I was reminded this past week that I am far from perfect even in the exercising of my spiritual gifts. We ought to be thankful that when Christ saves us he also calls us to useful service and equips us with at least one spiritual gift to serve Christ’s family. However, we should also remember that even the exercising of our spiritual gifts is tainted with sin and so love itself still remains the greatest command covering over a multitude of sins.

 

James 3:1-2 (WEB) says, "Let not many of you be teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive heavier judgment. For we all stumble in many things. Anyone who doesn't stumble in word is a perfect person, able to bridle the whole body also."

 

In the whole of human history approximately 36 people did something perfectly, but only by God’s grace.  Adam and Eve were entirely perfect for a brief time before falling into sin and infecting the entire human race with sin.  The Holy Spirit breathed the Christian Scriptures perfectly through roughly 33 men, though the rest of their lives were completely tainted with sin.  Only 1 man lived an entirely perfect life because he was God himself, the man Jesus Christ.

 

Thus we could ask should anyone even dare to be a teacher of God’s word since no one is a perfect man or able to bridle their tongue? The Scriptures do say that God has given the gift of pastor / teacher (Ephesians 4:11) and that elders are to be appointed (Titus 1:5). So how is an imperfect man who cannot perfectly bridle his tongue supposed to teach? We must do our best to correctly handle the word of God, II Timothy 2:15. We must also humble ourselves to teach through the Spirit’s power, I Corinthians 2:1-5. And if we stumble, even in the exercise of our gifts, Jesus Christ still remains the same gracious savior urging us to continue receiving forgiveness and giving our lives in service to him. Only our pride can take us out of his service.

 

The 33 men who wrote the Bible, listed from www.gotquestions.org.

 

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy = Moses - 1400 B.C.

Joshua = Joshua - 1350 B.C.

Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel = Samuel / Nathan / Gad - 1000 - 900 B.C.

1 Kings, 2 Kings = Jeremiah - 600 B.C.

1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah = Ezra - 450 B.C.

Esther = Mordecai - 400 B.C.

Job = Moses? - 1400 B.C.

Psalms = several different authors, mostly David - 1000 - 400 B.C.

Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon = Solomon - 900 B.C.

Isaiah = Isaiah - 700 B.C.

Jeremiah, Lamentations = Jeremiah - 600 B.C.

Ezekiel = Ezekiel - 550 B.C.

Daniel = Daniel - 550 B.C.

Hosea = Hosea - 750 B.C.

Joel = Joel - 850 B.C.

Amos = Amos - 750 B.C.

Obadiah = Obadiah - 600 B.C.

Jonah = Jonah - 700 B.C.

Micah = Micah - 700 B.C.

Nahum = Nahum - 650 B.C.

Habakkuk = Habakkuk - 600 B.C.

Zephaniah = Zephaniah - 650 B.C.

Haggai = Haggai - 520 B.C.

Zechariah = Zechariah - 500 B.C.

Malachi = Malachi - 430 B.C.

Matthew = Matthew - 55 A.D.

Mark = John Mark - 50 A.D.

Luke = Luke - 60 A.D.

John = John - 90 A.D.

Acts = Luke - 65 A.D.

Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon = Paul - 50-70 A.D.

Hebrews = unknown, best guesses are Paul, Luke, Barnabas, or Apollos - 65 A.D.

James = James - 45 A.D.

1 Peter, 2 Peter = Peter - 60 A.D.

1 John, 2 John, 3 John = John - 90 A.D.

Jude = Jude - 60 A.D.

Revelation = John - 90 A.D.

 

Of course the Holy Spirit gets the credit for the perfection :-)