God Speaks

I’m telling you to love your enemies and do good to them. Lend to people without expecting to get anything back. If you do this, you will have a great reward. You will be children of the Most High God. Yes, because God is good even to the people who are full of sin and not thankful. Luke 6:35

My Response

“I do not want to do it! I cannot do it! But help me do it anyway.”

Bridging The Gap

I am ashamed of it, but I must confess its truth. I have read this verse numerous times without ever really considering what it means. Recently, I have had to consider it more closely.

Law school is not a safe place. God is not mentioned there. It is a place where religion is a byword. Needless to say, my trip to law school significantly challenged to my way of thinking. Life is no longer neat and clean.

The difficulties I faced in school did not come from wicked unbelievers who assaulted my faith by spewing forth heresies. Rather, my troubles arose from my reading of Scripture. My challenges materialized when I realized that Jesus was not merely calling me to be “pure,” but to be and do something entirely new. He was asking me to “love my enemies.”

Now, you say, “What is the problem? You seem like a nice chap, and therefore probably did not have any enemies in school. And, even if you did, why could you not love them?”

I Do Not Want To! I cannot do it!

Well, there were two reasons why I could not love them. Ready?

First, my classmates were really bad people. I mean it! I will not list my reasons for saying this, as I am sure that you can imagine some gross sins without my assistance (and your imagination would probably be right in this case).

As a “good” person, I had nothing in common with these people--nothing! As a result, I was neither universally liked nor appreciated. I would even say that I had some enemies. I came to terms with this reality. I was even content with leaving them alone. “At least I will remain pure,” I thought.

But then everything changed. I read Luke 6:35: “I’m telling you to love your enemies and do good to them. Lend to people without expecting to get anything back. If you do this, you will have a great reward. You will be children of the Most High God. Yes, because God is good even to the people who are full of sin and not thankful.”

Wow!

I told God that I could not do it. I said, “They are awful! They do not like me! I do not like them! I simply cannot love them!” I really struggled with the idea of loving my enemies.

Despite my resistance, Luke 6:35 did not change. I really wanted it to change, but it did not budge. Finally, I gave in and told God that I was willing to do it--to love those scofflaws.

This brought me to the second hurdle, which was twice as challenging as the first. This obstacle was more difficult because Jesus had something specific in mind when He said, “love your enemies.” He did not mean for the command to merely be aspirational. Rather, the text was to be applied practically. This troubled me because I wanted to love my classmates inwardly. You know, I expected to think happy thoughts about my enemies and maybe, if they were lucky, I would smile at them once in a while.

Well that is not what Jesus had in mind.

Right there in Luke 6:35, I read that we are to “do good” to our enemies. To give, expecting nothing in return. Then I read that we are to “forgive” our enemies (verse 37). And, finally, I went to Matthew’s rendition of the passage and found that I was to “pray” for my enemies (Matthew 5: 44). Jesus wanted me to do three things to love those “evil” people. I was to: serve; forgive; and pray for them.

When I realized what God wanted me to do, I seriously considered returning to what I fondly refer to as my “purity theology” because I recognized that it was a lot easier to keep myself clean by avoiding flawed people than to actually practice Bible religion.

I again had a choice.

After much deliberation, I surrendered to God. I attempted to put His words into practice. Although my efforts were by no means perfect, I worked to fulfill Christ’s calling to serve, forgive, and pray for my enemies.

Results?

I do not know if my efforts changed my classmates. I can honestly say, however, that applying God’s word to my life changed me. It helped me realize that I was not so good after all--that I, like my classmates, was in need of grace (I highly recommend the word “grace”; if you have not done so already, add it to your lexicon, for it is grace that helps us do the impossible--to be aligned with God).

Grace bridges the gap

I graduated in May of this year. Just prior to commencement, some of the younger students at the law school formed a Christian organization. This organization is still going strong today. I like to think that God’s realignment of my thinking may have helped establish this group and ultimately changed my school for Christ’s sake.

Now, think what God can do if we continue to take Him at His word! Blessings!

“You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of me.” John 5: 39 Christ made this statement to men who were not your average churchgoers. No, these men were exceedingly religious. They studied the Bible. They kept the Sabbath. They paid tithe. They even traversed long distances in search of converts. These men were the First Century champions of Scripture.

To our shock, Jesus’ evaluation of these men was negative. Why? He states plainly that they were “not willing to come to [Him] that [they] may have life" (John 5: 40).

