Our study last week dealt with people hearing the voice of God. We attempted to show that God speaks to us today through His Word. The person who desires to know God’s will must study and properly handled what he has learned. We continue now to look at the same issue and speak to other things necessary for us today.
All men are sinners, not by birth but by choice (Romans 3:23). All men therefore must rid themselves of the sin in their lives in order to be righteous people. How does one cease to be a sinner and become a righteous person? This goes back to our discussion last week, in as much as we raise the question, how does God speak to us today. Some read the Word of God and conclude that God declares a man to be righteous. Once so proclaimed the person can never lose their righteousness. Is that what the Bible teaches? Being a student of the Bible is vital. Using it in the right way is just as vital.
Does God declare that a man is righteous? Yes, He does because man cannot become righteous without God. Paul states that the Jewish people, being ignorant of God’s righteousnous, were busy trying to establish their own righteousness (Romans 10:3). We see this in our world today when preachers espouse what is written in manual, creeds or unreliable translations in order to promote their doctrines. They may very well know what the Bible is saying, but they choose to corrupt it in order to establish their own righteousness. Paul said regarding the Jews, that they are not saved by their works of righteousness (Titus 3:5). How then is a man saved? He is saved by the washing of regeneration (baptism) and the renewing of the Holy Ghost (Acts 3:19).
Peter tells Cornelius that God accepts those who continue to work righteousness (Acts 10:35). The Spirit shows us that being righteous is a result of God declaring one righteous by obeying the gospel and one continuing to live a righteous life because of what Jesus has taught (Titus 2:12). Further evidence is that Paul warned Gentiles if they tried to be saved based on Jewish righteousness then they were fallen from grace (Galatians 5:4). The doctrine of once saved always saved is false. The person must study the Word of God and properly apply it.
Another thing which must occur is a willingness on the part of the person who comes in contact with the truth to be honest. If one is more interested in promoting false doctrine arising from the manuals and creeds of men than in accepted truth, he is not honest. Jesus shows us this in His teaching about the sower going out to sow seed. The seed by explanation was the Word of God (Luke 8:11). Four kinds of hearts are cited beginning in verse 12 through 15. What are the characteristics of the one in verse 15? Note please it is a heart that is honest and good.A person may have an honest heart but it must be accompanied by a good heart. What does that show us? Being honest enough to move and obey what one has learned regardless of the consequence of what one has learned. The man who came to Jesus in Matthew 19 asked about matters pertaining to eternal life. If I look at the truth that this man had kept the commandments from his youth, I would say he was an honest man. When Jesus told him what was required he went away sorrowful. He was honest but being good meant submitting to God’s will for his life. The price was too great for him.
Hearing the voice of God through the written Word requires a person to be properly taught. Proper teaching would include a person understanding who are the people of God (I Peter 1:22). Gospel preaching that does not lead a person to understand who the people of God are, is not gospel preaching. The definition may have referred to a different set of individuals, that is Jews and Gentiles, whereas today we would define it by making distinctions between the church of Christ and all the denominations of men which have been created by the doctrines of men.
The principle however, is the same. We must teach men the truth of God in order that they can obey the truth and be saved (I Peter 1:22). The person who wishes to be a righteous person must engage in study, proper application and continual study and application in order to be a righteous person. Do you hear God today?