"No amount of learning can bring you closer to God"
Phillip to Matthew ~ The Chosen
Young Matthew was doing his best to grasp this new religion he was being exposed to. Since being called by Jesus, the former tax collector had struggled with his past as well as finding a way to understand just what it was that Jesus was trying to teach him. Obviously, it was something he had never heard of before. In a private discussion with the disciple Phillip, young Matthew ponders the meaning of the Torah scriptures which we find in Psalm 139, "If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there" {Psalms 139:8}. As Matthew discusses the scriptures with Phillip, his brother reveals something profound, "No amount of learning can bring you closer to God." Amen! We could spend hours each day memorizing the scriptures and never be any closer to the Lord. Many people have spent a lot of money on seminary degrees thinking that it might bring them on a closer walk with the Lord. Nope. Now, one might come out of seminary with a better understanding of the scriptures and how to teach it, but more often than not, they are no closer to God than when they entered. My dear friend attended a seminary early in his pastoral career, yet he did not realize his own relationship with the Lord until years later. I grew up going to church and learning what I was supposed to learn from other Pharisee school graduates. Yes, I learned about the scriptures and of the basic concepts of the religion of Christianity, but I never knew a personal relationship which I have with God today. That was revealed to me by the Lord Himself. Granted, while in the church I learned of who God is through the scriptures and weekly sermons. I learned that the best that I could do was to "Be like" Jesus. That was the closest I ever thought I would get to Christ. Was I ever wrong! For no amount of learning will bring you closer to Jesus.
With Christ have I been crucified, yet I am living; no longer I, but living in me is Christ. Now that which I am now living in the flesh, I am living in the faith that is of the So of God, Who loved me, and gives Himself up for me.
Paul to the Galatians 2: 20, Concordant New Testament
Many Christians will point to the apostle Paul as one of the great ministers of the gospel of Christ Jesus, and they would be correct in doing so. But where did Paul learn what he knew of Jesus? We know that the man Saul was one of the most fervent persecutors of the early followers of Jesus. Saul was deeply steeped in the knowledge and policies of the Jewish religion, the Pharisee schools of his day. Paul would later describe his former life as a sinner as "Foremost of whom am I" {Paul to Timothy (1) 1:15}. What happened? Well, one day on the road to Damascus while the man Saul was traveling to once again persecute the followers of Jesus, Jesus threw him a curveball. In that moment, as he lay blinded, Jesus inquired of this Pharisee "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" {Acts of the Apostles 9:4}. In that moment, Saul must have known who it was he was facing, for we see it in his response, "Who art Thou, Lord?" Jesus was revealing Himself to this lifetime Pharisee. No amount of his Pharisee school religion could have prepared Saul for this moment. Granted, from that point on, Paul came to learn ABOUT this Jesus Whom he had encountered on that dusty road. Not through the traditional scriptures of his former belief, but through the revelation of the Father and those who knew Him. Paul himself would describe his transformation in Galatians. Of how the Father "Unveiled His Son" in him {Paul to the Galatians 1:16}. Paul also speaks of how it is that he came to know the spirit of Christ Jesus within him {Paul to the Galatians 2:20}. Again, no amount of religious teachings had revealed this to him. Before I left the mainstream church, I knew the scriptures. I knew of who God and His Son were. Yet I never knew who I was in Christ until it was spoken to me by my good friend. It was then that God revealed His Son in me. If you ask me, I saved a lot of money by not getting that Pharisee school diploma.
Now, when it delights God, Who severs me from my mother's womb and calls me through His grace, to unveil His Son in me that I may be evangelizing Him among the nations.
Paul to the Galatians 1: 15-16, Concordant New Testament
~Scott~
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