Build on the Truth

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.  And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.  (Matt 7:25-27)

Therefore, because eternal disgrace and shame have been stored up for us if we sin,* let us pray to God with our whole heart, that he may grant to us to strive for truth through the efforts of our minds and bodies, all the way to the end, so that, even if a certain amount of time intervenes to test our faith—for “as gold is tested in the furnace,”† so also our faith is tested in dangers and persecutions—even if persecution breaks out, he will find us prepared, so as to not have our house fall in the storm; so that our building will not be scattered by the tempest because it was constructed on the sand; so that when the devil’s winds blow (that is, the wicked spirits), our works will stand firm—and they have stood firm until this day, if at any rate they have not been secretly undermined; and, in our girded-up, hampered state, we will make manifest our love, which we have toward God in Christ Jesus, “to whom belong the glory and the power for ever and ever.  Amen.”‡

Origen of Alexandria: Exegetical Works on Ezekiel, 10.5.3

*  Origen has apostasy in view, not occasional sin.
†  Cf. Wisdom of Solomon 3:6; Proverbs 27:21 (Vulgate)
‡  1 Peter 4:11

We Rest in Him Who Is Truth

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."  (John 8:31-32)

The word of truth is free, and carries its own authority, disdaining to fall under any skilful argument, or to endure the logical scrutiny of its hearers.  But it would be believed for its own nobility, and for the confidence due to Him who sends it.  Now the word of truth is sent from God, therefore the freedom claimed by the truth is not arrogant.  For being sent with authority, it would not be proper that it should be required to produce proof of what is said; since neither is there any proof beyond itself, which is God.… And God, the Father of the universe, who is the perfect intelligence, is the truth.  And the Word, being His Son, came to us, having put on flesh, revealing both Himself and the Father, giving to us in Himself resurrection from the dead, and eternal life afterwards.  And this is Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  He, therefore, is Himself both the faith and the proof of Himself and of all things.  Therefore those who follow Him, and know Him, having faith in Him as their proof, shall rest in Him.

 Justin Martyr, On the Resurrection, I

Freedom from the Truth Leads to Lawlessness

Man-made or divine, from Scripture or from history, nothing is sacred once mixed with the cocktail of freedom.  Lawlessness brings with it the spiritual gift of immediate and total authority.… Whatever else anyone has to say, they cannot assail the firm belief in Christian freedom and your soul's liberty.

• "Humility" is knowing that truth can never really be known.
• "Mercy" is looking the other way when your friend is active in what those old, legalistic people would dare to call sin.
• "Wisdom" is knowing that all those traditions and doctrines that were here before you were most likely made up by ignorant, totally bigoted people and don't really have a point anyway.

…

Receiving the past is what makes us who we are.  It forms us as something bigger than ourselves.  It helps us grow on a foundation  raised above isolation and ignorance, and it aids us in passing on what we learn to those who come after us.  The handing down of statements, beliefs, legends, customs, and information from generation to generation is exactly what Dr. Luther once pointed out God wants all Christians to do when he wrote, "God solemnly commands us in Deuteronomy 6:6-8 that we should always meditate on His precepts, sitting, walking, standing, lying down, and rising.  We should have them before our eyes and in our hands as a constant mark and sign."  (Large Catechism, Longer Preface 14).

Jonathan Fisk, Broken, 210-211, 212

Laying It Out Plainly

C.F.W. Walther began a lecture in September, 1885 with this paragraph:

Currently, anyone who insists that pure doctrine is a very important matter is immediately suspected of not having the right Christian spirit.  The very term "pure doctrine" is considered taboo and is outlawed.  Even contemporary theologians who regard themselves to be among the confessional Lutherans usually speak of pure doctrine only in scornful terms, treating it as the embodiment of "dead letter" theology.  If anyone holds fast to pure teaching and attempts to fight against any false doctrine, he is put down as a heartless and unloving fanatic. *

How much more so today.  Pure (i.e., unadulterated) doctrine is scorned by postmodernists because it posits a transcendent and knowable truth, thus inhibiting conversation with those who disagree over faith traditions.  My experience is that more is learned and exchanged among debating parties by making objective truth claims.  They can and will disagree.  So much the better.  Conversations work when a common bond already exists, but when worldviews collide, each must articulately and accurately state his or her position in order to gain ground.

Just recently, David Mason wrote an op-ed in the New York Times entitled "I'm a Mormon, Not a Christian." What a breath of fresh air! Instead of making the case that Mormons and Christians are somehow following the same path, he freely admits the truth.  No hiding behind the doublespeak that they are just another denomination.  I respect that, even though he is completely wrong and will suffer the consequences at the judgement seat of Christ.

Christians are called to do no less.  This is not a day to sit idly by and "make nice" just to get along.  If the Bible is true and God is God, we must stand on that truth.  If they are anything less, we should give up and never darken a church door again.

* Law and Gospel: How to Read and Apply the Bible, (trans. Christian C. Tiews; St Louis: Concordia, 2010), 393.

Living with Fallout from Speaking the Truth

“You’re Too Negative”
How many times have you heard that one?  I get it all the time.

So begins Bill Muehlenberg's post on bearing the brunt of reactions for telling the truth.  I have gotten the same, even from friends and family.  When you disagree with someone, a certain amount of tension occurs.  This is inevitable and good.  The proper response is to work through it.  Sadly, the mode du jour is to converse without expecting resolution—agreeing to disagree agreeably—and without making objective, transcendent truth claims.  Only opinions and knowledge based on life experience are used as verbal lubricant with the net effect that all parties maintain their views and part amicably.  I liken this to kissing my wife with a mask on.  Why bother?  Yet this has become the expectation in both secular and sacred culture.

