The Necessity of a Governing Authority

By Mark McCrary

Is slavery wrong? Hopefully, everyone would say unquestionably yes. If asked if it is absolutely and always wrong, again most would say yes. Yet, 150 years ago, a war was fought in our country, and this issue was at the heart of the conflict. So, there was a time (in fact, historically, a lot of times) when people had no problem with slavery. We say yes, they said no. Who's right? Who or what determines truth? If we say society does (which is what we have now determined), what happens in another 150 years when society says slavery is okay? Is that alright then? What about murder? Murder is always wrong, right? Nazi Germany (and the entire Eugenics movement of the early 20th century) didn’t think so. What about pedophilia? To some degree that was acceptable in ancient Greece.

Atheists and agnostics often resist the idea of a higher authority dictating right and wrong. They argue that morality is a social construct, fluid and subjective. Without a divine standard, what we consider wrong today could be acceptable tomorrow based on societal changes. The only way there could be absolute and timeless truth is if there is an absolute and timeless authority behind truth; an authority that transcends social and cultural norms; an authority with wisdom that empowers and enforces that truth.

The Bible teaches God to be this authority. “I the Lord speak the truth; I declare what is right” (Isaiah 45:19).  He has established an unchanging moral law. The Bible is His book of truth, serving as the foundation for discerning right from wrong. For instance, the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17) provided clear directives on how to live a life pleasing to God to the Old Testament Jews. In the New Testament, Jesus emphasized love for God and neighbor as the greatest commandments (Matthew 22:37-40), encapsulating the essence of Christian ethics. The epistles serve as guides to daily Christian living. All of these come from God, not men (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21).

If there is a timeless, governing authority, then we have an obligation to obey its standards—or break ourselves against them. Our God gives us absolute truths because He loves us and desires the best for us. Yes, they are sometimes limiting, but they limit “for our good always” (Deuteronomy 6:24).  God identifies right and wrong not to make things difficult for us, but to help us. Consider a child who wants to touch a hot stove. Though the child may think it isn’t dangerous, it most certainly is. Children desperately need an adult who understands the absolute truth of the situation and can warn them accordingly. This is what God does for us.

When we acknowledge God's authority, we find a sense of right and wrong that transcends current thinking and social understandings. Society may say LGBTQ issues are acceptable, but God says they are not (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). Society may say we can worship as we like, but God does not (John 4:23-24). Society may argue marriage is a social construct, but Jesus said it was established by God (Matthew 19:1-9).

A governing, authoritative source—God—is essential for defining absolute moral standards. Without it, morality is nothing more than a subjective, relative conclusion of flawed, manipulative, limited humanity that inevitably leads to chaos and harm. Only by embracing God’s commandments as found in the teachings of Jesus and the New Testament writers are we assured of a pathway that is always right and beneficial for us. Though challenging at times, and often counter to the culture around us, it is comforting to know that when we follow His teachings, we choose a path that surpasses man’s momentary whims and leads to Divine acceptance.

Success in Temptation

By Paul Earnhart

One of the most significant conflicts in the history of mankind was the temptation of Jesus, recorded in Matthew 4:1-11.  Satan did his best to cause Jesus to sin.  His approaches were cleverly devised so that there would be nothing immoral in his proposals and there would appear to be some beneficial result in everything he asked Jesus to do.  But Jesus was wise enough and good enough to see the error in each temptation and to avoid it.  Had He sinned, He could not have been our Savior, and mankind would have been forever lost.

What accounts for the success of Jesus in resisting the temptations?

• First, there was a complete knowledge of scripture.  Every temptation was answered with a quotation from scripture.  This knowledge enabled Him to draw from everything the scriptures said revealing the mind of God.  It also enabled Him to know the full context of the scriptures Satan misused.
• Second, His whole life’s goal was to do the will of God.  Every proposal of Satan, whether direct or indirect, was considered in the light of God’s word.
• Third, He was determined to do ONLY the will of God.  This is clear from the first temptation.  Doubtless His hunger for food made Him want to turn those stones into bread.  That would have been His own will.  But since He had no instructions from God to use His powers in this way, He refused. 

If mankind’s most significant conflict was between Jesus and Satan, our own most significant conflict is between us and Satan.  Despite the victory of Jesus, we still can be lost if we allow Satan to have control of our life.  Satan still tempts through the same avenues he tempted Jesus…through the flesh, through pride, and through the desire for things (1 John 2:15-17).  If we are to be victorious as Jesus was, we must exercise the same defense…a thorough knowledge of God’s word, a strong determination to do God’s will and ONLY His will. 

