SPIRITUAL
DIARY FOR 12/29/2016 6:35 PM
Bible
Reading & Meditation Focus: PT-3 “The Petition”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: Colossians 1:9
Message of the verses: “9 For this reason also, since the day we
heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be
filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and
understanding,”
I
have to say as we begin this 3rd SD on this subject that there is a
lot of things on it. I promised to do a
rather long quote from John MacArthur’s commentary on this SD, on knowledge and
so that will be the bulk of this SD.
The
denial of absolutes, particularly in the area of morals, characterizes our
society. Without a source of authority
to provide absolute standards, virtually anything goes. What moral values are enforced are often
arbitrary, based merely on human option.
But for the Christian the authoritative Word of God provides
absolutes. Those absolutes are the basis
upon which all truth about God and all standards of faith and conduct are
set. Because knowledge of those
absolutes is the basis for correct behavior and ultimate judgment, it is
crucial that Christians know God’s revealed truth. Ignorance is not bliss, nor can anyone please
God on the basis of principles they do not know.
“So
the Bible views knowledge on doctrinal absolutes as foundational to godly
living. Most of Paul’s letters begin by
laying a doctrinal foundation before giving practical exhortations. For example, Paul gives eleven chapters of
doctrine in Romans before turning to godly living in chapter 12. Galatians 1-4 are doctrinal, chapters 5 and 6
practical. The first three chapters of
Ephesians detail our position in Christ, while the last three urge us to live
accordingly. Philippians and Colossians
also conform to the same pattern of doctrine preceding practical
exhortations. Godly living is directly
linked in Scripture to knowledge of doctrinal truth.
“The
Bible warns of the danger of a lack of knowledge. Proverbs 19:2 says that ‘it is not good for a
person to be without knowledge.’ It was
for lack of knowledge that Israel went into exile (Isa. 5:13), and God says in
Hosea 4:6, ‘My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.’ First Corinthians 14:20 warns us, ‘Do not be
children in your thinking; yet in evil be babes, but in your thinking be
mature.’ Ephesians 4:13-14 tells us that
lack of knowledge produces ‘children tossed here and there by waves, and
carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness
in deceitful scheming.’ Verse 18
describes unbelievers as ‘being darkened in their understanding, excluded from
the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them.’
“How
does a person obtain knowledge? First,
he must desire it. In John 7:17 Jesus
says, ‘If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the teaching,
whether it is of God, or whether I speak from Myself. That thought is echoed in Hosea 6:3, ‘Let us
know, let us press on to know the Lord.’
Second, he must depend on the Holy Spirit. It is through Him that we know the things God
has revealed to us (cf. 1 Cor. 2:10-12).
Finally, he must study the Scriptures, for they make the believer ‘adequate,
equipped for every good work’ (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
Perhaps the most graphic text related to the pursuit of divine truth is
Job 28.”
We
will look at more of this quote in our next SD.
12/29/2016 7:14 PM
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