Jesus said to them, "Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?" Mark 12:24
Is this not the same indictment that could be leveled at the church today? At me? At you?
The Sadducees attempted to use the law-- the very law God established, to entrap Jesus, author of the law. How foolish! They proof-texted Scripture for their ruse: they tried to use the law to prove that the idea of the resurrection does not coincide.
We, in the church today, have become masters of proof-texting. That is to say that we have our opinions and, in order to pass these off as Biblical, we pick out Scriptures to "prove" our opinions are correct or true.
How about finding truth by studying the Word of God in its entirety and then forming-- not opinions-- but convictions according to the will and purpose of God? But many are not up to studying and seeking out the Bible to find out His purpose. In the course of our call to be Christ-followers, some are still in pre-school, not past the elementary principles of the faith.
Christianity 101 is supposed to be a fairly short course, but some Christians have made it into a lifelong event. The exasperation of the writer of Hebrews is evident, as he penned:
"....by this time you ought to be teachers, [yet] you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child....Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God..." (5:11-13-6:1)
Biblical illiteracy leads to an immature understanding of who God is and the power of God. "You do not know the power of God." Often neglected by Christians, the Old Testament is a power-filled work on the power of God. If you contemplate the pages, it does not take long to sit, kneel, stand or fall down in awe of our mighty, powerful God. This obviously holds true into the New Testament, but you cannot understand the New without the study of the Old.
"...have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong" (Mark 12:26-27)
Don't stay wrong. Read, study, digest the Word of God and you will also learn of His power and how He wants to work through the Holy Spirit. It is time to move past Christianity 101, past infancy to solid food.
"...solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil" (Hebrews 5:14).
