Keys of the kingdom
Key Verses: 1, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24
Motive is so important! Watch out when someone is testing you. Chances are you can’t win. They will have stacked the deck against you, so that no matter what happens you will lose. Jesus confronts their test by telling them that they flunked. The signs of who He is are all around and yet they have ignored them. Prophecy is being fulfilled and they miss it. What good would one more sign do? Signs and miracles never saved anyone. They might get an emotional response, but that is not enough for salvation.
Bad teaching can gut the core of a community. When false teaching is allowed to continue, then it infects every aspect of ministry. And the error does not have to be a radical departure from the Truth in order to have negative effects. Two quick illustrations of subtle error that guts the Gospel of its hope.
1. The Scripture contains the Word of God. If the Scripture contains the Word, but isn’t the Word, part of Scripture must not be God’s Word. So how can we know what isn’t from God in Scripture? Who becomes the person to sift out what is human? How can we trust what we read? We can’t, so therefore the Scriptures can’t be trusted because who really knows what God said and did!
2. We must do (something) in order to be saved. If we must do then Christ didn’t do enough. If He didn’t do enough, then His death wasn’t sufficient. How far short of the goal did it fall? How much do I need to work in order to make up for what He didn’t do? How can I really be sure I am doing enough, that I really am saved?
In both of these instances human wisdom is raised about God’s wisdom and knowledge. Someone becomes the subjective voice of authority, rather than relying on the objective authority of God’s revelation. Both turn faith on its head, robbing it of God’s power.
The fundamental question that everyone must answer is this: Who is Jesus? And the answer turns our life in very radically different ways. One leads to life and peace, the other to struggle and uncertainty. And we make this decision every day. It is displayed in our actions and attitudes. What we really believe on the inside will show up on the outside. If He is God in the flesh, then His death has meaning, purpose and power. If He is just human, then His death is a tragic loss and who knows if He really rose from death.
Deny self, take cross and follow. Gain life, lose life. Gain world, gain soul. No middle ground. So what is your choice today? Follow Jesus?
The Arnold Journey 