Fool 2

April 2

Fool (2)
anoētos

Another Greek word translated fool (or “foolish”) is anoētos (G453). The classic example of the foolish Christian appears in Gal_3:1 and 3, where Paul writes, “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth. . . . Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?”

Anoētos is another “alpha-negative,” which we defined yesterday. The root nous (G3563) means “mind, intellect, understanding, reason, and thought,” which is then made the opposite by the prefix a.

The Judaizers had infiltrated the church and were undermining the very core of Christianity, namely, justification by faith alone, teaching that to be Christians, Gentiles had to become Jewish proselytes and obey the Mosaic Law.

Appalled that the Galatians would tolerate, much less embrace, such heresy, Paul called them people without understanding, reason, and thought, people who had abandoned the very truth they had been taught.

That is just as true today as then. With the growing denial of justification by faith alone, the continuing onslaught against the true Gospel message, and the growing challenge to biblical ministry, there are countless “foolish” Christian teachers and followers.

That type of fool can be described in several ways.

First, the fool is concerned about the abstract instead of the absolute. For many today, facts get in the way of unity. After all, it is argued, “Doctrine divides: love unites.”

That is the height of folly because nothing is absolute, nothing is sure.

Second, the fool is concerned about wants instead of the Word. Many churches being built today, even so-called evangelical ones, are not being founded upon a ministry of the Word of God, rather upon what people want, such as entertainment and every appealing program imaginable. But Scripture, of course, teaches none of that.

Third, the fool is concerned about transient feelings instead of true faith. Tragically, feelings drive many people’s belief systems; facts aren’t the issue, faith in what God says in His Word is not the issue, but rather how it makes them feel is the issue.

It’s not the intellect that rules, but rather it’s an impulse that rules. There’s great zeal, but nothing real. This has even kicked open the door to the growing frequency of mysticism.

The challenge to each of us is to be ruled by the truth of God’s Word alone.
Scriptures for Study:

What is a common cause of foolish behavior, according to 1Ti_6:9? In Tit_3:3, what other characteristics go along with being foolish?

 
 Top of page