"For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ. But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ," Gal.1:10-12, NKJV.
It is a truth too often forgotten that, in embracing Christ, we give up the world. Our aim, in preaching the Word, is not to please man with some new and comforting philosophy, but to inform a dying world of an eternal truth. Truth is not relative, as philosophers of this age would have us believe, but absolute. Truth does not apply exclusively to those who believe it, but simply is. It is our duty, then, as Christians, to inform those deluded by the Great Lie of the Great Truth which governs their eternal destiny and the destiny of the universe. Truth is not pleasant to man because it is not of his making. Neither is the Lie, but the Lie is contingent upon the illusion of freedom, whereas truth reveals the dependence of man and is therefore repulsive to his rebellious nature.
But truth is irrevocable and inevitable--it acts upon us. We do not seek to please man with lies, but God with truth--for God is truth. Our message is not from man, but from God. For in man dwells the lies of the devil, and it is these lies which man loves and seeks. But we are bondservants of Christ and by His grace the truth dwells in us, therefore "if we still pleased men, we would not be bondservants of Christ."
It is a truth too often forgotten that, in embracing Christ, we give up the world. Our aim, in preaching the Word, is not to please man with some new and comforting philosophy, but to inform a dying world of an eternal truth. Truth is not relative, as philosophers of this age would have us believe, but absolute. Truth does not apply exclusively to those who believe it, but simply is. It is our duty, then, as Christians, to inform those deluded by the Great Lie of the Great Truth which governs their eternal destiny and the destiny of the universe. Truth is not pleasant to man because it is not of his making. Neither is the Lie, but the Lie is contingent upon the illusion of freedom, whereas truth reveals the dependence of man and is therefore repulsive to his rebellious nature.
But truth is irrevocable and inevitable--it acts upon us. We do not seek to please man with lies, but God with truth--for God is truth. Our message is not from man, but from God. For in man dwells the lies of the devil, and it is these lies which man loves and seeks. But we are bondservants of Christ and by His grace the truth dwells in us, therefore "if we still pleased men, we would not be bondservants of Christ."
Comments
Post a Comment