Tuesday, July 27, 2010

NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH
Verse for Today
Acts 19:9a - But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the WAY. So Paul left them.

When the Word of God is preached, we usually find four responses. There are those who gladly accept it. There are those who reject it outright because of hardheartedness and willful disobedience. There are also those who are indifferent to it and ignore it or put it aside. But all who hear the message have a responsibility to respond positively because what is preached is the Word of God and it is preached on behalf of God. Those who are neutral and ignore the message are thoughtless about it and do not take it seriously. But the hardhearted are willfully rejecting it and are stubborn and obstinate about obeying the message from God. They think they are smart and can make some arguments for not believing and accepting the message. These two groups will end up in loosing the opportunity in accepting the message of salvation through Jesus Christ. We also have a fourth category that accept the basic message, but are obstinate not to accept the whole message of God's Word. This is a dangerous position because they receive half of the message and reject the rest. God expects us to listen to the whole counsel of God's Word and accept it in its totality. We are accountable to God in what we believe and pay a price to remain true to what we believe. Partial belief is extremely dangerous and inconsistent with the truth because partial truth is not really truth at all. God expects us to give total allegiance to the whole counsel of faith that has been once and for all entrusted with those who believe.

Hello reader, in which of the four categories of people do you belong? Do you believe the whole counsel of God? Or are you willfully rejecting the whole message or ignore it out of lack of concern? If the courts of law of this world expect witnesses to give "the truth, whole truth and nothing but the truth", would it be too much for God to expect you to believe the whole truth as it has been revealed to man? Those who believe the whole truth are the children of obedience. They are those who contend for the faith which has been entrusted with them once and for all. They are willing to pay the price to believe in the whole truth and are ready to give up any thing in this world to stand witness to the what they believe. They look for Biblical reasons to justify each and every one of their actions and thoughts. Whenever they falter, the Spirit of God who lives in them will convict them of their failures which will lead to confession and true repentance. Paul preached the whole truth and gave his life to stand witness to the truth in its totality. He fought for the doctrines as much as for the historical Christian faith. He died because he took a public stand for the whole truth. He didn't think his life was important in defending the truth as it was revealed to him. The truth that we are asked to defend is the Lord Jesus Christ and matters concerning His Father, His Church, His Spirit and His sheep. His truth fortifies, comforts and leads us in times of adversity and prosperity. His truth is the most liberating force in this world. Let us be willing to give our lives to the One who gave us His life to teach us the truth.

2 Corinthians 13:8 - For we can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth.

Thought for Today
Those who stand for the truth are the only free people, and the rest are in the bondage of falsehood created by the father of lies.

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