|
|
||
|
|
|||
A few years ago, I wrote a book called The Highway of Holiness, (and Volume 2) which sets forth the beliefs of the Creation Seventh Day Adventist Church in a manner suitable for those who have professed serious interest in baptism. It’s due for a bit of an update as of this moment in a couple of areas, but it is nevertheless an accurate description of the Way in which Yahweh has led His people in this generation.
The title of the book, of course, comes from this passage in the Book of Isaiah, and I want to read a few verses before the one in which the key phrase appears, because the context is powerful and relevant: “Say to them that are of a fearful heart, ‘Be strong, fear not; behold, your God will come with vengeance, even Elohim with a recompence; He will come and save you.’
“Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing; for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water; in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
“And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called ‘The Way of Holiness.’ The unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those, the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there.” (Isa 35:4-9)
Recently, someone on Facebook asked me, “Which version of the Bible is correct?”
My reply was something to the effect that the Word of Yahweh is correct, and we have various translations of that Word into many different languages. While some translations may be better than others, all except the most obviously corrupted contain the saving power of Yahweh. I did not get into issues surrounding the “novelty” versions like that produced by the Jehovah’s Witnesses; I was talking about those used by the general public, inasmuch as the general public uses any version of the Bible.
Human languages are, by their nature, limited; therefore there cannot be a translation that – by itself – perfectly captures every aspect of the divine thought. I say “by itself” for a reason. In a previous study I mentioned a common excuse that some people make for sin, which is that by himself, no man can resist the power of temptation. And that is a true sentence, but the Christian is never “by himself,” and always has the power of the Almighty, on which he constantly relies.
In just the same way, those who read the Scriptures to find the truth are not by themselves. They do not rely upon the words in isolation without the guiding power of the Holy Spirit. The Savior gave this promise: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” (Mat 7:7) Hopefully, you have not heard that promise so often that its beauty has become lost. If mankind were able to find salvation in the words of the Bible alone, then this instruction would not make any sense: “Trust in Yahweh with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” (Pro 3:5)
Yahshua said to the Pharisees, “Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life.” (John 5:39, 40) Notice that He said, “ye think” ye have eternal life in the Scriptures; He did not confirm their belief on that matter. Really, inasmuch as the Scriptures spoke of Christ, they did contain eternal life, but only because of Christ Himself, not because of the words – and those were the Hebrew words, lest anyone be tempted to blame the translation. But unless the Pharisees understood the words to be pointing to the Savior, they would not go to the One whom the Scriptures were intended to reveal.
Human intellect is important, and necessary. Human creativity is, in fact, one of the ways in which we reflect the image of our Heavenly Father. But human intellect is not capable of grasping spiritual realities unaided. It requires divine help, and that help is provided when intellect is combined with a righteous character. Righteousness involves humility, so that divine help can be received and appreciated.
When it comes to Bible translations, I personally like the traditional King James Version… I think it’s still the most commonly quoted version out there, and I like its phrasing, the precision of its terms, and the fact that it is both familiar to many people, and not copyrighted as newer versions tend to be by their publishing companies. That being said, there are other versions that render specific verses and passages more accurately from time to time, and so when it is useful, I will quote those instead.
But mistakes and imperfections of Biblical interpretation will not cost anyone their salvation. If a mis-reading of some critical doctrine leads to a sin that is “unto death,” then that individual had a fatal character flaw already, which the theological error merely brought to the surface. Knowledge about, and knowledge of, the Father and Son are critical to salvation; I am not minimizing the impact of errors in belief, but if a belief depends on a specific translation in order to be considered valid, and cannot use another “witness” to support it, then that belief should never become a conviction.
Remember, the first century saints did not have a Bible at all. We know more about the “doctrines” of Christianity than any believer who actually heard Christ speak, or any of His apostles teaching thereafter. We might take the writings of Paul for granted, because we have had them our whole lives, but if you were living in Philippi some years after the crucifixion, you may never have heard the Epistle to the Corinthians, or the Colossians. These letters were compiled together many, many years after those Churches were first established. Even further, it would be hard for any of us to imagine what it would mean to be a Christian, much less an Adventist, if the Book of Revelation did not exist. Yet for all the events recorded in the Bible, every miracle, every sermon, every journey of Paul to spread the Gospel, it did not.
