Today’s study was fairly straight-forward, I totally agree with Selwyn, moral permissiveness is now commonplace. He states the following in his introduction: “The work of the divine Counsellor in pleading against the arguments of sin is perhaps needed more now than at any other time in history. I say this because moral permissiveness is so commonplace that we are in danger of being brainwashed by the world into reducing our standards to less that those to which Christ called us.”
In Paul’s letter to the Romans, we read (Romans 12:1-3, NIV): “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”
Plus, in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians 2:11-13, we again see that there is to be a difference between the way the world thinks, and the way we should think when we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us: “For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.”
Lastly, John 15:18-19 (NIV), Jesus talking to His disciples: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”
The first point I would like to make is that Scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit and God’s word is written for all ages and for all cultures. The developments in today’s world has not taken God by surprise – the spiritual truths found in His words written nearly two thousand years ago: are just as relevant today, as they were, when first written. God knew that the world was round and revolved around the sun; when 2000 years ago, people thought it was flat and at the centre of their cosmic system. He also knows everything there is to know about genetics and environmental factors and their respective influences on mental processes and behaviour.
The second point is that a follower of Jesus does not have the spirit of this world but the Spirit of God; this means that in most aspects of human behaviour there should be an obvious difference between us and the rest of the world. There should be plenty of evidence for others to see that we are different. If you merge into the ways of this world, and there is no apparant difference – then you need to answer the question – why is this so?
The purifying Spirit
Today’s study was fairly straight-forward, I totally agree with Selwyn, moral permissiveness is now commonplace. He states the following in his introduction: “The work of the divine Counsellor in pleading against the arguments of sin is perhaps needed more now than at any other time in history. I say this because moral permissiveness is so commonplace that we are in danger of being brainwashed by the world into reducing our standards to less that those to which Christ called us.”
In Paul’s letter to the Romans, we read (Romans 12:1-3, NIV): “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”
Plus, in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians 2:11-13, we again see that there is to be a difference between the way the world thinks, and the way we should think when we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us: “For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.”
Lastly, John 15:18-19 (NIV), Jesus talking to His disciples: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”
The first point I would like to make is that Scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit and God’s word is written for all ages and for all cultures. The developments in today’s world has not taken God by surprise – the spiritual truths found in His words written nearly two thousand years ago: are just as relevant today, as they were, when first written. God knew that the world was round and revolved around the sun; when 2000 years ago, people thought it was flat and at the centre of their cosmic system. He also knows everything there is to know about genetics and environmental factors and their respective influences on mental processes and behaviour.
The second point is that a follower of Jesus does not have the spirit of this world but the Spirit of God; this means that in most aspects of human behaviour there should be an obvious difference between us and the rest of the world. There should be plenty of evidence for others to see that we are different. If you merge into the ways of this world, and there is no apparant difference – then you need to answer the question – why is this so?