Monthly Archives: October 2014

Does Moral Law Demand a Moral Lawgiver?

Posted on by under Christian Evidences

right-way-wrong-way1     Have you ever wondered about how we know what is right or what is wrong?  For instance, in most of the civilized societies around the world it is illegal and considered immoral to murder another person, or to steal from them.  How is it that different groups of people, separated by geography, all came to the same realization that these activities are wrong?

     Perhaps the sense of right and wrong is nothing more than the majority opinion within these civilized societies.  Most people just think that these activities are the wrong thing to do.  Is that it?  If that is the basis for right and wrong, then what if a society decided by a vote that it was okay to kill off people from a certain race?  Or that it was okay to enslave people who have a different skin color?  Would the majority approval for such behavior make that behavior “right”?

     It would seem clear that just because a majority of people say that something is right does not make it so.  The civilized society of Nazi Germany made the determination that it was “right” to try to exterminate the Jews as a lesser race.  While much can be said for how they arrived at that conclusion, at this time let us just notice that they felt they were right in what they were doing.  At their war crimes trials after World War II many Nazis claimed that they were simply following orders and obeying the laws of their land.  However, the prosecutors appealed to a higher law, a higher power, which made what these men did clearly wrong.

     Where did that higher law come from?  It had to have come from God.  Since mankind is not capable of determining what is right and what is wrong on their own (Jeremiah 10:23), then a simple majority vote is not sufficient.  In the argument of morals many will say something like, “who are you to decide what is right and what is wrong?”  They are correct in that statement.  It is not up to you and me to decide what is right and what is wrong.  That is up to God, and He has specified right and wrong within His moral law.  Paul said that he would not have known sin (what was wrong) without the law of God (Romans 7:7).

     Since we as humans lack the authority to mandate moral law, let us then turn to God and to His law to determine what is right and what is wrong.  Let us then speak with regards to morals as God’s word directs us to (1 Peter 4:11).

Blisfull Ignorance

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Perhaps you’ve heard it said that ignorance is bliss, or that what is not known cannot hurt us. The idea is that if we do not know that something can hurt us, then we will have no need to worry about it.  Therefore, we can be blissful and happy.  But how does this play out in reality?

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Do you know how fast you were going?

 We can be ignorant of the speed limit and drive as fast as we wish. Will our ignorance of the law be a viable excuse when the police officer pulls us over?  Ignorance of the law will not stand up as a defense.  If we ignore the speed limit, we will pay the price (fine) for that ignorance.  We can be ignorant of the fact that the stove top burners can hurt our hand.  Here again, ignorance will not keep us from coming to harm if we place our hand on a lit stove burner.

 Many in our world today act as if they can be ignorant of God and His requirements, and yet all is well. They go on in blissful ignorance with no care for their future state.  And, indeed, we may see many people who live this way and nothing bad ever befalls them.  Have they somehow found a path that circumvents God’s requirements?  Is there bliss in their ignorance?

 God paints a different picture of ignorance and a lack of knowledge concerning Him. The prophet Hosea spoke for God and lamented the fact that His people were being destroyed by a lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6).  Paul writes by inspiration to the Romans that God’s power and divine Godhead are evident in the creation, such that they (those who ignore God and walk in ignorance) are without an excuse (Romans 1:18-20).  When Paul stood on Mars’ hill in Athens and addressed the Greeks, he stated that in times past God may have winked at man’s ignorance, but now calls on all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30).

 We can ignore God. We can make that choice.  We can claim ignorance is bliss.  However, ignorance of the law is no excuse.  Ignorance can bring us great harm.  Jesus declared that His word would judge us in that last day (John 12:47-48).  Therefore, we must know what His word says for us to do.  God desires that all men seek Him out, repent of what is wrong in their lives, and live in obedience to Him.  That is the true path to bliss.  Are you truly blissful this day?

Great Discoveries

Posted on by under Christian Evidences

Christopher_Columbus_on_Santa_Maria_in_1492     In 1492 Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue with three ships from Spain.  It was his plan to prove that the earth was round, and to find a better trade route to the East Indies than traveling overland through Asia.  We all know what happened. Columbus landed in the Americas, discovered the New World, and the rest, as they say, is history.

   While this was an important discovery, and one that has had a profound effect on modern history, there was another discovery made almost 500 years later that is even more profound.  In 1947 a young shepherd boy stumbled into a cave in Qumran on the NW shores of the Dead Sea and discovered jars full of ancient manuscripts.  Among these manuscripts there were found to be copies of the Hebrew Old Testament.

      What makes the discovery of such importance?  Prior to this time, the oldest manuscripts of the Hebrew Old Testament were dated from the 10th century A.D.  These manuscripts found in the caves of Qumran were dated from the 2nd century B.C. to the 1st century A.D.  That makes them about 1,000 years older than any known Old Testament manuscripts at the time.  Many of those who do not believe in the inspiration of the scriptures had made the argument that the Bible was corrupted by man over time and could not be relied upon to be accurate in our modern age.  However, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls showed just the opposite.  The modern Hebrew text was shown to be extremely accurate in comparison with these much older manuscripts.

      This discovery in Qumran is important because it shows that God’s word has been preserved and has not been contaminated by man.  Therefore, we can trust that the Bible today is still the word of God that He intended for man to have and obey.

Hammer Away

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nails     My last remodeling project got me thinking.  As we were going through the process of deconstruction and trying to be careful to limit the amount of scratches and bruises, I began to think about installing the new floor.  You see, when we undertake any project where we are going to be using a hammer and nails it has our full attention.  We don’t want to slip up and hit our fingers or worse yet, pierce our flesh with a nail by mistake.

      Now think about Christ and what He did for us.  He had the power to stop anyone from doing any harm to His body, but He did not exercise that power.  At any time during His mockery of a trial, the scourging of His body, or the nailing of His body on that cross of Cavalry Jesus could have simply said the word ‘stop’ and could have brought His torture to an end.  Concerning His life, Jesus said “No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father” (John 10:18 NKJV).

      No one had the power to take Jesus’ life unless He allowed it.  The amazing thing about His love for us in that Jesus allowed those Roman soldiers to take His life.  At a time when we were without hope, at a time when we were still sinners, Christ died for our sins (Romans 5:8).  We work hard to make sure that we don’t slip and allow a nail to poke us in the hand by mistake, but Jesus allowed them to drive large nails through His flesh on purpose.  It is hard to comprehend just what Jesus suffered on our behalf.  So then, are we allowing that sacrifice to have an impact on how we live our lives?