In my last column, I wrote concerning matters of judgment or opinion and matters of faith, from the situation Paul and Barnabas found themselves in Acts 15:36ff. This is a very important thing to consider and understand. It’s important enough to leave temporarily our lessons from the Book of Acts to go into detail on. Its importance can be understood by recognizing that a lack of understanding of this principle has resulted in the formation of every denomination from the Roman Catholic Church on, and in the formation of every independent church that does not follow God’s word. To follow God’s word we must 1. Take all that He has said relevant to any given point, in context. 2. Not add to His word. 3. Not take away from His word. 4. Not change His word. And 5. Not contradict His word. Nothing short of that is following God’s word.

Matters of judgment are matters of opinion. Matters of opinion are matters of judgment. Matters of faith are not matters of judgment or opinion. Matters of faith are matters where God has spoken. What God has said is not a matter of opinion; God does not give opinions. That is so because we are told in Romans 10:17 that faith comes by hearing the word of God. A matter on which God has not spoken is not a matter of faith because it is not given in his word from which faith comes, and therefore is not to be done (All must be done in the name of – by the authority of Christ - Colossians 3:17 and we are not to add to his word). Therefore, if it is not in the New Testament, it is not a matter of faith.

All believers of the Bible, and by that I mean those that believe that the Bible is the word of God, should recognize that if the Bible is the word of God, and it is, that we must do what God says. That’s the lesson Eve and Adam learned the hard way. God has in every age expected those he spoke to, to understand what he said and do what he said. We speak of that as obedience. Obedience is 1. Doing what God said to do. 2. Doing what God said to do in the way He said to do it. 3. Doing what God said to do for the purpose He said to do it. Anything short of that is not obedience and not following His word. Obedience is doing what God said to do, in the way He said to do it and for the purpose He said to do it.

We can see that these things are so from the lessons we learn not only from Eve and Adam, but also from Cain (Genesis 4:3ff), Noah (Genesis 6:9-22), Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:1, 2), (Naaman (2 Kings 5:1-15), and the recent lesson we saw from Acts 15:24. We must do all that God has commanded but not those things He has not commanded. All of these examples are given in the Bible that we might learn from them and follow what they teach. It is so saddening that so few down through the years have learned and followed these elementary lessons.

It is a must for us today, as it was for those of the past we read of in the Bible, to follow what God has said, and obey Him. Hebrews 5:8, 9 tells us that Christ is the savior only of those who obey Him. If you would like to consider these things further, I have a 14 lesson Bible Study that covers these principles thoroughly. It is available to all who ask for it. Ask for yours today.