The Irrefutable Truth of Scripture Above Experience
The first underlying pillar of any Christian discourse must be that Scripture is true even if our life experience does not match with them. Christianity outside of the Word leaves us open to false beliefs, the rise of cults and most importantly, powerless living.
Our entire faith must first be based on the Word, not on what we think Christianity is, on our own perceived knowledge of morals, of right and wrong. Christianity is so much more than these.
The Bible clearly states
Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (NKJV)
With no hearing and hearing of the Word (most of them could not read back when this was written) it simply means we will have no faith. Period.
And faith is not dependent on our experiences in life. We measure life by the Word, not the Word by life. For sure we do not have a 100% revelation of God’s Word yet (there is plenty more), but everything we have must be based on it. I will be quoting a lot of scriptures here; do please check these scriptures in their context to be convinced that they are really there and that they say what I quote them to say.
Understand also that the discourse here, while long, is not necessarily comprehensive.
Trials Do Not Come from God
John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. (NKJV)
It says here that Jesus came to give us abundant life. It is the devil, the thief, who steals, kills and destroys. The problem arises when we confuse job descriptions. How then do we tell what comes from God and what comes from the devil? Has the God we believe in effectively put the thief out of a job? Could it be that the devil has no more left to do? Is there still a devil to contend with, then? Or could it be that the devil is in cahoots with God?
More onerously, how then does one receive love from a God whom we believe is doing what the Bible says is from the devil?
This fatalistic notion that all things in life, good and evil, come from God suddenly appears very illogical in the light of this scripture and bids us to study more deeply into the Bible for sure.
Read on…
There Will Be Trials…
…but Our Lord Has Overcome Them
John 16:33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (NKJV)
There will be tribulation in this world – we live in a world that has sickness, disease, poverty and every other thing from war to global warming. We live in a world that was handed to satan by Adam when he ate of the fruit. That is why satan could offer it to Jesus, remember?
Matthew 4:8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” (NKJV)
We live in enemy territory. We are in the world, not of it. The trials did not come from God. They will happen. Going back to John 10:10, there is a thief and he wants to steal what is yours in Christ, what Christ died for. He wants to steal what was given by grace, just like he stole from Adam and Eve.
So it is clear that from John 16:33 that there are trials on this earth and that Jesus, by His work in the New Covenant, has overcome them with His blood. Again, if we confuse the work of the devil with the work of God, we are the ones to suffer for it. Jesus clearly did not say “but be of good cheer because I was the one that sent the trials”.
But wait… wasn't there a passage somewhere in James that said that God sends trials to increase our faith? Again, let’s take a look at scriptures carefully.
James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. (NKJV)
Note a few things:
1. It did not say that the trails were sent by God. It said “when you fall into various trials”. This is exactly what Jesus had promised: that in this world, we will have trials, so there is no contradiction in it.2. It is the testing of our faith that produces patience, not the testing of our patience that produces faith: a small but very pivotal point to note.
3. These faith tests make us complete, whole, renewed not because we were able to endure trials through gritted teeth (that's what I meant in point 2) – faith comes from the Word (Rom 10:17) and when it comes to the crunch, it is up to us to believe the promises of God in the face of adversity. It is in this that we are made perfect and complete.
Faith is when we believe what the Word says, that yes indeed, He has overcome these tribulations. We overcome by belief of the Word, which leads us to the conclusion that without the Word in our lives, we are sitting ducks in the midst of trials.
I need to say this again: the trials do not come from God. In the Greek used in the New Testament, the word for temptations, trials and tribulations are the same. It is in this context that James himself said ten verses down:
James 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. (NKJV)
There will be trials. They do not come from God, but when we believe God’s promises in the midst of them and hang on to them no matter what, they produce patience and make us whole. Truths that we know intimately, that become a part of our reality, is what makes us free:
John 8:31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (NKJV)
Said another way: If we don’t abide in the Word, we are not His disciples (this is serious!), and we won’t know the truth and we won’t be set free. Can you see now why today's churches largely have a lot less power and effectiveness than really we ought to be having (Re: Book of Acts)?
Evil is Not from God
Isaiah talked about calling evil good and good evil.
Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (NKJV)
If we attribute evil to a loving God, then we call evil good, and good evil. Then we qualify for the “woe” part. Thank God for His grace. In the world today, if I knowingly spread a disease, cause a calamity or even made you stub your toe on purpose, that’s called “evil”. How then can we say that God is the one who took a little child's life, who gave a disease and (extrapolating this thought) caused a jetliner with over 200 people to disappear, was behind IS beheading precious little girls because their families were Christian and spread Ebola to teach a few more lessons?
