Matthew 7:28-29…
Jesus had just finished His teaching with a warning about being self-assured, and the crowd was amazed. He spoke with authority, without wavering.
The Christian life and witness is to be lived out in a similar way. However, this is not simply about confidence, but about conviction, and these convictions must be the correct ones. We can have firmly held convictions that are formed around falsehood. Many a man sets sail in the soil of his own imagination. Pride blinds our perception, and Jesus told us in the strongest of terms that many will deceive themselves and others.
In teaching, preaching, and witnessing for Christ, our eternal effectiveness does not lie in simply being confident, or in resonating with an unregenerate crowd, but in grounding our proclamations and our practice in the revelation of God’s Word (Isaiah 55:11 / 2 Timothy 4:1-4).
Real authority comes from real authenticity, but this doesn’t mean “just be yourself”, it means you are to be who God wants you to be, the new you (Ephesians 4:22-24). Love and live the truth (1 Corinthians 13:6). If we want to be like Christ, we must remember that we can only exercise authority to the extent that we are under it.
What Jesus had backing Him was not opinion, backing Him was omnipotence.
2 comments:
Are my convictions correct? Am I sailing the soil of my own imagination? Can I back up my beliefs with Scripture or am I straying into philosophy and humanistic thinking? Whose Word am I believing? A good day for prayer and reflection.
Thanks, and blessings.
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