The Simple Answers… To Life’s Most Important Questions.
Bible Study Course Lesson 8 –2
I was happily shielded from churches during most of my childhood, which was rather similar to John’s childhood in some ways (Luke 1:80). I gave churches an honest try in my early twenties, to try to learn from them, and “not lean to my own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).
Later I realized that the alternative to “mine own understanding” was NOT the understanding of a church, but –from that same verse –the understanding of the BIBLE. To trust the LORD’S words, and not to trust your own interpretations and things that you made up! (Romans 10:3).
But I was young and thought I was doing the right thing –and for who I was and what I understood at the time, it was the right thing. I needed the experience I gained there, working with false Christians and trying to separate the truth from the lies.
I tried very hard to learn from churches who claimed to love God and believe the Bible; but the more I learned about God, the more I realized how far from the truth these churches really were. So I followed the command to “provoke them to love and good works”; and I did indeed provoke them; I provoked them to ask me to leave. So I went elsewhere and did it again.
Paul had similar dealings with the Jews. He tried really hard to take the gospel to the Jews; how did that work out? Acts 13:14-16, 37-51. So Paul went to other Jews in another city, how did that go? Acts 18:4-6. And again in Rome? Acts 28:22-28. The gospel HAD to go to the Jews first (Romans 1:16); it was their birthright, as you learned in Lessons 2-1 and 2-2. But once they “judged themselves unworthy” of the gospel, it was time to go to someone who WOULD listen.
All the Jewish churches in Paul’s day had been corrupted with the traditions of the Jews and doctrines they brought back from Babylon (John 7:19, Matthew 15, etc.). Nonetheless, the core of their religion contained all the true doctrines like the Sabbath. From the outside, they looked exactly like God’s people should look (Matthew 23, particularly Matthew 23:27).
These Jews had the doctrines down pat! They were able to say –honestly –“I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess” (Luke 18:12). They tithed DILIGENTLY. Externally they were perfect children of God!
But knowing the truth about heaven, knowing the plan of God, knowing the requirements of salvation –these things don’t save you. What does knowledge do? 1 Corinthians 8:1. Knowledge is necessary, but it isn’t what makes you a true Christian. Doctrines don’t save you.
What does? Proverbs 28:18. Is hearing true doctrines enough? Romans 2:13. Certainly grace and faith have a major part in justifying you –bringing you to salvation –but are they alone? James 2:18-26. Can any amount of knowledge save you? 1 Corinthians 13:2. So knowledge is important, but it is nothing but a liability unless everything you know is backed up by obedience.
But obedience, too, can be an external thing. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day kept the Sabbath, the Ten Commandments, and many other things you haven’t learned about yet; they were very “zealous of the law”, as Paul was before his conversion (Acts 22:3). But read what Jesus said to these same zealous Jews in Matthew 23:23. And what he told us about them in Matthew 5:20.
In our day, too, there are many Sabbath-keeping churches. There are some who are, doctrinally, almost perfect. But I found them to be the same as the churches in Paul’s day –they’re as close to God as they believe they need to be, and thus as close as they will ever be.
You do have to keep the Sabbath to be a true Christian; but keeping the Sabbath doesn’t make you a true Christian. Because doctrines are all, by definition, external things. Therefore you can have every doctrine right and still be a false Christian!
YOU’VE GOT TO GO TO CHURCH SOMEWHERE
When I tell you to “keep the Sabbath”, you instantly think “right, I’ll go to church!”… but that isn’t what I said. Where, exactly, did God tell you that keeping the Sabbath means going to church?
The idea that you can do one without the other is inconceivable to everyone today, but there is no scripture that connects the two in the entire Bible! Considering how important it is the world’s false religions, it’s strange that the Bible is almost completely silent on the subject. Don’t you think?
Going to church is something ingrained in everyone on Earth, whether Buddhist, Methodist, or Catholic –Muslim, Pentecostal, or Seventh-Day Adventist. The necessity of going to some church –ANY church –regularly is fundamental to all religions everywhere. So why wasn’t it important enough to God to put a single clear commandment in the Bible saying “thou shalt go to church”?
The idea that you can keep the Sabbath without going to church is shocking, I know; when I talk to people about this subject, their shocked, stuttering, flabbergasted response is invariably “B-B-But… But you’ve GOT to go to church SOMEWHERE!”
