Building on the Foundation

  David and Jonathan We have a little problem with the Bible.   How do we decide when a command that is given is based on culture and when it is a command we still have to follow? That question in itself supposes that if a command is based on the culture in which it was given, then it no longer applies to us at all. Cultural context is by far the most common reason that people think certain things no longer apply or were never meant for us.  All of the New Testament commands for women, for example, were conveniently given based on their culture alone and therefore were not meant for anyone but those people.  Women today are therefore under no restraints at all and are free to be as rebellious as they desire to be, simply because that culture was one in which Paul needed to give those instructions, but ours is not.   I jest, of course, but it does put the question I asked in a different light, and perhaps reveals the true question at the heart of the issue ...

There are many problems with the world today, and you can boil them down to a few main sources, such as feminism, greed, communism, and others, but if you distill them a little further, the main issue is rebellion against God.  The World and everyone who is of the World hates God, His instructions, and the very idea that there is a Being who will render a final judgment on them.  They don’t like to be told no, but let’s face it, not a one of us particularly enjoys being told no. When God tells us no, it’s for our own good, but like spoiled children, we’ll throw a fit.  That behavior is just among those of us who are of the household of faith, and when you expand a little further out into the world, there is genuine hatred of the One who would dare impose limits on the evil imaginations of their hearts.  Throughout history, there has been a sense of entitlement among those who walk the path of the World, but it’s worse today than it has perhaps ever been on a widespre...