Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Never Ending Bias – Part Two


2 Timothy 3:1-5 Mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,  without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,  treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—  having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

Picking up this discussion from last post: In an age where secular society claims that everything is “relative”, professes “inclusiveness” and preaches that “tolerance” is the highest virtue, we are now experiencing the most “absolute”, “exclusive” and “intolerant” political and social attacks on Christianity today by those very same secular humanist. Why? Sin is at the root, but the Bible writers are quite clear that light (God) and darkness (Sin) are diametric and polar opposites that cannot co-exist. John 1:5 The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it. Adversity towards the sovereignty of God and His authority is unsurprising to sinful natural unregenerate man seeking autonomy to be their own god, accountable only to self. Sproul explains that philosophical and psychological “liberation” from God involves a revolt against the sovereign authority of Almighty Creator God in an act of cosmic treason. In searching for influencing factors which contribute to the breakdown of respect for Divine authority, we must consider the impact of atheistic autonomous existentialism by a God-rejecting world system through the sinful flesh desires upon our culture, following Dostoevsky’s thesis: “If there is no God, then I am god and anything is permitted.” But God’s commands carry no RSVP – men and women indeed have the “power” to refuse the Divine summons, but not the “right”. It is a choice with eternal consequences.

Romans 1:21-25 “Although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”


 The question gets down to: “Whose kingdom do I live in and for?”, and ultimately, “Who is on the throne, that I am subject to?” Fredrick Nietzsche’s theorized that man does not live in subjection to the dictates of God, but in his quest for autonomy he creates his own values. That he exchanges the “slave morality” of decadent Christianity for his own “master morality.” There can be no peaceful coexistence and the Christian God must die lest He continue to castrate the potentially authentic man. Thus Christianity with its ethic of theonomy, the rule of God, is on a collision course with natural man’s dream of autonomy, self-rule. If God exists, man cannot be a law unto himself. If God exists, man’s will-to-power is destined to run head-on into the will of God. God’s sovereignty looms as an invincible threat to the aspirations of autonomous man. Jean-Paul Sartre stated: “There is no human nature, since there is no God to conceive it. Not only is man what he conceives himself to be, he is only what he wills himself to be after this thrust towards existence. If God does not exist, we find no values or commands to turn to which legitimize our conduct. So, in the bright realm of values, we have no excuse behind us, nor justification before us. We are alone, with no excuse.” For Sartre, God represents a threat to authentic morality. If God is autonomous, then man cannot be. By rejecting the existence of God, Sartre claims that he makes room for real morality. He argues that the rejection of God makes morality possible, but perhaps, it is Sartre’s immorality that makes the rejection of God necessary and the “real” issue. Is this not true still today!? 

Romans 1:28-32 “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”

Let’s continue this never ending bias against God and His people issue next post.
In God We Trust.

In Christ, Brian

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great job of identifying man's rebellion. More prayer and sharing the gospel is needed. Mark

Brian Ray Todd said...

Thank you Mark for the comment. Is the kingdom of God getting to be a concept alien to basic American thinking? Where “In God We Trust” is the National Motto, “One Nation Under God” is in our Nation Pledge of Allegiance, our Nation’s Declaration of Independence states: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”, and Our National Anthem’s final verse is: “O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand between their loved home and the war's desolation. Blessed with victory and peace, may the Heaven rescued land praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, and this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave over the land of the free and the home of the brave!”, do we have rebellion against the Sovereign Creator of Heaven, Universe and Earth by haters of God; is our loving Lord God and His Holy Word being attacked? I agree with your remedy: "More prayer and sharing the gospel is needed." Stand firm (Ephesians 6:14-18)