And if you think they’re stunned before, you should see them after I calmly ask “Why?” After they recover the capacity for speech, they invariably point to Hebrews 10:25; “there,” they say, “that is a command to go to church!”
But that really isn’t what it says at all. Read it for yourself; this is the ONLY pro-church verse in the NT. And as yet it is not a command to go to church. Rather, it is a command not to stop going to church until you’ve corrected them!
As always, apply the Golden Rule –you would want to know why a friend was avoiding you, right? So God commands you to keep showing up, keep telling your current brethren why you can’t keep attending with them unless they change.
They’re not likely to appreciate this, which is why Paul goes on to add Hebrews 10:26-31; because after you’ve told them, they’re no longer dupes, they’re rebels, and they’ll likely put you out of their church.
And these verses are there to comfort you after you obey Hebrews 10:25; because now they’ll be sinning willfully, thanks to your correction, and much as they’ve hurt you, what God will do to them will be worse. But believing this requires faith, which is why the very next chapter is entirely devoted to that topic.
And so you are commanded to continue to go to church, provoking them to do good works, until they’ve either repented, kicked you out, or rejected you three times (Titus 3:10). Then you apply the inverse of Matthew 18:15-17, and “if the church will not hear you, let it be to you as a heathen church”, so to speak.
You’ve been taught all your life you MUST go to church, no matter what. You’ve been taught to compromise, to accept false teachings, not to make waves, not to sow discord, and whatever you do not to leave the church. And if you absolutely must leave, find a new one as soon as possible.
And you’ve been taught that because the world’s churches don’t care how you’re deceived, or which flawed church you call your Christian home; because literally any church you attend, no matter what they believe, is good enough for Satan’s purposes!
Because the fact is, you can keep the Sabbath without going to church, and you can go to church without keeping the Sabbath – and nearly everyone does!
HOW SHOULD WE “KEEP THE SABBATH”?
Let’s start, as always, with the first rule of Bible study “what exactly did God say?” Exodus 20:8-11. Note that, contrary to popular belief, He did not conclude by saying “and he that goeth not to church shall perish in hellfire”. Somehow, that’s what people get out of this verse, but look again. That isn’t what it says!
This is a big deal, so listen closely… in the law to keep the Sabbath not one word was said about assembly, congregating, gathering, or any other word that implies “going to church”. So let’s look in the other main Sabbath passage: Exodus 31:13-16. It doesn’t mention church either! Nor assembly, prayer, or any of the other ideas that are bound up with the Sabbath today.
Over and over again God commands them, on pain of death, to “keep the Sabbath”. To pretty much everyone on Earth, that automatically means go to church. But it doesn’t say that here, does it? The ONLY definition given in this passage of “keeping the Sabbath”, is to make it a “Sabbath of rest”.
Now that’s an odd phrase, repeated again in Exodus 35:2; a “Sabbath of rest”. It’s odd because in Hebrew, Sabbath means rest! The original Hebrew here is “Shabbat Shabbaton”, or “Sabbathy Sabbath”. As always, there’s no reason to mystify this – it simply means “a restful rest”!
The Sabbath is mentioned 92 times in the Old Testament. The majority of those are commands not to work on it, or to “keep it”. There is only one in the OT that mentions an assembly on the weekly Sabbath day, Leviticus 23:3.
Think about that – only 1 out of 92 verses talk about the thing that the world thinks is the absolute most important thing in the universe, going to church. Isn’t that significant? This is the only time the word “convocation” (assembly) was used in connection with the weekly Sabbath.
And even here, it’s a generic, passing comment that says nothing about what “assembly” meant. Did everyone come to the tabernacle? Or only to their local city center? Did only the men come? For how long? What did they do? Did they read the Bible, or did they have sermons like churches do today? Did everyone speak and debate the meanings, or were only the priests allowed to talk? We don’t know! Because all it says is “an holy assembly”, after underlining three more times that this was a Sabbath of REST.
IS CHURCH REALLY RESTFUL?
God said only two things about the Sabbath day in the law:
1. Do NOT work.
2. Rest.
That’s all He said, over and over again. But here’s a question… does going to church today really fulfill those commands?
To be clear, I’m not saying we shouldn’t “keep the Sabbath”. On the contrary, that was all God ever wanted. But what did He mean by it? The purpose of the Sabbath repeated again and again was that you make it “a restful rest”. Now think about whether attending church as practiced today is in any way restful.
