Tag Archives: presumption

A Problem in Religious Communities

16 Monday May 2022

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“I know this is what the Lord wants. He placed this on my heart.”

Really? How do you know this is what the Lord wants?

“He placed it on my heart. Besides, this which I am thinking that is surely a good deed to be done for the community. Are you saying the Lord does not want this?”

I am saying nothing. I am only asking you how you know this is what the Lord wants. Did he reveal this to you in a dream, a vision, did He audibly speak to you, did you read it in the Bible?

“No, none of these things occurred.”

So then, how do you know? I guess we can conclude that what you think the Lord did is not something He actually did, but what you want to believe He did. In other words, you are not certain the Lord said this (“I know” corresponds to certainty).

In fact, all it really is, is your desire to accomplish something, and attribute it to the Lord. Since that is all this is, it is presumptuous for you or anyone to say, “I know the Lord did….”

There will be people like me who will demand evidence from you that Lord actually did say this or that. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world (1 John 4:1, ASV).

Your Name is Aaron

15 Thursday Feb 2018

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Your name is Aaron. You have been chosen by the Lord to lead the people of Israel in worship to the Lord. You know your responsibility will be great, but you don’t really know how great it will be. You can’t help but to be impressed with your younger brother Moses, for it was the Lord who chose Moses to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt, but you were fortunate to be by him to help and speak for him. Already to this point, you know the Lord.

You were there when the two of you presented yourselves before the king; you were there when you both were reprimanded by the people because the burdened became much heavier for them; you were there when Egypt’s king called Moses before him more than once seeking relief; you were there when Pharaoh sent you and the nation out of NE Africa with haste. You saw all of this, but more than having seen it, you experienced it. Now, the Lord choose you to lead His people. Your name is Aaron.

Through Moses, the Almighty tasked you to head up his priestly family. Moses was of the same ancestry as you, but it was you He chose. Now it begins to settle on you just how great a position of responsibility you have.

Moses calls you and your two sons, Nadab and Abihu, to be set apart for the Lord’s special work. As you look at your two sons, you are a proud father, but the significance of your role is yet before you. Animals are killed on the behalf of you three, and there is much symbolism administered as you three are set apart for a most important work. You are separated from the people at large and from your family for many days. Now it really begins to settle in on you just how important this work is. It begins to settle in, but it has not quite arrived at the point where it will settle in.

Not only are you given special clothing and set aside for a special work with much symbolism, but now you are presenting to the Lord only those things He wants done. By this time, you have come to honor, respect, revere and fear the Lord’s name and power. You are a changed man. Your two sons, you hope, have been changed as you have been. They experienced the same as you; perhaps their experience was not quite the same, but nearly so. Surely, as with your response, theirs is similar.

Now, you come to a part of the Divine service wherein an offering of incense to the Lord is to occur. You, with much devotion and respect, fulfill your responsibilities to this point; now it’s time for your sons to do the same. Before you know it, from heaven came fire and consumed them! Their lives are gone! Your mind is racing, wondering what just happened, and why it happened. Then you hear from Moses and begin to understand what happened. “Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the LORD spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified” (Leviticus 10:3).

What in the world were Nadab and Abihu thinking that they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord? Some have suggested it was because of alcohol, for the Lord gives guidance concerning that in Leviticus 10. This may be exactly the problem, but I am inclined to think it was simply willful disobedience on their part to the Lord’s expressed way; they were thoughtless and careless. “Surely, the Lord will not be upset with a slight change in the offering of this incense! What difference does it make, anyway?”

Your name is Aaron. While you never met Jeremiah, you have come to learn by experience that which he wrote nearly a thousand years later, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9, KJV). You have learned that the Lord knows your heart and the heart of every one of His created beings. LESSON: Never trifle with the Lord and His way, for one can be sure sin will find them out (Numbers 32:23). RT

 

Ex-Church of Christ (6)

14 Wednesday Sep 2016

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Continuing my evaluation of the following website (http://ex-churchofchrist.com/unbiblicalCoC.htm), it is clear the trend in being against has more to do with “I want to believe….” than it does any biblical exegesis. Below is another illustration of this. 

