EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/1/2024 7:14 PM
My Worship Time Focus: Intro to 1
John 1:1-4
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 1 John 1:1-4
Message of the verses: “1 What was from the
beginning, what we
have heard, what we
have seen with our eyes, what
we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life —
2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you
the eternal life,
which was with the Father and was manifested to us — 3 what we have seen and
heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed
our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 These
things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.”
Warren Wiersbe in his commentary on 1 John entitles
his first chapter “IT’S REAL” which covers the first four verses just like John
MacArthur’s commentary. He entitles his
first chapter, covering the first four verses “Certainties of the Word of Life.” I have mentioned that I will mostly be
looking at MacArthur’s commentary as I write these Spiritual Diaries, but will
from time to time look at what Warren Wiersbe has to say too.
Think for a moment about this first statement that John MacArthur writes as he begins his commentary on 1 John. “We live in an era that looks with suspicion on any type of certainty or conviction about the truth.” I have to totally agree with that statement as truth today for most people living in the 21st century is what they want it to be. For instance today as I look at what is going on in the Olympic Games going on from France that a young girl was to box a male who says that he is female. Any one with an ounce of common sense knows that this is not the truth, that just to think that you are a female when you were born a male is not only a lie, but ridiculous. The Word of God is truth, the Lord Jesus Christ is truth as he said “I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:1). MacArthur goes on to say “Our society has abandoned the idea of absolutes, choosing instead to arbitrarily grant equal validity to every opinion and philosophical musing. Sadly, today’s church, influenced by the surrounding culture, has fallen prey to an inclusivism that tolerates seemingly any and every viewpoint, except dogmatism. In the realm of biblical interpretation, for instance, a significant new movement is gaining ground that says that no one can know for sure what the Bible means. According to this emerging viewpoint, the Bible is so obscure that anyone who exegetes Scripture should offer nothing more than a cautious, ‘humble,’ open –minded opinion regarding the text’s meaning. But such radical, unwarranted skepticism blatantly ignores the Bible’s own teaching that Christians not only can, but must, know the truth (John 8:32; cf. Pss. 19:8; 119:105; Prov. 22:21; Isa. 29:24; Luke 1:4; 1 Tim. 4:3; 2 Peter 1:12, 19; 1 John 2:21; 4:6; 2 John 1). Thus, to claim that the meaning of Scripture is unknowable is to directly attack the divinely designed clarity of the Bible; it is, in essence, to accuse God of being unable to clearly reveal Himself and His truth to humanity. The inevitable result of such arrogance—for those who embrace it—is the loss of certainly and confidence about the rich and essential doctrinal truths of the Christian faith.”
Not
take some time to maul over in your mind the highlighted section above as
perhaps you may not have thought about the Bible in that way. Why would the Lord, through His Holy Spirit
have the Bible written if He did not chose for mankind to understand it. Now let me make this clear and that is that
the Holy Spirit is the One who inspired the human writers to write what He
wants to be written. He uses the personally
of writers to be sure, but He is the One who inspired the writers. Another thing to understand is that the Bible
was written for believers as once a person in the church age which we are now
living in becomes a born-again-believer that the Holy Spirit then comes into
his or her life to lead them, and part of that is to help them understand the
Word of God. I am not saying that there
are true believers who disagree with other believers about certain passages,
but if we follow what Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15 which says in the
NASB95 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who
does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” Now
Lord willing I want to finish the introduction to this section in the next SD.
8/1/2024 7:53 PM
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