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Pointers along the way #547

Our final resort
- Jacob Ninan

For many people, morality is relative; what seems wrong for one seems ok for another. Values that have been respected from the beginning of man are now changing. Laws are being rewritten, and anyone who stands by the ancient truths (Pr.22:28) is mocked as being narrow-minded or 'fundamentalistic' (with a negative connotation). The sad thing is that many Christians also are being swayed by this social current and compromising godly values in order to be seen as progressive, broad-minded and tolerant.

In the midst of all this attack against Christian values, Christ and God Himself (it is actually against Him), praise God that many Christians are still holding on. They draw their strength from the word of God and their fellowship with Him. One of the reasons why many others are failing is that they have compromised their concept of the word of God.

The Bible has been under attack for centuries. Many have tried to remove it from the face of the earth, and others have burned it, banned it, ridiculed it and belittled it. But God's word still continues to survive and to inspire, guide, teach and build millions of people (2Ti.3:16,17). Those who accept the Bible as inspired by God and given to man thrive in their spiritual life and stand boldly in the face of attack. They recognise the truths in the Bible as those revealed by God to man even when 'experts' in the world try to disprove its claims or mock its standards.

Some Christians are trying to find a middle path between the teachings of the Bible and the opinion of experts. Some are willing to compromise the teachings of the Bible in order to find favour with the world's opinions. We must not forget that over the centuries greater scientific and archaeological discoveries have actually served to validate the claims of the Bible, even though before such discoveries were made it was felt that the Bible couldn't be right in view of certain 'facts'.

When we read the Bible we must reckon with the fact that it was written by people, and we have to take into consideration various aspects such as the context, the background culture, the particular people each passage originally addressed, the literary style used (sometimes the words are to be understood figuratively), etc. How many times has it been seen that what appeared to be an 'error' in the Bible has been clarified later when more details were brought in to the process of interpretation!

At the same time, even when we make allowance for the fact that we are not always in a position to interpret the meaning of some passages exactly, with absolute certainty, we must be clear that it is still God's word which He has inspired the human authors to write. It is His authority that gets questioned when people question the Bible or refute its teachings. On the contrary, the Bible is our reliable standard and last resort when it comes to God's truths and values. Our safety is to stay with the Bible even when 'experts' disagree.

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