God Gives Solid Ground: Using Issue 1 to examine the grounds on which we base our beliefs
“We do not need to get good laws to restrain bad people. We need to get good people to restrain us from bad laws.” ― G.K. Chesterton
G.K. Chesterton was right, but he was assuming that people have a common basis to discern good and evil. In our culture, often on both sides of the aisle, we have reduced “good” and “bad” to matters of opinion. “Good” is allowing people to do what they feel to be true, and “bad” is stopping anyone from doing what they feel to be true.
So what is the basis of our beliefs?
Modern thinking promotes a belief system that says, absurdly, “It is not wrong for you to have your beliefs, but it is wrong for you to disagree with my beliefs.” While this way of thinking may make dinner conversations easier at Thanksgiving, it makes for moral anarchy the rest of the year.
If my children’s ideas about good and bad governed my household and the basis of their beliefs were their personal feelings, reason, and popular support, our household would be in trouble. Can you imagine the uprising? Better snacks, no bedtimes.
Absolutes are a gift given to us by the Creator to discern good and evil. Decades ago, Francis Schaeffer could see that without some bedrock of moral absolutes, some other authority must prevail: “Here is a simple but profound truth: If there are no absolutes by which to judge society, the society is absolute.”
And so, we arrive at our present day.
One we need not fear, at all. The confusion in our world as to what is good and what is bad is exemplified in the title of the amendment being proposed in the November election: The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety.i
On the surface, it reads as something everyone should want. Who could be against “protections for health and safety”? But because we live in a society where personal feelings and autonomy are reigning as the absolutes, the things that sound good can be bad and the things that sound bad may actually be good.
Again, the question is not whether our beliefs are “inclusive” or “exclusive” the question is on what grounds do we base our beliefs.
Using Issue 1 as an example, a Christian can say that it is bad. Why? Not because of our personal feelings, not because of popular support, and not because of political hopes, but because God has not remained silent or left us to ourselves to determine good from bad, and right from wrong.
Admittedly, my beliefs are grounded in what Scripture teaches on the value of all human life (Psalm 139:14) and the purpose of human government (Romans 13). I base my beliefs in the Bible because of Jesus. Jesus, the one whom all serious historians believe existed, viewed the Bible as God’s Word. He viewed the Scriptures as historically accurate, authoritative, infallible, verbally inspired, and the source of spiritual truth. Jesus believed that what Scripture says, God says, and this is significant because Jesus rose from the dead and revealed Himself to many witnesses. (See 1 Cor. 15:3-7; Luke 24:38-48).
Christ Himself is the basis of our beliefs, not our feelings, but Jesus. We see in Christ someone who transcends our own reason and comprehension (Luke 24:45). Only by the grace of God are we able to discern good from bad, for God is the Creator of all.
Therefore, if ground on which we base our beliefs, is Christ Himself, we stand on solid ground. We can say that things are good or bad regardless of opinion, feeling, or motive.
Most Christians already know and do not need to be told that this proposed amendment devalues life, truth, children in the womb, the body, the nuclear family, and the authority of parents. But they may not know that it allows for many other harmful things (see Hope Rising voting info webpage). If approved, the amendment proposed in Issue 1 would make for bad law.
Regardless, as Christians we ought also to examine ourselves during these times. Are we using the same ground our culture uses as the basis of other, seemingly less “bad” choices in our lives? Are we allowing our feelings, or other’s opinions, to be the basis for truth rather than God’s Word?
And those who reject absolute truth should also examine themselves. On what grounds do they base their beliefs? Are they borrowing words like love, truth, good, and bad from Christianity that have no basis in an evolutionary worldview?
God has given us solid ground.
Throughout Scripture we see a God who has spoken and not remained silent. This is an incredible gift (Gen. 1; Matt. 3:17). He has not left us to be the arbiters of truth on all matters. We do not create truth. He is the truth.
What He has revealed is that man’s need is reconciliation with the One who is the Truth. Jesus, the Truth, came and suffered, that we may be forgiven of living a life believing our own truth. By faith in Christ, we are saved from our sins and given new life in Him who is the way, the truth, and the life. On this ground alone the Christian stands.
Persevere, Joey Turner Pastor of Student Ministry