Ps 148:5 says, “for he commanded, and they were created,” speaking of the angels, hosts, sun, moon, stars, heavens, etc. In Ps 148:6, we read, “he hath made a decree which shall not pass.” And then in Ps 148:8, he writes of things like “fire, and hail; snow, and vapor; stormy wind fulfilling his word.” All these things in the universe were brought into existence by God’s command, they are kept by his decree, and now they fulfill his word. Everything in the universe is governed by the words of God. Therefore, every single aspect of my life is to be ruled by the words of God, as well.
God’s words govern what I think about, what I see, where I go, how I get there, with whom I associate, what I say, what I do, how I adorn myself, etc.
God’s words govern what I eat and drink, for example. In Lev 11 we read about the clean meats that could be eaten and the unclean meats that could not be eaten. In Acts 10:9-16, we read about God showing Peter that it was now okay to eat meats that had been formerly unclean, because God has cleansed them. In Acts 15:20, we find that Gentile converts were told they could not eat blood [Lev 17:10; Gen 9:4]. In 1 Cor 9:27-29, Paul instructed us to not ask questions about what people serve us at a feast. If however, they tell us that what they are serving was sacrificed to idols, we are not supposed to eat it. In 1 Tim 4:3-5, we can eat anything with thanksgiving because it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. However, in Rom 14:20-23, we find that our liberty is limited by a weaker brother’s faith. In 1 Cor 9:27, our liberty is limited by the need to keep our bodies in subjection. In Prov 23:20-21, our quantity is limited, because too much food is gluttony.
Every single detail of your life is governed by the words of God.
Today, it’s great that “many” are getting “saved” in modern churches. But they have no rule and guide for their lives, thereafter. They may get some guidance from their pastor’s brief counsel at church. However, it’s always positive; he’s never going to deal with anything negative, and he’s not going to deal with the subjects of sin and righteousness. They may get some guidance from an accountability group. Otherwise, they are going to be guided by what’s right in their own eyes (every man did that which was right in his own eyes).
We must be under the authority of the words of God in the fear of God [Deut 10:12-13]. My concern with inserting myself between people and the words of God is the potential for people to be ruled by the fear of man and the authority of man. Don’t think that because we haven’t told you what to do that we don’t have convictions about all of these things. We do. And some things that can adversely affect the church we have to deal with head on.
The thinking, when you get your guidelines from men, is that as long as you keep the standards and pass the judgment of your pastor and friends, you’re fine. But men only see the outside, (man looketh on the outward appearance). What about when your pastor and friends aren’t looking? Jesus said, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment,” [Jn 7:24]. God ponders the heart [Prov 21:2]. You may look fine to others but you may not be fine with God, at all. That was the problem with the Pharisees. And we don’t want it to be a problem among us.
You must get your convictions from this book. And you must live them. You are accountable to God for your obedience to his words.
Conclusion: we must read and obey the words that are in our Bible, all of them. When we aren’t certain about anything in our lives, we need to go prayerfully to God’s words, find out what he said, and then be doers of the words of God.