Why are people often mistaken regarding God? The question goes to Christians as well, perhaps more so to them. Reasoning is good, but reasoning in human wisdom that spouts from human nature makes people, even Christians understand God in the wrong sense. The problem in not being able to understand God lies strictly in not understanding the Scriptures or His power. The reason behind it is that Scriptures is above human wisdom and the thoughts that spring from it. Scripture is the power of God and no man’s power is enough to grasp it. The words of Jesus affirm it. “Jesus said to them, ‘Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God?” (Mk.12:24). What lies in the Scriptures is the power that was the cause not for just the creation we see around us, but even us.
That which we do not and cannot understand, including about us, God does. This is the beauty of God and the weakness of man. Imagine trying to talk of matters that we do not understand. We appear rather unwise and clueless. When someone speaks of God without the understanding of the Scriptures, they speak away from their wits. It’s interesting to note that Jesus said the above statement to those who supposedly know the Law. So, it is clear that there is an acute difference between having the knowledge of the Scripture and knowing the Scripture as in having understood it. Then merely being educated in Scripture doesn’t cut it. An example to it is Saul, who before conversion went by the learning received under Gamaliel. The same applies these days to the many with Biblical schooling. The power of God must assimilate into us if we are to understand the Scriptures. When this is not the case, we see people often mistake God, question Him, His timing and His judgments as well as misinterpreting and misrepresenting His word.
For believers to not have the understanding of the Scriptures is nothing but failure. They fail to overcome difficulties, twists, obstacles and obscure matters facing them. They fail to achieve; they take on the course of the worldly. So then it becomes natural for them to wrongly understand God. The way to understanding the Scriptures actually lies in preparing ourselves to practice it by the faith that brought us to it. Only then can we see the power of God. Look at these people closely and what they did. “It was the preparation day and the Sabbath was about to begin” (Lk. 23:54). Because the day after Christ’s death was Sabbath and they had to prepare for it, they went ahead observing it. This led to a change, a marvelous one. When they went to the tomb early on the first day of the week, they did not find Jesus; He had risen. The word spoken earlier by Jesus was proven right. They came to its understanding since they assimilated the power of God. They needn’t embalm Him.
The problem with many church-goers is that they do not practice the Scriptures, essentially the Word of God. They rather talk of it. Some desire to listen to it, but do not apply it. The effect is that their faith becomes diminutive or even ineffective. Now their minds become a haven for thoughts that do not understand God. It has so happened because their faith had not been from understanding the Scriptures or by listening to the proper interpretation of the power of God. They did not gain the ability to practice the Scriptures. As an example we see the following. “But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife’s full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles’ feet” (Ac. 5:1-2). Constant lying to God would be their practice though they appear to gather together with the saints. If you know someone with this nature, he or she is a good example of how a person lacking understanding of God behaves. The unethicality of how someone can lie to God is understood only when we understand the power of God. What were the couple thinking when they planned to deceive God? It’s simple – they treated God in human terms from human nature. If they treated Him by faith from the Scriptures, they would not have sinned against Him. But death encompassed them. You see the repercussions of wrongly understanding God! This is the reason many do not please God. When the power of God doesn’t work in us, the power of sin remains and continues to work in us.
A bold work of those who do not understand the Scriptures or His power when they are in the position of doing it is that they use their unrighteousness to suppress the truth about Him. They think of it as a way to progress both humanly and spiritually. They face consequences. “Because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them” (Rom. 1:19). Had they not at all known about God, death would have ruled over them as is common to man. And when God made it evident to them, they face greater consequences. These are the ones that were never saved and continue to walk apart from the understanding of the Scriptures showcasing it in one way or another.
We would be healthy and bright if we set ourselves apart from such people. Though sometimes we may have to live and bear with them, we ought to be careful not to participate in their lifestyle. Pray for these that perhaps our light might shine upon them and they are rescued. One of things we ought to practice is never entertain their thoughts which when take the form of words appear rather appealing, but underneath has wrong motives. The understanding of the Scriptures or the power of God will help you and will reveal them to you. As the saying stands – “Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ” (1 Cor. 1:20), so will its effect be. Whatever is foolish has to come to light before you.