Day 8/16 – An Inconsistent Bible

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Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man by Walter A Henrichsen (“Walt”)
An Inconsistent Bible
Day Two Hundred Twenty-eight

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” Ephesians 5:25 “If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:26

From the Garden of Eden we see that the path from God is independence; the path to God is dependence. All that God does from the Fall on, He does to teach us our need to be dependent upon Him. Biblical application is designed with this in mind.

You feel your dependence upon God in the process of application, in part because much of what He says has the appearance of being inconsistent. Jesus commands that we hate our wives while Paul commands that we love them as Christ loved the church. Our Lord tells us to hate our father and mother. Paul commands that we honor them.299 In one place Paul says that we are predestined before the foundation of the world,300 and in another he says that everyone that calls on the name of the Lord will be saved,301 and that God is not willing that any should be lost.302 Then you must wrestle with the seeming inconsistency between God being One in Three, and Jesus Christ being both completely God and completely man.

If you allow reason to be your final court of appeal, you will end in disobedience and heresy. The Bible does not call you to resolution, but to application. For example, you must live in the tension of both hating and honoring your parents, and walk by faith as you seek to apply both.

299 Ephesians 6:2
300 Ephesians 1:4
301 Romans 10:13
302 II Peter 3:9

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Psalm 94-96 Romans 15:14-33 (New King James Version)

Psalm 94-96
God the Refuge of the Righteous
94
O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs—
O God, to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth!
2
Rise up, O Judge of the earth;
[a]Render punishment to the proud.
3
Lord, how long will the wicked,
How long will the wicked triumph?
4
They utter speech, and speak insolent things;
All the workers of iniquity boast in themselves.
5
They break in pieces Your people, O Lord,
And afflict Your heritage.
6
They slay the widow and the stranger,
And murder the fatherless.
7
Yet they say, “The Lord does not see,
Nor does the God of Jacob [b]understand.”
8
Understand, you senseless among the people;
And you fools, when will you be wise?
9
He who planted the ear, shall He not hear?
He who formed the eye, shall He not see?
10
He who [c]instructs the [d]nations, shall He not correct,
He who teaches man knowledge?
11
The Lord knows the thoughts of man,
That they are futile.
12
Blessed is the man whom You instruct, O Lord,
And teach out of Your law,
13
That You may give him [e]rest from the days of adversity,
Until the pit is dug for the wicked.
14
For the Lord will not [f]cast off His people,
Nor will He forsake His inheritance.
15
But judgment will return to righteousness,
And all the upright in heart will follow it.
16
Who will rise up for me against the evildoers?
Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
17
Unless the Lord had been my help,
My soul would soon have settled in silence.
18
If I say, “My foot slips,”
Your mercy, O Lord, will hold me up.
19
In the multitude of my anxieties within me,
Your comforts delight my soul.
20
Shall the throne of iniquity, which devises evil by law,
Have fellowship with You?
21
They gather together against the life of the righteous,
And condemn innocent blood.
22
But the Lord has been my defense,
And my God the rock of my refuge.
23
He has brought on them their own iniquity,
And shall [g]cut them off in their own wickedness;
The Lord our God shall cut them off.
A Call to Worship and Obedience
95
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
2
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
3
For the Lord is the great God,
And the great King above all gods.
4
[h]In His hand are the deep places of the earth;
The heights of the hills are His also.
5
The sea is His, for He made it;
And His hands formed the dry land.
6
Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
7
For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture,
And the sheep [i]of His hand.
Today, if you will hear His voice:
8
“Do not harden your hearts, as in the [j]rebellion,
As in the day of [k]trial in the wilderness,
9
When your fathers tested Me;
They tried Me, though they saw My work.
10
For forty years I was [l]grieved with that generation,
And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts,
And they do not know My ways.’
11
So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”
A Song of Praise to God Coming in Judgment
96
Oh, sing to the Lord a new song!
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2
Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.
3
Declare His glory among the [m]nations,
His wonders among all peoples.
4
For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised;
He is to be feared above all gods.
5
For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
But the Lord made the heavens.
6
Honor and majesty are before Him;
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
7
Give[n] to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
Give to the Lord glory and strength.
8
[o]Give to the Lord the glory due His name;
Bring an offering, and come into His courts.
9
Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!
Tremble before Him, all the earth.
10
Say among the [p]nations, “The Lord reigns;
The world also is firmly established,
It shall not be [q]moved;
He shall judge the peoples righteously.”
11
Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
Let the sea roar, and [r]all its fullness;
12
Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice
13
before the Lord.
For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth.
He shall judge the world with righteousness,
And the peoples with His truth.
Footnotes:
• Psalm 94:2 Repay with
• Psalm 94:7 pay attention
• Psalm 94:10 disciplines
• Psalm 94:10 Gentiles
• Psalm 94:13 relief
• Psalm 94:14 abandon
• Psalm 94:23 destroy them
• Psalm 95:4 In His possession
• Psalm 95:7 Under His care
• Psalm 95:8 Or Meribah, lit. Strife, Contention
• Psalm 95:8 Or Massah, lit. Trial, Testing
• Psalm 95:10 disgusted
• Psalm 96:3 Gentiles
• Psalm 96:7 Ascribe
• Psalm 96:8 Ascribe
• Psalm 96:10 Gentiles
• Psalm 96:10 shaken
• Psalm 96:11 all that is in it

Romans 15:14-33
From Jerusalem to Illyricum
14 Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish [a]one another. 15 Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God, 16 that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering [b]of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 Therefore I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in the things which pertain to God. 18 For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient— 19 in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. 20 And so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man’s foundation, 21 but as it is written:
“To whom He was not announced, they shall see;
And those who have not heard shall understand.”
Plan to Visit Rome
22 For this reason I also have been much hindered from coming to you. 23 But now no longer having a place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come to you, 24 whenever I journey to Spain, [c]I shall come to you. For I hope to see you on my journey, and to be helped on my way there by you, if first I may enjoy your company for a while. 25 But now I am going to Jerusalem to [d]minister to the saints. 26 For it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem. 27 It pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things. 28 Therefore, when I have performed this and have sealed to them this fruit, I shall go by way of you to Spain. 29 But I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing [e]of the gospel of Christ.
30 Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me, 31 that I may be delivered from those in Judea who [f]do not believe, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 that I may come to you with joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed together with you. 33 Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
Footnotes:
• Romans 15:14 M others
• Romans 15:16 Consisting of
• Romans 15:24 NU omits I shall come to you and joins Spain with the next sentence.
• Romans 15:25 serve
• Romans 15:29 NU omits of the gospel
• Romans 15:31 are disobedient