Soul Liberty

Galatians 1:12 KJV

For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

The ministry of the apostle has been the model for all sorts of ministries:

• The missionary claims Paul
• The evangelist claims him
• The pastor (myself included) claims him

No doubt those involved in extra church and para church ministries also find in Paul some justification for their work and a model by which to accomplish it.

I see no problem with any of this. Paul's ministry as an apostle is unique to all modern ministries and is, in my view, set forth as a model for all legitimate ministry.

Paul here describes one of those qualifications belonging to him that exists in no ministry today; he was given his education from the Lord and no other man. This could not be said of any who come after the apostles, for the ministry of the apostles was that of teaching men. They received from The Lord and they passed on to us. The Bible then gives place for pastors, evangelists and teachers who instruct, equip and mature believers after them. All of us nowadays have been influenced by some teacher.

But I see in this passage an indication of one of the doctrines of the Anabaptists, and now most Baptists; individual soul liberty and the right to worship God according to the dictates of one's own conscience. I would go so far as to suggest the responsibility to worship God according to the dictates of one's own conscience. While none of us will receive true gospel from any source other than the Bible, there are no extra biblical revelations, the Bible is a direct communication to man from God. I am, just as is every Christian, responsible to go to the source of God's teaching and become persuaded of it on my own. I must never settle for merely assenting to the teachings of others, though I may come to the same convictions as they. I must search for myself to see if these things are so.

A Baptist church, then, should not be an institution where people are molded into one thought, but a place of enablement where believers are urged to receive for themselves the mind of Christ through free study and the exposition of the Word of God. 

The Most Remarkable Sign of Genuineness

2 Corinthians 12:12 KJV

Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.

Perhaps the most remarkable sign of the apostleship was the one first mentioned in this verse; patience.

Patience is a quality rarely possessed and seldom sought. Yet it is a virtue the Lord prizes and the Bible says we need. It is something we often wish for in the time of trial but reject the trials that would develop patience.

Patience was a sign of Paul's Apostleship in that:

• Though he was opposed he continued in the course of his ministry
• Though he was challenged he persisted in his calling

Faith in Christ would most surely have ended with the twelve had they given up over trouble.

• Patience to keep on in the path that we have been set upon
• Patience to stay at the path though others refuse it
• Patience to walk on when an easier course tempts us to turn aside

This is the most remarkable sign of genuineness of all.

Cutting Off Occasion

2 Corinthians 11:12 KJV

But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we.

Though Paul could have asked for financial help from the church in Corinth he had refused to do so.[1] Paul made the choice to do as he had done so he might "cut off occasion" from his critics. It, of course, did not prevent them from criticizing but it did take the teeth out of their criticism.

Christians have had and will always have critics and opponents. Those critics have often had some reason for their criticisms; a kind of false Christianity has, historically, acted very badly. But there have also always been those Christians who have refused to give the critics just cause. They have lived:

• Humbly
• Honestly and
• With earnest integrity

They have never been perfect as no man other than Christ ever has been, but they have been honest about their faith.

We can do the same if we choose. We can determine by God's grace to so live out our faith as to leave the critic with little or no ammunition. We can do this by humble obedience to the Word of God.

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[1] Thank God for other believers who cared enough for his work to provide for him so he did not have to.

God's Grace is Proof of His Graciousness not Our Worthiness

Isaiah 38:17 KJV

Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.

Hezekiah had been a good king but not a sinless king. He had led Jerusalem through some terrible times and had done so admirably. Having recovered from a deadly illness and being promised fifteen more years of life it is no wonder he burst into this song. God had thrown his sins behind his back, never to be remembered again.

But neither:

• His spared life
• The miracle sign to prove it or
• The promise of sins forgiven

absolved him from the responsibility to make good and wise choices in his future. When Hezekiah made a foolish decision in regard to the Babylonian messengers he was as soundly rebuked as he would have been before his miraculous recovery.

Often Christians mistake God's mercy as God's approval of their foolishness and sin. Nothing could be farther from the truth. That God is gracious to us is a proof of His grace and not our worthiness. No matter what we have "gotten away with" as a people, the Bible is still and will always be the guide of right and wrong.  Despite God's grace, we still do best to abide by it.

Assyria Underestimated God

Isaiah 36:4 KJV

And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?

