Last time we began our study of the most important passage in God’s Word concerning
the Christian home. We began by considering two introductory thoughts. First, there is a “revolution” going on
in America today.
Second,
we need to consider that if we want a home that is Biblical and one that God
will bless, we must turn to Scripture alone as our guide. Much of what is
taught today concerning the home, and each member of the home, comes from the
world. Frankly, many “Christian” books on the home are quite inadequate because
they are either completely topical in their approach instead of expositional,
or they are clouded by the world’s philosophies, or both. That statement is not
meant to be over-critical, but it is unfortunate that most books are clouded
with worldly philosophy. Instead of simply dealing with what God says about the
roles of husbands, wives, and children, such books repackage Freudianism or
other psychological philosophy. A book we would recommend is The Family
by John MacArthur (Moody Press). Another book we would recommend for its
insight into the real meaning and depth of the marriage relationship is Marriage,
Divorce, And Remarriage by Jay Adams (Baker Books House, 1980).
Our goal
here, then, is to be thoroughly biblical in our study.
It is
vitally important that Christians become aware that the family is the first and
the primary of the three institutions God has created on earth: the family, the
church, and human government. This world, however, with its humanistic,
man-centered philosophy is trying to destroy all three of those institutions.
God has ordained and designed human government to be characterized by
freedom and liberty, but liberalism, socialism, communism, despotism, and other
philosophies strive to tear down Biblical ethics. The Church is being
torn down by the de-emphasizing of the Word of God and by substituting
apostasy, religious ritual, and worldly programs. But it is the family
that is being attacked with the most violence. This is the most tragic of all
because it is the foundational institution of God. It is being attacked by adultery,
fornication, permissiveness, homosexuality, abortion, women’s liberation,
juvenile delinquency, and humanistic state education. Some Christian leaders
teach that the Church is the most important of God’s institutions, but that is
not true! If we do not have strong families, we will not have strong churches.
The same is also true of our nation. God created the home first; He created it
to be the foundation of all else.
The
institution of the family is in serious trouble today, and may we say, Christians
are not immune. There are many Christian homes today that have serious
problems. Why? Because the Word of God is not the authority in that home. It is
with those thoughts in mind that we begin our study of what God has designed
for the Christian home.
Before we
deal with the responsibilities of each family member, we must first look at
something that at first seems quite unrelated. But it is this one thought that
forms the entire foundation of a Godly home. This thought is, Spirit-filling,
that is, as we’ll see, Spirit-control.
“Spirit-filling”
is a much misunderstood subject; there is much false and confusing teaching on
this subject. In fact, an entire theology has been built on false teaching
concerning this passage and others. It is also quite significant that one of
the strongest passages (if not the strongest passage) on Spirit-filling is
found within the context of the Christian home. Paul is telling us that without
Holy Spirit control we will not have a home, only a house with people in it.
In the posts
to follow, we will note three things about “Spirit-filling”: the meaning,
the manifestations, and the method of being filled.
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