Page 51 again listen to her spiritual teachers. The ,word the Lord is referring to here is the knowledge of His moral will that Israel should walk in (which was the Law). The ,right hand and the ,left hand refer to those acts that are outside of God’s moral will. Proverbs 4:27 says, ,Turn not to the right hand nor to the left; remove thy foot from evil (see also Deu. 5:31-32; 17:18-20; Josh. 1:7). Isaiah 30 is not a promise that God will guide His people in every decision they will face. It’s a reference to being guided in the path of righteousness. The ,way is the way of God’s moral will. ,But what about Ephesians 2:10 which says, We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them? This is a perfect example of a passage that is referring to the fulfillment of God’s moral will. Good works are simply deeds that originate with God’s activity in and through us. God knows all of those works beforehand, just as He knows all of our actions before we were born. This is not a reference to God’s leading in non-moral decisions. The scope of the passage has to do with the outworking of the righteousness of Christ in our lives. There are other passages on the subject of the Lord’s guidance that we can analyze. But let me give you one suggestion. When you come across them, look at the entire context and ask yourself, ,Is the context referring to His moral will–walking in the righteousness of Christ–or is it referring to some non-moral decision? You will find
So many of us think about it the other way around. We think of church in terms of our serving God and receiving from others. But this is backwards. Sacrificial service in the church doesn’t start with serving. It starts with being served by God. Then as we are satisfied in Him and who He’s revealed Himself to be in His crucified Son, we gladly overflow in service of others.
David Mathis