Three Truths Contrary to God’s Truth (Part 3)

Today we conclude our three part series with the final truth contrary to God’s truth. #3 When We Deny God’s Word, We Deny God

Do your remember the movie “Talladega Nights” with Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly? There’s one scene in particular that I’ve never forgotten, the dinner prayer of the main character, Ricky Bobby, to the Baby Jesus. Each time he’d make a request, he’d refer to Jesus as the baby in the manger, not the Jesus who grew up, taught, was resurrected and will one day return again.

“Dear Lord Baby Jesus, or as our brothers to the south call you..”

“Dear tiny Jesus, in your golden-fleece diapers…”

“Dear 8 pound, 6 ounce newborn infant Jesus..”

Ricky Bobby’s family and friends tried to correct him but he told them he liked the Christmas Jesus best and went on with his prayer to baby Jesus.

And that’s what we often do.

We pick and choose which parts of the Bible we want to believe and which parts we don’t and that’s the standard we choose to live by.

I want to think of God as a loving Father and would rather read about that attribute rather then study passages about the God who gets angry and allows death and tragedy to discipline his people.

But it’s there, in the pages of Scripture, and we have to accept it all.

Yes, there are 613 Levitical laws that we no longer have to abide because of the coming of Jesus. Those laws were in place so that God’s people realized what it would take to be holy and without blemish. Though they tried, God’s chosen ones, the Israelites, found it absolutely impossible to maintain that lifestyle. It was provided to set up the need for a Savior.

But the Ten Commandments, the teachings of Jesus, the writings of the Apostles, the prophecy, the Psalms and Proverbs, every last page of the Word, is here for our instruction and our benefit.

When we deny God’s word, we deny God.

We deny Jesus.

In John 1:1 it says, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word with with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.”

Jesus is the Word and every page of the Bible points to him. When we meditate on the Word, God uses it to speak to us, even through the Old Testament passages. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

The problem is many of us don’t want thoughts and attitudes judged.

We don’t want to be convicted about our sin. We’re afraid we’ll have to change a behavior. So like Ricky Bobby, we focus on a piece of the Bible that’s non-threatening, rather than on the Scriptures that speaks to our weakness. We pick and choose what we want to believe. We tell the Word what we want to hear rather than allowing the Word to speak to our hearts.

We want to justify our sinfulness.

I’ve been guilty of this. What about you?

But James says we can’t just read the Word and not do something about it. We can’t skip over the parts we might need the most.

He says, “Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the Word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks law.” James goes on to say when you act on the Word, you’ll be blessed in what you do.

At the rate we’re discarding sections of the Bible, I wonder what will be left?

In Acts, when the apostles began to preach in the various provinces, it was the Word of God they preached and it was the Word of the Lord the people accepted. “But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord” (Acts 15:35).

Today I challenge you to read the Word of God, not just the parts you like, but start with Genesis and work through every page of the Bible through Revelation. Each day ask the Holy Spirit to give you a new word from his Word, to convict you of any sin you might not be aware of and to give you a fresh understanding of your faith. God will be faithful to respond to your obedience to be open to the infallible Word of God.