“Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes
himself a prey.” Could these words be true in our day? They are absolutely true. Postmodernity denies truth as it is meant in
the Bible is even possible. We live in a
world where truth is relative to a person and the idea of universal truth is
thought laughable or dangerous. To
believe in the Bible as “the” truth is considered as not just objectionable but
perhaps actionable at law. It can be “a”
truth or “my” truth but to speak as though it was “the” truth can be considered
hate speech because it condemns some things that the world celebrates. To depart from evil can be difficult and it
can have not only societal but legal consequences as some have recently learned
when they refused to bake cakes or work as photographers for gay weddings and
then were penalized at law. It is the
world we live in and that world says there may be a price for pursuing
righteousness as defined in the Bible.
The promise is that He is our redeemer.
Isaiah saw this redeemer and the redemption was in this life. Jesus took on flesh and suffered for
righteousness that we might have the ultimate vindication and redemption,
eternal life. Is that enough to
encourage you to pursue and persevere in righteousness as He did? It may be all you get, so you have to decide
if it is enough. Ask the early church.
The key question in this conversation is from Jesus, “What
did Moses command you?” Who gave the
command concerning divorce that is at issue?
Moses. When Jesus gives His
answer He makes clear they are arguing from Moses while He is arguing from God,
“But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female. Therefore
a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two
shall become one flesh.’ We, the church
have failed on this one. We have failed
to uphold marriage the way God sees it and intends it. At best, we heard that infidelity might be
grounds for divorce and made it into a principle that said it was absolutely
grounds for divorce. We have become
hard-hearted just like the Israelites when it comes to marriage. Repentance and forgiveness are not even
considered any longer. How committed are
we really to marriage?
Paul talks about being ashamed a good bit in the first part
of the letter to Timothy. His arrest and
imprisonment caused many, it seems, to abandon him just as the disciples
abandoned Jesus when He was arrested. We
have become accustomed to a certain ease in our Christianity that allowed us to
give nodding understanding to the suffering of Christians down the centuries
and in those difficult places in the world today. Is the church in the west prepared to suffer
and to stand with Jesus when we no longer have a comfortable place? We have had so much freedom and prosperity
that we have lost our first love and chased after so many secondary things that
when we no longer have these or any hope of them we lose our faith. What is the hope in you that your faith is
built upon?
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