All I Know is What I Know

All I Know is What I Know

Has anyone ever asked you questions like, “Why did God choose water baptism?” or “Wouldn’t you like to know more about the origin of Satan?” or “What exactly were the Urim and the Thummim? (Exodus 28:30)?” or, “What if God created alternate realities?”

We are often challenged with questions about matters on which the Bible gives little or no revelation.  People often ask us hypothetical questions and present scenarios of which the Bible says nothing, and then expect us to have some logical answer to the question.  There are some things about creation and whatever was going on before creation that the Bible says nothing about.  There are many things about the nature of God and what is going on in the mind of God for which we have no doctrine or revelation, but skeptics often demand an answer to those kinds of questions.

If one is not careful, the believer can allow one unanswered question to hinder his or own faith.  A single matter of uncertainty or ambiguity in scripture can be enough for one to discard the Bible altogether; if no one gives me a good enough answer to this nagging question, then the Book as a whole is subject to rejection.

The idea is that, if you don’t have all the answers, then the answers you do have are insufficient.  But when is this principle ever applied?  When one works for a company, they may ask their manager or boss questions about their pay, questions about why a particular assignment is necessary, why a company policy has changed, but there are times when no answers are provided.  Sometimes, an employee doesn’t get a reasonable answer, or even questions company policy and methods, but just because they don’t get all the answers, they don’t up and quit.  Lower level employees are almost always in the dark about what is going on in the upper levels of corporate operations, but they know enough to keep doing their job and expect compensation.

We would rather not admit it, but we never know everything about anything we involve ourselves in.  A person doesn’t know 100% about the mechanisms and physics that allow a plane to fly, but they know enough to get on the plane.  A person doesn’t know everything about someone they choose to marry, but at some point, they do get married.  There is mystery in every decision we make, every path we choose, but we take the knowledge we have and proceed anyways.

Deuteronomy 29:29 says, “The secret things belong to God, but those things that are revealed belong to us and our children forever, that we may do the works of this law.”  The Bible plainly teaches there are some things that we will not know, that we don’t need to know.  But the things that have been revealed are revealed for a purpose: that we should know exactly how we and our generations might best please God.  I Corinthians 2 teaches that God has not left us completely in the dark, and that He has revealed things we need to know by His Spirit (I Corinthians 2:10). 

When it comes to God’s plan of salvation and His will for mankind, all we know is what has been revealed.  If we are not satisfied with that, we are in danger of endlessly searching, “always learning but never coming to a knowledge of the truth.” (II Timothy 3:7) Many have thrown their lives away in such an endless search for answers to every question, even when, “what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.” (Romans 1:19)

Questions about death and the afterlife abound.  But there is a great deal of mystery there as well.  Let us put our trust in God who has given us an abundance of proof, a text that perfectly guides us in all matters of life and death, which teaches us, “it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” (I John 3:2)

Jeremy Koontz

Bulletin 02/06/2020

singing at Mansfield

What if a Fellow Sins Against You?

What if a Fellow Sins Against You?

Some lessons are hard to learn at any age. I remember quite well a lesson I had to learn at the age of twelve. A friend and I had a “falling out.” Our friendship was suddenly on dangerous ground, and I was frightened. I don’t think I had ever faced a problem like this one. I was told that my friend had said some things about me that were not true. It was not hard for my Dad to see I was troubled, and he asked me about it. When I told him the problem, he immediately told me that I needed to go talk to my friend and settle the issue.

I did not want to. I was afraid we would never be friends again, but Dad insisted, and he was right. I was able to clear the air about my own actions, and my friend explained his. Dad did not “quote scripture” to me, though he could have, but I will never forget that lesson he taught me at the age of twelve.

It is inevitable that people who live in this world will at some point get “crosswise” with each other. Christians can and do sin against other Christians, causing injury, sorrow, even a rupture in their close fellowship in the Lord. What should be done in such cases? Does the Bible tell us what to do and how to do it? Yes, the Bible deals with that subject specifically.

In Matthew 18:15-17 Jesus said:

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear you, take with you one or two more, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.”

It is not unusual for big or little disagreements to take place, even sin, among the best of people, but Jesus gave us a way to solve those problems before they become more serious. The solution is so obvious that you would think all of us would see it and would immediately want to work toward solving that misunderstanding, removing the sin that comes between us.

There is one thing, however, that may make it harder to do. The brother or sister against whom sin has been committed must “go and tell him his sin between you and him alone.” No, that’s not an easy thing to do, but it must be done.

It’s possible the brother who sinned against you does not realize he has sinned if you don’t go to him and talk about it.

In another passage, Jesus again confronts the issue of a Christian who has sinned against his/her brother. In Matthew 5:23-24 Jesus addresses how we should handle such incidents:

“Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”

Obviously, if something comes between two Christians, both of them are obligated to find a solution. Both the one who has been sinned against and the one who has committed the sin must attempt to restore harmonious relationships as they were before the sin occurred. This is more than a common sense principle, but it is also fundamental to solving the problem. More to the point, it is an imperative, clearly demanded, supported, and stated in the Bible. Let’s do what it says!

Why then do we not do whatever it takes to assure that brethren can be in full harmony again? The main issue is that Jesus said we must “go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.” Someone may not want to confront that person. Is there an alternate way to deal with this issue? Is there an easier way? Only if scripture provides an “easier” way – but it does not.

The way some choose is to tell it to someone else, then let them deal with it. This way would allow me to give someone else the task of solving my problem. The obvious reason some prefer this way “out of a problem” is that it takes me “off the hook.” The pressure is now on someone else. However, this way is not only lazy and cowardly, it violates Jesus’ clear instructions.

That friendship I mentioned at the beginning is still strong after many years, and partly because my father told me the truth, made me do what was best, even though it was not easy.

Christians still “get crosswise” occasionally, but the Bible gives us the way to deal with it.

Carl B Garner