It is a heady thing to present oneself as arguing truth. The truth is, my opinion on anything is only my opinion and does not rank higher than the opinion of another.
That being said, how on earth do we seek the Truth about God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit? Why do we find ourselves the ones left to communicate what is and is not Truth?
Whatever you hang your hat on as Truth must be painstakingly examined for its origin.
I have chosen to be a vegan because I have chosen to believe the body of research that concludes that animal protein has serious consequences for disease and body breakdown. To defend this choice, I must know the origin of the research and the motive behind it. What captured me was that the researcher set out to prove that animal protein was the answer. He discovered the complete opposite.**
I am captured by Paul's writings for the same reason. He set out to prove that Jesus was the enemy of God's way. After all, the Jews had been the chosen prism to announce God's way hundreds of years before. On the road to Damascus, Paul (then Saul) discovered the complete opposite.*** He, in fact, met Jesus. It is hard to deny Jesus if you have met him by hearing his voice thundering from the heavens, asking why you are persecuting him. Paul chose to believe Jesus as the Messiah because the body of research he examined was the Scriptures of old that now aligned with the voice from heaven.
It is unlikely we will hear Jesus' voice thundering from heaven, but we can surely examine Paul's origin of research and his motive behind it. Paul knows everyone won't hear him (2 Corinthians 2):
In the Messiah, in Christ, God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade. Through us, he brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way to salvation--an aroma redolent to life. But those on the way to destruction treat us more like a stench from a rotting corpse.He continues:
This is a terrific responsibility. Is anyone competent to take it on? No.When someone humbly says they are not competent to know everything and that only God does, yet they show the origin of their words and are transparent about their motive to speak them, I can start paying attention. I can then choose to believe or not.
Paul, throughout the New Testament, argued Truth that stood against every prevailing untruth of his day. Untruth seeks to take over every generation, and we must use intelligence and maturity to examine and argue against it only with the authority given to us by God.
Origin. Motive. Authority. Intelligence. Maturity.
Tomorrow we discover Paul's greatest admonition: none of these are worth anything without Love.
*2 Corinthians 4.
**Dr. T. Colin Campbell, The China Study.
***Acts 9.
Tomorrow: The greatest of these is Love.
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