Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Thoughts, Godly
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Psalm 10:13
It is not a matter of them thinking God does not exist, but that they are denying Him. They do not want to believe that He is there. He has denied God by denying or renouncing what God says about Himself. God says plainly in many scriptures that He will judge for sin. This is what the Ten Commandments are about: They define sin for us. By them, we know what is good and what is not good, so we can come into judgment before Him without excuse. A reason Christ came was to qualify to be that Judge, to judge all at the last day. We, however, are going through our judgment right now. The wicked man has fooled himself into believing that God will not require an accounting for sin. He thinks God will not pass judgment on him; He will just let his sins slide. It sounds much like modern, antinomian Protestantism. It is, in effect, what the psalmist is talking about. He speaks of a normal, everyday Israelite who would supposedly know God. He had entered into the covenant by circumcision, and so he should know better. However, he has decided to ignore what God has said and lives his life as a practicing atheist. He is not really an atheist, because he believes there is a God, but he lives his life as if God did not exist. The wicked man here, then, could be somebody who professes Christ—a professing Christian—but his lifestyle betrays his real, inner conclusion that there is no God.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Is God in All Our Thoughts?
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Matthew 7:21-23
These people profess Christ's name. They take it for themselves and do these so-called works, in which they seem to preach, prophesy, do good works like casting out demons, and perform wonders. Yet, what does Jesus say? "I never knew you." What did they profess? They professed to know God and have a relationship with Him, but He says, "I never knew you, because really you never knew Me." How does He know that? They were practicing lawlessness! What is lawlessness? Sin! These people lack obedience. They may have the knowledge, but they lack putting this knowledge into godly practice. They believe that they know God's will, but they do not do it. Failing to practice God's will, Jesus says, is sin. Why is failing to practice God's law sin? Because, if we are not doing God's will, we are certainly doing something else! What is not of God is sin (compare Romans 14:23)! They have not hit the mark, which is one of the definitions of sin. Obviously, their problems originate in the way they think. If their thoughts were godly, they would behave in a godly manner. However, since they do not behave in a godly manner, their thoughts must not really be godly.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Is God in All Our Thoughts?
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Philippians 4:8
Paul writes a charter for Christian thought. We are to center our minds on these exalted things - not pornography, not violence. Those are things of this world, and in this regard, our minds are such that we are like sheep. No other domesticated animal can eat such a wide variety of different vegetables and herbs, seemingly without very much damage. Things that will kill a cow will not kill a sheep. In a similar way, we are capable of taking things into our minds that, seemingly, are not doing any damage at all, but they are definitely not providing the right kind of sustenance for the right kind of thinking. It becomes our responsibility, then, using the power of God's Spirit with which He anoints us, to choose to think on things that are true, pure, noble, just, lovely, of good report, praiseworthy, and honest. Not much in mass media fits this description. It is our choice, but that is the purpose for which God wants His Holy Spirit to be used. If we instead think about evil, we will act evilly - we will be evil, because action follows thought. It is as simple as that. Thoughts come from what our minds have been fed, and thus what our minds have been fed will determine how we will act. What we think upon will determine our character and our attitudes.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Psalm 23 (Part Three)
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