The early Christians knew that the Almighty Creator had sent His Son in human form to be our sacrifice under the Law, paying the penalty for our sins, so that we might receive His Spirit into us and live lives pleasing to our Father in Heaven. They knew that the Commandments of God, and the Faith of Jesus, were the ways in which that knowledge was made manifest in our lives, and that was probably as much as they could nail down with assurance in many cases. Everything else was word of mouth, or brought by circulated messages being passed around, and were received in most cases as precious and new light. The ministers of local congregations were living in the blessing, of course, and so new light was being brought forth all the time, but it was not uniformly heard and understood.
Seen in this historical context, for someone to try to convince you that your orthodoxy lies in the specific understanding that they have of every verse in the Bible… this is evidence that such a person is not a disciple of Christ. And yes, of course, we are responsible for the light that we have. Because we do have a complete Bible, we are held to a higher standard than someone who was baptized after hearing Peter speaking once in Jerusalem. Specific to this final generation, we are called to the translation of the living, not the resurrection of the dead, and the Spirit of Christ will never settle for anything less than “the calling with which you have been called.”
In the Churches of today, with regard to the Christian life, some professed followers appear to be walking, some running, and some merely crawling. Those who are crawling see those who are walking, and think that they must be better. Those who are walking see those who are running, and think that those ones must be better. But that is the way of the world; that is a religion of achievement, and of works. The genuine Christian, the true Adventist Christian who experiences righteousness by faith, he is flying. It is not a matter of degree. How fast must you run before you are flying? There is no actual answer to that question, because they are two different processes altogether. No amount of running results in flight, just as no amount of “improving” at Christianity’s tenets results in sainthood. Being born again is not about practicing the works of Christian living until you get them right. It is not about agreeing with a teaching, or even trying really hard to live a life like Christ did.
It is about His actual life, in our actual bodies, perfecting the will of Yahweh through His servants that dwell sinful flesh. In this, the Law of Yahweh is validated; by relying entirely on divine power, we demonstrate to the universe that our Father is just, and asks of us nothing that we cannot accomplish. The weakest of us, as the world might judge weakness, accomplish the divine will in our lives. Perfect obedience is not a goal to attain, it is an inheritance claimed by those who benefit from the sacrifice of Yahshua, and we must never let anyone think of His Faith, of Yahshua’s Faith, as anything less than this, which the Bible describes. If anyone asks you, “How strong is your faith?” You know the answer… “It is as strong as Yahshua’s faith, because it IS Yahshua’s faith.”
Remember this, and it’s actually quite simple: Any statement you make about your own faith is actually a statement about Yahweh. Christians who do not believe in victory over sin might say, “I don’t have enough faith.” Think about what that means… if they do not have enough faith, or an imperfect faith (which is the other, similar statement) then either God gave them insufficient and imperfect faith, or they did not choose to receive a sufficient, perfect faith. Since they cannot blame God, they will say, if pressed, “I chose not to receive a perfect faith.” But if they made that choice, why did they not ask for the willingness, and the capability, to make the right choice?
What it will come down to with an honest person, every time, is that the unbeliever (because that is what such a person is, really) must either blame God, or admit that they did not really ask for what they needed. And if you say, “Well, why don’t you ask now?” then you are inviting them to receive the victorious life that Christ has provided for them at infinite cost.
But how do we know these things? How can we rest our everlasting safety on these ideas? How did we become messengers of so great a gift of salvation? It is because the Word of Yahweh has told us, and has said so in such a way as to guarantee that our trust in the Creator is never misplaced. Here is that verse again: “And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called “The Way of Holiness.” The unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those, the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.”
Those who wander, those who seek, even if they are fools, they will not err as long as they remain on the Highway.
Nobody will err therein. Some may say, “I am not the brightest thinker,” or “I am not the best speaker.” Well, Moses also said that, but Yahweh called him to walk that Highway, and provided him with everything he needed to succeed. I took the time to read those verses leading up to that phrase in Isaiah 35, because they lay out exactly why even the foolish do not err. It is because Yahweh Himself saves us. It is because He provides springs of water in the desert, and green plants in the wilderness. He provides what the wayfaring man needs, and as we saw several studies ago, one of the best gifts that He has given to us to keep us from erring is the gift of one another, His earthly family, His Church.
“For the perfecting of the saints,” it is written, God has given us apostles, prophets, and teachers. If perfection were not required, this would not be necessary, but we shall not err on that Highway of Holiness, not for any longer than it takes to identify an error and put it away.