Finding your best clothes, getting the kids bathed, dressed, spanked, bathed and dressed again, getting in the car, driving to church – struggling to get there on time, only to set up chairs, sing, pray, keep the bored kids on their best behavior – only to turn around and go home… this is by far the most stressful day of the week for any family.
And even for those who don’t have children, the pressure to look perfect, show up on time and stay awake through the sermon is anything but restful. Think about it – it’s hard to stay awake because you’re tired and NEED TO REST! (And because the sermon is boring, but mostly the other thing.)
It may be fun, you may enjoy it, and you may not even be lying to yourself when you say that… but it is not restful in any sense. It is stressful, and tiring, and even if you sleep all afternoon you’re poorly prepared for six more days of work just to do it all again.
Most people would say I don’t keep the Sabbath because I don’t go to church; but I keep the Sabbath without going to church. It is you who go to church without keeping the Sabbath, for you fail to make it a “day of rest”.
HOW DO YOU REST?
The whole Bible rests on the Golden Rule; and the Sabbath should be a REST. So ask yourself, how do you like to rest? When you’ve had a hard week of work, and I say “you should take a rest”, is your first thought “yes! I want to go to church!”? Really?
No, your first thought is to take a nap, veg out on the couch with a book, binge-watch Netflix, or just sit on the porch and stare out at the weeds you didn’t get cut before sundown. Or maybe hang out with good friends and chill.
Assembling on the Sabbath could be restful – but as I said, church as practiced is anything but. If churches cared more about substance and less about appearance, they wouldn’t have to have all their kids dressed in tight, uncomfortable suits; they wouldn’t have to dutifully sit there with a Bible in their laps through a droning sermon for endless hours praying for a power outage.
Does God like the way the world “keeps the Sabbath”? Isaiah 1:12-14. God calls their way of keeping the Sabbaths, in PARTICULAR the “calling of assemblies”, and the “solemn meeting” an “iniquity”! Their Sabbath-keeping breaks the law! How’s that for irony!
He HATED the way Israel was keeping the Sabbath, the feasts, and He demanded of them “who required you to do this??” Who commanded you to go to church this way, and make it such a soul-sucking experience?
That’s a really great question, because He sure didn’t do it! What did He command? Isaiah 58:13. I went to church for many years, and I never, never called it a delight. It was hours of boredom, of uncomfortable clothes and depressing music – “solemn meeting” indeed!
The Sabbath should be FUN. Talking about the Bible should be INTERESTING! If church is not exciting, you’re doing it wrong. I don’t mean lots of hallelujahs and amens – I mean engagement and interaction. I mean learning and discovering!
Assembling on the Sabbath is not a time for a boring lecture, a recitation from the law – you can read Moses at home and should. And you’ll learn far more than you will following along with some pedantic minister from the pulpit!
To make the Sabbath a delight, a day of rest, keeping the Sabbath shouldn’t mean “church”, it should be a time to hang out, in a comfortable environment, and talk about the Bible with brethren and friends if possible. That can be restful, AND fun, AND educational. But no church on Earth practices that today.
This is a daring idea. It’s scary, and it’s different – and it’s deeply offensive for people who love church. But set your opinion aside, and ask yourself an objective question – who makes the seventh day a “restful rest” better, me or you? Be honest, now.
APOSTOLIC CHURCH
How did the disciples “go to church”? Acts 2:2, Acts 16:32, Romans 16:3-5, Colossians 4:15, Philemon 1:2. Notice there was a church which met IN THAT HOUSE. But the house wasn’t holy, nor was it a special “house of God”. It was just a meeting-room. A comfortable room to hang out! Sometimes they even met outdoors! (Acts 16:13).
These meetings were no doubt on Saturday, because they couldn’t work then. Don’t misunderstand what I’m saying; Saturday was the day God intended for us to gather AND REST and learn about the truth.
We should gather with brethren on the Sabbath, when possible, but it is not part of the commandment for a reason! Because resting is not optional, but gathering clearly is.
Knowing this, it explains why the NT has so few rules and descriptions about church services… because, as you understand the term, there was no church service! There was a gathering of people to rest, to eat, to discuss the Bible, and people contributed, reasoned, and discussed, like they would at any other gathering.
