The Bible and You, Part 4
22nd October 2011
Philosophy and the Sin of Saul
Everybody has a world view, what might more grandly be called a philosophy, a framework of ideas that helps us to think and act. Even people who think they don't have a world view do, in fact, have one, even if they haven't put much effort into examining what it is, or whether it's a good one or a bad one, or whether it could be improved.
The purpose of the Bible, the reason God inspired it to be written, is to change our world views. When we read the Bible, God wants the experience to change both what we think and how we think. That's what Paul meant when he wrote to the Roman church urging them to be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2).
If we doubt that the Bible is inerrant and infallible, then we will substitute our thinking for God's thinking. Or, more precisely, we will retain our current world view instead of allow God' holy word to give us a better world view - the world view God wants us to have - the truth.
To think that we know better than the Bible and are in a position to ignore the bits that we find inconvenient or that are so different from our existing world view that we refuse to accept them, is to fall into the sin of Saul:
1 Samuel 13v13-14a
"You acted foolishly," Samuel said. "You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you
had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.
But now your kingdom will not endure
1 Samuel 15v22-28
But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the
voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have
rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king."
Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned. I violated the LORD's command and your instructions. I was
afraid of the people and so I gave in to them.
Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD."
But Samuel said to him, "I will not go back with you. You have rejected the word of the LORD, and the
LORD has rejected you as king over Israel!"
As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore.
Samuel said to him, "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of
your neighbours - to one better than you.
We are to keep the commands the Lord gives us. To obey is better than sacrifice, better than big worship meetings or talented musicians or expensive sound systems or even interesting preaching and happy communities. To obey God is non-negotiable. It's the first duty of every Christian (actually, of every human, Christian or not). All the rest is secondary. To ignore God's commands is rebellion and arrogance, as Samuel says.
How can we obey God's command if we don't honour his Scriptures as God-breathed and therefore perfect? How do we decide which scriptures are God's commands and which are not?
In England today, many churches are turning from a trust in the infallibility of Holy Scripture to a trust in their own world view - the world view they had before they knew God, if indeed they do know Him. These churches will fall, sooner or later, and only the churches that trust and obey the whole Bible will stand.
Pray God that those who refuse to disrespect the Bible continue to do so, and that those who treat the Bible as if it were a human document, and subject it to the fashionable ideas of our own generation, repent.
Can I say this? Let him who has ears hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.