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Speak as oracles of God

Editor’s note: This is the sixth installment of a series by Lyndon Stimeling that will run each week.

I Peter 4:11

In the last article we considered the life of Christ surrounded by legalism. He never gave in to the condemnation and ridicule of the religious leaders. His life was a witness to the fact that He came to do the will of His Heavenly Father, not to be a man-pleaser! Let’s consider some other verses in the Bible that shed some light on the subject of legalism, we will begin in the Old Testament.

In Isaiah 29:13, the word of God says, “In as much as these people draw near to Me with their mouths, and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men.” Legalism in one form or another has probably been around as long as man has.

The book of Acts gives us insight into the beginning of the early church. We can also see how they dealt with tradition and legalism. Some of the Pharisees, who believed, tried to impose Old Testament law on the other Christians until the Jerusalem council got involved. This was part of their reply; “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.” If these directives were the only burdens the present day church had to bear, we would be in good shape.

A very important verse that supports true Christian liberty is found in II Corinthians 3:17, “Now the Lord is Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” The word “liberty” in this verse means, liberty to do or omit things having no relation to salvation, from Jewish errors so blinding the mental vision that it does not discern the majesty of Christ. The Spirit also frees our minds from the things of earth as He ministers through the preaching of God’s word.

This is why preaching the word (oracles) of God truthfully and accurately is so important. We have no guarantee that the words of man are applied too the hearts of men and women through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Have you ever wondered why some preachers seem to have the gift of putting people to sleep? It seems quite possible that the man is speaking on his own initiative without the power of the Holy Spirit. When ministers speak on their own without any results, many times they resort to man made rules and regulations to change people’s lives. It is quite possible that some of these ministers have been called by man but not by God!

When God’s word is proclaimed accurately, God is glorified, sinners are set free, and the saints are edified and encouraged. Are you being encouraged where you attend? Are you being built up in the faith and in the knowledge of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ? You should be.

Comments or questions, contact me at: thoughtsonword@gmail.com.

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Lyndon Stimeling, of Richfield, has been writing about faith and family for many years. He has self-published two books, “Common Thoughts on The Word” in 2016 and “Eye of a Needle” in 2017. He has also had articles published in The Coming Home Journal and local newspapers and has written a children’s book.

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