I know there are those who will bring up Old Testament scriptures to show me evidence of God and evil, but that’s another long discourse for another article. Suffice to say that even among the Old Testament saints, especially David who was a “man after God’s own heart”, they knew that they were serving a good God. A casual reading of Psalms 91 would reveal that God protects us from evil and is by simple implication not the one exacting it. More directly, David said:
Psalm 5:4 For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, Nor shall evil dwell with You. (NKJV)
(As an aside, why would anyone serve an evil god here on earth and then have to face him forever in eternity? There’s already a devil and a hell to do that with! Selah...)
Let’s see what Jesus said about God:
John 14:9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? (NKJV)
Why of course! He is God and the manifestation of the Father. He is the one who said:
Matthew 5:44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, (NKJV)
Jesus said that we should do good even to our enemies. Would He (and the Father that He represents) do any less for us or could it be that we as Christians are in a less-privileged position? I think not, for scripture says that we are under a better covenant (Heb 8:6) established by no less than the precious blood of His own Son.
Again, Jesus asked us to pray:
Matthew 6:9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. (NKJV)
If God’s will is done on earth as in Heaven, there would be no sickness, disease or evil for these do not exist in Heaven. If the trials were from God, there would be no need for the prayer, for an enforcement of God’s Heavenly will, for then all in this world would already be God’s will. And if everything that happens is God’s will, then this prayer we mouth so often would have no meaning.
Of course, going by pure logic, there could also be the option where there is sickness, disease and poverty in Heaven to contend with, those same earthly trials we face that some accrue to God, that we are trying to pray down. No, it is easy to see that this last option is wrong. Evil is from the devil. When the Kingdom comes, it invades and brings God’s goodness. Our Lord Himself said it:
Matthew 10:7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. (NKJV)
Freely, the presence of the Kingdom brings healing, cleansing and freedom from control and effect of demons. In God’s presence is liberty (2 Cor 3:17), freedom (Rom 6:18,22), love, joy, peace, goodness (Gal 5:22). In the devil’s domain is oppression and evil as we see from the scripture below:
Acts 10:38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. (NKJV)
Note also, doing good and healing come together. Those oppressed by sicknesses were oppressed by the devil. And Jesus came expressly to destroy these the works of the devil:
1 John 3:8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. (NKJV)
Without sin, there would be no corruption, no sickness and no disease. God the Father does not augment the work of the devil that Jesus came to destroy.
And what was His commission? To do as He did, by the authority of His name, purchased by His blood.
John 20:21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” (NKJV)
There is a War Going On
The Bible tells us that there is a war going on and that we should gear up for this fight. Paul tells Timothy:
1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (NKJV)
It is a fight of faith, a fight to believe the Word. Our part is to hold on to the promises of God’s Word in the face of enemy attacks, hence the term “shield of faith”. Paul wrote to the Ephesians:
Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (NKJV)
Yes, there is a devil and no, he does not work for God. If we cannot tell good from evil, if it all happened because of God’s will in some way, then it becomes hard to know which came from God and which from the devil. How then will we stand against the wiles of (who?)…the devil?
James says:
James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (NKJV)
Our job is to submit to God – cast our cares on Him, submit to His Word. In doing this, we raise the shield of faith and the devil is resisted. Clearly again, there is a God and there is a devil and they have separate job descriptions that we confuse to our own peril.
Then there’s this whole point about God allowing it. Yes God knows that we have to face trials to grow up. The best soldiers are the battled hardened ones. That’s why God has a promise:
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. (NKJV)
In this truly is God’s sovereignty.
What About Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh?
I saw that one coming… that 2 Cor 12:7-9 speaks of Paul’s ongoing sickness from God that He refused to heal, to keep Paul humble. Some eye malady or something...
Before coming to that conclusion, let’s read the whole context starting from 1 Cor 11:16. Too long to copy it here, so check it up on your own. It deals with Paul reluctantly “boasting” about himself to gain some credibility with the Corinthians. He goes on to talk about his vision of paradise, just before this talk about the thorn in the flesh. His whole point here is about being able to get the Corinthians to value his words. Why would that context then suddenly switch to some disease put on him by his God? Let’s read that passage:
2 Corinthians 12:7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (NKJV)
He had a “thorn in the flesh”, a common figure of speech for a persistent annoyance or evil. It was sent to him by a messenger of satan, not by God. How did we ever conclude that it came from God? We have already established the larger extent of the cosmological war, God vs the devil. It is only when we hold on to erroneous ideas of God’s will that we perhaps conclude that it came from God via the devil.
Not right.
And why did the devil do that? Reading in context, it was not to keep him humble ("exalted above measure") but more perhaps to make sure that the Corinthians did not hold his words in regard (the context of the passage). That would be a demon thing to do in coming against the Kingdom, so that Paul's revelations would not come forth.
