Adding Color 10 14 26: And what is good is what God defines as good. What is good is what is found in the character and attribute. Hey, thanks so much for listening to episode 111 of the Adding Color podcast. And you know, I'm encouraging you stick around at the end of this episode. I look forward to sharing with you a new format and approach that we're going to take with this podcast that will continue the core of what we've been about, but will add some features that I hope and anticipate will be a tremendous blessing and encouragement to you. So we continue our study of Romans and found ourselves in Romans 15 last Sunday at Ascend Church. And tell you, this two-chapter section has been so helpful for me, so challenging and convicting, because it it really challenges us to consider what role does truth play in our lives as individuals and then in our interactions with the diverse. makeup of every local church. Now, I want to home in on three terms that were present in our passage that I didn't get a whole opportunity, a whole lot of opportunity to unpack in the sermon. As Paul is dealing with those in the church who he called weak, he wants to focus on verses one through three on a group that he refers to then as the strong. So those who have liberty because they've studied scripture and have a more theological precise conclusion as compared to others in the church who had studied God's word and had landed on a more restrictive position on those topics. He moves then into four and the rest of the passage up to verse 13 by beginning the focus on the word of God and the role that it plays. in the believer's life. He says in verse four, whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction. That's such a great reminder for us as twenty-first century Americans who have so much information instantaneously at our fingertips. we can easily ask a chat bot what the truth is or how we should do something instead of actually Letting the truth instruct us and doing the work as a student to study and to become a master of the subjects ourselves. Which, by the way, if you are watching the video, we are live, we're on video on Spotify. We're working on getting video to Apple as well so you can see, so we can interact with each other in a more personable fashion. But you'll see I I've made an attempt to try to adjust. my lights to connect to what I'm wearing. And I know if my wife watches this, she will probably cringe because the green is not matching. I'm I'm looking at the video and I'm realizing, this is not good. But hey, it's an attempt to be creative. So hopefully you will have been entertained. but back to the subject, which is verse four. The word of God is intended to instruct us. Now, instruction in a classroom is very important. A teacher doesn't just give you facts, or a good teacher doesn't, that you just need to put on a piece of paper for the test and just move on. A teacher is passing on information in a way that is intended to instruct us to grow our knowledge and not just our knowledge, but our understanding. And not just our understanding, but our aptitude with that particular subject. And so Paul. Is saying that is what God's word is to provide for a Christian. But then he says this that through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope. And those are the three words that I really want to home in on. The first one is endurance. And Lou Naida gives this as a definition. And I would encourage you, if you're wanting to do a dive into the grammar, I would encourage you to pick up the Lou and Nida, Greek lexicon. Now, what you'll notice about that resource is that it provides more of a sense of the words. And so I I wouldn't just take it as the gospel truth about what the Greek word means, but it is very good at not just providing alternative words or a simple definition, but really drawing out the sense that really allows for us to be able to see a little bit more theologically. what these words mean and how the authors would often use them. But Lou Neida says this about endurance. It's the capacity to continue to bear up under difficult circumstances. Now I've shared many times on this podcast, and if you just look at your life or the life of those around you, you you know life is filled with difficult circumstances. And this should not surprise us. From the fall of Genesis three, there has been the influence of corruption within this world. since Satan is been cast to the earth and the world system, he has created a counterfeit system over which he rules, as Paul says in Ephesians two, one through three. And so life is filled with difficult circumstances. In fact, Paul says those who will live godly will suffer persecution. So the fact that our lives are filled with difficult circumstances should not surprise us. But Paul reminds us here, as well as the rest of the New Testament, that one of the gifts that God gives us through the Holy Spirit, through one another within a local covenant community, as well as what he points out here, the Word of God, that we are given the tools that we need to be able to endure this difficult life, to be able to. Continue faithfully in it. Now of course the work ultimately is God, Philippians one six tells us that. But these resources are given to us to equip us to endure. In fact, I would argue that's the main point of the book of Revelation, and all of those amazing descriptions that John provides in the seals and the trumpets and the bulls, they're intended to give us exactly what we need to be able to endure, no matter what. Difficult circumstances we face. You know, I will highlight this. I I have a someone really, really close to me who