By Ramon Arias
Those who despise God’s absolutes believe that all of us who profess biblical faith are easy prey to be deceived, dominated, trampled, pushed, scared, silenced, threatened, intimidated or just plain imposed upon by their laws to subject us to do their bidding. Where do they get an idea like that? They get that idea from the majority of “Christians” who live their Christianity passively, in total apathy, ignorance or rebellion toward truths established by God. They have decided that God’s standards are not to be respected and consider them inferior.
It is supposed that when we recognize our life needs purpose and meaning it’s because nothing that we know satisfies, the contrary is true and we are faced with an enormous dissatisfaction. But from the moment we accept the life Jesus offers it makes all the sense we are looking for. The Word of God then becomes our main life manual to effectively build all that we are and all that we do. The knowledge we acquire in the pages of the Bible allows us to filter and discern all ideas, philosophies, religions and all the doctrines we hear and read about to know what is true and what is false.
Now let us consider what Peter wrote in relation to what I have just affirmed:
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:9-12 ESV).
This is a powerful declaration. We are called to participate of God’s glorious light, which is the wisdom and intelligence of God, this should give us a tremendous advantage to understand the world from God’s perspective and not settle for man’s perspective no matter how wise and intelligent they may seem. This truth alone should fill us with positivism and determination to excel in everything and to solve any problem or difficulty we might have to face. Far from puffing up our ego this should encourage and equip us to help our neighbors in ways that can manifest God’s undeniable light to them that they too may glorify our heavenly Father.
On the other hand, if we fail to demonstrate God’s light in and through us, it is obvious we have returned to a life of darkness from where we came. The sad part is that in that darkness we continue to carry the name of “Christians.” We may have abundant Bible knowledge. We may be involved and very active in diverse “Christian ministry.” We may display great charisma and quote much Scripture by memory but that does cause us to be in God’s light.
In the letter the Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians in Asia Minor he warned them strongly because they had abandoned the foundation that gave them justification by faith: “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?… Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Gal 3:1,3 ESV).
The Complete Jewish Bible translates the above verse in the following manner:
“You stupid Galatians! Who has put you under a spell?…. Are you that stupid? Having begun with the Spirit’s power, do you think you can reach the goal under your own power?” (Complete Jewish Bible).
It is evident once we taste the wisdom of God and we recognize that only He has absolute truth, then we decide to abandon it for some theological, philosophical, ideological or any other school of humanistic thought, we automatically allow ourselves to be seduced by powers contrary to God. We are not being wise or intelligent when we go that route.
Paul rebuked the Galatians as Christians ought to be rebuked in every generation for abandoning the wisdom and intelligence of God only to regress to the stupidities we once believed and lived by. As unbelievable as it may be, many Christians prefer to live in the corrupt product of stupidity.
On many fronts the majority of Christians are being bewitched by the magical arts and traps of those who promise peace, prosperity, abundance and health for the various areas of human development.
When the majority of Christians are beguiled, just as Eve was when she accepted to be bewitched in the Garden of Eden, and abandon God’s truth, they fall prey to proposals of greatness without God (Genesis 3). Nothing good can come to that generation or future generations of those who turn their back on God’s absolute truth.
If we are not walking in obedience to those precious absolute truths of God, as they are revealed in His Word, it’s impossible to manifest the fruit of wisdom and intelligence that proceed from God. We would definitely have to be bewitched to think for a moment that we can bear the name of Christ without obeying the truth of God.
The questions that were posed to the generation of children and young people that came out of Egypt from slavery, are the same questions we need to answer this very day:
“Do you thus repay the Lord, you foolish and senseless people? Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you? (Deuteronomy 32:6 ESV).
What is your answer?