Our Footsteps: Worse Than An Unbeliever

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Worse Than An Unbeliever

There are all kinds of Bible reading programs. Some get you through the Bible in a year. Some take you through the Bible in a chronological order. Some programs have you reading the same book for 30 straight days. All of the programs obviously have their benefits.

I have a system that works real well for me. I like to read through a book of the Bible as though it were the very first time I have ever read through it.
Sounds unusual, but as many times as we read through... say, the book of Matthew... we can almost recite the birth of Christ or the passion week passages by rote memory. The danger in that is that we often read right past something that God has intended to use to speak to us that day. We already know the ending of the story, and so we cruise right through our daily reading and mark it off of our bible-in-a-year checklist.

Putting the ending of the story out of my mind for the moment and soaking in every sentence, every phrase, every WORD is very helpful in seeing what God has for me.

Today, a verse jumped off the pages of 1 Timothy chapter 5, verse 8. I had skimmed over this verse in the past. "But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." The context is in regards to taking care of widows... but there are a couple principles here that I believe are important to all 'heads of households'. MacArthur's commentary on this verse states that this person who does not provide for his own hasn't necessarily lost his salvation, but rather has denied the principles of compassion and love that is at the heart of the Christian faith. He goes on to say that the reason they are worse than an unbeliever is that failing to provide for 'his own household' is inexcusable because they have the commandment of God and enablement from God to love. Worse than an unbeliever. That is some powerful, thought-provoking, Holy Spirit convicting language. I am glad I didn't miss that phrase this time through 1 Timothy!

No comments:

Post a Comment

I Believe...

1). I believe that there is one God. I believe God consists of three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
2). I believe that God is holy, righteous, loving, and just.
3). I believe that mankind is separated from God by sin; that sin entered the world through Adam and death through sin.
4). I believe that, because of sin, man is condemned. Because of God’s utter hatred for sin, there is an eternal conscious punishment in hell for all those who do not come to God on His terms, dealing with their sin.
5). I believe that confessing our sins and confessing Jesus Christ as Lord is the only way to properly deal with the sin that has infected everyone. Jesus Christ paid our sin debt on the cross; reconciliation by substitution. There is nothing we can do to add to the finished work of Christ.
6). I believe in the security of the believer, that once he is truly born-again, there is nothing that would cause him to lose his salvation.
7). I believe that upon the death of a true believer in Christ, that he is ushered immediately into the presence of the Lord, where he will live in everlasting joy in Heaven, experiencing eternal fellowship with God.
8). I believe in believer’s baptism by immersion. I don’t believe baptism is necessary for salvation, but it is a beautiful outward profession of an inward possession.
9). I believe in a literal 6-day creation where God created the heavens and the earth and then rested on the seventh day.
10). I believe that the words written in the Bible are truth. I believe that the Bible is inerrant in its parts and in its whole. I believe that the 66 books that make up the canon of scripture make the Bible complete and that God inspired the words written therein. The things that were written down in the Bible are sufficient for every need we have. Not only is God’s Word sufficient, but it is far superior to any other method of handling the problems that man faces, since He has given us all things pertaining to life and godliness.