Only Instructions To Obey

Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” Jesus had answered that question the night before during the Last Supper:

    “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” (John 14:6)

Jesus is teaching us how to become a Christian and how to live the Christian life. We are to live the life Jesus lived because it was the life God intended for man. Notice again for the first time how the Apostle John begins his gospel:

    “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1-5, 14)

Again, these usages of the word truth is aletheia. If we want to know the truth, we must know Jesus. If we want to know Jesus, we must know the Word. There are no CDs you can listen to, no DVDs you can watch, no books you can read that will introduce you to Jesus in a more perfect way than the Bible.

Have you ever read your Bible in a manner to meet Jesus? I mean to get to know all you can about the Man Christ? When we stumble upon a person that interests us, what is the first thing we do? We gather all we can about that person to learn as much as possible. It is sad how so many Christians know more about the lives of American Idol contestants than they do about the life of Christ.

Getting to know Jesus means getting to know the Truth. And what does that mean for us as Christians? It means many options in life that we once thought were available are now gone. Major W. Ian Thomas put it this way:

    Truth is not just a theology, the study of God, but a theocracy—being ruled by God. This means that for you and me there are no decisions to make, but only instructions to obey.

That is both terrifying and liberating.

Imagine living your life as a theocracy—you are always ruled by God! Too many opponents of Christianity say that American Christians want to create a theocracy in America. No danger there when most Christians do not live their lives in such a manner.

However, what would happen if Christians actually lived a life ruled by God? Abortion would end; homosexual marriage would never again be an acceptable alternative lifestyle, massive government spending and deficits would disappear, just to name a few.

Beloved, there is liberty in living the true Christian life; that is what Jesus meant when He said:

    “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’ They answered Him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, “You will be made free”?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.’” (John 8:31-36)

Beloved, in the coming month(s), we are going to be clearing out a lot of stinking thinking and crushing some old political paradigms that I pray will free our minds to begin thinking and living like Jesus.

I want to stop right here because I feel so impressed to leave you with these questions with which to go before the Lord.

    “What in my life is contrary to your Word Jesus?”

    “What in my thinking is contrary to your Word Lord?”

    “What in my life have I considered to be a decision to make when it was actually an instruction to obey Father?”

I’ll be praying for you; please do for me.

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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    Copyright © 2011 David Jeffers

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