Sure, when Paul was visiting there, he did most of the talking (Acts 20:7). Why not? He was the one they needed to hear. But if others had something to offer, did they speak? 1 Corinthians 14:29-31.
Was Paul their spiritual father, in a sense? 1 Corinthians 4:15. And as such, he had the authority to place rules on these gatherings, for example in 1 Corinthians 14:26-40. Because what they were doing when they gathered was not keeping the Sabbath!
Let’s go back to the Golden Rule; let’s say you threw a party for your children. And at that party, rather than resting and talking and having fun, some were fighting and bickering, others were showing off and trying to get attention, others were making chaos and their loud music was bothering the neighbors. Is that what you would want? No? Then it’s a sin to act that way at church!
Like pretty much everything, this really isn’t that hard, if you de-religify it and apply the Golden Rule.
THE MOSAIC SABBATH
As I’ve said several times, only once in the Bible is there a command to assemble on the weekly Sabbath day, in Leviticus 23:3. But it is there, and it is commanded! So we must do it… right? Well, read the context in Leviticus 23:1-2.
If you listen carefully, you’ll notice that these are God’s feasts… which MOSES commanded Israel to gather together for! It was not God who commanded an assembly on the Sabbath, it was Moses who proclaimed it to be a holy convocation!
When God gave us the Sabbath, He said nothing about assembling because what was spoken on Sinai was the spiritual law! The pure, incorruptible word, untouched by Moses’ hands!
But when God commanded assembling on the Sabbath, He did so indirectly, through Moses! Why? Because it pertained ONLY to the covenant Israel made with God THROUGH MOSES!
The feasts themselves are God’s, they are binding, and they must be “kept” – just like the Sabbath must be “kept”. But the idea of going to church on these days is a law of Moses! But why would church be commanded only in the OC, and not in the NC? Because ISRAEL demanded it! Deuteronomy 5:27!
This is what churches are FOR! So that a congregation can work all week while their preacher supposedly goes near to God, hears what He has to say and then shares it with the church – who dutifully write it down in their notebooks, and go home knowing they have fulfilled the works of the law for that week!
Think about it. Keeping the Sabbath requires that you rest – that’s all God ever said. But going to church requires that you physically go somewhere and try your best to stay awake. Thus going to church is, by definition, a work of the flesh, a physical work of the law!
Which is why the Jews had synagogues in every city all over the world! Because it was a part of their covenant! Going to church is an Old Covenant institution!
That’s why it is only mentioned once in the Bible, and why “holy convocation” is not a part of the fourth commandment or any other spiritual law – because this was an external law for the Old Covenant!
God’s words were supposed to be their constant meditation, everywhere, every day (Deuteronomy 6:6-7). But Israel “did not like to retain God in their knowledge” (Romans 1:28), so they demanded Moses instead.
And since EVERYONE had to be together to hear Moses (Acts 15:21), God commanded them through Moses to gather into one place, to hear the letters of the law! So rather than speak to them daily, whenever the need arose, God spoke to them weekly, through Moses like they wanted!
But they could have been learning the spirit of those laws DAILY, if only they had trusted their Father, and not their mother! Which is why God was disappointed with their choice (Deuteronomy 5:28-29), even though He knew it was for the best.
In Paul’s day the synagogues were fulfilling the OC commandment to gather OC people on the Sabbath day; and he attended with them regularly to try and teach them about the NC, but he clearly felt no commandment to assemble with THEM on the Sabbath day (Acts 13:42-50).
Because you don’t need a church to keep the Sabbath… and going to church doesn’t mean you’re keeping the Sabbath!
GOD’S CHURCH BUILDING
Since the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem, there has never been a single building that was called the house of God. God never said He would build great cathedrals for this church. He never said they would be a great political power.
He never said they would number in the billions. He said only that He would build an ekklesia – a collection, not necessarily in a single location, of called-out people – and that no power in heaven or Earth would be able to destroy it (which is why they’re not all in a single location)!
How many people does it take to be considered “an assembly”? Matthew 18:20. Any two people with whom God is working, who gather together in a basement or a bus station or under a tree to discuss God are an assembly, and God promises to be in the midst of them. It’s that simple.
You don’t need a priest, a building, or a complicated order of services, songs, prayers, and rituals. Because if you have two people whom God has called and a Bible, you have an assembly. And it doesn’t necessarily even have to be on Saturday! (Acts 5:42).
