If we are following the aletheia truth wherever it leads, a characteristic that should become prevalent in our lives is honesty. Truth and honesty go together like Christ and holiness. Remember that God is Truth and His truth is not limited. This is how God proclaimed Himself before Moses:

    “Then Moses rose early in the morning and went up Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him; and he took in his hand the two tablets of stone. Now the LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth…’” (Exodus 34:4b-6)

This was Moses’ second trip to Mount Sinai; he had broken the first tablets of the Ten Commandments and in God’s mercy He forgave the Israelites for their apostasy and idolatry. And because God is a merciful God, He renewed the covenant He had made with Israel. And He gave us the Ten Commandments so that we could live holy lives. Billy Graham reminds us that God expects us to live a holy life:

    God spoke these words to Moses, as he led the nation of Israel, giving aspects of His own character that we are to emulate. God also spoke similar words to other Old Testament prophets and leaders, further demonstrating that He expects us to live by a standard of truth and honesty. God’s Son, Jesus, reaffirmed this by proclaiming to His disciples, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Jesus said He Himself is the ultimate embodiment of truth. Jesus lived a life of perfect honesty.

And since Jesus lived a life of perfect honesty He is trustworthy. This is what the psalmist proclaims:

    “For the word of the LORD is right, and all His work is done in truth.” (Psalm 33:4)

We are to live honest lives and we are to expect those that represent us in government to be honest. It does not mean we use the standard of truth and honesty as a bludgeon but as a guide. If an elected representative is not being truthful then of course we call him or her on it. If they repent and correct their behavior we should acknowledge it. Remember, the only difference between your sins and a public person’s sins is the latter’s is in the open for all to see. We too often set standards for others that we would never be willing to live up to.

I am not saying we condone lying and deceit. Quite the contrary. We demand truth and honesty but the level of stinking thinking in our society as so sullied truth and honesty that most Americans wouldn’t know it if it ran them over. Before we can live a life of honesty, we have to discover what truth is and proclaim it loudly.

Man can pass all the laws he wants, but just because something is made legal in the eyes of man does not make it lawful in the eyes of God. A case in point is New York state legalizing homosexual marriage. Three days ago the eternal truth that homosexuality is an abomination in the eyes of God did not change by the signature of Governor Andrew Cuomo. As my dear brother Gregg Jackson wrote this weekend in reference to the New York law:

    Neither “legalized” sodomy nor sodomy-based “marriage” can ever be legal since any law contrary to God’s law is no law at all. In fact, the NY “law” could more accurately be described as lawlessness. Just like killing pre-born babies can never actually be legal since God’s law is “thou shalt not murder.” Nevertheless, NY has “legalized” what is an abomination in the eyes of God.

I promise you what Gregg has written is foreign thinking to most Americans, including those who call themselves pastors. It would be wonderful to hear pastors across America proclaim what Gregg has written, but I’ll maintain normal breathing patterns until that happens.

Beloved, man cannot change eternal truths because he did not create eternity. We must remember and in most cases relearn the truth of our God and Who He is:

    “Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God, Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; Who keeps truth forever, Who executes justice for the oppressed, Who gives food to the hungry. The LORD gives freedom to the prisoners.” (Psalm 146:5-7)

God is the Creator and the Lawgiver and no matter what man decides, if it is contrary to our Heavenly Father’s standard of truth and honesty then it is a lie and deceitful. It is nothing more than lawlessness.

We can never accept lawlessness. We cannot do it incrementally; we cannot compromise with it.

Our Lord would never do so…

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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    Copyright © 2011 David Jeffers

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