There Is A Way That Seems Right...

Introduction

Everyone possessing intellect will either consciously or unconsciously view the world according to programmed presupposition. That is to say, there are no completely freethinking, open-minded individuals. This seems particularly so with regard to one’s belief (or unbelief) in GOD. Someone believes in certain things concerning GOD, another believes something else, but no one can present absolute, concrete evidence that satisfactorily proves to another that what he believes is true and what the other believes is false. To give an example, the atheist believes there is no GOD and the agnostic says we cannot know if GOD exists. The aforementioned parties, while capable of presenting a line of reasoning in support of their divergent positions, both, in the end can only say that they believe their perception to be true and the other’s to be false. Without the ability to present any evidence their arguments are based on mere presupposition on their parts. Their beliefs, as they are, shape their worldviews, but either party cannot prove their view to be the true one.

Continuing the example, the theist says, there is a GOD that we can know personally and the theist, at least, has at his disposal compelling evidence to prove his belief: “that which is known about God is evident within them [i.e., all of mankind]; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made” (Romans 1:19,20).

While there is actual evidence in the human make up and in nature that proves the existence of GOD, is it enough to sway the unbeliever into changing his point of view? Of course not! After all, where is the living human eyewitness (cf. Job 38:4) capable of substantiating the biblical testimony? And where is the unbeliever in GOD who would confess that really deep down he knows GOD must exist? Also, is what in man and seen in nature all there is to know about GOD? No, there is much more that can be known about GOD, but not from the physical realm or in fallible human musings; further information can only be found in the realm of the spiritual through Spirit-enabling illumination of the human mind. All unbelievers are blinded to that which is spiritual (John 18:37, 38). Thus, absent supernatural revelation and Spirit-enabling influence the non-theist cannot concede their worldview and replace it with theistic belief; based solely on the evidence of some mysteriously implanted knowledge of GOD ingrained in mankind’s make up; and in spite of the fact that there exists a natural world that can only be explained by the truth that creation demands there be a Creator.

Truth is Always Absolute

Since unbelievers are spiritually blinded and cannot know that what the Bible teaches is true (cf., 2 Corinthians 4:4), they must immediately pronounce that belief in GOD is no better than unbelief, as belief in GOD, in their estimation, is also best explained as just presupposition too. In this regard, the unbeliever due to his materialistic worldview is quasi-correct, because it is by the non-material substance of faith alone that the believer has “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” and “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.” GOD Himself has laid this stipulation on any who would find Him: “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 seek Him” (Hebrews 11:1, 3).

Anyone, therefore, who would gain greater knowledge concerning GOD, must proceed with specific presumptions. But the watershed presupposition of any Christian must be—thought it is recognized by this writer that it rarely is—the belief that the Bible alone presents absolute truth. Consider the fact that the unique revelations of the tri-unity (or Trinity) of GOD, of His plans and dealings with mankind and most importantly of His free-will offer of salvation to man through faith alone in Christ as Savior (cf., John 3:16); these revelations are found only in the Bible. If the Bible is not true, then we can know nothing of substance concerning GOD. For surely we learn nothing of the Trinity, Christ or the great salvation that He offers from that which is seen in nature or by finite human reason. If the Bible is wrong in even one assertion that it makes or if part of it is relegated to myth, such as the creation account, or another part is considered mere alegory, such as its prophetic messages, then the entire Scripture must be considered unreliable.

The Bible is unquestionably the most critically examined document of all history and yet, time and again, it has proved its veracity even in its most ridiculed content; that being the predictive prophecy contained in its pages, which to date has proven to be one-hundred percent accurate. No other historic or contemporary document shares this accolade and none can because: “All Scripture is inspired by God” (2 Timothy 3:16), and no other writing (or spoken oracle for that matter) can legitimately prove this claim of its self. Even where partial truth is present in non-biblical writings or utterances, absolute truth by definition and by circumstance is absent. Therefore, while some truth can be derived and known from other sources, any information, whether or not written or spoken, that does not completely align itself with what the Bible teaches must be false: “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12).

Therefore, if Christ has called you as one of His own (cf., Romans 1:6), the written revelation in the Holy Bible must be the only source—because none other can be trusted—by which illuminated men and women are directed to the solution to all that vexes humanity. And so to, it must be the only source from which the believer develops a worldview (cf., Ephesians 4:17). There can be no compromise in either of these areas, because as Christ says: “thy word [O GOD] is truth” (John 17:17); and He never makes this claim about anything or anyone (cf., John 1:1) else! Of His own ministry to the world He says: “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth” (John 18:37).

