Deuteronomy 32:1-3 English Standard Version

“Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth. May my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, like gentle rain upon the tender grass, and like showers upon the herb. For I will proclaim the name of the Lord; ascribe greatness to our God!

What makes any teaching doctrine if we interpret the Greek and Hebrew words for doctrine to simply mean “to teach or to be taught”?

2 Timothy 2:15

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

What does Paul mean when he says “rightly handling the word of truth”?

1 John 2:21

I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.

That which comes from the Spirit of Truth is true and there is no lie in it. Since we know that hearing comes from the word of God, we must look to the scriptures to validate that which we hear by faith.

Is everything taught to us the pure word of God or do we add a sense of the human condition which is relevant to our fellowship with one another?

Another way of saying that is; questions arise which cannot be answered by the scriptures.

2 Timothy 2:23

Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels.

God has given us everything we need to lead a life worthy of our calling. If the scriptures do not address what is offered up we have every responsibility to those in fellowship to ask for supporting scriptures. Allow the scriptures to explain themselves without being defensive which will only leads to quarreling.

“I don’t know, let’s search the scriptures” is an acceptable response.

Deuteronomy 31:21

And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring). For I know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give.”

How do we know what is evil if we have never seen it before in life? Trouble is easily recognized because it comes to us first in the form of not getting our own way. The selfish nature we are born with readily recognizes trouble, evil is another matter.

Sin however is sinister in design, masquerading in the form of pleasant and accommodating behaviors that offer up little to no resistance in receiving the pleasures we seek. We can be confronted with sin without recognizing it.

Recreational drugs are called recreational because we have to take them over and over again to recreate the feeling they give us in a temporary condition. This is the nature of sin, to cause us only temporary relief from those feelings we are trying to escape.

Are you lonely? What do we do to ease that emotion? How long does that condition last before loneliness returns?

Are you in pain? Is it physical or emotional? What do you do to fight against the pain? HOw long does that last?

All sin is recreational. It needs to be revisited over and over again because it cures nothing.

The only cure for recreational sin is our loving relationship with Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 10:13

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

God is faithful, that is the key to escaping the temptations that inflict us. When we accept that it seems like all we need to do when confronted with temptation is to look for our escape hatch.

Now comes the hard question; are we looking to escape or are we entertaining thoughts of giving in to them? Experience has shown us how to resist dangerous temptations, those which we found painful in our past. The Holy Spirit will at times tell us “you know where this road takes you” and we turn. If the Holy Spirit does not ask us to turn we must not take that as permission for acquiesce to any temptation. Character takes us that one step towards the exit from temptation. It is at that point when we are walking away to remember not to act like Lot’s wife.