Simple In Essence

A couple of weeks ago, I was listening to a guy give his testimony of how he got saved. He grew up in a religious home, and during his teen and early young adult years he was a young man of conviction, being greatly disturbed by the message he was being taught that one can earn his salvation.As a result of his restlessness, he started studying the Bible more in-depth, mainly the book of Romans, looking for some peace of mind about this whole issue of earning one's own salvation, because he came to realize that if that was indeed the case, he was failing miserably and on his way to hell.He became even more confused the more he read Romans and the more he consulted all the different interpretations of the book.He worked hard to piece all that he was reading together in his mind, but he was struggling. Until one day when he heard the gospel being preached, and clicked!Now surely, after having studied the Bible so much himself, namely Romans which literally screams the gospel message in almost every word, he must have read the message of the gospel a hundred times over!How come the lights only turned on the one hundred and first time he heard the gospel?Obviously because it is God who gives us understanding and opens our eyes to the truth when He sees fit.I was struck by that powerful thought while listening to this guy's story.In all our intelligence and means to study all the doctrines of the Bible, understanding will only ultimately come through God's unveiling our eyes to the simple message of the gospel!What struck me about this guy's testimony was how he was so "intelligently" digging into the Bible looking for answers, but when it came to his moment of salvation, his ability to understand such a simple message did not come from his own abilities to understand.It must have come from God.Praise God for the simplicity of the gospel--the Good News of God sending His Son to "be a propitiation for the remission of sins", and then showing His Power to save us out of our helpless states of sinfullness by raising His Son from the dead!(Romans 3:23-25)

It was so exciting to listen to this guy speak with such enthusiasm about how God opened his eyes to the truth after so many years of struggling within himself.I thought about how glorious it must have been for him to go back to Romans and read with new eyes what he had read so many times before and now see how all the doctrines of the Word fit do indeed fit together.While all of that studying that he did before he could understand it all may have seemed in vain, it wasn't, because after he understood the gospel, his appreciation of it was greater I think because he understood all the underlying doctrines of the gospel from his studies.So, while in-depth understanding of the doctrines of God, such as the doctrine of Total Depravity, the doctrine of Grace, the doctrine of Sola Scriptura, are not necessary to be saved, even though anyone who is saved is essentially acknowledging a belief in these doctrines, it has to be necessary for any Christian who earnestly desires to grow spiritualy as much as possible, doesn't it?Of course, we have to be careful not to get so caught up in the doctrines of grace that we actually take the grace out of the doctrines.

I think that most of you reading this can say along with me that we have boundless resources available to us to aid us in growing in our knowledge of the Bible.Why don't we take advantage of all of these resources more?I think it's easy for us who have grown up in homes in which we have always been taught the gospel, to become complacent with the knowledge that we do already have of the Bible.But I have found that when I truly examine my understanding of God's Word, I realize how little I actually do know.How I rob myself of great riches, mainly because of my laziness!

One of my favourite quotes comes from A.W. Tozer; he said, "Complacency is a most deadly foe of all spiritual growth."

And those of us who go to BBC have just the right opportunity to grow in our knowledge of the underlying doctrines of the gospel through the study of Romans that we've just started in Family Bible Hour.Let's take Neil's advice to heart and be willing to do that extra work of studying Romans on our own outside of FBH.I'm sure we won't regret doing so!