The Bible, the Preacher, and the Spirit (6)

Thus God rules, judges, and saves by the Bible, or by a book. Unbelievers think that this is foolishness. They think so not because the ways of God are in fact foolish, but because these unbelievers themselves are foolish. Their minds are so feeble and blinded that they cannot perceive or understand true wisdom. As Paul writes, "Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a 'fool' so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: 'He catches the wise in their craftiness'; and again, 'The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile'" (1 Corinthians 3:18-20).

Unbelievers are experts at self-approval. They invent their own standards, and then they use these standards to judge themselves wise. But to be found wise in this manner is a meaningless honor. Let such a person become what he would consider a "fool" by these false standards. Paul says, "The wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight." When we examine the unbelievers and their philosophies from the perspective of the divine mind, we perceive that they are foolishness. To put it simply, the unbelievers consider themselves smart only because they have invented their own standards, and then they use these standards to measure themselves. By this method, even a dwarf can look like a giant. Non-Christians are just a bunch of very stupid people calling one another smart, but when we examine them according to true wisdom, we immediately see them for the fools that they are.

They ridicule us for taking orders from a book that was written thousands of years ago, as if truth changes with time. Of course, for one to suggest that a book produced so long ago must therefore contain numerous errors is to condemn all that he claims to know now. He is telling us that, even by his own standard, we should not take anything that he says seriously, since in a few years or more, even some of his central beliefs and most tightly held convictions will be disproved. But whereas the unbelievers have yet to refute anything that the Bible says, we can refute everything that they believe in even now. Knowledge never progresses, that is, if knowledge is what you start with. But empty speculation "advances" every day, and this is the essence of the history of all the natural sciences, human philosophies, and non-Christian religions.

So the Bible is a book, but it is not like any other book. It is God's mind, God's word, God's voice, and therefore it possesses supreme value and ultimate authority. In light of this, we are amazed that God has entrusted this book to us, both to learn from it and to preach from it. He could have chosen to declare his word to mankind by himself, or he could have ordered the angels to perform the task. Instead, he allows us to handle this sacred book, pours out his Spirit upon us, and makes mere men his "fellow workers" (1 Corinthians 3:9).

(to be continued)