All of us at various times in our lives have found things in the ways of God that we do not understand. Sometimes these are things relative to ourselves, when we do not understand, for example, why God may have allowed certain circumstances in our lives. But sometimes the difficulty involves a truth or principle given to us in God’s Word, and even in an abstract way we are not able to understand it fully. Then we feel a difficulty, not only because we are not able to explain Scripture, but also because ultimately we may find it difficult to apply this particular truth practically in our lives.
With the Lord’s help, I would like to look into the Word of God and to show how these seemingly difficult things, far from being enigmas that may cause us anxiety, are really another exhibition of the glory and majesty of God. More than this, they are given to us in this way for our blessing and enjoyment.
An honest Christian cannot read very far into the Word of God before he finds that which is beyond his understanding. While he may understand the words, he finds that he is brought face to face with truth that is ultimately beyond his ability to grasp. We realize that we are finite creatures, reading a book that reveals truth from an infinite God. The wonder is (I speak reverently) that God is able to reveal Himself to us at all. But God has given us a book, written by an infinite God to finite creatures, yet written in human language, revealing truth that has to do with God Himself. What a wonder that we have such a book in our hands!
In the Old Testament, man did not have the full knowledge of God. While man surely knew something of the glory and majesty of God and learned some of the ways of God, he did not know God fully revealed. God allowed some individuals in the Old Testament (such as Abraham and Moses) to go far beyond the general knowledge of the day in which they lived, but the full revelation of God awaited the coming of His Son into the world. “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him” (John 1:1818No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. (John 1:18)). Now that God has been fully revealed, His ways have been opened up to us, and we are permitted to see things in Scripture that were not revealed in the Old Testament. It is only in the New Testament that we find the expression “the truth,” referring to all that God has revealed to us, for it could not be revealed other than in the person of Christ. He alone could say, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:66Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)), and, “Every one that is of the truth heareth My voice” (John 18:3737Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. (John 18:37)).
Many times God reveals His ways to us in two parallel truths, both clearly taught in Scripture, and, by themselves, easy to understand. But when the two are brought together, the human mind cannot reconcile them. God’s Word brings them together, and it is this that causes the difficulty, for our natural hearts want to be able to understand and explain them. In attempting to do this, our tendency is to emphasize one of these truths at the expense of the other. Thus we reduce the truth of God to human terms and understanding and fall into error. It is fair to say that most if not all of the error that has crept into the house of God has been exaggerated truth, or truth that has been taken out of its place with other truth. Thus we may have truth, but in placing it in a human structure, we no longer have the truth.
One well-known example of two such parallel truths is the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. Both are clearly taught in Scripture, often in the same verse. (John 6:3737All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37) is an example of this.) Both are easy to understand by themselves, yet impossible to reconcile in the human mind. Man’s mind has attempted to do this and has always fallen into error. Calvinism emphasizes God’s sovereignty at the expense of man’s responsibility, while Arminianism emphasizes man’s responsibility and virtually denies God’s sovereignty. Both are wrong, yet even believers are sometimes perplexed by their inability to reconcile these two things.
If we approach Scripture in humility and the fear of God, we realize that we must let Scripture speak to us rather than bring our own thoughts to it. Then we begin to see the reason for these parallel truths, and it awakens our adoration and praise. Instead of causing us difficulties, they are the revelation of God Himself. We realize that it is impossible for our human minds to understand all that God reveals to us, for then we must cease to be finite creatures and become infinite ourselves. (The humanistic thinking of our day has brought man to this blasphemous point, and so-called New Age philosophy actually deifies man.) We make no apology for not being able to explain all of these things, but rather bow in humble adoration before the One who has chosen to reveal the truth, His truth, to us. We recognize that while there is nothing in Scripture that is contrary to reason, there are things that are beyond reason.
Why then has God chosen to reveal these things to us, if we cannot ultimately understand them? Are they merely to puzzle our minds and to induce us to grasp for that which is beyond our reach? Or, are we meant to have differing opinions on Scripture, with little agreement with one another? Are we compelled to fall into error on one side or the other with no way of bringing these parallel truths together? No, God does not deal with His children in that way. These blessed truths are not given to tantalize us. Rather, they are another marvelous indication of the perfection of the Word of God. They are presented in this way to draw us to Himself, for God would reach our hearts and our consciences. He does not occupy us merely with truth, but with the One who is the truth. If we read Scripture humbly and simply, we will unfailingly be driven back to the Source of it and our hearts brought into contact with God Himself. Only then can these precious truths be made our own. We may not be able to understand many things in the Word of God, and at times the vastness of it all may overwhelm us, but in communion with God Himself we cannot only enjoy them, but live these things out practically in our lives. Paul gives us something of this thought in Ephesians 3:17-1917That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. (Ephesians 3:17‑19), which reads, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.” We recognize our lack of understanding and inability to walk in the good of all God has revealed, but then in drawing closer to the Lord, we find that by His Spirit He gives the needed wisdom to walk in the good of that which we cannot fully understand.
How blessed of the Lord to write His Word in this way! He loves us too much simply to allow us to be occupied only with truth. Someone has put it succinctly: “Only the truth can keep the truth.” Finite man will always fail in seeking to understand and walk in the truth, but if we walk in communion with and dependence on the Lord, He keeps it for us, enabling us to enjoy it and walk in it. May God’s Word be ever more precious to our souls, but may we, in reading it, be more and more drawn to the One who loves us and wants our affections and our company!
I recognize that some of this must be felt and enjoyed in the soul rather than explained. In natural things we first learn the definitions and then experience the things themselves. The better we understand them, the more easily we are able to explain them to others. But in spiritual things we must first experience the things before we can define them, and often we find that the more we enter into and experience divine things, the less able we are to explain them to others. Thus some of the things we have mentioned must be first experienced and enjoyed. What is important is to see the principle involved, in order that we may approach the Word of God in the right way.
We have already mentioned the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man, a most important example of that which man cannot fully understand. There are different applications that flow from even this one example. God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility are involved not only in considerations of salvation, but also affect our understanding of the Christian walk and prayer. There are many other such truths in Scripture, affecting different areas of our lives. Such current topics as self-esteem, or looseness and legality, can be approached properly only by the recognition of two parallel truths. We hope with the Lord’s help to mention and expand upon some of the others in succeeding articles.
W. J. Prost