{"id":21884,"date":"2020-04-27T14:00:37","date_gmt":"2020-04-27T19:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=21884"},"modified":"2020-04-27T14:00:37","modified_gmt":"2020-04-27T19:00:37","slug":"the-people-who-get-to-understand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-people-who-get-to-understand\/","title":{"rendered":"The People Who Get to Understand"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t

by Matthew W. Bassford<\/p>\n

Classical Calvinism teaches that it is impossible for the unregenerate to understand the word of God. We first must be anointed by the Holy Spirit before we can comprehend it and be saved. At first glance, Matthew 13:11 appears to support this doctrine. Here, Jesus says to His disciples, \u201cBecause the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know, but it has not been given for them to know.<\/em>\u201d Sounds like the elect versus the reprobate, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

However, a study of the context reveals that something very different is going on. In the first eight verses of Matthew 13, Jesus relates the parable of the sower, a description of agricultural events with no apparent spiritual application. In Matthew 13:9, He offers an invitation: \u201cLet anyone who has ears, listen<\/em>.\u201d In Matthew 13:10, while the multitudes mill around in bafflement, the disciples come to Him and ask Him to explain His teaching methods. In Matthew 13:18-23, He explains the parable of the sower to them.<\/p>\n

In this context, the clear difference between the enlightened disciples and the ignorant multitudes is not the anointing of the Spirit. It\u2019s plain and simple want-to. The people who wanted to figure out the meaning of the parable exerted extra effort and got what they wanted. The people who didn\u2019t want to bother did nothing extra and remained in the dark.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Photo by chris liu on Unsplash<\/p><\/div>\n

This same pattern plays out today, even among baptized believers. When it comes to figuring out the Bible, some Christians have want-to. They study their lesson before Bible class. They listen intently. They ask questions. They engage the preacher about his lesson after the sermon is over. They read the Bible daily. And so on. Though such brethren never satisfy their desire for the truth, they steadily grow in understanding.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, there are Christians who don\u2019t have that want-to. They do none of the things that their more diligent peers do. However, they are very good at manufacturing excuses for their lack of diligence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m too busy,\u201d is a favorite. \u201cThe preacher\/teacher is boring,\u201d is another. Strangely, they don\u2019t find the latest episode of \u201cTiger King\u201d, with its constant parade of ungodly freaks, to be boring, but those who proclaim the word of life are. Perhaps they would be happier if the Bible-class teacher were more like Joe Exotic.<\/p>\n

Regardless of excuses, the outcome is the same as it was 2000 years ago. The motivated gain enlightenment; the unmotivated remain ignorant. This is no mere academic difference. A greater understanding of the word increases faith, produces hope, builds character, and protects from temptation. Those who are not growing become more faithless, more hopeless, more useless, and more godless.<\/p>\n

Over time, many such brethren fall away, astonishing those who had worshiped with them for years or decades. In reality, their collapse is no more surprising than the collapse of an old, dead tree. On the outside, little change was evident, but within, rot and termites were hard at work.<\/p>\n

The risks are too real for any of us to take chances with our salvation. Each one of us needs to return to the word with zeal and Berean love of truth, not because we love academic minutiae, but because we love God and His Son. With such a spirit, we bring joy to the Lord\u2019s heart and make the devil\u2019s job that much harder. We have ears to hear. Let\u2019s use them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Matthew W. Bassford Classical Calvinism teaches that it is impossible for the unregenerate to understand the word of God. We first must be anointed by the Holy Spirit before we can comprehend it and be saved. At first glance, Matthew 13:11 appears to support this doctrine. Here, Jesus says to His disciples, \u201cBecause the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[219,964],"class_list":["post-21884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-bible","tag-understanding-the-bible"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13320,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-help-me-understand-who-were-the-people-with-similar-names\/","url_meta":{"origin":21884,"position":0},"title":"Can you help me understand who were the people with similar names?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 24, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Some articles on the net are so confusing and misguiding that a layman finds it hard to understand or come to a conclusion about who is who. Will you please explain and guide me if these following honorable characters are different or the same? {A} John the Apostle, Evangelist,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40412,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/your-ignorance-of-scripture-is-shown-in-your-misquote-of-the-rosary\/","url_meta":{"origin":21884,"position":1},"title":"Your ignorance of Scripture is shown in your misquote of the Rosary","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am truly amazed at your ignorance of Scripture, as an example, you erroneously present the alleged Lord's Prayer as part of the Rosary. Show me where in the Scripture (which you got from the Catholic Church) the heretic words\u2026\"For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51478,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/whos-who-of-the-new-testament\/","url_meta":{"origin":21884,"position":2},"title":"Who’s Who of the New Testament","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 17, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Acts 9:1-8 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Reading some parts of the New Testament becomes difficult because several people have the same name. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Keeping them straight is sometimes worse than a logic puzzle \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In our society we use multiple names with a surname as an attempt to distinguish people\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26766,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-papacy-biblical\/","url_meta":{"origin":21884,"position":3},"title":"Is the Papacy Biblical?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 3, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Matthew 16:13-20 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The world was fascinated with the process the Roman Catholic Church used to pick a new pope. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We were given detailed accounts of all the traditions surrounding a pope\u2019s selection \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We were shown the events step by step. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But in all the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12819,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/your-information-on-matthew-27-63-helped-me-understand-better\/","url_meta":{"origin":21884,"position":4},"title":"Your information on Matthew 27:63 helped me understand better","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 12, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I was doing my daily reading this morning and became a little angry at Matthew 27:63, where the Pharisees called Jesus an \"imposter.\" Continuing the reading, the sentence said, \"This last deception will be worse than the first.\" This got me wondering: what did the chief priests and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13258,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-the-bible-tell-us-about-matthews-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":21884,"position":5},"title":"What does the Bible tell us about Matthew’s life?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 12, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What was the life of Matthew in biblical days? 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