Jumping From the Pinnacle of the Temple

By Paul Earnhart

The second temptation of Jesus, reported in Matthew 4:5-6 is instructive: "Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, 'If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down.  For it is written, 'He shall give His angels charge concerning you,' and 'In their hands they shall bear You up, lest you dash Your foot against a stone.'"

Satan had learned from the first temptation that Jesus would not act without authority from God’s word.  So, Satan quoted Bible to Jesus.  Some people think that if a preacher quotes the Bible, he is surely preaching the truth.  But that is not necessarily so.  Satan quoted scripture, but, of course, he took these verses out of their proper setting.  Furthermore, he avoided mentioning some other things that God had said.

But why would Jesus want to jump from the pinnacle of the temple? 

There may have been at least two reasons.  For one thing, since He had come to be the world’s Messiah, He needed to attract attention as quickly as possible.  If He should jump from the pinnacle of the temple and be gently delivered to earth by angels, this would be sensational enough to make Him instantly and favorably known.  Furthermore, as He embarked on His ministry, which He know would be dangerous, it would be a comfort to know that God really would protect Him.  Better to know now than later.

But Jesus was wise enough to see through Satan’s ploy.  "Jesus said to him, it is written again, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'" (Mt. 4:7)

When scripture is quoted to us, we need to go to the Bible to see if the use that is made of the passage is in harmony with what the writer was really talking about.  Furthermore, just as Jesus did, we must be sure we consider all the Bible says on any given subject.

The First Temptation

By Paul Earnhart

It should be an encouragement to us to know that Jesus was tempted just as we are (Heb. 4:14-15).  Mt 4:1-3 says, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.  Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, 'If you are the Son of God, command these stones become bread.'”

If Satan had come to Jesus with this proposal on the first day of His temptations, it would not have been particularly tempting.  But Jesus must indeed have been hungry after forty days without food.  In fact, He must have felt that He was near death.  And if He died, what of the mission He had to fulfill?  This made Satan’s suggestion all the more appealing.

If many of us had been there, we would have said, “Lord, I don’t see anything wrong with doing this, and even if it is wrong a man has to eat.”  But Jesus did not think that way.  His total concern was to do God’s will, even if it meant death.  And He knew that the only way to know God’s will was to hear it from God’s word.  So, His first thought was “what does the Bible say?”

The Bible said nothing about turning stones into bread.  Here again, we might have advised Jesus “if it doesn’t say not to, it must be all right.”  But the very fact that God had not approved it was enough to keep Jesus from doing it.  After all, it was God’s power that He would use if He turned stones into bread, and He needed authorization from God to use His power in that way.  He did not have any word from God to do it, so He refused to do it even though His life was in jeopardy.

Jesus remembered the words of God in Deut. 8:3 and He quoted them to Satan: “It is written, man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”  If Jesus needed authority from God to use what belonged to God, so do we!  We must not dare to use God’s church, God’s money, God’s name or any other thing pertaining to God without His authority.  It is sin, whether it appears to be or not.

Bible Reading

By Larry Coffey

David Norfleet preached a lesson recently entitled “Engaged with the Truth”. He emphasized knowing, teaching, and practicing the truth. In John 8:31-32 we read, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  This clearly stresses the necessity of reading the Bible often.

We all would acknowledge the importance of reading our Bible. What we know about God, Christ and the Holy Spirit, we learn from the Bible. Churches frequently offer annual Bible reading programs. Some have schedules for reading the Bible all the way through in one year. Many people who start the year with good intentions end up not continuing. So, churches reduce the amount to be read and schedule annual reading of just the New Testament. That works better, but still some Christians can’t seem to complete that either.

In reading a book on the life of Walter Scott, a pioneer preacher in the first half of the 19th century, I noted that bro. Scott taught and baptized a 23-year-old-man by the name of Samuel Church. He was a diligent Bible student and by the time he was 40 years old, he had read the New Testament through 150 times and the Old Testament 75 times. One might say they didn’t have as much to do then, since there was no television or internet service. We may forget about all the modern conveniences we have which they didn’t have such as electricity, heating and a/c systems, plumbing, etc. It is probable we have “more time” available for reading than did they.

Also, in February of this year, I talked to a man who had read the Bible all the way through in 20 days in that month. The man has a full-time job and a family. This causes me to think we are  making excuses when we say we don’t have time to read the Bible daily.

We do the things we consider to be most important to us. And there are many things that should be priorities. However, I suggest that letting God talk to us each day through the reading of his word should have the highest priority. A familiar scripture is 2 Tim. 3:16-17, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”

Can your mind fully grasp eternity? Mine can’t. However, it can understand that knowing God’s will for us is absolutely essential for us to prepare for eternity with God. And for us to know God’s will, we must have a regular Bible reading habit to which we commit a portion of our time.