Last week we spoke about "gray areas" a trap set for us by Satan to make us think that somethings can be neither right or wrong, but indifferent. We know this to be false though for we know that God gives us the truth of the Spirit and all that He does for us. In continuation we will look at some of the absolutes of Christianity so that we may not only understand what they are but, more importantly what they are not.

God gives us absolute truths that apply to all people in all cultures at all times. It is absolutely remarkable just how awesome His power and knowledge are. Many people hear about God, and they picture Him as controlling and angry. This couldn't be further from the truth; in fact, it is the exact opposite of that a lie of the devil. Satan has used human ignorance (lack of knowledge) of God to turn His people away from Him; when people through the years began to convert from pagan gods to Yahweh, some did so by trying to bring pagan traditions and rituals with them. Things unbiblical and sometimes even commanded against by God. So, God in His infinite love and wisdom gives us absolutes throughout His word to allow us to stand firm in His name and extinguish the flaming arrows of Satan's attacks. The first major set of absolutes God gives His people is in the form of what we refer to as the Ten Commandments, which God gave to the Israelite people through the prophet Moses at Mount Sinai in Exodus 20.

 

The Commandments of Yahweh

[Exodus 20:1-26 LSB] 1 Then God spoke all these words, saying, 2 "I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 "You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 "You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 7 "You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. 8 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 "Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of Yahweh your God; [in it] you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female slave or your cattle or your sojourner who is within your gates. 11 "For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. 12 "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. 13 "You shall not murder. 14 "You shall not commit adultery. 15 "You shall not steal. 16 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male slave or his female slave or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor." 18 And all the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and the people perceived [it], and they shook and stood at a distance. 19 Then they said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself, and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, lest we die." 20 And Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may be with you, so that you may not sin." 21 So the people stood at a distance, but Moses came near the dense gloom where God [was]. 22 Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven. 23 'You shall not make [other gods] besides Me; gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves. 24 'You shall make an altar of earth for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. 25 'And if you make an altar of stone for Me, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you will profane it. 26 'And you shall not go up by steps to My altar, so that your nakedness will not be exposed on it.'

 

God did not give these commands because he's on a power trip. He didn't do it to hold us back, to keep us from having fun, or because He's angry with us. On the contrary, He does it out of love for us and His want to be with us. In the Garden of Eden man was in the presence of God and then we sinned. God is pure; therefore, He cannot be in the presence of sin. The Bible is the combined story of how He brings us back into His presence. Obeying His commandments will point our lives int the right direction, make life more fulfilling and satisfying, save us from much harm, and keep our focus on the only God who can grant you eternal life. God tells us all these things and He does not change.

 

Hebrews 13

[Hebrews 13:1-17 NLT] 1 Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. 2 Don't forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! 3 Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies. 4 Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery. 5 Don't love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, "I will never fail you. I will never abandon you." 6 So we can say with confidence, "The LORD is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?" 7 Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 9 So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God's grace, not from rules about food, which don't help those who follow them. 10 We have an altar from which the priests in the Tabernacle have no right to eat. 11 Under the old system, the high priest brought the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, and the bodies of the animals were burned outside the camp. 12 So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make his people holy by means of his own blood. 13 So let us go out to him, outside the camp, and bear the disgrace he bore. 14 For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come. 15 Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. 16 And don't forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God. 17 Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.

 

Balaam’s Second Message

[Numbers 23:13-20 NLT] 13 Then King Balak told him, "Come with me to another place. There you will see another part of the nation of Israel, but not all of them. Curse at least that many!" 14 So Balak took Balaam to the plateau of Zophim on Pisgah Peak. He built seven altars there and offered a young bull and a ram on each altar. 15 Then Balaam said to the king, "Stand here by your burnt offerings while I go over there to meet the LORD." 16 And the LORD met Balaam and gave him a message. Then he said, "Go back to Balak and give him my message." 17 So Balaam returned and found the king standing beside his burnt offerings with all the officials of Moab. "What did the LORD say?" Balak asked eagerly. 18 This was the message Balaam delivered: "Rise up, Balak, and listen! Hear me, son of Zippor. 19 God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through? 20 Listen, I received a command to bless; God has blessed, and I cannot reverse it!

 

[Psalms 147:5 NLT] 5 How great is our Lord! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension!

