All I Have Commanded
by Dan Bentley and E. Jay O'Keefe
   

LET’S GO BACK TO SQUARE ONE
We urge you to read and carefully consider the message of this preface before beginning your study of this book. Not all who read it will agree with it fully, at least initially. We believe it is true to the teachings of the Bible. It deals with two of God’s attributes as given in Scripture, His sovereignty and His goodness. A simple statement of our thesis is “God is in control and He has our best interest at heart.” In fact this is a quote from the man who first introduced it to us, Walt Henrichsen, a former Navigator missionary who has been discipling businessmen for over forty years. He calls it “The Twin Pillars of Faith.” You can tell how important it is to him by that title. We have given it a different name because of the way it has impacted our lives. We call it “Our Square One Theology,” or simply “Square One” for short, hence the title of this preface, “LET’S GO BACK TO SQUARE ONE.”

We are learning that every issue in life, every relationship in life, every experience in life should be approached from the foundation of Square One. As each day begins, we try to go to Square One and start there. We try to affirm our belief in it and reinvest our faith in it.

There are many passages of Scripture which declare each of these two attributes of God, His sovereignty and His goodness. Let's look at a few of them, and we suggest that you be especially on the lookout for the word "all." A favorite passage as a text for this study is Romans 8:28, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to them who love God, to them who are called according to His purpose." (NASB). Notice how sovereignty and goodness are coupled together in this verse. There are two things that Romans 8:28 does not say that we need to be clear on if we're going to interpret the verse correctly. First, Romans 8:28 does not say that all things are good. It says that God causes all things to work together for good, which is quite different. There are bad things that come into our lives. But God works those along with all other things for our ultimate good. Second, Romans 8:28 does not say or imply that God causes sin. Scripture is clear on this, especially James 1:13, but many other places as well. God is not the cause of sin. We are the cause of sin by our own choices. But God is the cause of the effects of sin in any life and in any situation. In other words the sins, though they are bad, are part of the all things that He causes to work together for good.

Notice in Romans 8:28 the word "all." We must decide what "all" means in this verse. Of course we know the definition of the word "all." But we don't always act as if "all" means "all" in Romans 8:28, do we? And if "all" means "all" in Romans 8:28, then there is no such thing as chance, or an accident. To the world, things sometimes look like an accident or chance. And we would admit that the idea of an accident might be a useful concept for the world. They use it in insurance. They use it in determining liability, and other things. But for a believer in Christ it's not a valid concept at all.

One of the most remarkable verses in all the Bible is Psalm 139:16, Here's what it says (David speaking to God), "Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were in your book before one of them came to be." This is one of the verses in the Bible that teaches predestination, or predeterminism. We admit that we do not understand it very well, how the free choice of man interacts with the sovereignty of God, but the Scripture teaches both. God created us in His image. Part of that image is the ability to reason and choose. We would certainly admit that our choice is not the same as God's. He's the creator and we are the creatures. Our choice is limited. It has boundaries on it. But within those boundaries, we're free. And what is important for us to understand in connection with this study is that we are free to sin, or free to obey. That I believe is what Scripture teaches, at least that's where we are today on it. God in His foreknowledge knew every decision that we would ever make in our lives, both sins and obedience. And God knew every decision of every person that would touch our lives would make. And he wove all of it together into a detailed plan, spoken of in this verse. And then He ordained that plan for us before we were ever born. And how much of our life was ordained before we were born? Well, the verse says "all." "All the days ordained for me were in your book before one of them came to be." Do we understand that? No, we don't. But we believe it. And if we are interpreting correctly, it has profound application for our daily lives.

One of the great application verses for what we're discussing here is 1 Thess. 5:16-18, "Be joyful always. Pray continually. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus." This study has given new meaning to that passage to us. If Square One is not true, then this passage makes no sense whatever. It's a cruel joke for God to command us to give thanks in all circumstances, if our premise is not true. But if God is in control and has our best interest at heart, then not only does this passage make sense, but it's a sin not to obey it. I believe that "all" means "all" in this verse. Give thanks in ALL circumstances.

You will notice as you study this book that the largest number of commands fall into category 1, which we titled “Our Relationship with God.” And the second largest number fall in category 2, called “Interpersonal Relationships.” This should not be a surprise in view of the two great commands given to us by Jesus, “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart soul and mind.” And, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 

Up to this point in this discussion we have looked at verses which emphasize our relationship to God. How do sovereignty and goodness apply to interpersonal relationships? The next statement is going to shock some of you. It did us the first time we heard it. Some of you will accept it as truth. Some of you will dismiss it out of hand. You will reject it immediately. And some of you will take it in and put it on probation and meditate on it for the next few hours or days, and come to your own conclusion. That's what we hope you will do. Don't accept it. Don't reject it, but take it in and meditate on it, if you have trouble accepting it........................All right, are you ready for this statement? Here it is as it came to us, "If you truly believe that God is in control and has your best interest at heart, then biblically there is no such thing as a problem with another person."..................(meditate on that a moment)................We admit that it's a shocking statement. (Jay’s testimony: “I heard that statement for the first time six years ago, and I want to tell how I reacted to it. There was an initial shock and rejection from my heart, but within 30 seconds after I heard it, I knew it was true. And the Holy Spirit bore witness with my spirit that I had heard the truth, an application of the truth that I had largely missed during most of my Christian life. And my life changed at that instant, and has never been the same since. And I have spent many hours over this past six years meditating on this truth, and searching the Scripture, and my conviction grows stronger by the day that it is in fact the truth.”)

Here is a verse that we think teaches the truth contained in the statement, "There is no such thing as a problem with another person." Hebrews 13:6, "So we say with confidence, the Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" The last phrase of that verse is a rhetorical question which solicits a negative answer by implication, something like, “What can man do to me?” Implied answer, "Nothing without God's permission." We think that's the gist of it. Every believer in Christ must face this question, "To what extent can another person influence my life without God's permission?" You must answer that for yourself. And we believe that Scripture teaches that the answer is, "To no extent can another person influence my life without God's permission." That being true, then our problem is never with another person, our problem is with God, and the other person is God's agent placed in our life for God's purposes, to participate in God's plan for our life. Now to be sure, other people can and will sin against us, but when they do, they are simply participating negatively in God's plan for our life, but they do not alter our destiny. People who sin against us will face the consequences of those sins, but God will use them in our life for our good, and they will not alter our destiny.