The classic example of absolute truth versus untruth is prominently found in the facts surrounding creation, as presented in the Bible (cf., Genesis 1; 2; 3), and the foolish theory of evolution. I say foolish, because although there is no evidence to support the theory it is continuously imposed upon us by atheistic “academia” and many, even among those who call themselves Christian, have foolishly accepted evolutionary theory as fact. Some have even been dissuaded of their Christian belief. As for example:

“…in Charles Templeton’s life. He was at one time the preaching partner of Billy Graham. Darwinism turned him into an atheist. In his book, Farewell to God, he tells of writing to Billy: Billy, it’s simply not possible any longer to believe, for instance, the biblical account of creation. The world wasn’t created over a period of days a few thousand years ago; it has evolved over millions of years. It’s not a matter of speculation; it’s demonstrable fact (Electronic media; http://www.thebereancall.org/node/8312).

But what fact is he claiming? Many persons, even those not of Christian belief, would disagree that any facts supporting evolution exist. As in the follow cases:

“Johns Hopkins University Professor Steven Stanley of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences declared, “The known fossil record fails to document a single example of phyletic evolution accomplishing a major morphologic transition [a structural change relating to descent] and hence offers no evidence that the gradualistic model can be valid.” In the same vein, Professor Heribert Nilsson, director of the Botanical Institute at Lund University, Sweden, declared after forty years of study: “The fossil material is now so complete that...the lack of transitional series cannot be explained as due to the scarcity of the material. The deficiencies are real; they will never be filled....The true situation is that those fossils have not been found which were expected. Just where new branches are supposed to fork off from the main stem it has been impossible to find the connecting types” (Electronic media; http://www.thebereancall.org/node/8361).

The proven untruth of evolution is the underlying belief system that forms the worldview of most secular unbelievers. Oddly, though, many Christians have capitulated to this false system; seemly, although they have accepted the ultimate truth of Christ as Savior, they have not surrendered to the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit (cf., John 8:31, 32; 16:13).

So the question is raised, Is the Bible God’s infallible Word to mankind? If it is then by its very nature, because God has spoken, then every word must be absolute truth. And this is the claim that the Bible makes for its self in many passages of both the Old and New Testaments. This is the most fundamental basis for the Christian faith, for without this belief we cannot preach Christ crucified and risen with certainty; the facts of salvation by grace become muddled; and the Holy Spirit has no true Word by which to convict the unbeliever. Thus, no one can be saved if the Bible is not true! Of course, this is not always the accepted view of many in so-called Christian academia. Dr.John Franke, a liberal Professor of Theology mocks, “You don’t have to listen to most of the defenders of absolute truth very long before you realize they not only believe in the idea, they think they have it.” There is an on going battle between those who believe in absolute Bible truth and those who have condescended to relativism and a side must be chosen by all who profess Christianity as there is no middle ground in this fight.

GOD Speaks

The unyielding source material for all Christian thinking and belief is limited to what is contained in Scripture. If then our spring of knowledge is so limited then it is crucial that the believer take care in receiving and grasping its message. When Paul preached the Gospel in Berea he found: "[the Bereans] were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11). No less than a thorough examination of what the Bible says is expected of every believer as this will determine how we present its message.

It is only logical, then, that we approach any study of the Bible and doubly important that we approach a presentation of the Gospel message from a normal interpretive method. That is to say, if we presuppose that GOD has given the Bible as His revelation of Himself, He must desire to communicate with us that which is true and not to obscure His message from us in any manner. We, therefore, take the message in the Bible to be literal in content and it must be understood and read as such. This is the normal way of interpreting all written, non-fictional material. Should we afford GOD any lesser consideration? Absolutely not!

It is further presupposed that although GOD is the author of the Bible—as He has been pleased in various ways and at different times (cf. Hebrews 1:1) to make a supernatural revelation of himself and His purposes and plans—He committed its writing to men under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This process of communication is known as biblical inspiration (i.e., an act of GOD by which He made every word of Scripture completely without error and completely what He wanted, but incorporated the writer’s own style, education level, culture, etc., in the writing). It is through inspiration that the original human co-authors of the Bible penned His revealed Word. Finally it is presupposed that He has preserved His Word for us today as the inerrant and infallible record of Divine revelation. However, the Holy Bible is not merely the record of revelation it is also the revelation itself in a written form. And all saving knowledge is only obtained from the Word of GOD; it is the indispensable means to salvation through the influencing work of the Holy Spirit (cf. John 17:17; 2 Tim. 3:15, 16; 1 Pet. 1:23). These presumptions must be fully acknowledged by the believer if ever he is to be an effective witness of the Gospel of Grace.

Deception is Always Deceptive

The Bible alone can rightly be called the Library of Divine Revelation and the written Word of GOD, because the inspired human writers of its several books were GOD’s means of communicating this revelation (cf. 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21). Granted, there are many religions writings, so called sacred text, that purport to be revelations from divinity and there are even the concoctions of self-touted higher human reasoning that imagines itself as beacons of enlightenment. But these mystical writings and cleaver deductions offer no solutions. Indeed, they create more questions, because they come not from true Divinity, but are either satanic deceptions or presumptuous presentations of man-made formulas. While other non-biblical writings seek, too, a way of deliverance from the pain, suffering, indignity and ultimate death that characterizes all human existence, being of satanic or man-made origin, they are doomed to fail all mankind where our need is the most profound (again I quote: “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death”). In opposition to what so-called wise men have taught, Christ affirms, “All who came before Me are thieves and robbers…The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly,” and also, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 10:8, 10; John 14:6).

