Moderation is the opposite of excessiveness. The flesh is ever prone to extremes. For example, after being burnt out on legalism some Christians swing to the other extreme and become liberal. The balanced Christian understands, appreciates, and walks according to his liberty in Christ. We are free from the law (Rom. 7:1-6; Gal. 5:1) but that certainly does not mean we are free to live lawlessly (Rom. 6:1-2, 14-15). We are to live according to the "law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:2). Those who walk in the Spirit do not need to be under the law (Gal. 5:16, 22-26). Liberty is not about our rights but our responsibility to live for Christ and others. We have liberty FROM sin, not liberty TO sin.
For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. (Gal. 5:13)
There is also the more subtle danger of taking a good thing too far. Consider this bit of practical wisdom from Proverbs:
Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it. (Prov. 25:16)
We can apply this proverb to our spiritual diet. The word of God is our spiritual food (Matt. 4:4). David said that the word of God is "sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb" (Ps. 19:10). Now please don't misunderstand me, we certainly need to be filled with the word of God (Col. 3:16)! But the word of God is not only to be taken in, it is also to be exercised out in our daily life. We are to "work out" our own salvation (Phil. 2:12).
6 If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.
7 But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. (1 Tim. 4:6-7)
Knowledge without charity puffs up (1 Cor. 8:1). Paul said that without charity we are nothing even if we understood all mysteries and had all knowledge (1 Cor. 13:2). We must not study the Bible just to gain knowledge. We must study the Bible to know God in a real relationship and walk with Him according to His will.
Also, we need to maintain a BALANCED diet. God gave us the ENTIRE Bible for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction that we might be "throughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Tim. 3:16-17). This obviously does not mean that everything in the Bible was written directly to us for our obedience. For example, we are not to build an ark, bring blood sacrifices, stone idolaters, or keep the Sabbath. The Bible is a progressive revelation and God has changed in His dealings with man. In this present age we are not under the law, but grace (Rom. 6:14). But does this mean we should neglect the first five books of the Bible? Certainly not, because there is doctrinal truth and moral principles in those books that still apply today.
Those of us who have come to understand that the apostle Paul was given distinct revelations for this present age (Eph. 3:1-12; Col. 1:21-29) need to be careful not to overemphasize his epistles to the point of neglecting the rest of scripture. Romans through Philemon is indeed the word of God, but so is Genesis through Acts and Hebrews through Revelation. Paul's epistles contain many quotes and allusions to the Old Testament scripture. He said that the things which were written aforetime were written for our learning (Rom. 15:4) and admonition (1 Cor. 10:11). To think that if Paul didn't write about it in his epistles then it is not for us today is extremism. The revelation of a new dispensation does not negate everything from previous dispensations. When God changes something He says so. In other words, there are things that carry over from one dispensation to another. A dispensation is simply a dealing out or dispensing of something. God has progressively revealed and dispensed truth to man. There is clearly a difference between Law and Grace. However, dispensations are not cut and dried periods of time. For example, we are still under the dispensation of human government as revealed in Gen. 9!
We must not become occupied in trying to understand technical dispensational issues that God said nothing about. For example, what chapter in Acts records the historical beginning of the body of Christ? The right answer is NONE OF THEM because it is not the purpose of Acts to reveal that. The desire to identify yourself as a "Mid-Acts" or "Acts 28" dispensationalist and have a condescending attitude toward the brethren that don't cross every dispensational "t" or dot every dispensational "i" the same as you is a sign of extremism. "Bible-believing Christian" is a good enough identification for me. Beware of developing some kind of dispensational SYSTEM through which you try to interpret the scripture. Every theological system developed by man has flaws. We just need to study the Bible with a believing heart and base our doctrine on what it plainly says. The Bible interprets itself.
8 Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and for ever.
9 Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established with GRACE; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. (Heb. 13:8-9)
Sadly, there are extreme dispensationalists that sit around trying to figure out all the finer points of dispensational truth while the world around them is perishing. They wouldn't dare support a Bible-believing missionary who believes Matt. 28:19-20 has an application for today! They make a BIG DEAL about the ONE BODY but can't seem to have fellowship with Christians who are not as enlightened as they are about the differences between the ministries of Peter and Paul. They love to TALK about grace but they don't seem to demonstrate it very much toward others. I heard about one lady who left a "grace church" because of their lack of grace!
May God help us to be balanced Christians!
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