An unbiblical doctrine, we are told, would be the following point:  

Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10) are an example of how we will be punished for wrong worship.

See here  and here for examples of this teaching.

Nadab and Abihu were instructed to take coals of fire from the altar to burn incense before God. They took coals from a different fire. The symbolism is clear: The altar represents Jesus’ sacrifice (Hebrews 13:10-12) and incense represents prayer (Rev. 5:8). The symbolism of this passage only teaches that our prayers are unacceptable to God unless we go through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It is a teaching in humility. It is not our own obedience that is acceptable to God, but Christ’s sacrifice and Christ’s obedience through which we find access to God. This passage is actually comforting when we realize that our own efforts are not what put us in a right relationship with God, but it is what God has done for us, and our simple acceptance of that fact, that brings us to God.

RT – This is poor exegesis; in fact, it is eisegesis! This man does not allow the text to teach us anything except for what he calls its symbolic intention (in a New Testament context). Instead, he inserts what he wants us to understand and then passes it off as authoritative. The “symbolism is clear”? Is there something in the text to teach this is only a figurative matter? Is there something in the New Testament that teaches us this is only to be understood as a figurative matter? One might reply, “He did not say it was only symbolic!” Really? Perhaps, I misunderstood his words then. “The symbolism of this passage only teaches…” If the New Testament did not assign any symbolism to it, then only the presumptive ones do so. Nadab and Abihu did not understand it any exclusive symbolic way; they felt the literal force of the Lord’s wrath. From this, if one is smart (cf. Romans 15:4), we can learn much.

First, when the Lord prescribes something to be done in worship (or in any other context), then that which was prescribed is to be done. Second, for those who do not obey in His prescribed way, we understand how the Lord will respond (or potentially so). Commenting on 1 Peter 1:17, Peter Davids said, “It reminds his readers that it is not their persecutors who need to be feared, but God, who is not to be trifled with nor presumed upon, for his judgment is ultimate” (Peter Davids, New International Commentary New Testament on 1 Peter, p. 71, underscoring added by RT). Third, coupling this with Romans 15:4, those in a New Testament context are to apply the principle.

Moreover, what does he mean by his symbolism when he says we must “goes through the sacrifice of Jesus”? Does he mean we must offer our prayers to the Father “by the authority” of Jesus? I am unable to tell if that is what he means. If he does mean that, then why not understand this idea of going by the authority of Jesus as just a matter of symbolism, and not anything more? Again, he made a plainly false statement when he said “it is not our obedience that is acceptable to God, but Christ’s sacrifice…” Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, never thought of obedience as unimportant. This opinion of our web-article is not a New Testament teaching, but a personal theology of man. Paul wrote, “…and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, (Romans 1:4-6, ESV). Note the following things from this passage one learns. 1) the preaching of Jesus and His resurrection was according to the Holy Spirit, 2) this preaching was to bring about obedience from a person who, 3) called upon the Lord. Vincent Taylor wrote years ago, “Unto marks the object of the grace and apostleship: in order to bring about. Obedience of faith is the obedience which characterizes and proceeds from faith” (VWS, on Romans 1:5, E-sword). Peter wrote, “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Peter 1:22-23, ESV). Thus, to say that it is not our obedience that is acceptable to God is false at worse and misleading at best.

Finally, with regard to Leviticus 10, one learns the Lord (through Moses) instructed the High Priest and his associates the importance of hearing and obeying the His express will (10:10-11). The two associate priests offered “strange fire” (Exodus 30:9; unauthorized fire – ESV; from where they retrieved that “fire” is unstated). The point is, they were to offer only that which the Lord authorized; to offer what they did was presumptuous. There is nothing exclusively symbolic about it associated with prayer through Jesus; in fact, there is nothing at all associated with prayer and Jesus.

