| August 20, 2000 |
Vol. III, No. 16
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For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. (James 2:10,11, NKJV)
There are many today who state that they believe in Christ and yet I have heard them ask a question similar to this one: "Do I have to do everything the Bible says?
There may be no better place to look for an example to answer this question, which many seem to ask than in 1 Samuel 15:1-32. King Saul, whom God had selected to have the prophet Samuel anoint as King of his people, was given specific instructions in vers 3 " 'Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.' "
The directions were simple, Go and kill the Amelikites. Kill the men women, children, and the animals. The phrases "utterly destroy all that they have" and "do not spare them" are stated by Samuel to King Saul.
Saul gathered the people together and went and attacked Amelek just as he was commanded. (v. 4-7)
But did he do all that he was commanded to do? The answer is in verses 8,9 "He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed." The simple one word answer is NO!
He was to utterly destroy both man and beast, yet he spared King Agag and the best of the spoils were kept. They did destroy all that was despised and worthless.
I do not know how many Amelekites there were nor how many animals there were when the battle began. I do know that sparing King Agag, means that not all of the men were killed, and that sparing the best animals means that not all of the animals were killed.
God informed Samuel of the events that occurred. Samuel came to Carmel and Saul came to greet him. Notice the greeting from Saul to Samuel in verse 13 "Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, 'Blessed are you of the LORD! I have performed the commandment of the LORD.'" Saul boldly and proudly states to Samuel that he fulfilled the commandments of the Lord.
He may have reasoned if there were 1,000 Amalekites at the beginning of the war and only one left I have done 99.9% of what the Lord commanded. He may have further reasoned that if all of the animals were destroyed except the chosen few for sacrifices I am doing what the Lord said.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Samuel asked King Saul (v. 14) "What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?"
King Saul then attempted to justify his actions.
Samuel then told him the way it is in v. 22,23;
"Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,Sacrifices are not as pleasing to the Lord as is carrying out his commandments. Rebellion is equated to witchcraft. The consequences for Saul was that he was rejected from being king because he rejected the word of the Lord.
As in obeying the voice of the LORD?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
He also has rejected you from being king."
Samuel then killed King Agag.
King Saul did not carry out the command as the Lord had directed. Maybe he did destroy 99.9 % but that was not 100%. He was told to utterly destroy all of Amelek. 99% of what God asks of us is not good enough. We must give 100%.
There are those who say that they believe in Jesus yet they have not been baptized. Mark 16:16 which states that belief is necessary for salvation also states that baptism is just as necessary. "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved."
There are those who state that they have prayed to God to forgive them of there sins. They acknowledge that repentance is necessary for salvation but refuse baptism. The apostle Peter stated in Acts 2:38 that both repentance and baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus for the remission of sins were necessary.
There are those who state that they have confessed Jesus as their savior and yet have not been baptized. Philip asked the Ethiopian Eunuch if he believed with all of his heart the response was "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." Philip then baptized the Eunuch.
Baptism is necessary for salvation, yet many refuse to follow this command. Why? Are they like King Saul and only want to obey the commands they choose. They may reason that they are good people and have not committed adultery or murdered yet they still have not been baptized.
To illustrate the fallacy of the argument that doing most things is fine, let us examine the following scenario which many drivers may have faced. One may be driving at 70 miles an hour where the speed limit is 65 mph. He then sees the flashing lights in his rear view mirror and hears the siren. He knows to pull his car off of the road. The officer informs the driver that he was speeding. I have yet to hear of a person who has looked at the officer as he is receiving a ticket and state "Officer I do not have to receive this ticket as I have never killed anyone nor ever committed adultery." You can substitute all of the good things you have done, or the bad things which you have not done, in that sentence. But it does not change the fact that you are guilty of speeding. The officer will hand you the ticket, and you will pay the fine because never murdering anyone does not excuse you from speeding.
Keeping most of God's commands will not excuse us from keeping all of them. Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'
Rebellion is as witchcraft, violating one law of God is the same as ignoring all laws. Ananias asked Paul in Acts 22:16 "And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.'"
If baptism for the remission of your sins is the one command that makes you guilty of all law, Why are you waiting?
–Percy R. Wilson, Jr.
After Peter's confession of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, and Jesus ' promise to build His church or kingdom upon that solid bedrock of truth, Matthew records that "from that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, 'Far be it from You, Lord, this shall not happen to You!' But He turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."' (Matthew 16:21-23).
This marks the first time Jesus had spoken plainly of His up-coming crucifixion, although there had been veiled allusions to it earlier in His ministry. In fact, to some extent, His death had been suggested, if Peter had only understood it, when the Lord said the gates of Hades would not prevail against His building His church. Hades is the realm of the dead. Jesus was informing His apostles that even His death would not prevent His building His church. And it didn't.
But since Peter did not yet understand the necessity of the crucifixion nor the spiritual nature of Christ's kingdom, he rebuked Jesus. Surely, Peter thought, these things could never happen to his Lord.
One of the most arresting things about this exchange between Jesus and Simon Peter is that it comes right upon the heels of Peter's magnificent profession of faith, and Jesus' high praise and promise of special blessing to Peter: the privilege of being the one to first announce the conditions of entrance into Christ's s church or kingdom.
Although I would not glory in Peters s mistake, I do find a certain amount of consolation in the fact that one who walked and talked and ate with Jesus as a constant companion and one of the Lord's best personal friends sometimes had trouble getting everything together just as I sometimes do. It comforts me to know that a person who is intelligent and sincere and well-meaning can err -- for I like to believe that I possess those characteristics, yet I am ever aware of my own limitations and short-comings.
Peter was no hypocrite. And few men, if any, were ever more committed to the love and obedience of Christ than Peter was -- yet on this and other occasions, Peter had to be rebuked. Let us each note that there is still much to learn about our Lord and His will, and that we need to constantly seek out His help as we seek to live the truth we know.
--CRJ
He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.