Sennacherib and Rabshakeh had heard of the God of Jews. These were not barbarian people with no education and little going for them but brute strength. They were knowledgeable enough to be able to speak the Jew's own language. They were knowledgeable enough then, to know of the Jew's God.

But knowing of God and knowing God are two different things. They could see no reason that the God of the Jews was any different than the idols of every other nation around Israel. As far as they knew, who was to say that the God of the Jews had not sent them to defeat Jerusalem? The tenor of the whole account betrays the fact that they did not know and understand God.

And it cost them.

Seems we live is a similar time. False gods abound on every side from the various religions that seem to be gaining steam to the idolatry of the average person toward:

• Money
• Materialism
• Humanism

Everyone has a god today and though they have generally heard of the true and Living God (in many cases they can even speak the language of the Christian) yet

• Their actions
• Their words and
• Their very belief system

betrays that they do not know our God.

Just as Rabshakeh and Sennacherib ignored the signs that they were treading on thin ice in surrounding Jerusalem, people today have ignored the signs of our times. The God who delivered Jerusalem from Assyria is still alive. He is still active in the affairs of mankind. He will still have His will done. And it would still be wise for the naysayer and modern Rabshakeh to repent and turn to Him.

Discipline, Plan and Prepare

2 Corinthians 8:11 KJV

Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have.

Paul knew that the church at Corinth would be willing to contribute to an offering to help suffering believers in Jerusalem but he also knew they would not be able to give to their fullest potential unless they began preparations well ahead of time. The giving of tithes, gifts and special offerings at church is greatly improved when people discipline themselves to prepare for these offerings. Rather than waiting for the last minute and giving what little is in the pocket so to speak, it is far better to plan ahead that, when the offering is received, we can give as abundantly. God blesses the bountiful giver.[1]

This principle can be applied to any number of areas of life:

• A particular job
• A desire to pastor
• A Longing for a long and happy marriage

Being willing to do a thing is not always the same as doing it. The difference between desiring something and accomplishing it is usually in the preparation. In some cases of course, that preparation is in education. In most cases that preparation begins long before education in the development of discipline and character.

We, of course, will never be able to accomplish all we would like to accomplish in this life. Time, resources and the limits of this corruptible body will hinder us until we reach eternity. But we can accomplish much more if we

• Discipline ourselves
• Plan ahead and
• Prepare

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[1] 2 Corinthians 9:6 KJV

But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

An Honest Appeal for Affection

2 Corinthians 7:2 KJV

Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man.

There is a great deal of pathos in this passage. The apostle nearly pleads for the affection of the members of this church. After his stern correction, in his first letter to the church in Corinth of certain offending members, he had been concerned for their heart toward him. He here expresses that nothing he had done was meant to wrong, corrupt or defraud anyone.

But apart from the pathos, there are some wise lessons for every believer. We must bear witness to the truth. We must be strong in our convictions. But we must never be purposely injurious to others.

• Ours is to correct those who do wrong and comfort those who have been wronged but never to do the wrong
• Ours is to give sound doctrine and principles. We must take care to not place a stumbling block before others or to point them in the broad way of destruction
• Ours is to be servants of others and not to use others for our own means and ends

Paul could honestly appeal to their affections because he had done nothing to alienate their affections. Any distance that may have existed between them was the result of one of two things:

• The negative influence of false teachers
• The rejection of honest preaching and teaching

In either case, the apostle's conscience was free to earnestly appeal for love and affection.

So Much Waste

Isaiah 31:7 KJV

For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin.

Isaiah preached that, during the Assyrian invasion, the people would find out that their idols were useless. They would cast them away as they fled for their lives. At one time they

• Bowed down to them
• Placed value in them and
• Made sacrifices to them

Now they are just so much waste, a hindrance in their flight.

Contrast that with Christ. Countless are the accounts of foxhole and prison cell conversions where men and women who, having ignored Christ previously, in peril cry out to the Lord. Criticize the sincerity of those conversions if you please they do demonstrate the difference between the idol and the Lord. So far from fleeing Christ in a time of peril, they now flee to Him.

• How much better would it be then to come to the Lord previous to peril?
• How much better to have assurances of His presence, His care and His aide in the time of flight?
• How much wiser is the one who, in youth, comes to know Christ as Saviour, friend and companion?