So what was God’s answer to him when he prayed? Allow me to paraphrase it: “Paul, I have given you the grace enough to overcome this thorn in the flesh. My strength to overcome is greatest when you are weak” i.e. walk in the Spirit, not in the flesh. Verse 10 is like what we saw in James 1:2-3 above, where he counts it joy in the midst of a trial, because Christ has overcome. Once he is submitted to God even in this, the devil will be resisted.
And Yes, That Job Thing…
This will always come up in any discussion about God’s will, that God caused/sanctioned/allowed the devil to test Job.
Let’s establish some ground first by looking at a passage in 1 Peter:
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. (NKJV)
We have to be sober and vigilant. If all the trials and test came because of some bigger plan from God perhaps in conjunction with the devil, then we would not have to be sober or vigilant. We’d just have to learn to endure the pain of these trials and tests.
This devil fellow does have a free reign on earth and it sure doesn't sound like it is God he works for. He goes after whom he may and if we let our guard down or confuse who the trials are coming from (like Job as we will see) we get destroyed.
Walking around like a roaring lion was what he did when he came across Job:
Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. 7 And the LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”
I cannot discuss the theological aspects of satan appearing before God, but he was certainly prowling for an opportunity.
Job 1:8 Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” (NKJV)
Many interpret this verse as God giving up Job for a trial. The word “considered” here is actually consistent with the devil’s process of looking for a victim, like “are you thinking of doing something to him?” I like the way the Young’s Literal Translation has it:
Job 1:8 And Jehovah saith unto the Adversary, ‘Hast thou set thy heart against My servant Job because there is none like him in the land, a man perfect and upright, fearing God, and turning aside from evil?’ (YLT)
“Have you set your heart against…”. Like Peter puts it, the devil does prowl around on earth looking for a victim. It is not like as if God recommended Job for a trial by the devil. In fact, it was God’s sovereignty that protected Job:
Job 1:12 And Jehovah saith unto the Adversary, ‘Lo, all that he hath is in thy hand, only unto him put not forth thy hand.’ And the Adversary goeth out from the presence of Jehovah. (YLT)
“All that he hath is in thy hand” is not a handover by God, but a declaration of a truth on earth – the devil is as a roaring lion and he can devour.
So moving on from here, we must establish another fact: Who struck Job, God or the devil? It was not explicit when his children and livestock were destroyed, but when Job himself came down with boils, it was:
Job 2:7 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. (NKJV)
And Job’s response said much about his erroneous doctrine as it does many of our’s today:
Job 1:21 And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.” (NKJV)
Theological note: Just because it is in the Bible doesn't make it doctrine. Adam hid from God after sinning; Judas went and hanged himself after betraying Jesus, but these do not set precedents for our behaviour as Christians. Let's rightly divide the Word.
While it is good that Job did not charge God with it, we see clearly from scriptures that it was not God who took away. Unless we again go by that “God and the devil pact" doctrine that we’ve already shown is not of scriptures, Job is clearly offside.
From this discussion, I think it is sufficiently clear from scriptures that we have an active part in resisting this devil and that his evil for us is not God’s plan. We need to remember also that Job was before the death and resurrection of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit to be one with us. The poor man, good as he was, did not have the same covenant cut by the precious blood of Jesus. It must count for something if it is a better covenant.
The Conclusion – God Really Is Love
There are different ways Christians will respond to this. Some may not even have read this far. Some will write it off as a sort of heresy with a wave of the hand, choosing to believe what they already know or think they know. These must then be able to explain away the scriptures I have provided.
A third group, the one I appeal to, is the one that has read it, gone through all the scriptures and find them causing a shift of thinking, a burning in their hearts. Scriptures illuminate and give light. We must allow them and they can be hard, but trust me, it will be worth it.
Friend, God loves you and He is a good God. His plans for you are good and not evil, to give you hope and a future (Jer 29:11). He wants you to know His incredible love that you might become more like Him (Eph 3:19). He wants you to love as you have been loved (John 13:34-35, 1 John 4:19). His one New Commandment was to love one another as we have been loved by Him. All it takes is for the devil to give us a twisted idea of this love, to redefine this term love to include trials and evil and many will be unable to fulfill our Lord's one New Commandment to us.
If we allow the notion that trials and evil come from the Lord, it will short circuit our perception of His love to us and we will never come to fully understand it. A father grieving a child lost to a disease, a family that has lived through a war or natural disaster, a person affected by terrorism and is taught that it is somehow from God will never fully fathom God’s love and become like Him to reveal His glory to a lost and dying world.
We must not fall prey to the father of lies as he plays the ultimate deceit in twisting the definition of the most intrinsic nature of our God, His love. That’s exactly what he wants, so that the Kingdom of God is stymied in its progress.
We need to know that our God is truly the manifestation of love to His Creation.
I pray that you will come to know and enjoy more of this love.
Be blessed.
Chris