Also, the speculations of science offers no reasonable explanation as to the state of mankind’s universal plight: much of what was considered good science yesterday is known to be bad science today and much of what we consider good science today will be tomorrow’s alchemy. This line of reason is evident in the above presentation of the fallacy of evolutionary theory. And we are right in affirming that any future scientific discovery will be as void of saving truth as are its previous discoveries. No matter how vital and useful to humanity the findings of science may be, it too, like religion and philosophy, can never show us how to relieve our existence from the hatred, greed, lust, envy and pride that has continuously led our species down the road of a common desire to destroy one another for selfish gain.

In fact, science as a whole while “professing to be wise” (Romans 1:22), is always really just so much foolishness and has discredited its assertion that it seeks truth, because it engages primarily in a fool’s pursuit to bring into disrepute all belief in GOD as the Creator. It thereby seeks to bring into question that sin is an offense to the Creator’s holy nature (everyone knows by instinct right and wrong, cf., Genesis 3:7; Psalms 51:3); thereby attempting to negate the truth of the harm that sin has caused. Thus, mitigating in humanity the need to know that by the “predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23), He sent into the world His Savior who “through [His] death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14).

Correction of Deception

The salvation undertaken by GOD on behalf of mankind is clearly stated in the Bible alone. In the Bible we see that He alone is able to effectuate the salvation of humanity and bring about the eternal cure of all our mutual ills. No other teaching of the myriad religions that have come and gone or remained and evolved; no humanistic worldview or scientific observation has presented this one truth that is essential to our survival: salvation from sin is through GOD’s grace by faith in Christ as Savior. As stated by one prominent Christian apologist:

“The Bible makes uncompromisingly clear to all mankind its claim to be the infallible, inerrant Word of the only true and living God. It denounces all other gods and scriptures as false, as well as the religions they represent. Of Jesus, God’s Word declares, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (Jn 3:36). Peter told Jewish religious leaders (and was beaten, imprisoned, and killed for testifying to Christ's resurrection): “There is none other name...given among men whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

“Such unequivocal statements cannot be misunderstood. Jews would not have been persecuted and killed had they presented Yahweh as just one more god to be added to the Roman Pantheon. Christians were considered an even greater threat because in obedience to Christ they preached the gospel everywhere and thereby “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6). Even they would not have been persecuted and killed had they presented Jesus Christ as merely one of many possible saviors. It was their firm proclamation of Christ’s claim, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (Jn 14:6), that threatened Caesar and aroused such vicious hatred. Today, however, to avoid the objectionable exclusivity of their faith, “Christians” often compromise and many ecumenically deny the biblical gospel.”

But, as this writer further elaborates:

“Christianity is a biblical faith…” (Electronic media; http://www.thebereancall.org/node/6242).

The Believer’s Way

We, the believers in Christ, must treat Christianity as the true faith of the Bible. As such we must never find occasion to compromise its message—ever! Only then are we standing on firm ground, because neither has science nor religion and philosophy reached any rational conclusions that are helpful in pointing us toward the right way to achieving absolute peace with God and our fellow human beings (and for that matter, all of creation too).

For this reason: “I am ready to preach the gospel…For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth…For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith’” (Romans 1:15-17).

And you too, child of GOD, should neither be ill prepared to preach the Gospel nor ashamed of it. As Paul instructs us: “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). And: “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:1-5).

Concluding Thoughts

In the book of Job, which is the oldest written text in the Bible and quite possibly mankind’s oldest manuscript, Job, the personage for whom the book is titled says, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth” (Job 19:25). Job, you should know, was unfairly singled out by Satan to be the focus of unrelenting and vicious attacks against his property, his family and finally his health. As stated, these attacks were supernatural in scope and its purpose was devised by the devil to prove that humanity is not worth saving. But even here, in the most ancient of all Bible texts, we see the idea of a coming Redeemer to redress all that is wrong with the existing plight of mankind. By his inspired words, Job presents the idea of the coming Christ, the one who is “First and Last,” the “Alpha and Omega,” who would yet take up the sinner’s cause and bring the salvation of the Lord to all who believe.

Just as Job predicted, Christ the Savior has come! And He will return at any moment to establish righteousness on earth!

May GOD richly bless you and send the Holy Spirit to guide you to a saving belief in His grace through faith in Christ Jesus as Savior. And in accepting the gift of GOD, may He then guide you into all truth and empower you to proclaim the Good News of Christ.