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"God helps those who help themselves." We have all heard the saying throughout our lives. But is there any truth to this well-known axiom, or is it simply another piece of misguided wisdom which has been promoted by the world? Well, based on a few scattered online comments which I have occasionally come across, it seems that some Christians are a bit ruffled by this common saying. In fact, sad to say, there are some Christians who are quite adamant regarding this issue, and who outright reject this popular saying as being in any way Bible-based.

Well, on one hand, I understand where they are coming from. After all, as I point out in a number of my articles, and as we all know, there is a lot of deception in the world today, As such, it is imperative that we each be extremely careful concerning who we listen to, who we choose to believe, and what doctrines we choose to embrace. And, of course, as I have mentioned many times before, the way that we do that is by comparing everything that we hear or read with the Holy Scriptures, in order to validate their truthfulness. As you may know, this is exactly what the people in Berea did after Paul and Silas had preached the Gospel message to them, as we can determine by the following group of verses:

"And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so."


"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."


"Prove [test, examine] all things; hold fast that which is good."


"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try [test] the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world."


So again, we do need to be very careful with regards to what we choose to believe. Otherwise, we could very easily fall under deception. However, at the same time, I also believe that some Christians go to the opposite extreme, and become rather legalistic in their approach to understanding God's Word. They are very conservative, and allow little room for the leading of the Holy Spirit. We might say that they are relying on the letter of the law -- in other words, what is seen in the plain black and white text -- instead of being led by the Spirit in their understanding.

One of the accusations which is commonly made by such folks is "Oh, you are taking that verse out of context!". There is obviously truth to this claim. Scripture can indeed be taken out of context in order to support and validate some false belief or doctrine. I have seen a lot of online comments in which this is done. Yet at the same time, I also believe we can draw important lessons from Scriptures which may not be directly related to what we are actually talking about. If you have read enough of my articles, then you may already know that I do this quite often in my writings.

Let me give you a simple example. If you are familiar with Romans 14, then you will know that in this chapter, Apostle Paul addresses a serious problem which repeatedly cropped up in the First Century Church. In fact, it continues to occur to our present time as well. I am referring to legalism. On one side of the fence were those Jewish Christians who were firmly convinced that despite their belief in Christ, new Disciples were still obligated to observe the mandates -- or mitzvoth -- of the Mosaic Law. That is to say, Laws of Moses. In other words, all of the Jewish feast days still had to be observed, all of the dietary laws still had to be adhered to, etc. In fact, the issue was so divisive, that in Acts chapter fifteen, a meeting was finally held in Jerusalem in order to try to bring doctrinal unity to the Church. I am reminded of the following verses regarding doctrinal and spiritual unity:

"Can two walk together, except they be agreed?"


"And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, THAT THEY MAY BE ONE, as we are . . . THAT THEY ALL MAY BE ONE; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be ONE IN US: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; THAT THEY MAY BE ONE, even as WE ARE ONE: I in them, and thou in me, THAT THEY MAY BE MADE PERFECT IN ONE; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me."


"That ye may with ONE MIND and ONE MOUTH glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."


"Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all SPEAK THE SAME THING, and that there be NO DIVISIONS AMONG YOU; but that ye be perfectly joined together IN THE SAME MIND and IN THE SAME JUDGMENT."


"Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, BE OF ONE MIND, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you."


"I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to KEEP THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT in the bond of peace."


Wow! What a difference we see in the Christian Church today! But on the other side of the fence were those Christians who adopted a more relaxed position regarding the Laws of Moses. So there was poor Paul trying to bring some level of peace between these two very different schools of thought. It was by no means an easy task.

If you've read enough of Paul's Epistles, then you will know that he invested a considerable amount of time in addressing this particular issue, because, as I said, it was creating a great deal of division within the First Century Church. No matter where he went, those legalistic Jews would constantly stir up trouble against Paul and his companions. Those Jews were so beholden to the mandates of the Mosaic Law, and were trying so hard to establish their own righteousness through observance of the Mosaic Law, that it was not possible for them to understand the things of the Spirit, or to embrace the Grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. But as Paul wrote, "the letter killeth." Consider the following verses:

"And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: FOR THE LETTER KILLETH, BUT THE SPIRIT GIVETH LIFE."


"For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and NOT IN THE LETTER; whose praise is not of men, but of God."


"But now we are DELIVERED FROM THE LAW, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and NOT IN THE OLDNESS OF THE LETTER."


"Brethren, my hearts desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of Gods righteousness, and GOING ABOUT TO ESTABLISH THEIR OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For CHRIST IS THE END OF THE LAW FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS TO EVERY ONE THAT BELIEVETH."


