His Will Blog

January 13, 2023January 10, 2023

Are We Paying Attention?

I read through the Bible in 2022 using the One Year Bible: New Living Translation. In 2023 I intend to do the same thing following the reading plan in the Ryrie Study Bible. This year it will be the New American Standard Bible. (Reading different translations of holy scripture heightens my respect for the inspiration and preservation of God’s Word, and sometimes prompts fresh perspectives and questions as I read.)

Reading though the Bible in a year is not as daunting as it may seem. You can do it in as little as twenty minutes a day. It’s not too late to get started. Do a Google search of Bible reading plans, choose one and go for it!

I was saddened to read in the current issue of Christianity Today a report from the American Bible Society that regular Bible reading declined in 2022. It is unclear why. “That means that amid record inflation, threats of nuclear war in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the ongoing debates about the state of democracy, there were about 26 million Americans who stopped reading the Bible.” Is this one of the indicators that the U.S. has become a post-Christian nation?

There is a wonderful story in the Book of Nehemiah which gives us some of the benefits of Bible reading. The teaching priest Ezra led the people of Judah in a solemn assembly to revive their interest in the written Word of God. In Nehemiah 8-9 the “people came together as one” to hear the reading of the scriptures “which the Lord had commanded for Israel” (Nehemiah 8:1).

A great crowd of men, women and children listened attentively as Ezra read all morning long (8:3). The readings were punctuated by expressions of praise to the Lord (8:6). Then Ezra sent other teachers out among the people to explain the scriptures and give clarity in understanding what was being read (8:7-8).

What followed were outcomes we might expect to see in our own lives when we read the Bible with humility: (1) conviction and confession of sin (9:1-4), (2) worship and praise to God (9:3), (3) remembrance of and thanks for the great works of God (9:5-37), (4) heartfelt surrender to God (9:38-10:39). In other words, their lives were regulated and shaped by the holy Word of God. These are reasons why we should be reading God’s Word every day.

I heard Warren Wiersbe say, “When I open my Bible and read it, God is speaking to me.” The Old Testament prophets thundered, “Thus says the Lord!” They were given the conviction that what they wrote and preached was the very Word of God. God had called them to be his human messengers, conveyors of his Word.

So if God speaks though the scriptures, shouldn’t we be paying attention?

Dr. Bruce Waltke was invited to bring a series of chapel lectures at a leading church-related university. His assigned topic was “What do evangelicals believe?” (This was before the label “evangelical” was hijacked by political opportunists!) He began by saying that “evangelical” is related to the “evangel” or the good news of the gospel. The evangel is based upon the Bible. He noticed that nobody in the room had a Bible.

He said to the president, “I won’t continue to teach until you have Bibles!” Naturally the president got upset. But he dispatched a search party to find Bibles for the members of the audience. The janitor found a quantity of unused pew Bibles in a basement storage room. The next week they brought these Bibles to the chapel for Waltke’s lectures.

Why did he do that? Because the Bible was the basis of authority for his teaching. It is the Word of God written, and the source of any truth we can know about God and his will for us. Maybe your Bible is not gathering dust in a basement storage room. But where is it right now? I suggest that you open it and let God speak to you.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

October 11, 2019October 6, 2019

A Joyful Response to the Doctrine of Election

Warren Wiersbe whimsically told of a man who wanted his help to get a book published, “God has given me the pen of a ready writer,” the man claimed ostentatiously. He caught up with Wiersbe at his hotel room, interrupting a badly needed afternoon nap.

When Wiersbe opened the door to his room the man blurted, “I have a book manuscript here in which I prove that John 3:16 does not teach that God loves the whole world.”

“‘Really?’ I replied, with an obvious yawn which he ignored. ‘Then what does the word world mean in John 3:16?'”

“‘The elect!’ he almost shouted.”

Wiersbe answered, “You know, brother, life has enough problems even when we believe that God loves the world. What would happen if we didn’t believe it? Life would be unbearable! I don’t suggest that you publish that book.”

This illustrates the lengths to which some extremists go to try to promote their version of the doctrine of election. And this is a reason some believers react so strenuously against its teaching.

In point of fact, we cannot deny that this teaching is scriptural. Whatever else we might say about it we must all agree that the election of God’s people is because of his love (Ephesians 1:4-5). An appreciation of the doctrine of election leads to right living (Colossians 3:12).

In today’s blog, I want to call attention to what the apostle Peter says about it in his first letter. He is writing to Christian Jews of the diaspora and to Gentiles who have recently been converted from paganism. They are being persecuted for their faith and Peter is writing to give them encouragement and stability in the face of suffering.

Peter fortifies their faith with the great truth of election. They are God’s chosen ones, his special people, the “people of God” (1 Peter 2:9). Though they are “strangers” and “scattered,” as far as the world is concerned, as far as God is concerned they are his elect people “who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father” (1 Peter 1:1-2).

To me a high point of the letter is 1 Peter 2:9 — “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

He went on to say, “To this, you were called…” (2:21) and “God called you to his eternal glory…” (5:10). Therefore they are to “Stand fast in the true grace of God” (5:13). The “call” to which he refers is the election of God, his special choice of those people whom he calls his own, by grace alone through faith in Christ alone.

It is not my purpose here to address all the questions that may arise. It is to remind you of a truth that is in the Bible to bring us comfort and joyful assurance. In many ways, we are like those first-century believers who needed the stability and hope that comes from strong doctrine. We need it too!

So meditate today on 1 Peter, chapter one. There it says that God’s elect people are: strangers in the world, chosen in keeping with God’s plan, sanctified by the Holy Spirit, cleansed with the blood of Christ, born again, given a living hope and an imperishable inheritance in heaven, shielded by God’s power, believers in Jesus, even though they have not seen him in person, and given the present assurance of ultimate salvation.

Peter says that all this should fill us with an “inexpressible and glorious joy!” Let that be our response instead of extremism, rancorous arguments and division. If there are questions or misunderstandings, let us bring them to the Lord. In quiet reverence, let’s ask God to give us the same thankful response that is recommended by the apostle Peter.

– Pastor Randy Faulkner

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