To Encourage You

Psalm 119:128 “Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right; I hate every false way.”

Are their “exceptions” in your faith? Do you agree with the Bible’s view on many or even most things, but are there exceptions? Do you really like Jesus’ teaching about love, peace, and joy? Does the Sermon on the Mount ring true with you? Do you love the way Jesus dealt with religious hypocrites? Don’t most of us like the Golden Rule, regardless of what our faith background is? But are there exceptions? What about the Bible’s teaching about Creation? You know what it says, but most scientists say we evolved from nonliving things. Therefore, is this an exception in your view of the Bible? What about the Scripture’s teaching on sexuality? It’s clear what the Scriptures teach about this topic, but it is so contrary to the views of the modern world. Therefore, is your acceptance of the Bible’s teaching on this topic an exception for you? What about Jesus’ teaching that He is the only way to God? Do you like many things that Jesus said, with the exception of this teaching? Surely there are many ways to God, aren’t there? That’s what most people think, anyway. And then there’s the Bible’s view of sin and human nature. The Bible has lots of good lessons for us, right? But when it comes to the topic of how evil the human heart is, well, that’s an exception. We can’t really be expected to believe that, can we? What about the common belief that we’ll get to heaven if we live a good life? That’s not what the Bible teaches, of course, but in your view, is that an exception?

You see, the true lover of God, the person like the one who wrote Psalm 119, realizes that God’s view of everything in life and in the universe is right and much superior to his or her own. They realize that “all” God’s precepts are right and they hate “every” false way. They realize that if their understanding of any issue is in conflict with what the Bible teaches, the problem is certainly not with the Bible, but with their own understanding. They acknowledge that when God destroyed all the world with a flood, there were only eight people who believed God’s Word. And they acknowledge that although many, if not most, people today may not believe that the flood ever occurred, they believe it and they acknowledge that “as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” when he returns in great judgment of fire on the world (Matthew 24:37-39).

May the omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent God help us to receive all his inerrant Word for the truth that it is, without exception.  For as we are told in James 2:10 “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.”