Making The Application Part Three Discerning and Meditating upon God’s word helps us to apply what we have learned. Now we need a plan.

Introduction Romans 10:17: faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. Galatians 5:6: all that matters is faith working through love. Thus we know we come to faith through hearing, accepting the Word of God. But how do we go from hearing and accepting the Word of God in the Gospel to living the faith in love? That is what we need to figure out.

Applying The Message The process by which we go from hearing and acceptance to living the message is the application process. Seeking to apply the message to life is crucial. Christianity as just a set of interesting or even good ideas, or a nice philosophy, is woefully insufficient; A merely academic faith is dead (James 2:14-26)

Applying The Message The impetus has always been placed on living the message: Following Jesus (1 John 2:6), Doing His commandments (1 John 2:3-5), Displaying the fruit of the Spirit(Galatians 5:22-24), Doing and not just hearing (James 1:22-25) Yet application is often fraught with difficulty.

Applying The Message The vast majority of variance in Christian faith and practice is in terms of application! The Bible was written to people thousands of years ago to people in different cultures. What do we directly absorb, what do we learn by example, and what should we avoid? These are serious questions we should consider. We have considered Discernment and Meditation. Let us consider the next step in applying these things to our life.

Plan Discernment and Meditation are necessary, but there is also value in planning. God is faithful, and gives us a way of escape from every temptation(1 Corinthians 10:13), yet how well do we think in the heat of the moment? There's a reason the old adage says that if you fail to plan you plan to fail! “Leave yourself an out” is taught to people who drive for a living.

Plan We are not ignorant of the Devil's schemes (2 Corinthians 2:11); We must be ready to stand firm against him (Ephesians 6:10-18). Thus there is value in considering how we would apply God's standards of righteousness toward sin in various circumstances! In this light the frequent critique of "situation ethics" among Christians is misguided.

Plan Unfortunately many well-meaning Christians condemn situation ethics when they are really condemning some permutation of relativism: The idea that there really are not any moral absolutes, And right and wrong are to be determined by the individual based on what s/he feels is most expedient and best in a given circumstance; Scripture makes it clear that God has established the standard of righteousness and describes sin and we humans too often fail at it (Proverbs 3:3-7, Jeremiah 10:23). In reality all ethics are situational: our ethic is to inform how we will act in a given circumstance

Plan That is, if we find ourselves in situation x, what is the righteous way to respond? This we should always be playing in our mind. Jesus in fact forces us to consider some situation ethics! Matthew 9:20-22: Jesus' healing authority transcends purity concerns. Mark 2:23-28: is it wrong to take care of bodily needs even if that goes against the letter of the law, especially if done in sincerity and not rebellion?

Plan Luke 10:25-37: what is more important, maintaining one's personal cleanliness/holiness or proving to be a neighbor to someone in need? Luke 13:10-17: is Jesus' healing on the Sabbath day work or is it exemplifying rest by providing liberation from debilitating illness? In all these matters one could make an argument based on God's revelation, Yet in each circumstance the greater good can be discerned over the lesser good.

Plan That is part of what it demands to be a Christian: Discerning not just what is authorized, but what is most profitable and best in every circumstance (1 Corinthians 10:23)! Therefore we do well to consider both individually and collectively how to apply the Gospel in various circumstances in life, And thus plan how we should act when we find ourselves in various circumstances. Such will make it easier to do the best thing in each circumstance!

Summary To apply God's word demands that we discern, meditate, and plan. We must discern our times, situation, circumstance and God's message. We must meditate upon what God has said and how we can apply it to our circumstance. We must plan our courses of action in our life circumstances!

Conclusion Then we can go and do what God has said as we have discerned it, meditated on it, and planned to do it! Ultimately, there's no substitute for action (James 2:14-26; 1 John 3:17-18), But our action must be based on integrity and righteousness in its preparation! Let us discern, meditate upon, and plan for how we will apply God's will to our lives, and then go and follow the Lord Jesus! Invitation