4.03.2006 | No appealing this Judge's decision

From one of the 19th century's great Calvinists (no, that's not a contradiction in terms, all you Arminians out there).

From Charles Haddon Spurgeon:

We shall not adjust our Bible to the age; but before we have done with it, by God's grace, we shall adjust the age to the Bible.

We seem, if anything, to be veering ever further from the Bible's truths in this century than in Spurgeon's. Many, if not most, of those truths are self-evident and need no exposition. Others are less clear. As with much else in our times, it depends on who you ask.

One argument against Biblical truth you will hear, ad nauseam, is that the Bible's text needs to be considered in the cultural milieu in which it was written. In other words, the Word has relative meaning; meaning that changes with the times. Not an eternal, unchanging meaning.

Sometimes this is partly true. Usually, not. The Bible is, by its very nature, a collection of eternal truths. It's often a question of finding the truth that is the foundation, perhaps obscured by antiquated language. And, yes, we no longer have literal Moabites for the Lord to smite, by way of an "antiquated" example. The philosophy, the underlying truth, remains -- God will judge those who rise up against Him.

Biblical values themselves are not antiquated -- just values that may no longer be honored. And those values are often expressed in seemingly harsh, judgmental terms. As should be expected from the highest Judge. God is merciful, in the extreme. God is also our Judge. In the extreme; there's no higher court of appeals. And, to the dismay of today's "I'm OK, you're OK" relativists, God the Judge hands down sentences of eternal life. Or death.

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