I’ve spoken about a number of things so far… Bible versions, the history of the Church, Victory over sin, and so on. Here is what ties these ideas all together: as a Family, we walk together; therefore, since all are led by the Spirit of Yahweh, we do not err. If we see someone drifting close to the edge of the Highway, we correct that person in love, pointing them to the way from which we have come, and the direction in which we are walking.
We read, “Where no counsel is, the people fall; but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.” (Pro 11:14)
We read, “Then they that feared Yahweh spake often one to another, and Yahweh hearkened, and heard it, and a Book of Remembrance was written before Him for them that feared Yahweh, and that thought upon His name.” (Mal 3:16)
We read: “Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” (Ecc 4:9-12)
This passage from Ecclesiastes is not, of course, talking about falling into willful sin. If two are walking together and one falls into willful sin, the other human being cannot just “lift him up” out of that state. This is talking about those very errors that the Highway of Holiness is designed to eliminate… and look at the imagery at the end; a threefold cord, or a rope woven together from three strands, is stronger than its individual components.
This is why we do not err. This is the reason. Because we take the counsel of our brothers and sisters in the faith, because we communicate our concerns and our needs, because we are united like a threefold rope, we do not err. Our Father has given us gifts to keep us from falling into error. We have the Sabbath, for rest, and to build that relationship with Him. We have the New Moon days, for self-examination, and to cultivate the spirit of humility. We have our Camp Meetings that fall on the appointed times, for worldwide fellowship, and to receive the blessings associated with those events. We have inspired writings, both old and new, to show us where the borders of that Highway lie, and the balance that keeps us safely in the middle. We have the Spirit of Prophecy, which we also examined in recent studies, that reveals old truths in their right context, and provides new truths to keep us moving forward.
But the most immediately effective gift, the most powerful one for correcting those who would otherwise err, is the Church family. Many of the blessings that I mentioned just now, they can only really be experienced as our Father intended because of the love that flourishes in the Church family.
Let’s go back to my original example. Suppose someone in our fellowship was reading a Bible translation that wasn’t the absolute best for a certain passage… and as a result they got the wrong idea about something pertaining to the faith. At some point, determined by Yahweh’s providential consent, this individual would begin to speak about what they thought was the truth. They would mention it in a conversation, make a comment about it in a Church discussion, or something like that. The other brethren, who have been walking along their own path on the Highway, will think, “Wait a minute, this doesn’t match the light that I have been shown.”
This will lead to an examination, and here the spirits will be tested. If the individual bringing the error has any pride, any desire to strive for the mastery, any stubbornness… you see, these are the sins that are unto death, not a genuine misunderstanding of a teaching. But through this conversation, understandings will be shared, different Bible versions will be consulted if necessary, and prayer will summon the ministry of angels. All things will work together for good, and any who are in need of healing will receive it. Satan’s deceptions will be exposed, and characters will be brought ever closer to the fullness of the stature of Christ Yahshua. Because we walk that Highway of Holiness together, none shall err, not in this example, and not in any other circumstance that may arise.
Of course, Bible translation inaccuracies are just one potential cause of false thoughts. We are exposed to false ideas all the time, even from the most trusted of sources. Growing up, we were exposed in our most vulnerable state of childhood to the imperfections, assumptions, and non-Christ-like characters (in most cases) of our parents and other relatives. These had an impact on the formation of our own characters, many aspects of which must be adjusted before a soul is ready for the Heavenly atmosphere.
By our Father’s grace, we testify at our baptism that because of the Savior, we have overcome both inherited and cultivated traits of character that are contrary to His will. This promise can only be kept, in fact, this promise can only really be made, in the context of the Church family that is traveling the Highway of Holiness together.
Because we travel as a family, none shall err unto destruction. Even Satan’s most convincing temptations, attempting to convince the saint that he is weak, that he is misguided, even that he is a fool, fails to turn the saint’s eyes from Christ. Because the words of the prophet were specifically designed to aid those being attacked by the Enemy, faith endures, trust remains, and the journey continues.
I conclude, therefore, with this promise, which comforts us as we walk this Highway to the Heavenly Kingdom, and keeps the vision bright despite the occasional storm cloud: “But Yahweh, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Yahshua, that in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Yahshua.” (Eph 2:4-7)
The same one who has set us walking that Highway will keep us in the Way without error, all because of His great kindness toward us, and the gift He has given us of His Spirit, and of one another.
David.