Better to View People This Way

2 Corinthians 5:16 KJV

Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

Barnes' Notes gives us this thought,

"In view of the fact that the Lord Jesus died for all people, and rose again. The effect of that has been to change all our feelings, and to give us entirely new views of people, of ourselves, and of the Messiah…"

Paul had determined to see every human being, not for who they were physically, but who a God intended them to be spiritually. This sort of view would:

• Eliminate issues of prejudice and intimidation on account of office
• Squelch the bitterness of grudgery and
• Inoculate against inward hatred of those who had in some way harmed us

It is a position no Christian can hold perfectly because, though we have been born of the Spirit, yet we still live in a body of the flesh. Paul's lesson does, nevertheless, equip us with a tool to strengthen the foundations of our heart in regards to others.

• It is impossible but that offenses will come, but it is possible to not be offended by them
• It is impossible but that there will be inequality of wealth and privilege in this world, but it is possible not to be envious of others
• It is impossible but that we will experience enmity from others, but it is possible that we hold no ought against them

The Honest Preacher's Method

2 Corinthians 4:2 KJV

But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

The Apostle's ministry had been severely attacked by false apostles and teachers who had come to the church in Corinth. Paul said he had not handled the Word of God deceitfully, neither had he practiced craftiness (an insinuation that that is exactly what these false apostles had done). He said that his practice was simply to put the truth out there and leave himself exposed to the consciences of the people.

This is exactly what a New Testament preacher ought to practice. Our work is not to somehow frame things in such a way that people are drawn in without having heard the message we preach.

• We need do nothing in secret
• We need do nothing in back rooms and in hidden corners

The work of the preacher is to lay his message out there and commend himself to the consciences of every man.

• Some will be offended and stumble
• Some will be blinded and miss the truth but
• Some will hear and believe

The Preacher's Confidence

2 Corinthians 3:5-6a KJV

Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;

Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament ...

Paul used the word "sufficient" to speak of his confidence in the ministry. He was sure of God's calling and was therefore sure of God's enabling. He had no question whether or not his ministry, challenged and challenging as it was, was a demonstration of the power of God.

I note what I see as the progression of Paul's thought concerning this sufficiency:

He claimed no personal sufficiency

He did not base his confidence on his background, training or natural abilities. Paul was confident but not because of these.

He claimed his sufficiency as coming from God

No personal skill could compare to this. These many centuries later scholars attribute Paul's successes sometimes to his training or other . Paul did not.

Yet he claimed sufficiency

Though Paul did not believe he was personally up to the task, he did believe he was up to the task because of God's enabling. No preacher, called of God, no matter how challenging his ministry may be or how criticized he might be or how little he might seem to accomplish, should lack confidence that He has exactly the right ability to accomplish what God has called him to do.

This is a True Choice

2 Corinthians 2:1 KJV

But I determined this with myself, that I would not come again to you in heaviness.

How is it that a person can make the choice not to be heavy and sorrowful in spirit?

Paul made that choice

Many times a sorrowful or heavy spirit can be reversed simply by choosing not to be heavy. Listening to music, getting off of the couch. Doing something, anything that requires energy and activity is often all it takes to overcome heaviness.

Paul dealt with the issue head on

The heaviness in this case would have been the result of anxiety over how his previous, harsh letter had been received. Instead of stewing over it, he did something about it. He enquired as to their state of attitude. Meeting up with that someone, speaking to them, attempting to make things correct will more often than not lift the spirits.

Paul expressed love

Whether this is an outward expression as in Paul's case, or a spiritual/mental exercise whereby we focus on reasons to love these believers, simply feeling love is a means of lifting heavy hearts.

Paul emphasized forgiveness

Bitterness of the heart will destroy the person who holds it. No good thing can come from keeping anger, hostility and bitterness bottled up. The way to release them is not by "venting" but by forgiving. Forgiveness is the choosing to hold no ill will against another-even if it is deserved. Forgiveness stems from two realizations:

• That we too surely have needed to be forgiven of others
• That God has graciously forgiven us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ

Paul planned a visit to Corinth. He had determined that he would arrive with a free and light heart. May we choose to be light hearted believers.

Has, Is and Will

2 Corinthians 1:10 KJV

Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;

Paul gives a threefold testimony of God's relationship with him in his life:

• He had delivered him
• He was delivering him and
• He would deliver him

Paul's years if ministry had not been easy.