Because the NC church isn’t about a weekly gathering, it’s about Malachi 3:16. Remember, the goal of salvation is to make a house for God – a temple that God could be comfortable dwelling in (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). But these people in this OC church rejected God and denied Him access to their hearts, so He could not dwell in them.
So He had them build Him a physical tabernacle to appear in, so He could give instructions to them through Moses every week since they wouldn’t take direct instruction from Him (Acts 7:44). They brought this “house of God” with them into the Promised Land (Acts 7:45-46), where Solomon built a more permanent version ( Acts 7:47). (Note that “Jesus” in verse 45 refers to Joshua, not to Christ.)
God appeared to some of their leaders and prophets in this physical house (2 Chronicles 6:36-40), and prayers made to it by a physical people were more likely to be heard because it was the house of God. But this was a mere physical symbol, not God’s ideal –for God fills the heavens, and you can hardly cram Him into a tiny building (Acts 7:48-50).
But now in the NC God has a BETTER building. A temple made “without hands” (Mark 14:58-59, John 2:19-21), we ARE that temple! So anywhere we keep the Sabbath it is in the temple of God!
All of Israel was supposed to be the temple of God, just as we are (Exodus 19:5-6, 1 Peter 2:5). God wanted to reveal truth to them directly, just as He began to do from Sinai, and just as He does for us. So you see, like all OC laws, assembling on the Sabbath wasn’t abolished. It was moved internally.
Instead of resting in a temple building, we rest wherever our body happens to be, because that IS in the temple. And any day we gather with God we’re assembling in the temple! (Mark 14:49). And instead of assembling with all of physical Israel, we assemble with all of spiritual Israel, wherever they may be, living or dead.
Instead of hearing about God from Moses, we hear about God from God. So there is no reason to go to some OTHER temple every week to hear God’s words from Moses, or those who sit in Moses’ seat (Matthew 23:2)!
This doesn’t mean that it’s wrong to gather together with believers. There are a lot of reasons why gathering on the Sabbath makes sense, and a lot of times when it should be done. But the burning need to do so is not Biblical.
To be clear, resting on the Sabbath cannot be done whenever it’s convenient, for that is a spiritual law God gave us personally, an absolute law. But assembling with brethren can be done whenever and wherever it’s possible – and whenever it’s not, it doesn’t need to be done.
Because what should be done, when it’s possible to do so, and what MUST be done no matter what are quite different. Assembling is the former; resting is the latter.
INVISIBLE CHURCHES
Keeping the Sabbath is a test. It always was (Exodus 16:4). And the more people you have keeping it with you, the less of a test it is. “Keeping the Sabbath” – not working, but resting instead – requires faith. It could cost you money, jobs, friends, and so on.
But “going to church” requires no faith, it simply requires you to get in your car and show up. Billions of false Christians do it every Sunday. In fact, keeping the Sabbath by going to church requires less faith, making it less of a test!
Because you are, in effect, crowd-sourcing Sabbath keeping. You get everyone to do it together, which means it’s easier for each of you to do as you share the burden, the fear, the cost, the risks, and the hardships of Sabbath keeping.
People ask me “where do you get fellowship”, and the answer is simple; the same place every true Christian does; from God (1 John 1:3). What more do we need? If, and when, I find someone whom I can associate with, learn from, or teach, I gladly do so. But I don’t need it. I’m just as happy in a corner on a rooftop on the Sabbath (Proverbs 25:24).
I don’t need to learn the truth from a dull sermon in church. Let’s face it, most of them are just skimming through a few chapters of the Bible anyway – and that’s the good sermons. You can do that by yourself, and so much more.
I could tell you how to keep the Sabbath, but I’d only be telling you how I keep the Sabbath; God didn’t give us more details because He wanted to see what YOU would do. Not if you will do what I tell you, but what YOU would choose to do on your own. So what decisions will you make?
Will you spend the day watching TV? Will you spend it reading the Bible? Will you spend it doing charity work? Will you spend it exercising, playing games, cleaning house, hanging out with friends, eating in restaurants, traveling…. These are decisions you need to make for yourself.
Obviously you should listen to what other people say (James 1:19), and consider whether their opinion about what you’re doing on the Sabbath is valid or not (Proverbs 8:32-35); but the decision should be yours. The Sabbath is a test, the original test commandment, and each week you take it again.