is suffering from a terminal illness. And that is a difficult circumstance. The person who's taking care of this person is going through difficult circumstances. And the opportunity that we have to see that in this, in God's word, We are given what we need to be able to endure. I hope is an encouragement to them. It's an encouragement to me as I pray for these dear people in my life. But that's the second word, encouragement. And Lou Neida points out that this means to cause someone to be encouraged or consoled. It's actually the Greek word paraclesis, which is from the same root of perikaleo, from which we get. The work of the Holy Spirit coming alongside to encourage us. Encouragement is intended to cause us to be consoled, to, to be comforted. It doesn't solve everything, but it it gives us reminders just at the right time of where true hope is found. And that's the that's the third topic that Paul includes in verse four. Hope is to look forward with confidence to. that which is good. And what is good is what God defines as good. What is good is what is found in the character and attributes of God. What is good is often something that bends our will toward what God's will actually is. And Paul says all of that is found in the instruction from God's word. So friend, no matter what you're going through in your life, maybe you are a close friend of someone who's going through very difficult circumstances. Just be right reminded by this one verse in Romans fifteen, verse four, that God's word is given to us as a gift to instruct our hearts, to give us the tools that we need to endure, to encourage us no matter what our circumstances, and to point us to where true hope is found. Now I was given Three questions and these these questions are are very good. Even as I've preached through this and I've studied through this, I myself have had questions. And to be honest with you, even though I have some answers for these great questions that came in, I I'm still working through a lot of this myself. And so would you join me in processing the answers that I provide in instructing our hearts and continuing to wrestle to hopefully continue to grow in our ability to not only know God's word, but understand it and apply it to our thinking, speaking, and living. So the this individual writes, Apostle Paul was clearly frustrated with the weak Christians as recorded in First Corinthians three. So I'll I'll read that passage and show it if you're watching on video, just so you can have a frame of reference for what First Corinthians three actually says. But then I I I want to read the rest of the question because This person takes that first Corinthians three passage and the way that Paul interacts with people and then connects it to how he interacts with people in Romans 14. So the question goes on to say, how does this first Corinthians three compare to the Christians with different beliefs in Romans 14, whom Paul called here in Romans 14 weak? They are different contexts, but why does Paul refer to people with other beliefs grounded in scripture as weak? Okay. Great question. Multiple facets. Let me read First Corinthians three, one through four, so you can understand what this person is referring to. But I think that's important because the context of that section will, I think, help us understand and answer the question. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3, 1 through 4, but our brothers could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk. Not solid food, for you were not ready for it, and even now you are not ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? He goes on to say, Some say, I follow Paul, and another, I follow Apollos. And what he's showing in verse 4 is that they are they're actually stirring up conflict. They're actually stirring up division. And and that's the important context that I think is different in First Corinthians three than it is in Romans 14. In First Corinthians three, you see that this this church, these people were were actually very corrupt. And there's a lot of debate as to whether or not you can be a Christian in the flesh. And that's a whole nother subject. I I know there's a phrase that I remember John McCarsar talking about when he was alive, carnal Christians, and whether or not that is a biblically accurate category of people. But we'll lay that aside and just show that in 1 Corinthians 3, 1 through 4, Paul is describing a very different approach to convictions than the people he's describing in Romans 14. In 1 Corinthians 3, these people are stirring up strife. They're they're jealous toward one another and they're actually acting not like Christians. In Romans 14, people are genuinely trying to study God's word. They're genuinely trying to Honor the Lord. And you see very different motives, very different approaches to the Christian life. And so Paul is speaking more forcefully in 1 Corinthians 3 because of those motives, because of the impact that it's having on the church. And you even see this with Jesus in the Gospels. For people who he was with, who he was teaching, who were genuinely interested in understanding. There there was a lot of patience. There there was a lot of of care, a lot less harsh words than the way that he addressed like the Pharisees, or the religious leaders, people who should have known better, people who were exposing their hearts were not in the right place by the way that they approached God's word. So as we consider the second part of the question, I I think I want to provide some other passages that I think will even bolster this further. Consider what the author of Hebrews says in Hebrews 5, 11 through 14. He says this about this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing. So again, this is the way that people are interacting with God's word and the way that they're re responding to instruction and teaching. Verse 12. