By What Code Do You Live?

It is amazing some of the ideas and philosophies people live by. When I ask these people what they base these ideas on and where it comes from I discover the foundation is pretty flimsy. Most are things loosely based on eastern teaching or simple philosophies of life they have held on to from their experience. They are interesting philosophies but also changeable; so changeable that people try on new philosophies many times in their lifetime. The Christian cannot be like this.

Christians will grow and mature in their understanding and application but there is no shifting of foundational understanding in our lives. The benefit we have over everyone else is the Word of God, the Bible. People scoff and we get laughed at, looked down on, ridiculed but let them. At least we understand what we believe and our only challenge is to develop our faith to live what we believe. But this is part of the growth and maturity of our faith.

Refresh yourself in the inspiring words that the Spirit directed through Paul the apostle:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17)

Plain and simple, with no excuses. The Bible reveals Yahweh, his plan, and who we are in him. There is nothing to add to it or take away from it. We need no other books or explanations. We do not base our life on anything else and we are not ashamed of this fact. We may feel ashamed when we start living outside of the Word and people call us out on it, but of the Word itself there is no shame.

Now the question is: Is this true of us? Are we living a life based on the Word of God, expressed in our life in Jesus? Or are we finding excuses to twist things in a certain way to allow us to do what we want? The Word comes against our sinful nature and the Spirit empowers us to overcome that nature because Jesus Christ destroyed its power over us. But that doesn't mean it has given up trying to claim us back. When we use the Word to measure ourselves and are honest about it, we will find good correction there; correction that keeps us on the right path.

The Word is under attack. It always has been. Each Christian must make the decision to testify with Paul that "it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes". Each of us must make that decision that it reveals to us the righteousness of God and he has called us to seek that righteousness. It is good to ask yourself if you have made such decisions or if you have chosen the philosophies of a fallen world. Just be honest with yourself so that Jesus can do something with it.