March 13

March 13 - Today from Proverbs 13 we look at verse 16
"Every prudent man acts out of knowledge, but a fool exposes his folly."

The question this proverb poses is, "On what do we base our actions?" There is a war going on inside of each of us every day. Even as believers, the sinful nature remains in us until that day when we are free of our corrupted flesh. When we came to a saving faith and accepted the reality of Jesus' substitutionary death on the cross as a payment for our personal sin, we were 'born again' of His Holy Spirit and were made new creatures in Christ Jesus. Our spirit man was fully pardoned and we were restored into fellowship with God. But, as long as we continue to live in this body, our old nature seeks to be in control. Paul writes of this in Galatians 5:16-18 where he says, "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law."
The Old Testament saints had the law. The law and the prophets contained the knowledge of God. They revealed how God desired His people to conduct themselves in order for life to be lived as God meant it. The writer of this Proverb is telling his readers that it is prudent to act out of that knowledge. The operative word here is act. When the inner conflict wants to go the way of the sinful nature, one must believe God and exert their will to act out of the knowledge of God. That is an act of faith, and faith pleases God. This is not saving faith, but it is faith that God rewards. This is why it was so important for God's people to study and memorize scriptures. Their whole covenant was based upon their knowledge of and obedience to the scriptures. But, God promised a new covenant, a better covenant. The writer of Hebrews reveals the wonder of this covenant in chapter 8, verses 10 & 11 where he writes:
"I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God and they will be my people.
No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest."
This is our covenant. Through the shed blood of Jesus our sin has been dealt with, He sent His Spirit to dwell in us, and we can know God through a relationship with Him. We not only have knowledge of Him through the scriptures, we know Him through the indwelling Spirit. This is why Paul wrote that if we are led of the Spirit, we are no longer under the law. We do well to become intimately acquainted with the Holy Spirit and learn to appropriate His grace and follow His lead in every situation. He will always lead in the knowledge of God -- He never conflicts with His Word. We are saved through the blood of Jesus. We are rewarded for our prudent actions. Our actions reveal who has the upper hand in our hearts, self or Jesus Christ.
"The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, their deeds are vile." -Psalm 14:1
The fool acts on his own understanding and out of his own selfish ambitions. When he acts, his folly is exposed. Believers are not fools -- but they certainly can act foolish. The Spirit warns us in this passage; When we choose not to follow His lead, but rather to act on our own understanding, we are acting foolishly and our folly will be exposed. Remember dear saints, the Spirit never contradicts His Word! If your inclinations are to believe that the Spirit is leading you into an action that would violate the principles of His Word, it isn't the Holy Spirit.
As we continue to mature in our understanding and our actions, we can say with the apostle Paul, "I have been crucified with Christ and I (my old nature) no longer live, but Christ lives in me (my new being). The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." -Galatians 2:20 (parentheses mine).
Paul learned to win the battle within by considering his old nature dead - crucified with Christ. By appropriating His grace given us through the gift of His Holy Spirit, we can do the same. Wisdom is led by the Spirit.