“Look. Here’s the problem. It’s like we have to follow a script. It’s like we are limited in what we can do in ministry because of Scriptural parameters.”

“What are you suggesting?”

“Well, I don’t feel I am suggesting anything, I don’t think, but merely pointing out the problems that arise from always having to keep reverting back to Scripture, as in, well, ‘the Bible says this’ or ‘the Lord said we must,’ or ‘we have to apply this Biblical directive…’”

“You think your ministerial work is suffering because you invoke Scripture?”

“No, no, not necessarily, but because, well, because I think there are other applications that probably work better in some instances, and…”

“But don’t you realize that the application of Scripture, especially the teachings of Jesus, is exactly that which provides solutions?”

“But does it always? Sometimes I’m not so sure. I’ve seen…”

“Are you having a personal crisis regarding your faith?”

“What? No, no, I just think that, that, well, that sometimes I want to help someone get through whatever they may be dealing with and show, you know, my heartfelt sympathy or concern, and, I think that trying to quote Scripture at such a time is, just, not working, or won’t work, like it’s being cold.”

“My goodness. How long have you been doing this?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve obviously been attempting to minister to people while also holding a clear lack of faith in Christian teachings. Do you not see this?”

“No! No, that’s not it. I know the Scriptures are the Word of God but I feel like I’m hitting people with a book, like I’m merely parroting verses and passages instead of reaching them at the point of their need, and showing sincere concern, and…”

“Did the Lord engage in ministry in such a way?”

“Well the Lord was certainly right there and touching hearts, and…”

“Showing compassion?”

“Yes! Yes, that’s it. He showed compassion. He granted mercy, He…”

“He watered-down the Law of Moses because that might help people not feel offended?”

“The Law! What?”

“You have a problem with the Law!”

“Wait. We’re Christians! We honor the New Covenant not the Old! We…”

“The Lord Jesus was never against the Law of Moses! The Lord actually fulfilled the Law of Moses! What is wrong with you?”

“Why are you getting so upset?”

“Because you have obviously gone off the deep end and need strong correction! How long have you been carrying this lack of respect for the Law?”

“But Paul was always talking about the deficiencies of the Law. It’s throughout all his writings.”

“You’re exaggerating. Paul spoke of the New Covenant superseding the Old Covenant but he also strongly defended the Law of Moses! Yes! The Law as delivered originally by God through Moses was certainly not deficient but was simply in need of its final fulfillment which could only be done by the future Messiah. To state that the Law was deficient or that there was a problem with the Law is grossly incorrect.”

“Okay… I’m thinking… I’m wondering where I picked this up…”

“It could be through a simple misapplication of Scripture.”

“Yes… But no. I must have received my understanding of the Law through those New Testament passages which refer to the Law in a negative sense.”

“Then you have an incomplete understanding of Scripture and need further teaching. Or you could have received it through the teachings of others in that regard.”

“But that, that would indicate that there are Christian teachers that get it wrong.”

“Yes. And what else is new?”

“No, I don’t mean… I mean, that they are doing it deliberately…”

“Which would mean exactly that or that they also have been deceived by a false teaching regarding the Law. They are doing what they think is right or…”

“Or they are not deceived at all but are deliberately teaching something that opposes the Scriptures…”

“Yes. Some are deceived. But some are agents of the enemy who have infiltrated our schools and churches.”

“How do we… What do we do?”

“First of all I appreciate the respect you are showing an elder. All real ministers of the Gospel at some point come across this sad state of affairs, this deceptive invasion, usually when they’re relatively young, as yourself. I discovered it when I was a young minister but I had no elder to help me out. I’m glad you came to me. Secondly, what we do is what any real minister of the Gospel would do. You know the answer…”

“Study to show yourself approved.”

“Exactly. Paul knew so much, so much more than he could readily share. People have to be able to receive it… When he wrote those words to Timothy he knew that Timothy, though relatively young, had gained enough maturity to know what to do.”

