would begin to feel bad about myself, or in some other way unsettled. Then, I would have to look for other ways to feel good and to pacify my restless soul. Isn’t that true in general with all of us?
(By the way, I used alcohol as my pacifier. What do you use?)
One of the points I am trying to make here is that I am trying to explain that when we are doing what our own ideas of “good” works are, they are often done, not for accomplishing God’s purposes, but done within our own frame of reference which could even be at cross purposes with God’s plans. “…having a form of godliness but denying its power.” 2 Timothy 3:5. And I should interject here, too, that denying God’s power is simply ignoring His authority and choosing to decide for ourselves what is good and even attempting to figure out, on our own, what the details are of what exactly is that good the Lord requires.
Just the same, knowing those details is “far above our pay grade.”
It would take a miracle to discover them.
Here then, I think, is a good place for where the Bible’s definition of faith comes in. Here is the definition in Hebrew 11:1, translated three slightly different ways:
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not being seen.” — Berean Literal Bible.
“Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.” — New Living Translation.
“Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see.” Majority Standard Bible.
The keys here are the words found in those three translations: assurance, conviction, reality, evidence, and certainty. Pick one. Pick them all. A word in one language sometimes needs several words or a phrase to convey just what one word’s meaning is in our own language. So, start with the low hanging fruit: We all need to start where the first Disciples started. Wasn’t that with a personal relationship, walking with and watching Him, and talking with Him, and asking questions, and listening to Him?
Their minds had a whole lot of blanks to fill in. After all, they were ordinary people, living ordinary lives, and working ordinary jobs…
Yet, they left the ordinary to follow Him, and beyond that, they stuck with Him, and in the end, they knew that Jesus was the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
One final challenge question: Does membership in your denomination give you anything like what I have written here? Or, are you just wandering around, like Patty and I used to do, in an old fossilized forest?
Here comes the aforementioned miracle I said it would take:
Jesus promised, “I came that {you and I} may have life, and may have it abundantly..” — John 10:10, Berean Literal Bible, my edit { }.