 

God is the originator of truth. His character is unchanging, unwavering, and never falters. He is constantly all wise, all-powerful, absolutely good, loves like no other-for He is love, and always ever faithful. There is only one-way for a person to receive eternal life, it is a gift. Literally! Salvation is a gift granted to mankind from God, available to us through faith in Jesus Christ. In part 2 of our discussion of truth we discussed this in John chapter 14. Luke would tell us in Acts how the Apostles shared the gospel and brought many to Christ for His glory.

 

Paul and Silas in Prison

[Acts 16:16-36 NLT] 16 One day as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a demon-possessed slave girl. She was a fortune-teller who earned a lot of money for her masters. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved." 18 This went on day after day until Paul got so exasperated that he turned and said to the demon within her, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And instantly it left her. 19 Her masters' hopes of wealth were now shattered, so they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities at the marketplace. 20 "The whole city is in an uproar because of these Jews!" they shouted to the city officials. 21 "They are teaching customs that are illegal for us Romans to practice." 22 A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. 23 They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn't escape. 24 So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks. 25 Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. 26 Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off! 27 The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself. 28 But Paul shouted to him, "Stop! Don't kill yourself! We are all here!" 29 The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household." 32 And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household. 33 Even at that hour of the night, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds. Then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized. 34 He brought them into his house and set a meal before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced because they all believed in God. 35 The next morning the city officials sent the police to tell the jailer, "Let those men go!" 36 So the jailer told Paul, "The city officials have said you and Silas are free to leave. Go in peace."

 

[Acts 13:32-41 NLT] 32 "And now we are here to bring you this Good News. The promise was made to our ancestors, 33 and God has now fulfilled it for us, their descendants, by raising Jesus. This is what the second psalm says about Jesus: 'You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.' 34 For God had promised to raise him from the dead, not leaving him to rot in the grave. He said, 'I will give you the sacred blessings I promised to David.' 35 Another psalm explains it more fully: 'You will not allow your Holy One to rot in the grave.' 36 This is not a reference to David, for after David had done the will of God in his own generation, he died and was buried with his ancestors, and his body decayed. 37 No, it was a reference to someone else--someone whom God raised and whose body did not decay. 38 "Brothers, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. 39 Everyone who believes in him is declared right with God--something the law of Moses could never do. 40 Be careful! Don't let the prophets' words apply to you. For they said, 41 'Look, you mockers, be amazed and die! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn't believe even if someone told you about it.'"

 

[1John 1:9-10 NLT] 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.

 

[Romans 6:23 NLT] 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

God's forgiveness is absolute. Whenever He forgives you, it is forever. He never takes it back. That's not to say that a Christian can't rebel and turn from God. It's important to understand just because we give our lives to Christ, that we don't become perfect. We still fall short and sin, as Paul said, we have to die to our flesh daily; and though we know we will sin, we do not allow ourselves to live in sin. When we sin we must confess ourselves before Christ with repentant hearts. Sanctification is a process that begins when we give our life to Christ and ends at our physical death. Between that time period it is up to us to decide if we will follow Jesus or just call ourselves followers of Jesus and follow our selves.

 

[1John+ 2:15-27 LSB] 15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and [also] its lusts, but the one who does the will of God abides forever. 18 Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared. From this we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not [really] of us; for if they were of us, they would have remained with us; but [they went out], so that it would be manifested that they all are not of us. 20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 As for you, let that which you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life. 26 These things I have written to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 27 And as for you, the anointing whom you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as He has taught you, abide in Him.

 

 

Eternal life is an absolute. Jesus promised His gift of everlasting life to all those who believe and have faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior.  That He came to us as God in the body of a man. He taught love, repentance, and of the kingdom of Heaven. He gave His life for us at the cross; He was buried for three days, resurrected by the Holy Spirit, and appeared over 40 days to hundreds of eyewitnesses. He ascended to Heaven leaving believers the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide them, and He  That is TRUTH. 

 

The Resurrection of Christ

[1Corinthians 15:1-11 NLT] 1 Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. 2 It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you--unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place. 3 I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. 4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. 5 He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. 6 After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. 7 Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him. 9 For I am the least of all the apostles. In fact, I'm not even worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted God's church. 10 But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me--and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace. 11 So it makes no difference whether I preach or they preach, for we all preach the same message you have already believed.

 

[Act 1:3-11 NLT] 3 During the forty days after his crucifixion, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to them about the Kingdom of God. 4 Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, "Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. 5 John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." 6 So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, "Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?" 7 He replied, "The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere--in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." 9 After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. 10 As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. 11 "Men of Galilee," they said, "why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!"