Always Be Prepared

[dave c]

simpletruth #138q Revisited 09May10 salicart@msn.com

HOSEA 10:12—Part Seventeen: Always Be Prepared

by rev. dave c

Hosea 10:12, Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you (NKJV).

‘The Great Commandment’ states, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” and, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mk 12:30&31, NIV). ‘The Great Commission’ states, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mk 16:15&16, NIV). Too often I hear Christians, who range from new converts to Pastors with 40 years of service, use the Great Commandment and the Great Commission as the basis for avoidance of Scriptural issues that they deem, “divisive theological doctrine.” In some form or other they can be heard to say, “Just give me the love of Jesus in my heart and on my lips.” While on the surface this attitude may reflect a desire for simplicity and purity of devotion to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, it can be just as often an unexpressed desire to avoid dealing with some of the more difficult aspects of our faith; lack of exposure to, or comprehension of, the width and depth of Scripture; a subtle opinion that most people are not capable of understanding complex issues; or, at its worst, it is a statement born of arrogant anti-intellectualism masquerading as being “spiritually minded.”

Jesus tells us to love God with ALL our heart [the seat of our emotions (Lk. 24:32), intellect (Mk. 2:6,8), and the will (Mk. 3:5)], ALL our mind (the center of abstraction, memory, and rational/intuitive understanding), ALL our soul (the locus of sentience), and ALL our strength (physical, mental, and spiritual abilities). Please note that the realm of the mind is a common denominator for each of the areas listed above that are commanded by Christ to be devoted to God—not just material and spiritual commitments...and certainly not just the manifesting of emotional responses to the gift of His love and sacrifice. One of the joys of Christian faith is knowing that no matter how superficially, nor how in depth, you dive into what we believe, you surface with the same conclusion. “Jesus loves me this I know….” Of all people, Christians should be the last to fear examining the precepts and revelations of the Bible from every possible angle—including, and perhaps especially, intellectually. Our God is the Creator, Sustainer, and Lord of the material Universe. He is Spirit in Truth and in Reality. And, friends, according to John, He is also the Logos (the Word), and the Logos specifically and directly engages the sphere of the mind. God wants our very best...our first fruits...materially, spiritually, and mentally.

...But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…(1Pe 3:15, NIV). All people everywhere need to hear the basic Gospel message that God the Father loves us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for us on the Cross, and that through the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ rose again so that we could be forgiven our sins and that we might be assured of eternal salvation. This is fundamental to the Great Commission, but note that Peter tells us to “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone….” This includes people with some knowledge of the Bible, whether saved or unsaved, who ask us questions about the love and mercy and compassion of God in conjunction with terms such as predestination, foreknowledge, preordained, elected, and chosen, as compared to the concept of human freewill.

It is all well and good for ourselves if we have remanded difficult issues over to the covering of grace within our own walk in Christ, but telling a seeker after Truth, or a new convert, or someone who is beginning to really read Scripture, “Oh, don’t waste your time on things like that...it’ll only distract you from your faith in, and your worship of, our Lord Jesus,” immediately communicates the ideas that we don’t study the Bible in toto, there are certain doctrinal subjects that are not to be discussed in polite Christian circles, and/or spiritual people don’t mess with such things. James tells us in his epistle, Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly (Ja 3:1; NIV). This is not an admonition to avoid discussing any, or all, Biblical doctrines. It is an admonition to rightly present the Word of God.

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness…(2Ti 2:15&16, NIV). If we are to apply these exhortations from Paul to Mark 16:16, Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved…, in the face of Romans 9:18, God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden, we are faced with a seeming contradiction in the nature of God. Avoiding worldly and empty chatter is not ignoring these issues (ignorance leads to worldly and empty chatter), rather it behooves us to prayerfully study and discuss such matters in order that we might accurately handle the word of truth...as a workman who does not need to be ashamed when we are asked questions concerning such basic doctrines of Christianity as that of God’s mercy. “Jesus, please grant us power and discernment through the Holy Spirit so that we are always prepared to present Your Written and Living Word with gentleness and respect to all who ask us the reason and the source for our hope. I ask this in Your holy name, amen.”