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need Milk and not solid food. For everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. Peter talks about this milk principle. Like newborn infants long for the pure spiritual meat milk. That by it you may grow up into salvation, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. That's 1 Peter 2, 1 through 3. Now, what's important about this is the way that we interact with God's word, the the way that we present ourselves as teachable will will reveal where our heart truly is, will reveal potentially whether or not we are genuine Christians or pretend Christian. And then there's that amazing passage of 1 John 2. twelve through fourteen, where John is writing to different stages of spiritual maturity, describing little children and young men, and then fathers, and each one of those has a a different way that people are interacting with God's word and actually responding to God's Word. So why does Paul use the word weak in Romans 14 and then again in Romans 15 verse 1? Well, I I mentioned over the last three sermons that I I think this is Important for us to remember the value of studying the original languages, because immediately we see in the English versions the word weak and assign our modern cultural understanding of that word. But that's not the way that Paul was was using the term as he unpacks three different terms in these two chapters. Weak, as Lunaida says, is to be in a state of incapacity or weakness. And I think that's what Paul is focusing in on as he uses this term weak. They're they're capable of growth, but they're they're incapacitated. They're just not able to move forward. They're continuing to study, they're continuing to be open to to dialogue and growing. And this is different than someone who's causing division or someone who's been taught that continually resists. This would be passages like First Corinthians eight, eleven, and verse twelve, where the same word is used for for weak. And that's just showing that someone's conscience is weak and simply needs to grow. So as someone who's strong, who has a conscience that's more theologically precise, more theologically informed, there is tremendous patience, there's tremendous love, there's a tremendous opportunity to make sure that we're viewing this person as someone the way that God. would view them. Okay, question number two. All truth is God's truth. This is something that I mentioned in the service. This is a statement that I made that is attributed to Augustine that all truth is God's truth. And so this person who sent in the question said, could I ex consider explaining the difference between special and general revelation? It seems people get caught so caught up in general revelation on the basis for their faith. For example, five plus five equals 10 always. And they say, see, all truth is God's truth. Okay, well, again, as I hope I've modeled in this podcast, if you've listened to multiple episodes, we want to start with what does God's word say? And the word truth is a very interesting one. In fact, I'll I'll put a link in the show notes to this s this chapter or this article, but the NID NTT, the New International Dish Dictionary of New Testament Theology, has a massive article. And it goes through classical Greek, the Hebrew use of the term that is translated truth, the Septuagint, and does an amazing job unpacking this. And we don't have time to get into all of that. But but I'll summarize it by saying this that truth is the, in essence, the lack of falsehood. Or it's the standard of accuracy with the the absence of anything inaccurate. And so, as this question asker said, there is general revelation of truth, and there is special revelation of truth. Special revelation of truth is what is written in God's word from Genesis to Revelation, every word, all sixty-six books, that is special revelation. And that is the truth that God has given us that is codified. It's written down. General truth is what we can see outside of. God's word. That is revealed in creation. That can be revealed through science and research. But but here's what I'd like to say. And I think this will be the summary statement that will answer the question of general truth and special truth. And that is this: special revelation of truth is the final authority of general revealed truth. Let me say that again. Special revelation of truth is the final authority of general. general revealed truth. And so for topics such as math, as long as the conclusions found in general revelation do not attempt to or appear to contradict special revelation, then it is true. I say it this way, because by its very definition, nothing can contradict special revelation of truth and actually be truth. No, I know I'm getting into presuppositional apologetics and philosophy, but theologically I believe this is accurate. So that is my final source of authority and more the purpose of this podcast. And so I'll stop there. Question number three. As someone who is a truth bomber, this person writes, can you offer wisdom on how one should gently correct another when it comes to them taking scripture out of context? And I'd like to home in on this because I can tend toward this group. The I gave three groups in the sermon last Sunday. There was the Truth Bomb Squad, there was the It's Just About Jesus posse. And then there's the been there, done that graduates. And I I tend toward the truth bomb