Jack Pelham

A great many people have this problem:

They will hear of some idea or principle, which immediately sounds very good to them. That is, it makes them feel good. But from there, they make a wild leap into believe that they themselves are complete devotees of that cause, who understand it thoroughly and live in accordance to it.

The one man can appreciate that, with some work,
He could do some things better.

The other will insist that he himself is capable of
Naught but error, and must have the help of
The Holy Spirit if he is to be improved in the least.

“O, to be young!”, says the one, with not a thought
Of the ignorance and foolishness of youth.

And “O, to be wise!”, says the other, with some regret
That one cannot have very much of
Wisdom and youth at the same time,
Yet knowing adamantly which is the better choice.

And the one aims at what he once was,
As the other aims at what he can become.

Introduction

While studying John recently, I noted that huge number of mentions that:

• Jesus had come from God/heaven, and that
• He was going to go back there.

Further, there are several mentions, and perhaps allusions to the fact that:

• He was going to take the faithful to be “where I am” (his words) in Heaven.

The humble man will not think he’s got it made
In advance of that meeting where God
Has his say-so on this very question,
For he will already know most of his sins, and that
God has every right to refuse anyone on the account
Of such transgression.

But the camp of the proud puff themselves up
With a paradigm some call “eternal security”,
In which they count it a sin not to be sure in advance
What God will say—with no sin they could possibly
Commit between now and then having any chance
Of blotting out the predetermined stamp of approval
They have stamped on their own foreheads.

The humble man knows the scriptures—
That he has got to stay the course—
To endure to the end, and to overcome—
And even then, that God has every right
To count his failures as too big and too many,
For whose are not?

But the camp of the proud assure themselves, as if
The judgment were about them having
Already declared themselves saved,
And not about God himself
Weighing in on that question.

The humble will live with the uncertainty,
For that is his lot, and he knows it is.
And what other choice does he have but
To sin by presuming himself in the seat of God,
Declaring the matter himself, and even before
His life is finished and all his choices
Have been made?

But the proud count it a proper feature
Of their religion to declare their glory from the beginning,
And then dare everybody—God included, apparently—
To say it isn’t so.

And think on this:
Many among them who think it a sin
To judge others as to transgressions will
Declare themselves righteous in the eyes of God,
Without ever stopping to notice that
This is judging, too.

² Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. ³ I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. ⁴ My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. ⁵ Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.

Paul. 1 Corinthians 4:2-5. NIV.

⁹ To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ ¹³ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ ¹⁴ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Luke 18:8-14. NIV.

By what manner of delusion does she think
That the Jesus who was so often angry in the Bible,
Is never mad today at any believer for his incorrigibility?

The novice twists a truth and his deceit is quickly laid bare by the investigator. But the veteran of wickedness twists a thousand truths, so as to overwhelm those who would try to sort it all out. To the disproof of the one, he answers with 999 lies, making a mockery of truth by his show trial of unreasonable reasons. And then he prances around as the victor when the challenger throws up his arms and walks away.

Why should any person want to chain himself to a theological system, which has predecided for him individual items of doctrine that he has no intention of learning/studying/mastering for himself? What’s the motivation here?

If it’s important, why not look into it bit by bit for himself?

He rejects the fruit of the Spirit in several ways,
Including that he has no patience for studying the scriptures
That God had delivered to his generation,
Yet he expects the self-same Spirit to grant him understanding
Of those same scriptures.

He fights against the evil that’s in your heart,
But not against the evil that’s in his own.