My wife is so smart, and I love her to death. As we talk about God and the Bible, it never ceases to amaze me how a women’s perspective can really shine the light on things, and how every now and again a woman can say something so profound, it'll stop you in your tracks.
My wife and I continually see something that bothers us. That is the changing of the definition of words. Words have meanings. However, a word can have more than just one definition. That's why it's so important to have people define what they mean, as time and again we come across people preaching or teaching something and using a word in a certain context in which they know what they are speaking about but others don't. They have taken liberties with the word to mean something, but don't explain what it means to others, leaving them in utter misunderstanding. Wars have been fought for such reasons.
My wife and I continually see something that bothers us. That is the changing of the definition of words. Words have meanings. However, a word can have more than just one definition. That's why it's so important to have people define what they mean, as time and again we come across people preaching or teaching something and using a word in a certain context in which they know what they are speaking about but others don't. They have taken liberties with the word to mean something, but don't explain what it means to others, leaving them in utter misunderstanding. Wars have been fought for such reasons.
Not only is it important to DEFINE things, but it's important to make sure you say EXACTLY WHAT YOU MEAN and MEAN WHAT YOU SAY. My wife and I have found that sometime just leaving out one little word can leave a person confused and possibly even damned.
My Dad used to say that it's best to: "Say more with less." In other words, he said we should take the time to think about how to say something in the most simplest terms, but make sure we cover all our bases in choosing exactly the right terms in which no one can be left confused by our statement."
When it comes to the doctrine of salvation, my wife recently added a word to one of my sentences that was so important that I couldn't believe I'd been leaving it out when I preach the Gospel. That one little simple word was the word "ALONE."
People often say, "Trust Christ." But that's really not enough. For it begs the question, "Which Christ?" The Bible speaks of more than one. In fact, it also speaks of the ANTI-CHRIST!
Others say "Trust Jesus." This too is not enough. Which Jesus? The Bible says there is more than one. (2 Cor. 11:4).
Some preachers preach "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ!" But is that enough? It is confusing when you don't distinguish between HEAD belief and HEART belief. Many a lost person has thought, "Oh, I BELIEVE in Jesus!" But their belief is in the fact that he existed as a historical figure, not that they has died for their sins on the cross.
Others may say, "Trust the finished work of Jesus Christ." Or, "Trust His shed blood!" And this sounds very nice. In fact, I've preached this quite frequently. But my wife brought up the importance of adding one word to the end of each of these statements: "Alone."
For there are literally millions of people out there who do trust the blood, or do trust in Jesus' finished work, but they also trust in that and their own works. Their Gospel is one of FAITH and WORKS. They trust in what Jesus has done for them, but also believe it's not enough, as they must strive to please God to secure their own salvation, or to keep it.
Do you see the importance of one little word?
A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. (Prov 25:11)
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