THE WILL OF GOD
I Corinthians 16:12
"Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to come to you with the brethren, but he was quite unwilling to come at this time; however he will come when he has a convenient time."
It takes a strong person to say "no" to an apostle. Apollos had the confidence that he knew God's will for himself and was able to deflect the strong urging of Paul. In the 1970s and '80s, there was a movement among evangelicals called Shepherding that demanded total submission to one's spiritual authority. The individual believer could do nothing without the permission of the "Shepherd," and had to obey every command of his covering authority – whether a pastor or a husband. While there were good teachings regarding submission and authority, it was taken to extremes so that the individual lost his autonomy, and the Shepherd became a mediator between the believer and God. We need to listen to the counsel of authority, but also understand that we stand before God without a human mediator. There is only one mediator between God and man – the Lord Jesus (I Timothy 2:5), and we answer to Him, not our spiritual authority.
TODAY'S THOUGHT: The believer needs to seek God's will for himself and not rely on some "authority" to tell him what to do.
Have a "God's will" day. Love you.
I Corinthians 16:12
"Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to come to you with the brethren, but he was quite unwilling to come at this time; however he will come when he has a convenient time."
It takes a strong person to say "no" to an apostle. Apollos had the confidence that he knew God's will for himself and was able to deflect the strong urging of Paul. In the 1970s and '80s, there was a movement among evangelicals called Shepherding that demanded total submission to one's spiritual authority. The individual believer could do nothing without the permission of the "Shepherd," and had to obey every command of his covering authority – whether a pastor or a husband. While there were good teachings regarding submission and authority, it was taken to extremes so that the individual lost his autonomy, and the Shepherd became a mediator between the believer and God. We need to listen to the counsel of authority, but also understand that we stand before God without a human mediator. There is only one mediator between God and man – the Lord Jesus (I Timothy 2:5), and we answer to Him, not our spiritual authority.
TODAY'S THOUGHT: The believer needs to seek God's will for himself and not rely on some "authority" to tell him what to do.
Have a "God's will" day. Love you.
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