Our Physician has no need to heal Himself ................ Parables 567

September 2, 1997

A cartoon shows an obese doctor telling his obese patient, “I want you to quit smoking and lose 40 pounds. Then I want you to come back and tell me how you did it.”

We might not laugh because we struggle ourselves with trying to break some habits that seem impossible. No one wants lung cancer, heart disease or any other medical problem interfering with enjoyment of life, yet even those concerns are sometimes not enough to motivate some people into making a total break from unhealthy addictions. For many, the feel-good sensation of alcohol, cigarettes and rich desserts has a stronger appeal than any alternative.

We also can laugh because this cartoon reminds us of “pots who call the kettle black.” Even the Bible condemns the practice of judging others if we have the same problem. Those who did were quick to hear, “Physician, heal thyself.” Jesus said, “Those without guilt can cast the first stone.”

But if we refuse to listen to losers, will we listen to a winner? When the most perfect Being tells us how to live, will we easily follow His directions? For instance, one of the Ten Commandments says, “Thou shall not envy.” But who of us has not envied? Who has not had a yen for what others have? Who has not been discontent with their own things and wanted more?

God tells us to stop all sinning. That includes envy but also other attitudes and behaviors such as selfish thoughts, unkind words, lies, violence, immoral activities, and so on. Yet God is not like the cartoon doctor. For one thing, He doesn’t struggle with the things He tells us not stop doing. He never offers a “prescription” then asks us how He can follow it too. We have the problem, not Him.

Most of us find it difficult to even admit we cannot obey God. Some say they never murder or commit adultery, as if those were the only sins. But who has not envied? Or told a lie? Or grumbled against God? Or just ignored Him?

Anyone who tries to be godly knows that stopping all sin is an impossible assignment. We are so helpless. That being the case, why does the Great Physician bother to tell us how to live? Doesn’t He realize that His Law is impossible for one hundred percent obedience?

Of course God knows. But we do not. We fail to realize how far we are from what God intended we should be, and without the Law to set His standard for us, we are ignorant of our condition. The Law is God’s eternal standard and has an unexpected purpose — it was not intended to bring us closer to God but to show us how far away we are!

In writing about envy and the Law, the Apostle Paul said, “I would not have known what sin was except through the Law. . . . so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. . . the Law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual . . . .” Paul admits that he could not stand approved before God through obeying rules. In another place, he explained why—the Law was never intended to make us better people. Instead, “the Law is our school master to lead us to Christ.”

God is not like the cartoon doctor. While He does give us a prescription of what we must do, He takes it one step farther and offers us a Living Savior who will enter into our lives and do it for us. As a Christian author once said, “The Lawgiver on the throne becomes the Law keeper in our hearts.”

Because of that wonderful reality, Paul conquered the sin of envy. He said, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. . . I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” He didn’t have to do it by himself.

Tampering with the Bible? .................. Parables 424

June 7, 1994

A certain group of scholars have decided to color-code the Bible. They are trying to determine which words Jesus actually said, which words He may have said, and which words (in their opinion) He did not say. Their goal is to print these words in red, grey, or black.

Christians believe that the Bible was inspired by God and is an accurate historical record. That is, all words the writers attribute to Jesus actually do represent things He said.

On the other hand, these scholars (who may call themselves Christian), come from a tradition of liberal theology. In that tradition, sceptics and rationalists, for many years, have discounted the literal value of the Bible. For instance, they say miracles are not logical therefore cannot happen, so the miracle accounts cannot be accurate.

They also say Jesus was perhaps a real person but the New Testament could not have been written by those who knew Him directly. It was compiled much later. Because of that, so they say, whoever Jesus is, and whatever He actually said, is lost. Based on their rational judgment, the scholars have put themselves in a position to decide which quotes have merit and which are only a later addition.

The entire premise behind this reasoning is that Jesus could not possibly be God and the miracles attributed to Him could not have happened. Their color-coding is not an attempt to discredit the value of the Bible as religious literature but somehow explain where it came from. After all, it has endured and has a positive effect on those who follow its teachings.

Some Christians feel threatened by this sort of “scholarship.” Others laugh at the “stupidity” of the so-called educated. Quite frankly, it seems these people are sincerely trying to understand, but cannot do it because their God is too small. He is unable to come into history in a human form or do miracles.

Sometimes my concept of God shrinks a bit too, but not quite the same way. For example, if I give in to despair in “impossible” situations, I am not really believing that “with God, all things are possible.” Whenever I yield to temptation, I am not relying on a God who is able to help me resist it.

An even more extreme situation is whenever I disobey God by choice. I may know what He wants of me but, for a time anyway, I simply refuse to do it. During that kind of rebellion, my attitude may actually come from listening to Satan instead of God. When this inventor of evil and “father of lies” tempted Eve in the garden of Eden, he used this line: “Did God really say that?”

When Eve began to doubt what God said, she actually changed His command from “do not eat” to “do not touch.” Her tampering with the Word of God led to disobedience on her part, then Adam’s. As a result, their sin brought the propensity to sin into the entire human race.

Doubting that God really means what He says leads to sin. Doubting that Jesus is not deity and casting doubt on everything He said sounds like dangerous business for anyone.

However, rather than point fingers at the foolishness of that error, all who claim to be Christian need to be on guard. If we obey only what appeals to us from the words of Jesus, perhaps we are no different than the liberal scholars. That is, if we don’t follow ALL of His Words, we too are “color-coding” our Bibles.