They missed the point of Scripture entirely!

Seventh-day Adventists must walk a fine line. On the one hand, we are called to be firm and zealous advocates of Scripture. On the other hand, we are ever mindful that it was Bible-believers who crucified Christ. This reality appropriately causes us pause. More importantly, it elicits from us the question: How shall we, as Seventh-Day Adventists, relate to Scripture so as to be faithful to Bible truth without falling into the error of the religious leaders of whom Jesus spoke?

There are two answers to this question. One is easy and one more difficult.

The Easy Answer

In one sense it is easy to answer the question posed above. This is so because there are definite ways in which we must relate to Scripture. Here they are:

We must recognize Scripture’s divine authorship- every page inspired by God.
We must acknowledge that the Bible was written for a purpose, which is to communicate to man things divine- even the will of God.
We must accept that it is God who speaks through Scripture. As such, we are to listen to what He says and carefully study the Bible to ascertain God’s message for us.
We must willingly obey Scripture. Even if our attempts are weak and imperfect, we must apply God’s message to our lives.

By refusing to accept these basic points, we find ourselves in wrong relation to Scripture. This is so because we have not accepted the Bible for what it purports to be. It is that simple. In other words, if we are unwilling to accept Scripture’s claims regarding divine authorship or application to our lives, we are then engaged in pretense. And pretense, by definition, consists not of the thing. Therefore, failure to accept the above-stated points evidences that we are out of step with Scripture.

Higher Criticism

The chief offender in this regard is higher criticism. Higher criticism is a system of thought which argues that portions of the Bible are either too mystical to be understood or, for whatever reason, are inapplicable to the lives of modern readers. With regard to the latter point, higher critics often resort to elaborate “historical” accounts in an attempt to reach a single conclusion- namely that what is written applies solely to another time, people, and place. To the higher critic, there is nothing that cannot be “contextualized away.” Although an understanding of the historical context of a passage is often necessary to rightly decipher its message, it is never correct to use history and context to mute God’s voice.

Higher critics wrongly relate to Scripture. They claim to be expounders of the Bible, but they have rejected the basics. As such, their claims lack sincerity. Moreover, these critics declare that they speak about things divine, yet they deny Scripture’s divine source. Thus, they speak of things of which they know nothing. As a result, they lack any semblance of credibility.

Due to this, it is unwise to argue with higher critics. Such action grants them legitimacy that is undeserved and unrequired. To engage in such a conversation is akin to asking a person for directions to a destination to which he has neither been, nor even bade to travel to.

Unfortunately, higher critics are positioned in our churches and educational institutions. What is the result? Spiritual declension everywhere we look. Of course, this is predictable. Cause follows effect. Because these persons are unwilling to listen and obey God, they are left to themselves. Their disciples are likewise adrift on the sea of infidelity. They are beckoning us. We cannot respond to their call and expect to remain in right relation to Scripture.

The Difficult Answer

Now to the real issue, how should we relate to Scripture?

First, we must adopt the four points stated above. But, we must not stop there. This is where the religious leaders of Christ’s day ended their search. They did not go any further, and they missed the point. To avoid their error, we must go further. But where shall we go?

Going Further--Even Unto Christ

Many of us read the Bible scholastically. We study its pages to learn about the past. Some of us read the Bible ritually. It is the book we turn to first in the morning, and we read its pages as part of a routine. Some of us read the Bible in an attempt to bolster arguments with non-believers or to prove our favored positions. While some of this may be necessary, it ultimately misses the point!

Jesus states that the Bible testifies of Him. He thereby indicates that the principal purpose for studying Scripture is to become personally acquainted with the Divine. To rightly relate to Scripture therefore is to read the Bible so that we may personally receive its Author.

Not So Fast

Although Jesus’ statement in John 5: 39-40 is easy to understand, it can be difficult to apply. The difficulty of course does not stem from God’s end. Rather, it is something we create. Humans unfortunately would rather have another person tell them what the Bible says and what God would have them do. It is difficult to go to God on our own, to find Him ourselves. But, there is no other safe path. Of course, it is good to listen to advice from others. The problem is that we often mistake the advice of a friend for divine directive.

In short, we must do the heavy lifting. We must struggle with God on our knees. As we do this, we will find the difficulties removed. We will find Christ for ourselves, and we will walk that fine line by His grace.