The post ends with this:

I think Spurgeon had it right when he said, “This shall be an infallible test to you concerning anyone’s ministry.  If it is man-praising, and man-honouring, it is not of God.”  If that means we will be seen as negative and harsh to some people, well, tough beans.

Amen.

Beware of Placing Affinity Above Truth

Really?  Really?  You were enjoying all the freedoms, but when some people from your past showed up, you caved and played the hypocrite.  And others are taking your example to do the same.  Why didn't you stand on what God himself made plain to you?

That's what I envision what Paul would have said to Peter had the confrontation in Antioch (Gal 2:11-14)  happened today.  Peter knew better.  He had been used by God to declare the gospel to a Gentile family in their home—formerly considered an unclean act (Acts 10:18)—and beheld the same bestowal of the Holy Spirit without the requirement of circumcision or work of the Law.  Now in Antioch and hobnobbing with the local Gentile population, he suddenly becomes sheepish and uncomfortable at the visitation of Christian Jews from Jerusalem, sent by James, an elder in the church.  His isolationism is noticed by the other Jewish brethren in Antioch, who follow his lead, with the result that Gentiles are beginning to wonder if they need to be following the Law.

If I wanted to put the most positive spin on the scenario, it appears that Peter was afraid of being a stumbling block to kinsmen who, though believing in Jesus as the Messiah, may not yet be so open to the abundant freedom found in Christ.  In an effort to be gracious to one group, he led even more into hypocrisy and error.  What really bothers me is that I have done the same type of thing.

How often have you and I not wanted to offend a weaker Christian and let the truth slide for the sake of unity, local social mores, or prospective witnessing through the relationship?  If we are honest, it happens.  We forget that the most loving thing to do is be honest and forthright without being arrogant or belligerent.  That is where we are to start.  People respect honest communication more than agreement.  Penn Jillette, famous magician and atheist, has stated on YouTube (see embedded video below) that he has more respect for Christians who are fundamentalist, rather than liberal, because the former are speaking from an objective position, while the latter deal in subjectivity and are ultimately condescending.

Christians tend to avoid confrontation either because they believe it is more loving to let things slide or consider disagreements to be a sign of disunity.  If something is wrong, it is wrong.  Say so, preferably in a kind way but harshly when needed.  Do not soften the blow of error.  It is natural, because we do not wish to admit the problem, though we know full well it exists even in us.  For instance, sin gets spoken of as a character flaw requiring personal introspection and behavior modification.  No savior is required here.  The proposed cure is a Jesus who is buddy, lover, therapist, or all three, having the goal of curing me of my character flaws and unmet desires.  How much better to open the scriptures and see what is said in context to address an issue.

We need to continue hearing and reading the living word of God, acquiescing to the Holy Spirit as he works in us, equipping us to live in truth and love.  Disagreements over practice will arise: these we handle graciously so that the weaker Christian might be strengthened and understand fully.  However, let us be wise in these matters and not discard the truth for the sake of maintaining a relationship.

Scholarship or Foolishness?

I read the following short e-mail interchange concerning biblical studies earlier this week which stimulated some thoughts:

Biblical scholar:
Scholarship cannot be religious. The only agenda of scholarship is scholarship.

Atheist:
Does this, then, mean that "evangelical scholarship" is an oxymoron?

Biblical scholar:
I am afraid so, which does not say that an evangelical person cannot do scholarship. An evangelical approach, not to say a plain fundamentalistic one, is legitimate as long as it can be falsified.

That last predicate struck me. Why must an approach be falsifiable in order to be scholarly? What are the implied assumptions for this thinking? I assume it falls somewhere within this spectrum.

        1. Absolute truth does not exist.
        2. Absolute truth exists but is unknowable.
        3. Absolute truth exists and is knowable, but man cannot ascertain it.
        4. Absolute truth exists and is knowable, but man has not ascertained it.
        5. Absolute truth exists and is knowable; man ascertains and rejects it.
        6. Absolute truth exists and is knowable; man ascertains and accepts it.

If there is an absolute truth, one assumes a truth-giver with absolute authority. Option one attempts to eliminate the truth-giver as an impossibility., while the second through fourth rest in the warm comfort that the truth-giver can have no jurisdiction over the actions of the human race because the standard, precept, or grand plan has not been properly communicated. If man cannot understand, he cannot be accountable. Most of human philosophy has fallen somewhere within this range.

The Bible gives a completely different take on this. In Romans 1:18-23 we find the fifth option above as the apostle Paul writes:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Notice that the truth-giver, God, is knowable through what he has demonstrated in nature. Further, mankind deliberately suppresses that knowledge in their unrighteousness turning rather to their own thought processes and replacing God with a charicature of their own individual or collective foolishness. To make matters worse, God has communicated his intentions by way of various people through the centuries. As certainly as God has made himself known in creation (Psalm 19:1-6), he has made himself known in words (Psalm 19:7-11). This dual witness leaves mankind without any excuse.

The positive side to all this is that by accepting who God is and what he has done for his creation, we can be reconciled to him for our sinful disobedience. And what has he done for us that deserves all this accolade?  Only give the ultimate gift, his son, to cover and remove the sin that separates us from him. The apostle Paul wrote that he had "delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).