Arrogant moderns believe they know better than the ancients who were the writers of God’s Word. This attitude reveals two serious errors in their thinking. The first error is that they discount what it means to say that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. A. W. Tozer says this: “Let a man question the inspiration of the Scriptures and a curious, even monstrous, inversion takes place: thereafter he judges the Word instead of letting the Word judge him; he determines what the Word should teach instead of permitting it to determine what he should believe; he edits, amends, strikes out, adds at his pleasure; but always he sits above the Word and makes it amenable to him instead of kneeling before God and becoming amenable to the Word….
“Why such a man still clings to the tattered relics of
religion it is hard to say. The manly thing would be to walk out on the
Christian faith and put it behind him along with other outgrown toys and
discredited beliefs of childhood, but this he rarely does. He kills the tree
but still hovers pensively about the orchard hoping for fruit that never comes!”[1]
The other deadly error that flows from the arrogance of many
modern Christians (so-called) is that they deny the complete sovereignty of
God. Many people claim that Jesus is Lord. To have a lord means to have a
master. This is why Paul often refers to believers as servants and slaves. Paul
also said, “no one is able to say, “Jesus is Lord” except
by the Holy Spirit.” Certainly, the words “Jesus is lord” can come from the
mouth of anyone, but Paul meant that true belief in the statement is not
possible by purely human intention. In other words, the Holy Spirit must have quickened,
regenerated a person for them to say “Jesus is Lord” with all its ramifications.
If one truly believes Jesus is lord as the Scriptures claim, it follows by
definition that God is sovereign.
I have written several articles on the subject of God’s
sovereignty. (See Related Posts) The most frequent objection to absolute
sovereignty regards God’s election to salvation. This aspect has been debated
for centuries by sincere believers, and I don’t think the argument will be
settled until we sit at Jesus’ feet in the fully realized Kingdom of God. I
think we can agree to disagree about election and still end up at Jesus’ feet.
What concerns me more than election is the consequence of
denying God’s sovereignty in other areas. When a weak view of the inspiration
of Scripture leads to a limited view of God’s rule over all things, a critical
line is too easily crossed. I called those who take such a position arrogant
because, as Tozer points out, they set themselves above Scripture as its judge
rather than being judged by Scripture.
This is how we end up with Christians who believe God can
bless same-sex unions. In this way, Christians can find support for abortion. By
adopting this error, believers convince themselves it is alright to live
together without being married. Sincere believers can remain satisfied with the
milk of God’s Word rather than moving on to the meat by daily, deeply studying
the Bible. Such thinkers believe that they can be fully functioning members of
Christ’s body without regular fellowship with a local expression of that Body.
Perhaps the saddest result of not trusting in a sovereign
God is what it does to our souls. True born again, blood bought believers can
forget the reality in which they are supposed to live. When a difficulty
arises, they are fooled by the enemy of the soul to think they face it alone.
Until we achieve our resurrection (Maranatha! Come quickly Lord Jesus), we are
stuck in this world within reach of the one whom Jesus called the god of this
world. But the evil one is not our god; we have been transferred from his
kingdom into the kingdom of the one who is Light. The correct approach to any
problem is to start by looking to God in His Word and through prayer. Once we
have settled our position relative to the God of Heaven, we can work our way
through the earthly layers of our responsibility. By seeking God first, we ensure
that our soul is protected from its sworn enemy, and we can go forward in peace,
knowing Who holds the future.
Immediately after Jesus
made the startling statement that true commitment to Him required a person
to eat His flesh, an argument arose and many of His disciples ceased following
Him. In a classic understatement, someone said, “This teaching is hard. Who can
accept it?” Jesus’ answer is instructive. He said in part, “The Spirit is the
one who gives life. The flesh doesn’t help at all. The words that I have spoken
to you are spirit and are life…. This is why I told you that no one can come to
me unless it is granted to him by the Father.” Coming to Jesus involves both believing
what He said and doing what He said. Both believing and doing are Holy Spirit
empowered things granted by God.
Arrogance (aka pride) is the original sin. Adam and Eve made
themselves the judges of God’s word and reaped the consequences: they were
kicked out of the Garden and sentenced to a life of toil and trouble. God also
put a cap on their longevity; they would not live on the perfect earth forever,
nor would the earth remain perfect. An essential component of believing in God’s
sovereignty is condoning what He did to Adam and conceding His right to do it. That
places the entire human race in opposition to God until each individual
reconnects with Him by the grace of the Holy Spirit’s intervention. The primary
way that happens is through God’s Word; as Jesus said, His words are spirit.
Until a person fully submits to that sovereign Word, his eternal destiny
remains uncertain, and his soul will be troubled. How much of life can be
unsubmitted and still retain eternal life? Do you really need to know?
Related Posts: Election:
God’s Choice; Calvinist
or Arminian; Understanding
the TULIP Doctrine; Why
Bother With Church? Light
Shining in Darkness
[1]
A. W. Tozer and Gerald B. Smith, Evenings with
Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers,
2015), 339.
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