I HAVE TRUSTED CHRIST, SO WHY DO I KEEP SEEING NEW THINGS IN SCRIPTURE?
by Shawn Brasseaux
Dear friend, have you trusted Jesus Christ exclusively as your personal Saviour? “Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He rose again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). If you have believed in your heart the Gospel of the Grace of God, then you have the indwelling Holy Spirit: “That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:12-14). You are now God’s child, a member of the Church the Body of Christ. You have permanent forgiveness of all your sins. You have a home reserved for you in Heaven forever. You are justified (declared righteous), redeemed (purchased out of the slave market of sin), sanctified (set apart for God’s purposes), and so on.
However, when you open the Bible and read it, you still encounter a problem. There is a “veil” concerning the Scriptures. You can see the words on the page, but have limited understanding. It is like looking into a foggy mirror. You observe a vague outline, but details are obscured. Closing the Bible, you exclaim, somewhat disappointed and disgusted, “Well, I got nothing out of that!” Later—days, weeks, months, or even years later—you return to the same passage. Now, the verses impact you with a greater magnitude. You feel a thrill. “Wow, look at that verse! I never noticed that truth before!” What happened? How can you see now in the Scriptures what you could not see earlier in those very same verses? This phenomenon is what we will focus on here.
Dear Christian friend, you have to remember that, even as saved people, we have a sin nature (the flesh) that rebels against the truth. If we are not careful to mind the things of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:5) and walk after the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:25)—letting Him lead our thinking and conduct—we will go the way of the flesh. Whether saved or lost, God gives people spiritual light so long as they are willing to receive it. It is offensive, but it must be stated. Yes, it is likely for a Christian to think and behave like a lost person. There are people who have trusted Christ but refuse to abandon their denominational views because it will cost them something or everything (ego, family members, job/salary, friends, and so on). Let us not be these kinds of people. May we value the Lord Jesus Christ and His words—no matter the price!
Listen to Ephesians chapter 4: “[17] This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, [18] Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: [19] Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. [20] But ye have not so learned Christ; [21] If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: [22] That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; [23] And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; [24] And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
The saints at Ephesus were cautioned not to repeat the sins of other Gentiles. All around the world were non-Jews walking (conducting their lives) “in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart….” The Ephesian Christians should be watchful in listening to and believing Pauline doctrine, lest they wind up in that same worthless mentality and lifestyle. If we are unwilling to let go of former doctrine—teaching we now know is false—then we will return to our old mindset and conduct.
Religion has misled us all to some degree. Some of us have spent decades in denominations or cults; others among us, having grown up in the Message of Grace, know practically nothing about such bondage. Yet, in all our hearts resides that aforementioned sin nature. It serves as “static” or “interference” to some extent. The greater the amount of false teaching we have clung to over the years, the more “static” the flesh generates, and the less clear God’s voice is on the pages of Scripture. We must let go of that nonsense if we are to hear God the Holy Spirit speak through the verses. It takes time, surely, but we have to move along in our understanding. Dear Christian friend, the more light you have in the Scriptures, please walk in that light. Do not regress, going back to the darkness in which you once were. Progress in your understanding, and get with it before you slide backward!
Consider Philippians chapter 1: “[12] Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. [13] Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, [14] I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. [15] Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. [16] Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.”
Here was the great Apostle Paul, writing some 30 or 35 years after trusting Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour. Even after all that time, Paul still did not have a complete understanding of just why the Lord saved him unto eternal life! Yet, Paul was determined to keep growing in the Word, to continue studying it, to keep allowing the Holy Spirit to use it to transform his mind and life. Dear Christian friend, we should follow him in this regard, walking in the spiritual light we have (verse 16). If we do this, God the Holy Spirit will use the Scriptures to further mature us in our spiritual knowledge and spiritual understanding (verse 15). We will continue seeing new things in the Scriptures.
Not only do we “read” Scripture, especially Romans through Philemon — “Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)” (Ephesians 3:4).
Not only do we “search” Scripture “daily” — “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11).
Not only do we “study” Scripture “rightly divided” — “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).
We “consider” Scripture to understand “all things” — “Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things” (2 Timothy 2:7).
We let the Scripture speak because we are willing to believe it — “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).
We let the Scripture speak because we have a sincere desire to know God’s Word and will — “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself” (John 7:17). “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
Onward, upward, and higher we go by God’s grace!
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Also see:
» How should we view dispensationalists of bygone days?
» Why do some Christians persistently behave like lost people?
» Must I be a “King James Bible, Pauline dispensationalist” to have eternal life?