“Even if he didn’t fully understand. Like me. Right now…”

“But again, Paul knew Timothy would know what to do and he knew he would work very hard to succeed. And would do anything he must.”

“Timothy had to study. He had to read the Word. He had to pray.”

“That’s right. Real ministers know they often don’t know so they work very hard so they will know. That’s how they learn. It’s an ongoing process. The Word of God is Truth. It is filled with spiritual truths. It is our job to work hard at finding those truths. Then we can apply them.”

“That’s what I thought I was saying at the beginning of our conversation.”

“Well, you were seeing that merely relaying Scripture or quoting verses was kind of, kind of wooden, in some instances. You want to connect with people on a heart level instead of simply give directives toward the written Word.”

“Yes.”

“Then don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. You can minister all day long but it will be worthless without the Word of God. And I specifically mean the teachings of our Lord. His teachings were pure and they were purely delivered. He never ministered without the Word. It would have been impossible anyway. He is the Word.”

“So I need to study. Wait. Can I see your Bible?”

“Sure.”

“Okay… I need to read this… Here it is: Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”

“There’s a lot there.”

“He has given us His Word.”

“Yes.”

“He trusts us with it.”

“It’s a high calling.”

“And I feel ashamed, but not like, I mean, I know He understands. But I must work harder. I must be diligent.”

“It’s the only way. We only have so much time. And we have to get it right.”

“I need to focus more on the Word than on someone else’s teaching of the Word.”

“Well, there is wisdom in a multitude of counselors. We just need to always make sure that our primary Counselor is the Lord Jesus. He will confirm the truth but also reveal untruths. For every untruth there is a lack of spiritual freedom. If you collect too many they act as chains tying you down. You came in here with a burden. We had to fish out its cause.”

“Thank you. I thought I knew what I was talking about.”

“You got a hold of some bad information. It wasn’t intentional. You see, if a believer gets some bad information in the context of Biblical teaching but doesn’t know it’s bad, and accepts it as truth, the only way to ferret it out is by reading and studying the Word. The more you read and study the Word the more likely it will get exposed. It is the Living Word you know. The New Covenant Scriptures were divinely inspired by the Lord and are actually alive. They will do the work as long as we do ours.”

“They didn’t even have written New Testaments in the beginning…”

“But they had Spirit-filled anointed preachers and teachers. There were a great many of them. They came to maturity rapidly.”

“And they handled the Word of truth accurately…”

“That’s right. And when they got it right the Lord confirmed what they taught with signs and miracles. Those miracles had a dual purpose. They acted as endorsements—a sign of approval.”

“That was the proof.”

“Yes.”

“And if they were somehow wrong…”

“No miracles. No attesting signs.”

“Wow. The written Word is a deliverance mechanism…”

“Well, yes. That is why it is so important that we get it right. We are charged with delivering the Gospel as He delivered it. When we do we get the results He got. The originals got it right.”

“On a colossal scale.”

“So you see why it is so important to never let anything foreign or false enter into our curriculums because they act as a drag on the power of the Word.”

“So a great many ministers want to get it right and many are very strong about teaching what they believe is Scriptural truth. They insist on their versions and doctrines. But they never test their teachings against the only proof that would confirm them. They are satisfied without proof.”

“Yes. Many Christian teachers never put their teachings to the Scriptural test. Instead of seeking God’s confirmation they get their confirmations from others. They seek the approval of others.”

“They mainly seek the confirmation of the congregation. Oh boy. You don’t want the church folks on your back. Or they seek the confirmation of their betters, their higher-ups. Whoever’s paying you. Whoever’s giving you permission to preach. That’s who most ministers are trying to please. …Yes, I get it. We must seek only the Lord’s confirmation. It’s the only way to know we’re getting our teaching right.”

“You mean His teaching.” 

© 2022 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.

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FOR FURTHER STUDY:

But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.

For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. [Romans 7:6-8:4] [1]

[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

WEBSITE ADDRESS: rjdawson.com