A Clear Case of an Epidemic

There is an epidemic of this in the world today. What was once called situational ethics has, primarily due to the slime of "higher education" oozing down into public schools as it morphed into each person having "their own truth." 

 

Proverb of the Week

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,

but the LORD weighs the heart. 

- Proverbs 21:2 (ESV)

In the book of Deuteronomy, Israel is warned against everyone doing what is right in his own eyes, and Proverbs 12:15 even warns that “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes”, In the book of Judges, twice its stated that “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” and both times this was associated with the nation falling into sin and disorder. The phrase “there was no king in Israel” suggest that the rule and leadership of a king would counteract this practice of every man doing what is right in his own eyes, but we live in a democratic republic and have no king, so are we left with no way of discerning right from wrongs? By no means! I would simply remind everyone that we do have a King. King Jesus. He is on his throne and right here in our Bibles he has left sufficient guidance to know what is right in the eyes of God.

 

The Spirit of Man vs the Spirit of God

 

Proverb of the Week

The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all his innermost parts.              - Proverbs 20:27 (ESV)

The spirit of man, as spoken of here, may be understood as that aspect of living creatures which separates humans from animals; a self-awareness which transcends the physical body. When this spirit of man searches his own heart to recognize good and evil we might refer to it as his conscience, which is a gift from God given to every man, but not to be confused with the Spirit of God which dwells only within believers. When an unbeliever’s will overrules his conscience to surrender to his wicked desires repeatedly and consistently, that lamp will become little more than a flickering ember that is swallowed up by the darkness. In contrast, God has promised that his Spirit, once dwelling within us, will never leave us, and it is this Holy Spirit who provides the light which can never be extinguished. As John 14:16-17 tells  us: And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

As further support for this understanding of the Proverb, I would cite 1 Corinthians 2:11-12 which says: For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.

Who Can Say That?

 

Proverb of the Week

Who can say, “I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin”?                           – Proverbs 20:9 (ESV)

 

To most of us this is a rhetorical question; a question that needs no reply because the answer is so obvious. Scriptures come to mind such as “None is righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10) or “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), or even “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.” (Isaiah 64:6)

However, there is one man who had no need to make his heart pure because it was never impure.  The same who has no need of being made clean from sin because he never sinned; Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, in whom lies all our hope. “For our sake he [God] made him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)  It is that act of Jesus in taking our sin and bearing the punishment for it onto himself, while giving us a share in his righteousness in its place, that delivers us from justice and allows God to see us as though we have a clean heart, pure from sin, when we are in Christ.