Discerning the Lies

Those of you who know me know that I am an opinionated person. Recently I've been thinking about this and about sharing my opinions, especially in regards to matters of Truth. Truth (note the capital T) is not an opinion. Truth cannot be altered, changed, or ignored. Truth, as set by an all-knowing, all-loving, all-wise Sovereign Holy God, is the bottom line. And He graciously gave us a direct line to knowing Truth--His Word.

In my recent travels, I spent some time at an airport bookstore. I picked up Rob Bell's book, Love Wins and began reading the first chapter. I barely got 2 pages in before he began to morph Truth into his own twisted interpretation. I felt myself getting nauseated and my heart rate increased as my disbelief turned to anger. I can understand how an unbeliever can misconstrue heavy Truth--an unbeliever does not have the Holy Spirit to give understanding. I cannot, however, tolerate a redeemed believer who purposefully and intentionally twists the Truth of God's Word in order to be more popular with and accepted by the general public. Feeding twisted morsels of truth in order to draw them to the Savior is NOT how Christ intended His message to be spread.

Now, I will admit that I have not (yet) read the whole book. So, my beef right now is simply with Bell's assertion that God--as a loving God-- could not possibly have planned for all the unredeemed to suffer eternity in hell. Are we reading the same Bible, Mr. Bell? Is yours missing the entire book of Romans? God is indeed a loving God--He in fact IS love! But God is also a holy God, a just God, a God whose character and position cannot tolerate wickedness--it is an affront to His very nature. Because many people choose to ignore His love and forgiveness given through Christ on the cross, they choose the only other option--separation from this God who loves His children so much He allows them to CHOOSE. (This could lead me down another road to the discussion of Free Will and Predestination, but I've already touched on that once. Go here to read on that matter)

To return to the beginning, one of the things I realized today is that I do not have to stifle the Truth. I am grateful for the gift of the Holy Spirit who gives me wisdom and the ability to discern Truth, as well as root out lies. And because that is no gray matter, I do not need to offer it up as my "opinion", so as to soften the blow for those who do not agree. Truth = Truth. Anything else is a perversion and deserves to be called out as such.