Knowing the Will of God and Knowing God (Edited by ChatGPT)

 

Our faith is a faith of obedience, and the foundation of our faith — on the lordship of Jesus Christ — opens the door to our obedience to the will of the Lord. When Jesus rescues us from the law, the world, our flesh, and the devil, He purchases us for Himself by His blood and flesh — by the work of the cross. Now, we are dead, for we are crucified with Him on the cross, and we live by Him.

 

We, the faithful, are the body of Christ, and Christ is the head. This means we are His body parts, following the will of the head — we have no will apart from the will of the Lord. To be baptized into water represents our death, and our baptism into the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is our rebirth in the Spirit as the body of Christ.

 

A body must know the will of the head to obey it. Otherwise, a branch cut off from the vine has no purpose but to wither. We no longer live for ourselves but live for Jesus and by Jesus. To live for and by Jesus does not mean to live for Him as we imagine Him, but as He truly is. That is why knowing God and knowing His will is critical.

 

Can we know the will of God by the Bible alone? Yes — the Bible is the Word of God, and God is a consistent God. Having God’s Word in the form of the Bible is a great gift, for it helps us understand the foundational nature of God and His general will. Faith without the Bible is a joke. If we claim to love God and revere Him, we must listen to His music day and night and sing it like lifelong fans. And many of God’s songs are recorded in the Bible. A fan who does not love the music of their artist must be an agent, lawyer, cleaner, or someone who loves the artist only because it pays. He is no fan at all. This is why, if our faith does not revolve around the Bible, and if the Bible is not our primary source for knowing God, then our faith is questionable.

 

That being said, our God is not the Bible. Our God is the living God. He does not rule us only by yesterday’s words but by His living words, which continue in this age. When people crucified Jesus, they did so by the “Word of God” as they perceived it. When the friends of Job — who genuinely loved him — made him resent God, they did so by the “Word of God” as they understood it. When God’s servants are hunted and persecuted, many think they are serving God — based on their interpretation of Scripture.

This is why, more than we need the Word of God, we need God. The Bible is God’s Word and helps us know Him, for He is a consistent God. But the Word of God is understood through the Spirit of God — the Holy Spirit — and God is more than the Bible. We cannot be “Bible-based” without the Holy Spirit, and without God Himself.

 

Of course, everyone claims to have the Holy Spirit — even dead religions speak of a Spirit they have never known. Not only in false religions, but even among Protestant churches, many claim to know the Holy Spirit — though the evidence shows that many are under the devil’s influence. How do we know? By the Bible as God is consistent.

 

And yet, to bind God to the Bible alone and claim the Bible is enough is foolish. You cannot bind God and force Him to operate in a way that suits your preferences. The Bible is not enough, because God is deeper than the Bible. I don’t want a God reduced to my level of ignorance. Just because I’m good at arithmetic and confused by advanced math does not mean math ends at arithmetic. I want the full math. I want the full God.

 

We need visions. We need dreams. We need words from the mouth of God. We need continuous guidance, for our God is a living God. He is not a deceased parent whose only communication comes from old letters. Our Father is alive — and He is the same Father who wrote the Bible. Yes, the Bible is essential to know our Father and to separate Him from imposters — but after that, we must grow in our knowledge of God with God. God is not the Bible — the Bible is of God.

 

While many in Protestant and evangelical circles have embraced unbiblical abominations — trying to speak to God without knowing the God of the Bible and ending up lost with imposters from hell — there are also diligent servants of God who are guided by the Holy Spirit. There are nightmares, and there are heavenly dreams — but we do not stop sleeping to avoid nightmares. We build ourselves on the Bible to distinguish the darkness from the light — but we also seek the Holy Spirit.

 

We will not bind God to our level of perception and desire; we must rise to His expectations. Once we know God through the Bible, we must let Him open our eyes to His truth — because He is not only the God of the prophets of old, He is our God too. Just as He spoke to the prophets, He speaks to us. Just as He gave dreams in the Bible, He gives dreams today. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The same God who led Paul is the God we expect to lead us.

 

Otherwise, we will spend our time pointing out the abominations of sinners and tax collectors, and claim to live by God's will based on our own interpretation of the Bible — but God knows better, and our fruit speaks louder. Why is our fruit fading? Why is faith fading? Why has faith become a story of the past as the youth flee toward different abominations?

 

Yes, sinners damage the name of God — but why are we failing? We are killing the faith. Many of the youth are rejecting us because we leave no room for God’s guidance. We have built a religion of our own understanding, and we show no interest in the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Worse, we mock the Holy Spirit’s work in others — because some follow the wrong spirit, thinking it is God.

 

But Jesus said His sheep listen to His voice, and that He will shepherd them. We must listen to the Word of God as He speaks — through voice, vision, dream, and even through our hearts and minds. As we open our hearts and minds to God, He will guide us at His own level of wisdom and depth. Then we will see that many things are not our doing — but His work through us.

 

The question remains: how do we distinguish between what is of God and what is of the devil? God has given us His Word in one complete book — the Bible. If you know God through the Bible, if you know Jesus through the Bible — truly know the person of God and the person of Jesus — then it is not hard to spot the counterfeit. The false spirit becomes obvious.

 

Some people study village fairy tales. Others study their own passions. Some study only what they inherited from their predecessors. Others study only what they prefer. But the wise study the full package of God. And for all, a final school-leaving exam awaits — judgment.

 

For me, limiting oneself to basic algebra just to avoid mistakes leaves one unprepared. The wise don’t just master the basics — they go deeper. Math is consistent, just like God. So we prepare ourselves not for our preferred test, but for the real exam. The exam day is soon. Let us prepare for it according to God’s standard — not our own.