In a very real sense, the letter of the Mosaic Law does in fact kill. Why does it kill? Well, for two main reasons. The first reason is because the purpose of the Law was not just to serve as a model regarding the right way to live. It was also to show the Israelites that they were sinners. Exactly what is meant by sin? As the verses below clearly explain, sin is in fact transgression of the Law. Sin means to break or to violate God's holy Laws. By the way, there are 613 of them mentioned in the Old Testament.

So why were the Israelites -- and everyone born since then -- sinners? Because absolutely nobody -- not thousands of years ago, and not even today -- is capable of keeping the entire Laws of Moses. You just cannot do it. Furthermore, if you break just one of them, you are viewed as being guilty of having broken all 613 of them. To make matters worse, as the following verses reveal, the wages of sin is death. So that is the second reason why the letter of the Law kills. We ALL had -- past tense -- a death sentence hanging over us.

But do not fret, because therein lies the beauty of God's wonderful Salvation plan. As these verses also inform us, the purpose of the Law was to serve as a schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ. It was to show us the impossibility of trying to save ourselves through our own self-righteous works. God had to provide a better way, an easier way; and this He did through the Sacrifice of His dear Son, Jesus Christ. So now, instead of placing our faith in the Law to save us, we place our faith in the atoning Blood of Christ. All of the various points which I just mentioned to you in the last three paragraphs are clearly verified in this set of verses:

"‭‭Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for SIN IS THE TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW.‭"


"For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is GUILTY OF ALL."


"For THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."


"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for BY THE LAW IS THE KNOWLEDGE OF SIN."


"What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I HAD NOT KNOWN SIN, BUT BY THE LAW: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet."


"Wherefore THE LAW WAS OUR SCHOOLMASTER TO BRING US UNTO CHRIST, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster."


Being as I discuss this subject in considerable detail in a number of my other articles -- please refer to the list at the end of this current article -- I won't be spending a lot of time with it here. To continue, as you may already know, in offering his counsel regarding this particular issue of whether or not to observe Jewish feast days and to abide by Jewish dietary laws, one of the things which Paul wrote in Romans 14 was the following:

"One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind."


Now, as we have seen, in that chapter, Paul was dealing with the legalists with regards to Jewish feast days and Jewish kosher laws. And then he writes the above verse. As you can hopefully see, there is a very important lesson contained in that verse. The Apostle Paul is saying that we must each be fully persuaded in our own minds. But you see, that advice can be extended way beyond just talking about feast days and Jewish kosher laws. In other words, that advice can likewise be applied to other areas of our Christian lives as well. No matter what we are talking about with regards to our faith, the advice in that verse still applies, even if we are not talking about Jewish feast days and Jewish kosher laws.

Thus, in a number of my articles, I may be discussing some topic which has absolutely nothing to do with Jewish feast days and Jewish dietary laws, but I will quote Romans 14:5. Why do I do this? Because while Paul was writing about a completely different subject in Romans 14, the advice that is contained in Romans 14:5 regarding being fully persuaded in our own minds applies to whatever I happen to be writing about. No matter what aspect of our faith we are talking about, we must be convinced and fully persuaded in our own minds that it is true. We cannot just rely on what someone else believes or teaches. We have to operate according to our OWN faith, and not according to THEIR faith.

Do you see my point? That is why I said earlier that it is very important that we not become so legalistic, so rigid, and so conservative in our approach to both reading and understanding the Scriptures, that we miss out on important lessons and important points. We must be led by the Spirit in our understanding. We cannot and should not box in God's Word so that all we see is what is printed in black and white. We need to be able to see beyond that, if the Spirit leads us in that direction. We need to see the spirit and intent of each passage. We need to be able to draw lessons from Biblical events and teachings, even though said events occurred thousands of years ago, and even though those teachings were directed to someone else. We need to learn from the past. I was just reminded of the following verses:

"For whatsoever things were written aforetime were WRITTEN FOR OUR LEARNING, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:"


"Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted . . . Now all these things happened unto them FOR ENSAMPLES: and they are WRITTEN FOR OUR ADMONITION, upon whom the ends of the world are come."


"Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are SET FORTH FOR AN EXAMPLE, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."


Of course, despite writing the previous paragraphs, I know that there will still be legalistic Christians who read this article, who will continue to insist that I am taking Romans 14:5 out of context. They will probably continue to insist that we should only view the verse and understand the verse, in the context of observing Jewish feast days and keeping Jewish dietary laws. Oh well. Whatever. I tried. Following are a few related verses regarding being led and taught by the Spirit of God, for your consideration:

"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall TEACH YOU ALL THINGS, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."


"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will GUIDE YOU INTO ALL TRUTH: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come."


"Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law."


"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."


"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."


"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."


