Page 46 the testimony of Scripture (2 Tim. 3), the renewal of our minds (Rom. 12), the habitual exercise of our spiritual senses (Heb. 5), and the dictates of our conscience (Acts 24). All of these lighthouses cause us to fulfill Paul’s word in Ephesians 5:17, ,Therefore, be not unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. The context of this passage is referring to God’s moral will . . . the path of righteousness, which is Christ. If you have been in the Lord for any length of time, it is not difficult to discern the moral will of God. Again, think of God’s moral will as a parking lot. A step out of love is a step outside of the parking lot. Walking in love is walking in the parking lot. Add to that a safeguard: On moral matters, inward promptings are only reliable when they are consistent with the will of God disclosed in Scripture. This is one of the reasons why the ministry of the Word is so vital to us. It not only reveals Christ to us and feeds our spirit, but it also educates us on the way the indwelling Lord directs us. For the Christ revealed in Scripture and the Christ who lives in us is the same Person. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8). Praise the Lord! Let us now handle the question of non-moral decisions. That is, how do we choose between parking spaces?
We all admire and adore the baby Jesus born in the manger, but what we must mainly admire and adore is the Man on the cross – the fact that Jesus was born ultimately to die. He didn’t die because the Jews and Romans finally we able to put an end to this supposed troublemaker. He didn’t die because God wanted to show us an example of commitment to a cause or how to pay the definitive sacrifice or how to demonstrate humility or show love that is willing to suffer for friends. In a sense these are all true, but the ultimate reason Jesus died on the cross is because that was His primary mission to take away the sins of the world. 1 Peter 2:24, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross.”
Randy Smith