• He testifies of beatings and robberies and shipwrecks
• He had experienced privations as hardships of every sort
• His experiences had led him to struggles with Jews, Gentiles and fellow Christians

But he is here able to say that

• God had brought him through all those struggles of the past
• He was bringing him through the very struggles Paul was in at the moment and
• He was confident God would bring him through whatever hardships he would face in the future

I see a further application in that the passage well describes the process of salvation from the greatest death, which is eternal separation from God in hell.

In our salvation experience:

• God has delivered our spirit from death, having quickened it at the moment of salvation
• God is presently delivering our soul from death by sanctifying it and conforming us to the image and likeness if Christ and
• God will finally deliver us from death in the resurrection when body soul and Spirit will be reunited to dwell immortally and incorruptibly with God

Tarry Awhile

1 Corinthians 16:7 KJV

For I will not see you now by the way; but I trust to tarry a while with you, if the Lord permit.

Life was admittedly slower then than now. Travel was much more complicated and dangerous and a missionary, such as Paul, was at risk as much from the travel as the work.

• Periods of travel had to be managed around the seasons
• Long periods of rest were often required to recover from the rigors of travel
• Tarrying a while in one place was essential in travel

But it is to be noted that the Apostle was very successful In establishing churches that were able to continue and reproduce themselves even when he was not with them. This must have been at least in part because of the time he invested in tarrying with them. He could have the long term impact he did because he gave them much of his time while he was with them. He did not concern himself with a clock[1] and it appears neither did they.

• What mattered was getting the message down
• What mattered was being grounded in the truth
• What mattered was the message and that the congregation knew it

To tarry awhile; to take your time with people, to give attention and time to the details of the truth of God's Word is no waste of time.

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[1] Though it is obvious he concerned himself with a calendar.

Salvation Stands

1 Corinthians 15:2 KJV

By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

Salvation stands upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ, a gospel Paul was about to reiterate, with two provisions:

If you keep in memory what I preached unto you.

The whole of the Bible teaches that our eternal destiny is not based upon our ability or inability to remember particular messages of even specific doctrines. A case can, I believe, be made for the doctrine of perseverance. A true believer will be a believer to the end. A genuine Christian, though human and easily swayed, will swing back always to faith in Christ. His body and mind may, for a time, be pulled away from his convictions but the Holy Spirit, who inhabits every true Christian, will direct the back to Christ.

I think rather we ought to read this as a statement of fact rather than a question. The point is that they had remembered the gospel that had been preached unto them. Though they had been tested, though false apostles had attempted to draw them away, these believers were believers still. They of course needed instruction, but they willingly received that instruction. They had remembered what Paul preached to them.

Unless you have believed in vain.

Which is an impossibility. No true believer can believe in vain because what he believes is not vanity.

The rest of this chapter will be dedicated to bearing that fact out.

Simple, Plain and Easy to Understand

1 Corinthians 14:9 KJV

So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air.

At one time Paul reminded the believers in Corinth that he had not come to them with enticing words of man's wisdom. He had determined to know nothing among them save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Here he takes on a "follow up" subject, urging them to imitate his example and, rather than to try to impress people with their ability to speak an unknown tongue, to speak simple words, easy to understand.

There is a type of Christianity that attempts to recreate the excitement and air of speaking ecstatic and unlearned languages. Usually they define it as an angelic language and by doing so they can form any indistinguishable sound they please and call it the language of the angels. Who is to know the difference since none of us are angels? But the bulk of Christendom has moved passed that understanding, as Paul taught, that these tongue have ceased. However there is still a practical lesson for us to so speak about our faith  that we are easily understood.

There is no good purpose served in trying to impress people with our command of language. Our purpose is not to increase the vocabulary of those we address in church. We have not been charged by God to use the house of the Lord as a school house or even an institution of higher learning. Our objective, our Goal and our duty is to pass our faith to another. That may not be done with ecstatic languages they cannot comprehend or high brow speeches they do not understand.

Keep your words about Christ simple, plain and easy to be understood.

What Answer To Give

Isaiah 14:32 KJV

What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.

The question is raised, "what King Hezekiah should say to the messengers from any nation who came to him?" It is an appropriate question because we know that messengers from Babylon will come and that Hezekiah will show them things he should not have. What he should have done is insist that this place, Zion, was God's place, and that God would protect all who come to it.

Zion is a common term in the Old Testament speaking originally of the old fortified area of Jerusalem. It became associated with David[1] personally and in the New Testament is a reference to the church.

