Since we're at the end of a chapter, I'm taking a brief break from our spiritual depression series. These two posts are from another Dr. John MacArthur letter dated September 17, 2010.
"Similar examples of dead faith about in church around the globe. Pews are filled every Sunday with people who grew up in the church, surrounded by the truth and familiar with the usual Bible stories, but who have kept that knowledge at arm's length. Perhaps they haven't grown completely cold to biblical truth, but they haven't really obeyed it yet, either.
"Some of them may even think about the Bible and its teachings constantly, or blog about it daily--but they treat it like a hobby rather than truly submitting to its authority. Others never even think about it except on Sundays. Like a reference volume or a textbook, it sits static in a dusty corner of their minds, accessed only in the need of the m oment, and then quickly ignored again.
"That is a dangerous and tragic way to handle the truth of Scripture. Knowing about (emphasis in original) God is simple not enough. Grasping the facts alone is not the same as being saved. In fact, apart from true faith and repentance, a person who merely knows about (emphasis in original) God is no better off than the demons (James 2:19).
"The catch is that knowing about (emphasis in original) God is still a vital part of truly knowing Him. For every person who understands the truth but remains in that hearer-only category, there are many more who know next to nothing about the God of Scripture, but who are content to put their trust in a god of their own making. (emphasis in original) Their flawed perception of God comes from ignorance of the Bible, poor teaching, bad theology, or mismatched bits of biblical truth they've cobbled together through the years. In some cases, their concept of God is purely a figment of their own imagination.
"Put simply, that is idolatry--such people have substituted a fictional deity for the Lord. It's no different from worshiping a golden calf, a bronze Buddha, or a stone sphinx.
"And it's not just people outside the church who think and live that way. Plenty of people who have been exposed to the truth of Scripture prefer to worship their own, homemade versions of God. Projecting their own values and characteristics on the Lord, they presume He can't truly be all that His Word claims He is--that there must be limits to His knowledge, power, wrath, and judgment.
"Or they choose one of the Lord's more favorable attributes and camp on it to the exclusion of everything else He has revealed about Himself in His Word. For example, we are naturally thrilled by the truth of 1 John 4:8 'God is love." But if your theology begins and ends there, you're not really worshiping the true God of the Bible, but one you've concocted. True biblical faith doesn't cherry-pick the truth. Everything (emphasis in original) Scripture teaches about the nature, character, and work of the Lord is vital and necessary. Choosing anything short of that is idolatry.
"So while it's not enough to hear the truth without obeying it, nevertheless, 'faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word' (Romans 10:17). In other words, hearing and understanding the truth about God is still absolutely essential (emphasis in original) for a right relationship with Him. You can't know God without first knowing what is true about Him. And a true knowledge of the true God is likewise the necessary foundation for authentic obedience to His Word.
"In short, what you know about the Lord and what you do with that knowledge touches every part of your life...so much hinges on believing the unfiltered, accurate truth about who God is and what He's done...."
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