Page 72 - lifeandgrace
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If we begin with the idea that God wants us to be holy by making His word (the Bible) a rule book, it
will never get any better. We will just search God's word for more and more things we can make a rule
and failing that, we will just add rules of our own in our lives that seem to conform to what God wanted in
the first place. That is how the Pharisees came to the "washing of pitchers and cups" as a part of
establishing their righteousness.
Now as a rule of cleanliness there is nothing wrong with "washing of pitchers and cups". But it will
never have anything to do with righteousness. Note the strong words Paul writes in his letter to Timothy.
[1Timothy 1:9 (NKJV) “knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless
and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners.]” He clearly says the law is not made for the righteous
person.
How can Paul make such a glaring statement? Because he is speaking of God's written word. It was
given to make the sinful man, the lost man, see the sorry condition of his soul. It was to stand as an ensign
to tell him how wrong he was in his way of life. It was to put the lie to his subtle beliefs that he was
"alright" or "good as the next person" or "not a bad person". In the face of God's word man is supposed to
see how bad he really is and how hopeless it would be to try and establish his own righteousness. That
was always the purpose of the law of God. All the law can do is tell you that you are a sinner. It cannot
assist you in becoming righteous. Its purpose is to press you towards the Lord.
Then what use is the Bible for a believer? What use is God's word for one who is in Christ? Oh, very
valuable indeed, it is of supreme use. The Lord uses this to accomplish His purpose in our lives. [Hebrews
8: 10 (RSV) "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the
Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they
shall be My people.”] So we see from this verse in Hebrews that He plans to write His laws on our hearts.
In other words, He plans to make them a part of us, a part of our very nature. He never intended that we
should live our lives with a rule book (Bible or otherwise) in our hands - one eye on the rule-book and the
other on our own lives. No, rather He wants His laws to become a part of our very nature, and that we
should have our eyes on Him and not a rule book, not even the Bible.
Going back to the example of buttoning the shirt, the Lord intended even from Adam in the Garden of
Eden that man should live in an abiding, intimate relationship with Him. We cannot do that if we start
with the wrong premise of living with God by looking into our rule book every day to see how we should
live. The tree where Eve took the fruit was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
[Genesis 2: 17 "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that
you eat of it you shall surely die.”] Most people think the main problem was that now Adam and Eve had
knowledge of evil but God said "good" and evil. Ever since then man has tried to substitute his knowledge
of “good” to live his life rather than just submitting to God day after day.
It is seeking after good that gets the people in trouble who follow a liberal interpretation of God's
word. They are not seeking after evil but rather for good. But in seeking for good rather than seeking for
God, they are evil and following after evil. That was Adam and Eve's mistake when they sought to
become wise. Nothing has changed.
Few people seek after evil. (But there are some who do - evil for evil’s sake!) But many have their
conscience seared, and they cannot distinguish between good and evil. Some of the most evil men of our
time like Adolf Hitler or Edi Amin perhaps never set out on a given day to "do some evil". We can
imagine that they saw what they were doing as the thing to be done to bring about circumstances they
thought should be accomplished no matter how obviously evil it may seem to others. You know and I
will never get any better. We will just search God's word for more and more things we can make a rule
and failing that, we will just add rules of our own in our lives that seem to conform to what God wanted in
the first place. That is how the Pharisees came to the "washing of pitchers and cups" as a part of
establishing their righteousness.
Now as a rule of cleanliness there is nothing wrong with "washing of pitchers and cups". But it will
never have anything to do with righteousness. Note the strong words Paul writes in his letter to Timothy.
[1Timothy 1:9 (NKJV) “knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless
and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners.]” He clearly says the law is not made for the righteous
person.
How can Paul make such a glaring statement? Because he is speaking of God's written word. It was
given to make the sinful man, the lost man, see the sorry condition of his soul. It was to stand as an ensign
to tell him how wrong he was in his way of life. It was to put the lie to his subtle beliefs that he was
"alright" or "good as the next person" or "not a bad person". In the face of God's word man is supposed to
see how bad he really is and how hopeless it would be to try and establish his own righteousness. That
was always the purpose of the law of God. All the law can do is tell you that you are a sinner. It cannot
assist you in becoming righteous. Its purpose is to press you towards the Lord.
Then what use is the Bible for a believer? What use is God's word for one who is in Christ? Oh, very
valuable indeed, it is of supreme use. The Lord uses this to accomplish His purpose in our lives. [Hebrews
8: 10 (RSV) "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the
Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they
shall be My people.”] So we see from this verse in Hebrews that He plans to write His laws on our hearts.
In other words, He plans to make them a part of us, a part of our very nature. He never intended that we
should live our lives with a rule book (Bible or otherwise) in our hands - one eye on the rule-book and the
other on our own lives. No, rather He wants His laws to become a part of our very nature, and that we
should have our eyes on Him and not a rule book, not even the Bible.
Going back to the example of buttoning the shirt, the Lord intended even from Adam in the Garden of
Eden that man should live in an abiding, intimate relationship with Him. We cannot do that if we start
with the wrong premise of living with God by looking into our rule book every day to see how we should
live. The tree where Eve took the fruit was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
[Genesis 2: 17 "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that
you eat of it you shall surely die.”] Most people think the main problem was that now Adam and Eve had
knowledge of evil but God said "good" and evil. Ever since then man has tried to substitute his knowledge
of “good” to live his life rather than just submitting to God day after day.
It is seeking after good that gets the people in trouble who follow a liberal interpretation of God's
word. They are not seeking after evil but rather for good. But in seeking for good rather than seeking for
God, they are evil and following after evil. That was Adam and Eve's mistake when they sought to
become wise. Nothing has changed.
Few people seek after evil. (But there are some who do - evil for evil’s sake!) But many have their
conscience seared, and they cannot distinguish between good and evil. Some of the most evil men of our
time like Adolf Hitler or Edi Amin perhaps never set out on a given day to "do some evil". We can
imagine that they saw what they were doing as the thing to be done to bring about circumstances they
thought should be accomplished no matter how obviously evil it may seem to others. You know and I
