Absolutes and the Bible (Part 2)

It is the same with us who are Believers. The law was given because we did not know right from wrong (we were children). God punished us appropriate to our level of growth and maturity. As we grew, we continued to test our boundaries. Our wrongdoings were punished, but differently than when we were children. The punishment fit the crime and God would allow us to go through various trials and tribulations to help us to understand that there were rules to be followed. We grew older and began to know our own minds. We took what God had given us and tried to apply it to the 'real' world. At many times, the Israelites would get among other groups of people and began to copy their culture and environment - idol worship, unholy practices, and polygamy. And the Israelites would then go through some trial that would help them to realize there were still rules to be followed. Then they returned to worshipping the One True God and honoring the commandments and precepts that God had given them. As the Israelites grew as a people, they learned to go out in the world, yet maintain the values which they had been taught. They learned to hold on to their own identity and impact the world with who they were as opposed to being negatively impacted by the world.

Jesus arrived just as the Jewish people had firmly established their identity. They had divided themselves into various sects and followed long-standing beliefs held by their community. They were 'adults'. And, as adults, Jesus taught them a new doctrine. Not only did they need to follow the laws that were written in their hearts, it was time to go even further with those laws and continue in their spiritual growth. The laws had been given to the Jewish nation so that they might know right from wrong. Now that they clearly knew right from wrong, it was time to talk about the matters of their heart. Yes, the Jewish sects followed the law because they came to understand that was what was expected of them. But only a few had gotten the idea that God wanted the law to be written in their hearts as well and for people to act on those laws almost unthinkingly as it was written in their hearts. And, then, to go to the next level of thinking and behaving. At that point, not only did God not want the Jewish people to not covet what their neighbors had, He also wanted them to actively work at helping that neighbor to maintain his land, his property and his family. Following this line of thinking, Jesus instructed the Israelites to not only treat their neighbors right, but to love everybody else as well. It was no longer enough to know the law, the Jewish people now needed to live it, whole-heartedly.

Also, some 'absolutes' of the Old Testament were given to the Israelites due to the 'hardness of the hearts' as Jesus pointed out in the New Testament. These laws were meant to be followed literally simply to impress upon the Jewish people certain accepted modes of behavior. For example, In the instance of divorce, the Israelites had been given a set of procedures to follow to divorce their wives because, without those rules, the men were simply throwing the women out on the street with no means to support themselves. In the New Testament, Jesus told them there was no justification for divorce except in cases of adultery (and Paul added later, if an unbelieving husband or wife left). Jesus was trying to get the Jewish people to understand that it was now a matter of grace and not a matter of simply following the law. The law could be summarized by two sentiments - love God with all your heart and soul and might and love your neighbor as you loved yourself. Grace meant that it was no longer about simply following rules, it was now about loving God and loving others to the best of your ability. After the coming of Jesus Christ, the laws, and the concepts of grace and love was passed on to the Gentiles as well. So, these laws now apply to everyone who considers himself or herself to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

The law was given so that man might see how far he was from being all that God needed Him to be. The law was given so that we might be aware of how far we were from what God would consider 'holy'. Without the law, we would have been content to follow our own self-serving rules of behavior without ever knowing God's idea of how His people should live.

So are there absolutes for right and wrong? Absolutely. The bible more than anything else holds up an 'ideal' standard for us all to follow. First, in the person of Jesus Christ and then in the commandments and laws given to us in the bible. These laws represent the ideal. God has certain standards of behavior that He follows and that He considers holy. Our ability to follow those laws is intricately connected with our relationship to Him. Without Him, without His grace, without the Love shown to us in the form of Jesus Christ, we would never be able to embody these laws. He has made a way for us to follow these laws, but only through Him. We are incapable, on our own, of keeping his commandments. We are incapable of living 'holy' apart from His providence.

So what are these absolutes? He wants us to love Him absolutely with all that we have. He wants us to absolutely love others as we love ourselves. He has also absolutely provided us with an absolute Savior who has absolutely rolled back our sins and who has absolutely given the ability to follow Him. Is it wrong to treat someone badly? Yes, but we will apart from Jesus Christ. Is it wrong hold discriminatory views against a certain group of people? Yes, but we are incapable of changing our worldview apart from Him. We, as people, have limited powers of reasoning and ability. And those powers have been given to each of us by God, regardless of gender, race or state of salvation. We have innate qualities, but they are finite. God's abilities are infinite. How can we ever hope to achieve His high standards within our own limited resources? Maybe you are 'naturally' a loving person. You can give love to your family and your friends and to the people in your life. But, who do you think can give you the ability to love and pray for an entire country? An entire nation? The whole world? Maybe you are a naturally gifted speaker. You hold motivational seminars across your country, state or region. Maybe you are even internationally known. Jesus was the greatest motivational speaker that ever lived. His fame is known throughout the entire world. There is no way you can reach and ultimately change people's hearts without the assistance of God. Yes, we are glib and we are persuasive, but do you really believe you can continue in the same vein for years on end and really make a difference with only the limited resources of your own strength and power? The power of God is limitless. So, we should absolutely follow His commandments, directives and laws, but only through Him. It may seem impossible to truly love everyone, but it is possible through Him. It may seem unconscionable to suggest that we go the second mile when someone forces us to go the first and to give them our coat as well, but all things are possible with God.

There are certainly standards of right and wrong that, as Christians, we are in agreement upon. There are also hundreds of other points (pre- and post-Rapture Christians, always saved or conditionally saved, etc., etc.) about which we do not agree. How then do we know what is right versus what is wrong? Only in Him. Only through a relationship with Him and His leadership and direction in your life. Only through a relationship with the Holy Spirit in which he teaches you what the bible really means and helps you to apply it to your own life. We can argue and debate the points of the bible until there is no more to be said, but some things will only be made clear through your relationship with God. Trust Him. Let Him guide you. And you will begin to live your life according to what the Lord considers to be His absolutes.


Religion, Spirituality, Christian, Christianity, Self-Help, Absolutes