Is Satan better at lying than Christians are at speaking God’s truth?
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[et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”]Have you noticed that the truth gets lost in our political debates?
Those arguments can quickly become about the rights people have versus what is right. Sadly, a lot of people under the age of forty have grown up hearing more political dialogue than biblical truth.
Christians can learn a lot from the rhetoric of the abortion debate, LGBTQ issues, and the gender debates. Currently, Satan seems to be better at lying than Christians are at speaking the truth.
Many Christians grew quiet when the children they loved started having sex with their dates.
Many Christians stayed quiet when the children they loved lived as married before they were married.
Many churches rightly made room for sinners but quietly accepted their sins in the process.
Many Christians redefined holy as “pious” instead of being “born again” or “Spirit-filled.”
Many Christians were compassionate toward the life of the mom but quiet about the life of her baby.
Many Christians are filled with anger at people’s sins rather than feeling compassionate grief for what is driving their sins.
Biblical correctness requires caring about God’s truth more than opinions or feelings
Let’s think about it.
The issue of abortion
A man can be charged with murder for killing an unborn child in a car accident. A woman, however, has the right to take the life of her unborn child at any time if her state makes abortion legal.
Where is the “gender neutrality” in that fact? If gender is neutral, then will the man soon be allowed to determine his child’s right to life too?
Biblical truth is easily seen in the baby’s beating heart on the sonogram screen. It is a baby. It isn’t right to take the life of anyone just because you want to. I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to carry a child to term who was created through violence. At the same time, I have known wonderful, happy children who were allowed to live and lead a rich life, even though they were created by violence.
Think about it.
The biblical truth is that this fallen world has a lot of “tribulation” and always will. Our troubles don’t change God’s truth. We don’t get a pass because something is painful. A baby is a baby, whether or not it is wanted. Abortion shouldn’t be anyone’s right because it isn’t right.
The issue of gender
I honestly don’t understand why this is an issue. A person is born as a man or a woman. It is a rare medical emergency if the doctor can’t hold the newborn and instantly know the baby’s gender.
Biblically, it is fine if a person doesn’t want to marry. It is just fine if a person enjoys the companionship of someone of the same sex. What isn’t fine is the idea that if you love someone or just enjoy their company, you should include lust or sex in the relationship. At what point did our culture begin to believe that love, fondness, or personal enjoyment make a sexual sin acceptable?
Scripture does not permit sex with anyone who is of the same sex, or with anyone of the opposite sex, before being biblically joined in marriage. I’ve watched God’s truth on this subject become silent, even disdained, in my lifetime. God’s truth hasn’t changed, but the opinions, teaching, and preaching of God’s children have changed dramatically.
Think about it.
What would our culture look like if people accepted the biblical message about the sexual relationship? Could our schools be stronger? Could our hospitals provide better care? Could crime rates dwindle? Could we be a better, happier world if children were raised with biblical values and character instead of simply given life and the permission to live it any way they choose?
Morality will not be inspired by political legislation. It is a matter of sanctification. People need the Lord and they deserve to know his truth.
The issue of personal freedom
Personal freedom was at the heart of most of the controversy in the New Testament. Our struggles today are the same struggles the early church endured. How free are we in Christ?
Most of the Hebrew people were appalled at the freedoms the Gentiles enjoyed. Some of the early Hebrew Christians began testing the waters of forgiveness. The New Covenant taught that, no matter what they did, a Christian had eternal life promised to them.
So, did it really matter if they wanted to sin just a bit?
Personal freedom was Paul’s daily debate in the first century. Paul clarified Christian freedom saying, “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13).
Our current debates about personal freedoms don’t represent a new problem as much as they reveal the truth about sin. The first-century issues still remain in the church today. How did the early church work to get past their issues and thrive?
They had Paul and the other apostles who preached the gospel truth. The leaders preached the need for repentance from sin, not just acceptance of sinners. God wants all people to understand how to be made right with him rather than feel right about their sins. A person’s personal freedom was not given a higher priority than their holiness.
Think about it: If Paul struggled in the first century with personal freedoms, shouldn’t we expect to struggle with the same issues in the twenty-first century? Shouldn’t we also trust that if the early church could thrive amid all their sins, the church today can do the same?
Paul’s teaching remains truth today.
Paul wrote, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
The truth: God is faithful
It is never our right to do wrong.
And, let’s face it, God would say the same thing to us that he said to the prophet Hosea: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children” (Hosea 4:6).
It is our children who suffer when we don’t speak God’s truth. Some of our children in church today don’t hear God’s word taught, and others might believe God’s truth doesn’t apply to their generation. But the truth matters for everyone, and it will matter eternally.
Has Satan been better at lying to our kids than we have been about teaching them the truth?
The answers are in our statistics and discussed as political rhetoric in our news. God’s people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. If we reject God’s truth, he will reject our ministries. Our kids and grandkids will be “forgotten by God on that day” if we don’t teach them the truth.
Take a minute and see the faces that have come to your mind as you read. Picture them at the gate of heaven as they hear Jesus say, “I never knew you.” Christians will find it difficult to stay silent if they understand and believe that what Hosea wrote is God’s eternal and unchanging biblical truth.
Is Satan better at lying than we are at speaking God’s truth?
The early church fought their culture wars and won many people to faith in Christ. So can we.
Remember that “he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Satan will continue to be successful at lying until we get better at sharing the truth. Let’s start by caring as much about speaking the truth as Satan cares about telling his lies.
Who will you speak with that needs to hear God’s truth today? Will you pray for the strength and wisdom to share that truth with God’s love?
People need the Lord.
God’s people can help. [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column]
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