Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth
2 Timothy 2:15
"Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
Should we be imposing our traditions upon God's Word?
Should we be trying to make his word say what we want from it?
Should ministers of God's Word be sermonizing and spiritualizing the text to fit a message that fits their social, political, and philosophical agendas? Is this sort of thing "rightly dividing the truth"?
Take a look at this:
Let's try and dig into this verse and find out what the sermon should be.
Colossians 1:13–14
"He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."
This is the truth about Jesus Christ. And it's the literal and natural truth about him and about what he's done for us. It's very plain and simple. It's precise and not really confusing at all.
We immediately learn that Jesus has done something. He's delivered us from the domain of darkness.
What is the domain of darkness?
Well...we can say that it represents our unregenerate minds and hearts. We think and believe darkly. Jesus described this as the state of being doubly dark. The mind and the heart are lost in the darkness and from that place our true nature is revealed.
Matthew 15:10-11
And he called the people to him and said to them, "Hear and understand it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person."
And we can also say that it represents this dark world in which Satan has authority over the state of what faces humanity and governs their lives. The domain of darkness is the power and authority that is wielded against humanity.
Ephesians 6:12
"For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places."
Believers, just like unbelievers, wrestle against these powers. It's like a dark spirit that is juxtaposed to the Holy Spirit. It comes at people in all sorts of ways. It comes through the sins of mankind. Through their pride, sloths, greed, ignorance and want. It rules over their souls by infesting them with encouragement towards these evil desires. They see it everywhere. They hear it. And they want it.
They want the impressions. They desire the clicks. They're fabricate clickbait to make it go viral. They need it because they're in darkness, and it's the only thing that brings light into that darkness for them. But it's a false light. It's a manmade light. It's electric, it's tantalizing and mesmerizing, but it's not real. But it feels real, and they are convinced that it's really good.
But is it the word of truth, or a semblance of the truth?
Hard to tell because it's dark.
This is why Jesus Christ had to deliver them from it. They weren't going to get out on their own.
In the future, Jesus will come into His glory in his kingdom on earth when he has taken His power as mentioned in (Revelation 11:17).
"We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign."
Jesus can do this because he has been given this authority. What that means is, he's capable of forgiving the sins of mankind and delivering them from evil even though Satan still has authority on earth to make of it what he wants. The one thing Satan cannot do is stop Jesus from gathering to himself those whom The Father has given him. Satan can deceive but he cannot compel. He can mislead but he cannot force. He can prowl around in the lives of people and lay traps that prey upon the sinful nature of those people, but he cannot command anything from them. They are free to choose his darkness or flee from him.
Jesus delivers that choice. That choice belongs to him, it's his grace to give. No manmade traditions or rituals can conjure it up. No priestly robes can convince Jesus to give it over to them. No serpent on a pole has that authority. It is Jesus who opens their eyes and turns them from darkness to light.
Take the apostle Paul, formerly Saul, for instance:
Acts 26:15-18
“I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’
“And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
The domain of darkness, "the power of Satan", a finite place and limited place, it exists in their eyes which are closed to Jesus' light. They need to be opened. They cannot know what they cannot see. Every person must decide whose authority will have sway in their lives. Paul couldn't know, he had to ask, and Jesus had to literally open his eyes. From that word of truth came faith in Him. The power of the words of Jesus did that.
Jesus, God, rescues Christians “from the kingdom of darkness”, he literally translates or transports them from it. He moves them from that place of darkness into his place of light. Jesus has always been in the business of moving people from darkness into light.
Isaiah 9:2
"The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined."
Isaiah 42:6
"I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations"
This is a radical transformation that takes place in the life of a believer when they put their faith in Jesus Christ. He packs them up and moves them around and delivers them renewed into God's kingdom. They have become a new creation. It means Christ is now their king. He reigns and rules over their lives. It's a spiritual movement.
Romans 14:17
"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."
It's not a building or cathedral. Like I said before, it's not a serpent on a pole. They live in his Spirit and work in this world. They live as salt and light in the world to bring glory to King Jesus. They've been radically realigned to be Christ's representatives in the world, his royal priesthood of all believers.
1 Peter 2:9
"...a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."
And now, finally, it is crucial to make note that these verses (Colossians 1:13–14) call Jesus God’s “beloved Son.”
This is Jesus whom God loves and in whom he is well pleased. His beloved Son. And he said as much.
Matthew 3:17
And a voice from heaven said, "This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy."
A voice?
It's The Father of course. And The Father is confirming Jesus’ identity and authority as His Son, reassuring believers that He is completely trustworthy. And he gave him the authority to purchase sinners out of Satan’s domain of darkness and bring them securely into God’s kingdom of light.
How does Jesus do that?
It always begins with the word of truth. Hearing the gospel. Romans 10:17 says faith comes by hearing the message about Christ.
Following that there comes a decision, a choice to leave the realm of darkness. Repentance is that choice. Turning away from sin and following Jesus as your Lord of light.
Acts 3:19 calls this repentance.
"Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord"
Once you've turned you then need to trust in Him.
Why do you need to trust?
Well to begin with, you've just exited the place you formerly loved with all your heart, mind, spirit, and strength. You didn't love it because you weren't attracted to it. You didn't desire it because it wasn't desirable. So your body is not going to be happy about this fasting of the things it loved. You're going to need to resist temptation. And so, you're going to pray and trust Jesus to help you find the strength to resist. It's the beginning of a most times very difficult journey.
And so, we trust in the death and resurrection of Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. And we count on him through faith, to help us in that journey.
Ephesians 2:8-9
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."
When we work out our salvation by growing in faith, and trusting in The Word of Truth, we discover strength in the temptations, we build up a resistance to sin and find hope for even better sanctifying maturation. We basically become born again. We get washed up by His righteousness.
Titus 3:5
"He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit"
He converts our hearts and minds by the renewing of our spirit. He gives us a new heart that doesn't always and easily desire those things from the past. This regeneration frees us up to grow in our faith and draw nearer to Christ. It's a lifelong process, becoming more like Jesus.
And it's expected of us:
1 Thessalonians 4:3-8
"It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit."
We have to persevere in our faith when temptation comes, and it will come. And we sure as hell should not be sermonizing or spiritualizing these things that are real and tangible threats to our survival as followers of Jesus Christ. We can't imagine them away with positivity. We can't ritually cleanse them from us with sacraments. We cannot perform enough ascetic things to whip up our resistance to them. Only faith and obedience to the word of truth can accomplish this conversion. The justification is done. Jesus did that for you, you only accept that as the truth. He preveniently drew you to his cross. You crossed over onto his justified path. And now it's time for sanctifying grace through faithfulness to his Word of Truth in Him.
Which brings us back around to where we began.
How'd we do?
Did we build a good sermon?
No flashy stuff. No controversy. No stories about interesting people and places. No jokes to get them comfortable. No lofty litanies of scholarship and quotes from many popular philosophers, politicians, and celebrities.
Just the Word of Truth.
This is called teaching the gospel.
Turns out the sermon is the digging into the word.
#ExpositionalPreaching