squad. Now, I had to write at the the highest academic standard I've ever had to in my last degree and found myself focusing on using the word the phrase hone in. And so I've I've mentioned home in twice in this episode so far. And as I was writing at this academic level, I started wondering if the phrase should actually be home in with an or if it should be hone, like so many people say, and like I have used it. And I learned that home with an is to center in, whereas hone with an N is to sharpen. And so my conclusion was that home with an Is more accurate in the way that I've used it in this episode. Now, the rigorous debate, or at least rigorous for those who care about these kinds of things, is that you could use the word hone if you are thinking about it in a context of sharpening in or centering in. But the accurate as I understand it is to use the word home. Now. The fact is, is that other grammar sites have taken the conflict averse approach and said both are accurate and acceptable, but why am I doing this? Because I've lost some of you. I started to correct people when I first learned this point and would stop them even in conversations and point out this newly learned nugget that I had. And I was believing I was only helping them to be more precise and Yep, you can see how I lean more toward being a truth bomb squatter. And usually when I would do that and I would stop the conversation, I would get looks that would tell me that in their heart they're thinking you are such a nerd. So this is grammar, and this doesn't impact salvation of souls. But the principle is precision, or one could argue it's truth. So how do we navigate when someone is not precise, or at least From our perspective, being precise with scripture. And that is certainly more important than grammar. And and I would bring three concepts together that I hope will help you who sent in this question and those of us who lean more toward truth bomb squad. And the three that I would bring together actually is the question number one answer that I provided earlier, earlier in this episode, where the person is in their journey of studying God's word, their their view. Of God's word is that it's the authority and and they recognize that how they respond to God's word is actually something that honors the Lord and they're processing it. I I would view whether or not the person I'm I'm interacting with fits that category. The the second topic that I'm bringing together of the three is theological triage. And I shared this on a recent episode, and that is where does the topic that I think this person is not correct with? Fit in on the three ranks of theology. And then this idea of EQ or social awareness. Now, why is that important? Well, this is one of the five categories of personal health that I would commend to you, and maybe we could spend time on another episode digging into, but that's spiritual, physical, relational, leadership, and then also this EQ. It's social awareness. So Ask some questions as you're interacting with this other person. how passionate is this person about their conviction? Are they genuinely seeking to learn or just trying to argue? Check your own motives and and perspective. Do you think you are superior? Is there a a common commitment to the source of truth? Which leads to the second part of the question that this person sent in. And they said, when is it appropriate to correct? And when is it better to simply let it slide? I would say this that if somebody's been going through a grief or tragedy or they're very sensitive, read the situation. And that phrase, let it slide, it's often a cop out to avoid conflict. So I would instead point to biblical vocabulary. So vocabulary like Paul in Romans 12, 18, if if possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Or 1 Peter 4:8, above all. Keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Now remember, there will be times when you do have to address error, and sometimes with those who are strong in their convictions. Consider Apollos and how people spoke into his life because he didn't have a accurate conviction. Consider also when Paul addressed Peter in Antioch. And the fact was is that Paul agre addressed it aggressively. so it's easy, though, even as I mentioned these passages in scripture for us to, no matter however you lean, read this or listen with the different lenses. And I would commend listening to this tool as we close the episode. Ligonair Questions and Answers. That's the ministry of RC Sproul. Now I know there are other ones out there, but MacArthur with Grace to You, Shepherd's Conference, tremendous. and beyond that I'd be careful. YouTube questions and answers. I'd these men are theologically sound. And what I love about ligonaires there would often be a Presbyterian and Baptist and sometimes non-denominational. And I I love that because these individuals, the these men would stick to truth and yet retain relationship. And I I think it's a tremendous model for us. Now I did mention that we have A a new format that we're going to approach beginning with the next next episode. I'm gonna be inviting guests from our Great Commission collective, other pastors, and some pastors here in our area who are like-minded, but we approach preparing for messages differently and we'll approach passages differently. And so we will go through the passage that I preached with our guests. A very special one will start us off next week. And I look forward to be able to begin. that journey and and hope you will share this podcast with others and enjoy this new format as we continue to add color to our study of God's word. Thanks so much for listening.