When people inquire about the nature of the local church,  the appropriate response is to insist

• That Jesus built it
• That it is His own bride and body which He loves and
• That anyone who enters into it through faith in Christ is safe

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[1] A type of Christ.

When We Have One Mind

Isaiah 11:13 KJV

The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.

Jacob's sons have, from the beginning, had a love/hate relationship. Bound together as family, they have struggled alongside one another, but being of different mothers and having different personalities, they have always clashed with each other.

• They nearly went to war with the 2 1/2 tribes who took their possession on the other side of Jordan.
• They nearly annihilated the tribe of Benjamin of the issue of the abused concubine.
• They disagreed over loyalties between Saul and David and
• The eventually divided into two kingdoms; here called Ephraim (the Northern) and Judah (the Southern)

But God's plan will change all of that. When He is finished with Israel there will be no envy and no vexation between them. They will be, as God always intended, one people.

So with Christians.

We too have our factions. We too know envy and vexation. We too divide among ourselves; sometimes over legitimate things just as Judah was required to stand against Israel in the rebellion of Jeroboam.

But God's plan will change all of that. In that coming day we will be of one mind and one spirit as we in truth know and understand the Lord.

To attempt to create this day before the time is, in my opinion, about the same as Abraham and Sarai coming up with their own plan to have a baby and make God's will a reality - it only creates problems.

• Better today to worship God according to the dictates of ones own conscience and band together, as Judah did, around what we believe to be of God.
• Better to wait today on the Lord, trusting that He is able to make His plan come to pass.

Shining Lights

Isaiah 9:2 KJV

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

The picture represented in this passage speaks of Christ's dwelling in the northern part of Israel.

The history of that northern section was always "sketchy".

·         They were adherents to King Saul 's family even after it became clear God had replaced him with David.

·         They were never fully loyal to David even after he was crowned their king.

·         They finally separated from the David's family under Solomon's son, Rehoboam.

·         They never had a godly king in their entire history of independence from Jerusalem and

·         They were finally decimated by the Assyrians

In Jesus' day these were the backwards, uncultured of the Jews. Nathaniel expressed the mind of Jerusalem when he said "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" This would have been their thoughts not only of Nazareth but of all the Northern Kingdom area.

And yet it was to these

·         Often rebellious

·         Obviously uneducated

·         Offscouring of the Jews

that Jesus lived and preached and performed a large number of His miracles. These who walked in the darkest of their world saw the great light of Christ.

God will send us to walk in the dark places of the world that they two might see great light. Our neighborhoods, out places of employment, our nation may at times seem to be very dark. The elements of ungodliness may seem overwhelming. But God has us walking among them to be a light for Jesus Christ.

Matthew 5:16

Let your light so shine among men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

The Dangers of Compromising Associations

1 Corinthians 10:1 KJV

Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;

Albert Barnes says of this,

"This verse, with the following illustrations, is properly connected in Paul’s argument with the statements which he had made in 1Corinthians 8:8, etc., and is designed to show the danger which would result from their partaking of the feasts that were celebrated in honor of idols. It is not improbable, as Mr. Locke supposes, that the Corinthians might have urged that they were constantly solicited by their pagan friends to attend those feasts; that in their circumstances it was scarcely possible to avoid it; that there could be no danger of their relapsing into idolatry; and their doing so could not be offensive to God, since they were known to be Christians; since they had been baptized, and purified from sin; since they were devoted to his service; since they knew that an idol was nothing in the world; and since they had been so highly favored, as the people of God, with so many extraordinary endowments, and were so strongly guarded against the possibility of becoming idolaters. To meet these considerations, Paul refers them to the example of the ancient Jews. They also were the people of God. They had been solemnly dedicated to Moses and to God. They had been especially favored with spiritual food from heaven, and with drink miraculously, poured from the rock. Yet notwithstanding this, they had forgotten God, had become idolaters, and had been destroyed. By their example, therefore, Paul would warn the Corinthians against a similar danger."

Present day believers might well use this lesson in a variety of applications such as:

• Why we shouldn't frequent places where drinking alcohol is promoted
• Why we shouldn't go to dances and other places where worldly living is flaunted or even
• Why we shouldn't attend services in churches of other faiths and practices

There is are dangers to such compromising associations.

First, it is not pleasing to God.

Secondly, it could lead to our own fall into sin.

Thirdly, it will certainly give others the impression that, even if you don't do these things yourself, you do approve of and condone them.