Old Testament reading: Numbers 30-32
Chapter 31 begins with Israel in the early stages of driving out the inhabitants of Canaan. After Israel defeated the five kings of Midian, Moses instructs Israel on matters of war and the equitable division of plunder. Numbers 32 is a marvelous text concerning those who thought to settle east of the Jordan, which was already prepared for habitation by herdsmen, intending not to fight with their brethren. To these Moses gave a scathing rebuke, “Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here?” Too many brethren today are content to sit by while others go to war, fighting the good fight of the faith. For example, how many “ordinary Christians” (if I may use that term accommodatively), that is, non-preachers, are on the front lines of fighting the moral decay so pervasive in our society? How many are leading the way in evangelizing the lost? If you are among them, I thank God for you and your efforts. But the truth is, most Christians are content to let the preacher do all the fighting against sin both in the church and out. If you are among this latter group, will you sit where you are while your brethren go to war?
New Testament reading: Romans 7-9
Today’s text contains some of the most difficult and misunderstood discourse of the New Testament. One thing that is critical in studying these difficult texts is this – when interpreting the Bible, or any other like document with difficult passages, the difficult must always be interpreted in light of the plain. In other words, whatever meaning or understanding one might assign to a difficult passage cannot contradict the more easily understood passages elsewhere. This is a tremendous problem, especially in Romans. Calvinists and Evangelicals think Romans is the “hub of the Bible,” and interpret everything else in the New Testament in light of their doctrines they think they’ve discovered in Romans, thus interpreting even what the Lord Himself taught in view of Paul’s writings. Paul’s writing should be interpreted in view of Jesus’ teaching, not the other way around. This will correct much of the error taught concerning predestination and grace that is so prevalent in present theology. Nothing one reads in Romans contradicts what is clear understood elsewhere in Scripture.
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