At any rate, continuing with our primary discussion, in my view -- and I am no doubt stepping on certain toes just by even saying this -- while certain things may not be plainly written in black and white in the Bible, nevertheless, they are implied in the Scriptures through different stories and events that we read. In other words, there are what we might refer to as "implied truths" to be found throughout the Holy Scriptures. The Bible might not say something outright and directly, but it is nevertheless there, if we can just get beyond an overly strict reading of the Scriptures. In short, as I have already said, we need to be led by the Spirit in order to see them.

I believe that such is the case with the popular adage "God helps those who help themselves." As I just said, while it is not spelled out for us clearly in black and white in one particular verse as certain legalistic Christians require, nevertheless, that thought is definitely implied in quite a number of Bible stories. Despite this fact, these Christians will use the absence of a specific verse which says this to refute the axiom altogether. Personally, I believe that such Christians are in error, because they are doing exactly what I said we should not do. They are approaching the Scriptures from such a narrow view, that they are in fact boxing in the Word of God, instead of being led by the Spirit in their understanding.

What is amazing about this -- at least to me -- is the fact that there are so many stories and events in the Scriptures where this popular saying is implied, that it is easy to see and rather hard to miss. So, in the following paragraphs I will be providing you with some of the examples which came to my mind as I was writing this current article.

The very first example which popped into my mind concerns the story of Noah and the Ark. We are told that the Lord gave Noah very specific instructions regarding how to build the Ark, as we can determine by the following four verses:

"And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it."


Now think about that for a minute. The fact of the matter is that Noah and his three sons had to do their part. God did not do everything for them. They had to help themselves, in order to be saved from the Flood waters. While God provided the instructions for building the Ark, Noah and his sons had to have the faith to actually obey the Lord by building that huge boat. Remember; it was quite possible that it had never even rained before that time, because the Book of Genesis also informs us of the following:

"And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God HAD NOT CAUSED IT TO RAIN UPON THE EARTH, and there was not a man to till the ground. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground."


So I believe that it must have required great faith on the part of Noah and his three sons -- Shem, Ham and Japheth -- to work on building that Ark for so many years. Even more so when we consider all of the wicked, unbelieving people who must have scoffed at their endeavors. Imagine if Noah had said, "Well, Lord, you are God, so why don't you just build it for us?" I don't think that the Lord would have been very pleased. Not only that, but if Noah had refused to build the Ark due to unbelief, none of us would be here today. At any rate, God made Noah and his three sons do what they could do to help themselves, and then He did the rest. He made that Ark rise above the Flood waters; and thus eight souls were saved, as we see by this verse:

"Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water."


So this story is the first example where we can see that God indeed helps those who help themselves. Another very obvious Scriptural example which comes to mind concerns the nation of Israel and their conquest of the land of Canaan. As you may know, God had clearly promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that He would give them that land for an inheritance. This point is made evident by verses such as the following:

"And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them. And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers . . . And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD."


"And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it:"


"Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land."


"Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me: Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the LORD."


"Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them."


"And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full; Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage."


"Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob . . . I prayed therefore unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, destroy not thy people and thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed through thy greatness, which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; look not unto the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin:"


"That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the LORD thy God, and into his oath, which the LORD thy God maketh with thee this day: That he may establish thee to day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob."


"I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them."


"And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither."


"And the LORD was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet."


"O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen. He is the LORD our God: his judgments are in all the earth. He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance: When they were but a few men in number; yea, very few, and strangers in it."


So what happened? Well, after God used Moses to liberate the Hebrews from Egyptian bondage, and following the golden calf incident, did God just miraculously give the descendants of Jacob the land of Canaan? Did He just wave His hand, destroy all of the inhabitants of the land, and say "There you go boys! It is now yours! Enjoy!"? No, He most certainly did not. The Israelites didn't just walk in without a fight. In fact, as you probably know, God had to allow the whole older generation of Israelites who came out of Egypt, to just die off during their forty years of wandering in the wilderness. Why did this happen? Due to their constant complaining and lack of faith.

So while God had promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that He would give them Canaan for their inheritance, when the time came for that to actually happen, Joshua and the descendants of Jacob did not just walk in like it was a party. God was indeed there to help them, but they had to do their part as well, and help themselves. They had to fight for every inch of that land. Again, Canaan was not just handed to them on a silver platter. They had to fight hard and prove themselves first. However, God did make them a promise, which He indeed fulfilled, as we see by the following group of verses:

"Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him. But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries. For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off."


"And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? And the captain of the LORDS host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so."


Wow! Thus, again we see that God does indeed help those who help themselves; and in this particular case, He sent Joshua and the Israelites a mighty warrior Angel to do battle with them! Their enemies didn't stand a chance!

Please go to part two for the conclusion of this article.

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