Thus Saith The LORD

        During my last year at Washington Bible College, one of my fellow students came up to me and asked me, "Are you a five point Calvinist?"  After a short time of thinking on the question, I simply replied, "I would like to think I am Biblical rather than a five point Calvinist."  His reply to me was, "That is just a cop out."  He felt that I was avoiding the issue by simply saying I would rather be Biblical than label myself with a certain title.  Our belief system is not always as clear to others or maybe even ourselves but we may still have the idea that we would want to be Biblical.  When I was set apart for the ministry, I was asked questions for over fur hours as to what my beliefs were.  I usually find that believers, when asked about their beliefs, come to the conclusion that what they believe is Biblical.  I have not met a single believer who would proclaim that they were following a belief system that was foreign to the Bible.  Exodus 4:22 says, "And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:"   The Bible, mainly the Old Testament in this case, is filled with this four word phrase:  "Thus saith the LORD."   
      It occurs over 400 times between Exodus 4:22 and the Book of Malachi and is seen quite often in the Books of the Prophets.  God has chosen to communicate with us with words.  Language is important and our definitions of the words make it crucial in understanding what God is saying to us.  When you take the simplest of verses and endeavor to understand what God is saying to you, the definitions are going to form that thought in your own mind.  Take for instance John 3:16.  Most people that have been around the church for any amount of time know this verse of Scripture.  Look at each and every word of it.  Define each word and then in the end, come up with the understanding of the verse for your own life.  What does God mean when He says that He loves the World?  We soon come to the conclusion that He means every man, woman, boy and girl.  God loves each and every person so much that He gave us His Son in order that we might have eternal life and that we would not perish.  That means that the world includes you and it includes me.  You can substitute your name for the word, "world" in this case, because you are part of the world.  You can safely say that God loves you and I can say that God loves me.  The voices of the prophets were filled with the phrase, "Thus saith the LORD."    They were quoting what God said to them and what God had instructed the prophet to say to the people.  Prophets had to be 100% accurate in their prophecies.  A failure in any prophecy would result in death for the prophet.  I still come to the conclusion that I would rather be "Biblical" than to be a four point "this" or a 5 point "that."  In the end, we need to be studying the Scriptures as it says in Second Timothy 2:15 and to "cut it straight."  Then, in the end, we will be Biblical.  Praise God that He sent us "His Word."