And if you fail, and the choice you make turns out to be a sin, there will be no one to blame but yourself; and that’s terrifying. Do you believe God will kill you for an honest mistake? Luke 19:21. In church, this is easy; if you ask the minister “is it wrong to swim on the Sabbath day?”, and he says “No”, then if he’s wrong… he’s wrong.
And if God later comes to you and says “how dare you sin by swimming on the Sabbath!” you can say “but God, your minister said it was OK!”… see, I don’t have that excuse to shift blame away from myself. Neither do you. No true Christian has that!
It’s frightening to be responsible to no one but God, to have no one to help you, no one to fall back on. But that is how God creates independently motivated righteousness! By making you responsible for your own decisions, and not letting you pass the buck to your preacher!
That’s why you need to decide how to keep the Sabbath for yourself every week (Philippians 2:12). Because to be a true Christian, you have to have faith that God will understand if you make the wrong decision this week – provided you make the right decision next week (Psalms 103:13-14).
Israel never had that, and that was why they demanded that Moses teach them at church instead of God teaching them every day! Churches will tell you there is no such thing as an independent Christian. The fact is, there’s no other kind.
God doesn’t save churches. Not as the world understands the term, anyway. God saves individuals. God left even Jesus alone on a stake to prove that He was capable of walking on His own, without anyone holding His hand (Mark 15:34).
When have YOU ever been alone? When have you ever proved that you will be righteous without your church, your family, your home, your money, your health? Think about that.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
It is this matter of faith that makes this such an offensive doctrine to church-goers. Because they only know how to keep the Sabbath (or Sunday) with a herd of like-minded people, and the idea of keeping it without a church to help you is terrifying!
It is frightening to be without the support of a mother, terrifying to be alone in the hands of God (Hebrews 10:31). Why is that so terrifying? Because they don’t trust God? Because they can’t believe He’s good? Yes, but not just that; it’s because they can’t see God!
It’s harder to believe He’s there if you can’t see Him! But they CAN see the church, so it’s EASY to trust that it’s there, and that it cares about you! This lesson is summed up in Hebrews 12:18-19, as contrasted with Hebrews 12:22-23.
Week after week, every Christian on Earth attends a mount that can be touched. A present, visible symbol of divinity that they can worship at, with physical “men of God” to look up to. A family to comfort you in times of need and friends to rejoice with you in times of prosperity.
This requires no faith, only sight. But is that how the true Christian must walk? 2 Corinthians 5:7. It requires faith to reject flawed churches that can be touched on every street corner, even when they have “some truth” and “good people”.
It requires faith to stand alone and believe that God’s true church of the firstborn is with you no matter where, how, or with whom you “keep the Sabbath”. It requires faith to take responsibility for your own decisions, for your own salvation. In short, it takes faith to properly keep the Sabbath, and truly find rest for your souls.
You will never find a true church to attend with, because the true Christian church is invisible. You will never find a group of called, chosen, and faithful people with whom you can walk arm-and-arm along the narrow path into the Kingdom of God.
You will find people who mean well, you’ll probably find people who are sincerely striving to overcome their carnal natures; you might find people who are called, and maybe even one or two who are chosen. But you will never find a safe, comforting mother you can trust never to lie to you.
Your comfort must come from an innumerable company of invisible angels, and we “go to church” with an invisible “general assembly and church of the firstborn”, most of whom are dead. It is the spirits of just men made perfect that welcome us as we keep the Sabbath.
Not because they are alive, but because we are called out like they were, written in the same book as they are, worshipers of the same invisible God, who doesn’t trumpet words to us from a smoking, quaking mountain, but Whom we believe in anyway!
When we keep the Sabbath each week, we are not greeted with the hearty-but-fake hugs and back-slaps of human brethren; we are greeted with the calm assurance that we’re doing what God commanded. The peace of a clear conscience before God.
What you’re looking for doesn’t exist on this Earth, and if it did, it would destroy the very thing God is trying to create in you – the wisdom to make good decisions, and the strength of character to stand behind them.
But if that’s not what you want, then sooner or later you will run back to the mountain that can be touched, for the unbelieving desperately need a mount quaking with fire to believe, and a group of people standing at the foot of the mount to share the responsibility for their decisions.
Very nearly every Christian on Earth will sell their soul for that.
Will you?