Can a confident and obedient disciple of Jesus ignore some of the Word of God in today’s world and not have their children be led astray?

“therefore my people go into exile (become slaves) for their lack of knowledge.”

Isaiah 5:13

 

“Beware – see to it – that no one takes you captive (makes you a slave) through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.”

Colossians 2:8

Without God you cannot know anything.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.”

Prov. 1:7

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Ro 12:2 KJV

How do you do that?  To deliberately stop thinking like the world and be transformed, you must train your mind with the Word of God, right?  How else can you prove God’s perfect will?

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”

2 Timothy 2:15  ESV

“For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.”

Romans 8:7  ESV

“do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

James 4:4  ESV

Claiming to be “neutral” is a declaration of hostility to God!  Disciples devote themselves to sound doctrine.

“A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher.”

Luke 6:40 NKJV

Should we be surprised if we send our Christian students to secular trained teachers in either public or private schools that they come home to us with their minds well trained in pagan thinking?  Don’t you think their behaviors will follow?

What does your Bible instruct you to do as a believing teacher who influences your children and others around you?

“He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.”

Titus 1:9 ESV

Jesus made the separation even clearer, saying:

“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

Matt 12:30

No wonder the Apostle Peter strongly insisted that Christians…

“in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,”

1 Peter 3:15 ESV

Do you think that ‘being prepared’ requires some careful study and preparation?

“We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,”

2 Corinthians 10:5 NASB

Does that sound like the language of passive, post-modern, sloppy-agape?  OR does it sound like a battle plan for warriors who know they are in a deadly conflict that demands training?

The ‘verity’ (truth) of God makes it possible to KNOW things… the profoundness of that truth makes science (scientiae… to know) possible.

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge (scientiae – VUL): but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Proverbs 1:7

If you reject God and His knowledge, you refuse instruction and are a self proclaimed ‘fool.’  Why?   Well, consider one of the most exclusive statements in the Bible:

“..in whom (Christ) are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

Colossians 2:3

If the Bible were not true, you could not prove that anything is true.  Logic originates from the Creator of senses and incredibly complex DNA information that allows you to process intelligence of any kind.  In the beginning was the ‘logos’ and nothing was made without Him.

We all rely on:

• Laws of logic to make thinking possible
• Uniformity of nature and natural laws (i.e. gravity)
• Absolute morality to establish ethical judgments of right and wrong

Mature followers of Christ are Biblically charged with the job of refuting…

• Relativism… “there are no absolutes”  – How can you be absolutely certain of that?
• Empiricism… “truth must be observed” –  Can you observe that claim?
• Naturalism… only physical reality can somehow cause itself to exist
• Neutrality… when your enemy is determined to eliminate what you know to be true from the discussion, attempting to appeal to neutrality or compromise is admitting defeat and refusing to provide the tools of knowledge of the truth that would allow the Holy Spirit to convict and convince their hearts if God were to give them the gift of repentance (2 Tim 2:25).

The secularist is in self-denial (delusion) and he will deny that he is in self-denial.

“There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.”

2 Peter 3:16 ESV

“And he said to them, ‘Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.’”

Matthew 13:52

Why are secularists and even most of today’s self-proclaimed Christians blind to the obvious?

If you want to see an excellent presentation about the truth of God’s Word, I highly recommend the following presentation by my friends David Rives and Bruce Malone.

click here.

Barna polls recently show 50% of Christians claim they don’t believe the whole Bible is true.  So what do they base their faith on?

Jesus said,

“If they do not receive Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded even though one rise from the dead.”

Luke 16:31

Do you believe Jesus spoke the truth?  Do you believe the Old Testament Scriptures of the Bible can be trusted to be 100% true?

“And He answered and said, ‘Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female…’”

Matt 19:4 (NASB) also Mark 10:6

(note: does the Bible leave the topic of ‘gender’ open for discussion?  What happens when those who say they follow Jesus and His truth refuse to stand for the truth when the enemies of truth use intimidation to prevent people from even discussing the truth?)

“Jesus answered and said to them, ‘You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.’”

Matt 22:29  NKJV

“But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.”

Luke 16:17 NASB

 

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,”

2 Timothy 2:16 KJV

If a man does not believe that the Bible is true, does his unbelief make the Bible’s Word any less true?

What are we to do to help a man overcome his mistaken belief that the Bible is not entirely trustworthy?

“the Lord’s bondservant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach… with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition (to themselves), if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading them to the knowledge of the truth, that they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.”

2 Timothy 2:24-26 NASB

What does a man lose if he forfeits his belief in the truth of the Word of God?

“..we see that they (Israelites delivered out of Egypt) were not able to enter (Canaan-the promised land) because of unbelief.”

Hebrews 3:19 NASB

What confidence did Jesus have in the Old Testament?

“But if you do not believe his (Moses’) writings how will you believe My words?”

John 5:47

“And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”

Matthew 13:58 KVJ

Remember how Jesus rebuked his disciples about their unbelief when they could not deliver a lunatic man from the demonic power that ruled him.

“O unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I put up with you?”

Matthew 17:17 NASB

The bitter fruit of Unbelief

Could it be that our present perverted generation is experiencing the woes of a condemned culture for the same reasons that condemned Babylon, Rome or Israel?

Is not the most basic foundation of faith in God the belief of who He is as the Creator and the communicator of His clear Word about the beginning of everything?  And how do we come to understand that fact?

“By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.”

Hebrews 11:3 NASB

Notice that understanding comes from faith.  That applies to every human no matter what his belief system is built upon.  You have to believe in somebody’s words!  If you have a choice between man’s words and God’s words, which will you choose?

Is not that same degree of faith required when we come to God in repentance to ask for His mercy and favor?

“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who (diligently) seek Him.”

Hebrews 11:6 NASB

Belief in something that is antagonistic to God does not reward you with anything but confusion.  Believe in God’s Word. You can trust Him above all others.

 

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