Is there an application of the principle in the New Testament? Not according to our author (except in a symbolic way). There is, however, from the vantage point of Paul, not only as he stated it in Romans 15:4, but also as he stated it in 1 Corinthians 10:1-13.

 

Presume the Lord Will Accept

31 Friday Jul 2015

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In Bible class last week, Jim brought up a question that really could not be dealt with adequately in the time remaining in class. Thus, I put it off until a more appropriate occasion. Well, this article is not the most appropriate, but I will introduce the question and attempt to give us some thoughts to stimulate thinking.

In class, the question by brother Jim dealt with the mechanical instrument of music, God’s authority, and the silence of Scripture. If God prohibits by silence, then where is our authority for some of the others things that we do in our regular church service?

Does God prohibit by silence? If God is silent on a topic, then, by the very nature of that silence, God said nothing on the topic. Saying nothing on an issue neither affirms nor prohibits. However, there is a prohibition (if you will) quality to the silence that we need to give some attention to. In other words, if the Lord did not expressly tell us He wants a particular thing done, or engaged in, then we have to presume that the particular thing we do is acceptable to the Lord.

A simple illustration will help to give clarity. The Lord did not expressly prohibit women from serving as elders (bishops, pastors) in the local congregation. Yet, it is certainly the case that if a woman serves in the capacity of an elder, then she has violated the express will of God that did say a male, married, with children, and faithful to the Lord is to serve.  For a woman to serve, because she has a talent, is to presume the Lord will accept that which she offers.

The Lord expressly said that the saints are to sing praises to the Lord, edifying one another (Ephesians 5:19). He did not say one was prohibited from making use of a mechanical instrument in singing. One has to presume it is acceptable, however. Why does the Highway Church of Christ not use the mechanical instrument of music in worship? Because it presumes on the Lord’s authority – and that is not a path the leadership wants to travel.

The Presumptuous Sin

06 Monday Apr 2015

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The psalmist appeals to the Lord that the Lord would keep him from “presumptuous sins” (Psalm 19:13, NKJV). What are presumptuous sins? The NET reads, “keep me from committing flagrant sins.” One Bible expositor said the word conveys the idea of pride, sins that proceed from self-confidence, from one’s ability to understand and direct a course of action (Cf. Barnes Notes). Presumptuous sins are directly related to what is also known as “high-handed” sins (Numbers 15:30).

The psalmist appealed to the Lord, asking the Lord to keep him back from such things. How might this occur? In the same Psalm, the psalmist said of that which came from the Lord, “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple” (19:7). In these words we have our answer. The one who would be prevented from committing presumptuous sins will be the same one who is taught and constrained by that which is perfect. Once one steps outside the bounds of that which is perfect, then trouble begins to brew.

To varying degrees presumptuous sins are a struggle for everyone; the Christian is not immune. Whether the presumption is on a small scale (weakness of the flesh) or on a larger scale (rebellion), the struggle to satisfy self is constant. For a large portion of mankind there is a lack of awareness of them even committing presumptive sins! This is not surprising, but it is terribly disappointing when Christians are also not aware. They are not aware, perhaps, because they have refused or neglected to allow the law of the Lord to teach them about the right and holy way. Many times, this denial of theirs turns into a burial. RT

Presumption and High Hands

12 Tuesday Jun 2012

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Presumptuous sins are damning, but what exactly are presumptuous sins? The psalmist appealed to the Lord, ” Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me: Then shall I be upright, And I shall be clear from great transgression” (Psalm 19:13, ASV). A presumptuous sin is a sin that results from a sinful heart. In other words, “It does not matter what the Lord said,” a person might think, “I am going to do it anyway!” Moses calls this a “high-handed” sin (Numbers 15:30), or sinning intentionally. How would you like the face the Lord with that!

David appealed to the Lord to keep him from sinning presumptuously. This can be done when one trusts in the Lord, and this trusting quality is an uncompromising loyalty to God’s word and what He said. In things that pertain the righteousness (2 Peter 1:3), it will not be hard to locate him.