Thoughts from The Bible

Thoughts from the Bible

Tuesday, 17 January 2023 13:06

Built up in the Lord
“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving” (Col 2:6-7)
There are some very needful areas where we need to be built up if we are to be “stablished in the faith” as indicated in our text. Some of these include: Faith, Knowledge, Hope, and Joy in the Lord.
FAITH: Our faith must increase if we hope to withstand all the forces around us that would pull us away from our hope in Christ Jesus. We must not take faith for granted nor presume that we are strong, but rather take sufficient measures to ensure that we continue growing in the elements that will strengthen our faith. As with the father of the child taken with an evil spirit in Mark 9:24, may our prayer be, “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” Faith only increases when one draws more aware of God and His saving Word.

KNOWLEDGE: Faith still “comes by hearing” (Romans 10:17) so Christians need to learn the faithful Word of God and be charged with keeping it fervently. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. (Hosea 4:6)
HOPE: We must look with the hope of the veteran apostle Peter in 2 Peter 3:13 who wrote “we according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.” Hope is more than wishful thinking but rather an earnest expectation for a thing to become reality. This kind of hope keeps us hanging on for the reward and thus Paul affirms in Romans 8: 24, “For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?”

JOY in the LORD: We need to know the joy of Paul and Silas who could sing at midnight from a Roman Dungeon in Acts chapter 16.

One cannot just promote one dimension of growth and edification and expect to develop into a strong person in the Lord. We must be well balanced just as we are to be in nourishing our physical body by eating a balanced diet. One that gets fed only the foundation principles of the Word may not go on to maturity in the deeper meat of that Word (Heb. 6:1-2). Balance is required: Micah 6:8 – Justice, and mercy and faith.

The Pharisees failed in understanding this balance and these meatier qualities “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone” (Mat 23:23).

Furthermore, a church that is only fed a diet of enthusiasm may produce an exciting start to the race, but all enthusiasm and no teaching would leave one floundering and lost. Paul’s desire for Christian growth is – “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:” Ephesians 4:14-15.

The author can be reached for comments at 256.574.2489.

-Terry Broome