Hello All,
(Just a general disclaimer that I must insert here at the beginning. I am but a lay person, like most of you. And these weekly “thoughts” are but my own. Not the definitive word on this or any topic. Just my own conclusions derived from my own study and faith in God. The greatest hope I have for these weekly “thoughts” is to have them be a springboard for further study on your part. Not to be a weekly treatise to be blindly accepted. So, please read them with this intent, this motive in mind).
This week’s lesson from “The Adult Sabbath School Guide” is titled “Satan’s Final Deceptions”. Those who have read these thoughts in the past realize that I usually write upon ideas presented in the quarterly that cry-out for further explanation. In this week’s Sunday lesson, the famous warning in Proverbs 14:12 is quoted, warning us about the things “that seem right to a man” but lead to “death”. And the warning is repeated in the quarterly to beware “to trust our own sentiments”, because it “is almost a guaranteed way to, sooner or later, get it wrong and even to do wrong”. This quote can lead to the conclusion that all of us should not “follow their own conscience in order to determine for themselves what is right or wrong, good or evil, and then live accordingly” (ibid). This statement must be thoughtfully contemplated. It could seem to lead us to distrust our individual ability to “reason” and to even think. To use another means by which to organize our lives. Could lead us to disregard our ability to think and reason and even to disregard our own conscience.
But this is not the intent of the Scripture quoted nor of the quarterly. The problem we sinners have is not with our ability to reason nor of our own conscience. The problem is that our reasoning ability and our conscience needs to become enlightened. “We must immerse ourselves in the Word of God, and from His Word, as we surrender to the Holy Spirit, learn truth from error, good from evil” (ibid). And the portion of our being that will “learn” this, is our minds where we “reason” and where our “conscience” abides. We need to have enlightened minds and hearts. But we must not discard our reason or our conscience just because they are so badly polluted by sinful thinking and acting.
God has given us the power of “reason”. And it is our “reason” that separates us from the animal world.
“God never asks us to believe, without giving sufficient evidence upon which to base our faith. His existence, His character, the truthfulness of His word, are all established by testimony that appeals to our reason; and this testimony is abundant. Yet God has never removed the possibility of doubt. Our faith must rest upon evidence, not demonstration. Those who wish to doubt will have opportunity; while those who really desire to know the truth will find plenty of evidence on which to rest their faith” (Steps to Christ pg.105).
And this “power” is so God-like:
“Every human being, created in the image of God, is endowed with a power akin to that of the Creator-- individuality, power to think and to do… It is the work of true education to develop this power, to train the youth to be thinkers, and not mere reflectors of other men's thought” (Education pg. 17).
Yet, EGW cautions us about our reason, too, because we are sinful and can use this God-like quality in a bad way. In referencing the work of Satan, she says:
“He who could appear clothed with the brightness of the heavenly seraphs before Christ in the wilderness of temptation, comes to men in the most attractive manner, as an angel of light. He appeals to the reason by the presentation of elevating themes, he delights the fancy with enrapturing scenes, and he enlists the affections by his eloquent portrayals of love and charity. He excites the imagination to lofty flights, leading men to take so great pride in their own wisdom that in their hearts they despise the Eternal One. That mighty being who could take the world's Redeemer to an exceedingly high mountain, and bring before him all the kingdoms of the earth and the glory of them, will present his temptations to men in a manner to pervert the senses of all who are not shielded by divine power” (The Great Controversy pg. 553).
So how to resolve all this? Has our “reason” been perverted? Yes. Do we then rely on other ways of knowing “truth”? Like knowing truth by our feelings? Or do we just do what we are told? Yet God has told us to inquire, to test, to prove Him true, to understand like friends and not just do what we are told like servants (see John 15:15).
So much of what we are is perverted. Like sex. Satan has had a field-day with sex. So much that some people believe the only way to be holy is by being celibate. Yet this is not so. The monastic life is an insult to God and to our fellow-man:
“That religion which leads its subjects to enclose themselves in monastic walls, excluding themselves from their fellow men, and not doing the good they might, cannot be the light of the world. The world is no better for their living in it, because they shed no beams of light in good works. These live for themselves, and bring no glory to the Master, for they hide away from man as though ashamed of the light which they claim to have” (Signs of the Times 1/15/1880)”.
Therefore, we should not shy-away from our own sexuality. But rely on God to educate us in how best to fulfill that gift. We must not minimize or discard our “reason”, for it is all we really have to know God and to know truth. But we must use this “reason” carefully and thoughtfully, as we must with sex, too. We must not approach the “Word” from a sense of superiority, determining truth from our own arrogant attitude. We must approach the Word prayerfully and humbly, as a disciple (learner). Questioningly? Yes, to be sure. With a need to understand. For in the last analysis God wants us to relate to Him because we understand and love Him and His selfless ways. NOT because He tells us to relate to Him. He wants us to freely choose Him. Not from fear of punishment or hope of reward.
As EGW has stated as quoted above… both God and Satan “appeal to the reason”. Why? Because each seek to win our heart… our deepest motives for action and motives for our lives. Therefore, our “reason” is most valuable. It is the seat of our choice, the seat of our essential being. Our “reason” is not something to be vilified, not something to be pressed down and negated as evil. Not something to be cast-off the throne of our heart to be supplanted by something else. Our “reason” is all we have to know truth, respond to truth, to be motivated by truth, and to be held forever by truth.
But make no mistake here. We are not robots or mindless creatures. We are “created in the image of God… endowed with a power akin to that of the Creator (with) power to think and to do…” (op cit.) God will not take-over our reasoning or our conscience. He will re-educate us and enlighten us (born again) so that we can use our reason and obey our conscience. Only in a continuous intimate relationship with our God can our reason and our conscience be reliable. For in the final analysis, our reason and our conscience are all we have to relate to the truth. May we always use our God-inspired reason and conscience. May each “be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).
With brotherly love,
Jim