Answering The Fool
Because God’s wisdom has always been counter-cultural (1Co 1:20-30), the veracity of the church’s message has always required she also possess the ability to refute the folly raised by the culture and its fools (Pro 26:4-5; Tit 1:9).
- “There are many interpretations.”
1.1. IOW: We cannot be confident that what we believe (or how we have interpreted the bible) is correct (i.e. the Bible is confusing rather than clear).
1.2. (Deu 30:11-14; Luk 12:54-56; 2Ti 3:15-16; Pro 24:12; 2Pe 3:14-18; 1Ti 4:16 [how can Timothy fulfill his pastoral mandate if the Bible is unclear? CCC: Not one exegetical/theological [intellectual] problem in 20+ yrs. They are instead always moral [masked as intellectual] – i.e., don’t like God/His laws).
- “Might makes right.”
2.1. IOW: The bigger the church or more popular the message, the more likely they are the ones speaking the truth
2.2. (Mat 24:28; Isa 51:1-2)
2.3. 75% of what America has believed about salvation for the past 400 years (i.e., faith in Christ is the only thing necessary to salvation) is diametrically opposed to what was believed during the prior 3,600 years (i.e., baptism expressing faith and faithful obedience are both necessary for salvation).
- “God has His people everywhere.”
3.1. IOW: There are legitimate churches and Christians in every place in the world (or America).
3.2. Wasn’t true in Jesus’ day, nor what He identified as saving religion (Luk 13:22-24; Mat 7:13-14, 21-23).
3.3. Those embracing saving religion has always been a very small minority/remnant, (e.g. Noah [one family: 8/4b = .0000002%]; Abraham [one family: 25/2.8m = .00089%]; Moses [one nation: 20k/27m = .074%]; Jesus [one church: 5k/300m = .002%]).
3.4. This “problem” (only a remnant) is unique to true (saving) religion (Jer 2:10-13).
- “Devotion trumps doctrine.”
4.1. IOW: Even if what people believe is wrong, God will still accept them, and they will go to heaven as long as they are sincerely devoted to what they believe (i.e., if their heart is in the right place).
4.2. God commanded His people to kill/slaughter lots of people who were very sincere and devoted to their false religions (Exo 23:13, 20-24, 27-33; Deu 7:1-5, 16, 23-26; 1Ki 18:20-40).
4.3. Even today, God prohibits fellowship w/such people as a prerequisite to salvation (2Co 6:14-7:1; 2Jo 1:9-11).
- “Happy Jesus, horrible Satan.”
5.1. IOW: People in the world (those following Satan – 1Jo 5:19) are secretly miserable, only Christians (those following Jesus) have happy fulfilling lives.
5.2. Many people in the world are living very happy and fulfilling lives. The Bible bears witness to this (Psa 17:14; Psa 73:1-12).
5.3. Our reason for following God is not b/c this is the only way to have a happy and fulfilling life in the present. As a matter of fact, living for God will often lead to great sacrifice and suffering (2Ti 3:12; Psa 34:19).
5.4. We follow God realizing that what we will gain for our sacrifice and suffering (now) is: 1) escape for eternal hell (Psa 73:13-22, 27; Mat 13:36-42; Mar 9:43-48; Rev 20:14-15), 2) eternal life in the universe reboot where we will never be asked to sacrifice or suffer again (Psa 17:15 w/Psa 73:13-28; Isa 65:17-25; Luk 6:20-23; Rev 21:1-4).
CLOSING CONTEMPLATION: (2Th 1:5-11) = Our Bear-Jew King will soon return and when He does His sword (or bat) will bear the blood and names of all those fools who thought they knew better than God and so spoke against Him, His people, or His gospel. Don’t be among the fools.