How Do We Know?

There is a sense in which if our epistemology is faulty that our theology will be faulty. If our epistemology is if off-course, our understanding will be off-course.

If Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is correct, then the natural man cannot receive the things of God (see 1 Corinthians chapters 1 and 2). Yet, does our Christian pedagogy assume the opposite? Do we pay but lip-service to the idea that we need the Holy Spirit to enlighten our minds and hearts, the “eyes of our understanding”? Do we functionally assume that in and of ourselves, through rational processes unaided by the Holy Spirit and untethered to a life of obedience to God’s Word in Christ, that we can understand Scripture? Teach and preach the Bible?

Is not communion (koinonia) with Christ, and in Christ with one another, a prerequisite to communion with His Word? Or, certainly it is concomitant and the two cannot be separated because they are One and the Same.

How then have we come to teach theology and the Bible outside the context of koinonia with Christ and obedience to His word? Why do we not have warnings on the first page of our theology and Biblical-studies books, “Let no one turn these pages without first seeking the face of Christ, in obedience to Christ, in dependence upon the Holy Spirit”?

To “see” the Scriptures is to “see” Christ and no one can “see” Christ without the Holy Spirit.

To treat theology and Bible study as primarily an academic endeavor, to teach Sunday school or facilitate small groups the way we would any other class or group – is hardly approaching Sacred Scripture as if we were approaching the Face of God in Christ.

This is not to suggest that we “check our minds at the door”, but it is to say that we present ourselves as living and holy sacrifices acceptable to God – and that we not be conformed to the world, including the world’s pedagogical thinking, but that we be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1 – 2; Ephesians 4:20 – 24).

The City of God is not the city of man, nor should the “academy” of God be thought to be the academy of man…meaning that the pedagogy of God is not the pedagogy of man; the epistemology of God is not the epistemology of man.

           

Malachi (1)

Our men's group is finishing up its exploration of the Minor Prophets by working through Malachi. Below is our first week in this prophet - maybe there is something here for you. 

Next week our passage will be Malachi Chapter 1.

If you read notes in a study Bible or look at a Bible commentary or read articles online, you may see that people who think about such things entertain varying opinions about when Malachi was written. When I thought about these different opinions, I had the image of a dog chasing its tail; while a dog chasing its tail is natural, I can’t quite see a man chasing his tail, that seems a bit strange and unseemly.

Since I don’t want to encourage unseemly behavior among us, I am going to work with the traditional idea that Malachi was written around 450 B.C. If the actual date is that important most of us reading this will find out sooner rather than later – though I kind of doubt it will matter to us once we make the great transition that awaits us all.

Note the similarity between Malachi 1:1 and Zechariah 9:1 and Isaiah 17:1; the “burden” or “oracle”.  God’s Word is coming to Israel and Judah through these men, it is a “burden” in the sense that God’s Word is weighty, it isn’t motivational speaking, it isn’t cotton candy. It is an “oracle” in the sense that their message doesn’t originate within themselves, but from God.

Compare Matthew 7:28 – 29 and 1 Peter 4:10 – 11 with Malachi 1:1. What do you see?

Looking at 1 Peter 4:11 – do you think professing-Christians are aware of what Peter is saying in terms of how we ought to be preaching and teaching?

What does the world tend to see in our preaching and teaching? Gravity or cotton candy? What do you think most Christians gravitate toward? What kind of books do they tend to purchase?

How might things be different if we realized the way we (the Church) ought to be preaching and speaking?

There is an ongoing conversation between God and the priests and people in Malachi. It begins with the question of whether God loves Israel (verses 2 – 5). An indication of God’s love for Israel is that He loved Jacob (whose name became Israel) and hated Esau. Paul works with this passage in Malachi in Romans 9:1 – 16.

Do you remember what I said above about chasing tails? We could chase our tails on some of the questions this raises, but if our group did that we’d burn a hole in the carpet at Bill and Bev’s and Bev would not like that and then we couldn’t come back.

So I’ll just point out some things: all that the Father gives Jesus will come to Jesus (John 6:37), no one can come to Jesus unless the Father draws Him (John 6:44), God is accomplishing His work in those He has drawn to Jesus (Romans 8:28 – 30), and God set this all in motion before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:3 – 10).

Since He chose us and we didn’t choose Him (John 15:16) we might as well get with the program and “go and bear fruit” and make a difference in the world and trust in the character of our Father for the things we don’t understand.

In other words, we can chase our tails about the things we don’t know or we can be a blessing to the people around us to our Father’s glory.

What do you see in Malachi 1:6 – 14?

Consider that, for our purposes, the situation in Malachi arises not long after Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and Zechariah have helped to restore the exiles to Jerusalem and Judah, rebuilt the Temple and part of the city, and reinstituted worship. What in the world has happened and how did it happen so quickly?

These rascals in Malachi aren’t giving God the best, they aren’t taking His holiness seriously, and it seems there is no one around who will say, “Enough! This is crazy! Stop it!”

But of course God will be gloried, with our without these rascals (Malachi 1:11).

I could not pass this quotation up, it is from poet James Russell Lowell:

They are slaves who fear to speak for the fallen and the weak; they are slaves who will not choose hatred, scoffing, and abuse, rather than in silence shrink from the truth they needs must think; they are slaves who dare not be in the right with two or three.

The writer of Hebrews says that we ought to go outside the camp (Jerusalem, meaning the religious environment that killed Jesus) bearing the reproach of Christ (Hebrews 13:13).

We can either go with the flow or stand with Malachi. We can either be true to Jesus Christ or be slaves to the society around us.

As I hope we’ll see, Malachi is about giving God our true worship – all that we have and all that we are (Mark 12:29 – 31). It is about God’s holiness and us worshipping Him in holiness. It is about no compromise with sin, with religious toxicity, with anything that would detract from the glory which is God’s alone.

We are not called to be entertainers, we are not called to accommodate the culture around us, we are not called to compromise the Gospel and God’s holiness – we are called to follow Christ and Jesus Christ alone…no matter what.  

I love you!

Bob