Naturally

 Where does your knowledge come from? That’s a question worth tackling because not all knowledge is created equal. Not all knowledge is the same, nor is it all beneficial for your soul and your spiritual growth. When the Word of God tells us that His people perish for lack of knowledge, it is not knowledge of the stars, astrology, mysticism, astral projecting, or other things that are summarily shoved under the big tent of spirituality. It is knowledge of Him, His will, knowledge of the truth, and righteousness He was referring to, not those things we know naturally.

There is plenty of esoteric knowledge floating about that does nothing more than heighten confusion in the hearts of men, to the point that they’re either always on edge, hyperventilating over every little thing, or so indifferent about what’s happening around them that they fail to see the signs the Bible warns about time and again.

There is natural knowledge, and then there is divine knowledge. To understand the precarious perch upon which this generation is teetering, one needs to look no further than the fact that even natural knowledge has been perverted, and those things that were once self-evident are endlessly debated.

Truth is not subjective. Truth does not take feelings into account, nor does it consider personal opinion; it is anchored in indisputable and immovable facts. When absolute truth becomes something every other gender studies major can twist into a pretzel at a whim, you’re not just wading in the waters of confusion anymore; you’re diving headfirst toward the bottom.

Isaiah 59:14-15, “Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. So truth fails, and he who departs from evil makes himself prey.”

Perhaps there is no better or more succinct description of what is currently happening in the world than these two verses in Isaiah. We have so removed ourselves from truth, decency, wholesomeness, and moral uprightness, that if, perchance, someone turns their back and departs from evil, they paint a target on their back. They become prey, just as Isaiah said they would.

The devil doesn’t like defectors and seeks to make an example of anyone who dares to depart from evil. Speak out against the vileness, perversion, sin, or the lifelong consequences thereof, and you’ll likely lose your job, reputation, possessions, and friends. It’s a sad day when speaking the truth has in itself become a sign of bravery.

Generations come and go, but the truth remains the same in perpetuity. There is one truth, the truth, and all others are, by definition, lies.

If Pilate were to ask what truth was today, he’d get ten thousand different answers from ten thousand different people, even though there is but one truth. Confusion makes for fertile soil as far as deception is concerned, and the purpose of it isn’t to deceive those already deceived but those who have escaped the corruption of this world.

When someone’s position is tenuous, when they have no underlying foundation and can’t back up their statements with Scripture and are challenged, their first reaction is to lash out and attack blindly. It’s not so much about defending their position; it’s about silencing anyone contradicting it with brute force and endless verbal beratement.

The attacks usually turn personal as well because their defense is not of a general, overarching truth but of a tertiary idea that you are now seen as the enemy of. If not for you and your pesky insistence on Biblical standards and Scriptural confirmation, the multitudes would flock to the far-flung idea that the Holy Spirit is female or one of another hundred musings floating about trying to find a home.

What they do not know, what they cannot know, is the truth of God, for no truth is found in them given their fallen state and their insistence upon tearing the household of faith asunder. It is the truth of Scripture that they speak evil against and make war against because the enemy is fully aware of the danger it poses to him and his plans. It is only the knowledge of this truth that sets men free.

Another way to identify the nefarious among us is that they allow for the corruption of the natural way of things or corrupt them outright for the sake of money, power, or influence. Such individuals are not seen as inoffensive or harmless by God, and the three examples Jude uses to paint a portrait of what God will do by way of punishing such individuals should be a reason for concern for anyone willingly and willfully twisting Scripture toward their end.

Given everything the Bible says awaits those who would deceive the sheep of God’s pasture, I wonder if these people honestly believe in the God of the Bible at all. Perhaps they’ve diluted themselves into thinking that God will be backed into a corner and accept their rebellion, but you can’t read the warnings and conclude that it will be easy for those who would corrupt the innocent.

If left uncorrupted, the natural things complement the divine. The knowledge of the natural harmonizes with the knowledge of the supernatural because their genesis is the same source, God, the creator of all that is. When the knowledge of the natural things is corrupted, these two diverge and no longer harmonize.

Proverbs 21:2, “Every way of man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart.”

Just because you think it does not make it so. Just because you insist that your way is best is inconsequential.  For your opinion to be valid, it must agree with the Word of God.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.