Word for Today, Fri, 17 Dec 2004: Sound Theology
Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>
Dear friends,
Today's devotional message comes from the Harvest Daily
Devotional, one of the devotional series available by Email list
subscription from Crosswalk.com. This message puts it right to
us. The apostle Paul is writing to his faithful young partner,
Timothy. Paul rightly tells Timothy no to be ashamed of the what
he does, but instead, to study to understand the truth that is
contained in God's Word. Later in that same letter, in the third
chapter, Paul tells Timothy that all scripture is breathed and
inspired by God, and it is useful in every way, to teach, exhort,
train, in short, make all things clear so that those who believe
are well equipped to serve God.
These passages have been translated in many ways, but in every
translation I've ever read, it is very clear to me that the Bible
is the Word of God. Words that are spoken clearly ought to be
interpreted clearly - just as they are stated. Words or phrases
that appear to be metaphors, expressions, or words of poetry,
ought to be taken that way. Similarly, words or phrases that are
expressed in extremes ought to be interpreted as extremes. The
Bible is what it appears to be, the true, breathing, spoken Word
of God. Yes, it is recorded by men. Yet even down through the
ages, with numerous translations, the truth still comes through
as clearly as it ever has.
I urge each one of you to know the Bible, not just one or two
verses or phrases here and there. Do you really want to know
God? Do you really want to know His loving Son Jesus Christ?
Then know His Word. It's right there. We twenty first century
people have absolutely no excuse, either. Anyone who can read
this note can read the Bible, for there are numerous translations
freely available online, there are Bibles in every language, some
literal, some paraphrases, some simplified, but all contain at
least the basic essence of God's Word. Please read it. To know
God's Word is the path to truly knowing Him. That knowledge
leads to His salvation, which He freely offers to every one of
us.
Yours in Christ,
Brian
____________________________
Harvest Daily Devotional
December 17
Sound Theology
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth
not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. -2
Timothy 2:15
Often times Christians don't like to deal with theology. Some
people will ignorantly say, "I don't care about theology. I just
love Jesus." That's a sweet sentiment, but it's a dangerous one.
We need to care about theology. Theology is the study of what
God has revealed to us. If we don't know what God has revealed
to us, then we won't have a spiritual or moral compass to guide
us through life. Without a spiritual compass, we may be off
course just a bit today, but we'll be entirely lost by the time
tomorrow comes around.
Let's say that you went down to LAX and boarded a plane to
Hawaii. Then as you're buckling your seatbelt and the plane is
taxiing down the runway, the voice of the captain comes over the
intercom and says, "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen to United
flight 232 with service to Honolulu, Hawaii. I have been having
a problem with some of our navigational devices. They seem to be
a few degrees off. I'm not really that worried about it. I
think we will be okay."
That's ludicrous. Hawaii is just a speck in the middle of the
ocean. I'm always amazed they find the place to start with. If
the navigational devices are not working properly and the plane
is just a few degrees off, it will be miles off course by the
time it's supposed to land. So you might be a little off course
now, but you'll be crash landing later on.
In the same way we must know what we believe. We must know what
God has revealed to us through His Word. If we don't know sound
theology, we may find ourselves further from the truth than we
truly should be.
Copyright 2004 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version.
* Copyright 2004 Salem Web Network and its Content
Providers. All rights reserved.
=====
--
Brian Masinick, mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: http://www.geocities.com/masinick/
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