A Truth to Believe

God Purposes

The God of the Bible is a purposeful God. God has always had a purposeful plan for all things, and he is always accomplishing it (Ps. 57:2; Lam. 2:17). Truly, nothing exists outside of or apart from God’s divine purposes––his providence (Prov. 16:4), or what Scripture calls "the counsel of his will" (Eph. 1:11). God's purposes always prevail, and he never fails to do what he sets out to accomplish (Isa. 14:24).

God accomplishes his purpose at a cosmic level (Eph. 1:11) and an individual level (Exod. 9:16). Scripture declares that God’s purposes stand behind his destroying kingdoms (Jer. 51:11), directing kings (Isa. 44:8), sending forth his word (Isa. 55:11), moving against nations (Jer. 50:45), punishing and blessing Israel (Zech. 8:14–15), making the wicked (Prov. 16:4), sending Jesus to earth to proclaim the gospel (Luke 4:43), the ministry of John the Baptist (John 1:31), the death of Jesus on the cross (John 12:27), appearing and commission the Apostle Paul (Acts 26:16), as well as the calling (Rom 8:28), electing (Rom 9:11), predestining, (Eph. 1:11), adopting (Eph 1:5), and saving (2 Tim. 1:9) of each of God’s children.

 Truly, the purposes of God stand forever (Prov. 19:21). None can thwart (Job 42:2) or annul the Lord’s plans (Isa. 14:27). God governs and reigns over all things according to his definite and purposeful plan (Eph. 1:11). Therefore, he never acts presumptuously, irresponsibly, hastily, or haphazardly. God never abandons his plans (Jer. 4:28) but always accomplishes what he intends to come to pass (Isa. 46:10–11).

The Lord of hosts has sworn: “As I have planned so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand.” (Isaiah 14:24)

Something about Living

Whether through writing or speaking, teaching others what is in God's word and how we ought to live is dangerous.

James 3:1 tells us, "Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness."

Becoming a teacher of God's word should cause one to hesitate.

But one should not consider the warning only in becoming a teacher; a teacher should carefully consider everything they produce as part of teaching.

I believe this is why, when we write or teach about what the Bible declares, we should ask these four questions:

(1) Is this statement declared from God's inspired word or is it an articulated human discovery or perspective?

(2) Does the Bible reveal or affirm this statement?

(3) Does this statement contradict anything in the Bible?

(4) Is this statement true at all times and in all respects as written?

Hopefully these questions, or ones like them, will help keep us from error, limit unhelpful ways to communicate, aid our hearers, and cause our teachings to be more in line with biblical truth.

We all need good teachers and good teaching. Yet especially in our world of overproduced content, we need to strive all the more to be teachers who accurately, faithfully, and boldly declare what the Bible declares.

A Quote

“The way for a person to develop a style is to know exactly what he wants to say, and to be sure he is saying exactly that. The reader, we must remember, does not start by knowing what we mean. If our words are ambiguous, our meaning will escape him. I sometimes think that writing is like driving sheep down a road. If there is any gate open to the left or the right the reader will most certainly go into it.”

C. S. Lewis

A Resource

Regarding good teaching, especially as it pertains to writing, here are the most helpful books we have found on the craft of writing.