Column – God wants us to understand his word
Published 2:51 pm Thursday, July 29, 2021
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As a Christ follower I have learned over the years that talking about God to “lost people” is something you do as you go.
“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28: 19, 20)
Literally it means while you live your life.
Sometimes I have come in contact with people who acknowledge God exists, but it is not the same as “following Christ”. They even read the word of God, but they have no true revelation of what the word actually means. Think about it, even Satan believes that God is real and God’s word is truth. However, he hates God. He hates Jesus. He does not want others to believe. The word says that Satan comes to kill, steal and destroy. His goal is to literally take as many people (who God created – not him) to hell. He wants lost people to stay lost forever and suffer unimaginably, for all eternity.
John Piper shares: 2 Corinthians 4:4 says that Satan blinds people to keep them from seeing the “light of the gospel”…he prevents spiritual perception. The words of the gospel are heard. The facts are comprehended. But there is no “light.” The lost person considers the facts, but sees no compelling spiritual beauty, no treasure, nothing supremely precious.
John Edwards explains, they do not have a “true sense of the divine excellency of the things revealed in the word of God, and a conviction of the truth” and the reality of it. He that is spiritually enlightened truly apprehends and sees it, or has a sense of it. He does not merely rationally believe that God is glorious, but has a sense of the gloriousness of God in his heart.
It is very easy for Christ followers to simply dismiss a passage in the Bible; when they may not understand it right away. However that is exactly what Satan wants you to do. He wants you to be ignorant of the “glory in the gospel.” I have found when I am not sure about what I am reading if I just ask God to help me understand – he does.
God desires for his children to know him and to know his word.
In 2 Timothy 2:15 the word says, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a worker who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”
Let’s ask God to help us to be diligent in understanding and sharing His word.
Yvette Perrin is a columnist for The Charlotte Gazette. She can be reached at theword2yvette@gmail.com.