ENGAGE - Stand on the Word of God
By Scott Jones
For forty days Jesus had been alone in the wilderness without food. The Khamsin, the hot, dry wind blew across the desert, parching his throat. Imagine how tired, thirsty, and hungry He must have been, and then the devil showed up with an idea. “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”[i] Jesus must have been incredibly tempted to satisfy His hunger, but He also knew that the Father had another plan. He replied, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”[ii] Matthew records that the devil tempted Jesus two more times. Although the devil himself quoted Scripture out of context, Jesus answered each temptation with scriptural truth. Jesus’ final answer to the devil was “You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.”[iii] If it is our desire to serve God, like Jesus, then we should emulate Jesus and be able to give an answer for our faith with the Word of God.
Are God’s principles relevant in the civil society? In the political arena, we are often told to be pragmatic and to support the candidate that can win. But pragmatism, unconstrained by principle, is the slippery slope to moral failure. Solomon said, “Behold, I have found only this, that God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices.”[iv] When engaged in political activity, it is easy to be distracted and tempted by worldly devices and schemes to win an election. The Greek philosopher, Epictetus, said, “At this time is freedom anything but the right to live as we wish? Nothing else.”[v] This approach pushes us toward fulfilling our own desires through naked pragmatism. By way of contrast, the great Scottish clergyman, Peter Marshall, said, “May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right.”[vi] And how do we know what is right? Not by appeal to our fallen natures, but by rightly applying the Word of God.
In Freedom’s Frame, Rick Green states, “The framework of our government recognizes that there are certain self-evident truths. One of these is the existence of moral absolutes. You cannot live your life without moral absolutes. The assertion that there are no absolutes is itself a moral absolute - a shaky theory at best.”[vii] So, what is the source of our moral absolutes? John Adams had this to say, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”[viii] President George Washington offered this observation, “Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion… reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle”[ix] When these founders spoke of “religion” they had in mind Biblical Christianity. These men recognized the importance of moral truth.
As Christians, we are called to be faithful to Biblical principles. We must know what we believe and why we believe it. Peter tells us “… always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you.”[x] Christians must be able to provide a reasonable defense for the principles they hold, and to do so from Scripture, not from human reasoning alone. Pope John Paul II once said, “When freedom does not have a purpose, when it does not wish to know anything about the rule of law engraved in the hearts of men and women, when it does not listen to the voice of conscience, it turns against humanity and society.”[xi] And what is the source of the law engraved in the hearts of men and women, but the word of God? As Paul said, “… they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.”[xii]
Frederick Douglass, stated his political principles like this: “I have one great political idea... The best expression of it I have found in the Bible. It is in substance, ‘Righteousness exalteth a nation; sin is a reproach to any people’[xiii]This constitutes my politics — the negative and positive of my politics, and the whole of my politics.” And where are the principles of righteousness found? In the Word of God. We, the people of God, must stand in the public square for truth as revealed in the Bible. The Word of God is the only firm foundation for truth we have in a complex and fallen world. While morality may be agreed upon by a group of people, the universal ethical standard is found in the nature, character, and person of God, as revealed in the Bible. We must know it well and be able to apply it faithfully.
In the first century, the young pastor, Timothy, had the challenge of shepherding a young church, and no doubt dealing with Roman authority. Paul advises his protégé, “O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called ‘knowledge’”[xiv] And again, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” [xv] Paul reminds Timothy, All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;”[xvi] Paul finishes by warning Timothy to rely on the Word of God, when people seek to distort the truth, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”[xvii] This, then, is where we firmly stand – on the Bible, God’s special revelation of truth.
Psalm 119 is a song of praise for the Word of God. It begins, thus:
How blessed are those whose way is blameless,
Who walk in the law of the Lord.
How blessed are those who observe His testimonies,
Who seek Him with all their heart.
They also do no unrighteousness;
They walk in His ways.
You have [b]ordained Your precepts,
That we should keep them diligently.
Oh that my ways may be established
To keep Your statutes!
Then I shall not be ashamed
When I look [d]upon all Your commandments.
I shall give thanks to You with uprightness of heart,
When I learn Your righteous judgments.
I shall keep Your statutes;
Do not forsake me utterly!.[xviii]
May we always walk blamelessly, according to the law of the Lord, steadfastly keeping His statutes. When others seek to distort the truth, may we measure our words and actions by one standard of truth: the Bible, the living Word of God. May we stand firmly and speak boldly to a culture that prefers the wisdom of men over the wisdom of God.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org
[i] Matthew 4:3
[ii] Matthew 4:4
[iii] Matthew 4:10
[iv] Ecclesiastes 7:29
[v] (Epictetus n.d.)
[vi] (Marshall n.d.)
[vii] (Green 2008)
[viii] (Adams n.d.)
[ix] (Washington n.d.)
[x] 1 Peter 3:15
[xi] (Pope John Paul II n.d.)
[xii] Romans 2:15
[xiii] Proverbs 14:34
[xiv] 1 Timothy 6:20
[xv] 2 Timothy 2:15
[xvi] 2 Timothy 3:16
[xvii] 2 Timothy 4:3-4
[xviii] Psalm 119:1-8