Paul Chappell: What Can the Righteous Do? Stand on Truth

RSS Robot · 2024-10-04T22:22:37Z

It was hard to say which was the most stifling—the summer Philadelphia heat or the bickering and objections each time a suggestion was raised. It was 1787, and the Constitutional Convention had been meeting for over a month but had made little to no progress on forming the American Constitution.

Finally, at the end of another day of heated debate, an elderly member of the convention stood to his feet and arrested the attention of the group. “Mr. President,” he began, “the small progress we have made after four or five weeks . . . and continual reasonings with each other—our different sentiments on almost every question . . . is methinks a melancholy proof of the imperfection of the Human Understanding.”

By this time in American history, the speaker, Benjamin Franklin, was looked to as a true statesman. Everyone listened as he made what is perhaps the most‑remembered suggestion from that gathering:

In this situation of this Assembly groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings? . . . I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? . . . I therefore beg leave to move—that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business.¹

Benjamin Franklin’s call to prayer was a turning point for the Constitutional Convention. Soon, the contentious, rancorous spirit that had marked bitter divisions between delegates softened into a spirit of cooperation and brotherhood. The resulting United States Constitution is unparalleled in its excellence.

That Franklin was a born‑again Christian seems unlikely. His own testimony, at least a couple of decades before his death, indicated that he was not.²

Yet, what is striking about this historical moment in American history is that the prevailing attitude in the nation’s founding was a belief in God and an assumption that biblical principles and Christian ethics would make people flourish. And this is not the only incident in which this is obvious. A simple read of founding documents, a glance at the inscriptions on early American buildings in Philadelphia or Washington, D.C., and even the print on our currency reveals a founding trust in God. Researchers at the University of Houston examined fifteen thousand published documents from the men who wrote the Constitution and determined that 34 percent of their direct quotes were from the Bible.³

Today, however, American leaders and educators who have been influenced by humanistic thought are denying the Christian roots of our nation and seem to be racing one another to get as far from biblical understandings of morality as possible.

So what are Christians to do? Give up? Resign themselves to the fact that their children are being actively targeted by ungodly individuals with anti‑God ideologies? Go all in on raising political awareness and getting right‑leaning politicians elected? Move to the most conservative state they can find and hide?

None of these are long‑term solutions. Frankly, they aren’t even short‑term solutions.

But there is a solution. Yes, our culture is changing, but Christians have an unchanging source of truth. Christians must stand firm on God’s Word. They must know what they believe if they and their families are not going to be uprooted by the changing culture.

Understand the Moment

What’s happening in America today isn’t random. It’s not accidental. The very issues that are brought up as moral controversies (the sanctity of life and the biblical definition of marriage to name just two) are a direct attack on the authority of God and the reliability of His Word.

This is because our culture has lost its moral compass, and instead of accepting biblical truth at face value, it has created its own moral code that exchanges lies for truth. That’s what Romans 1:25 describes: “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator.”

Our culture has lost its moral compass, and instead of accepting biblical truth at face value, it has created its own moral code that exchanges lies for truth.
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This fuller passage describes that people who reject God as the Lawgiver follow a process that leads to redefining human sexuality to fit their distorted desires. We are seeing this play out in our culture today.

Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, . . . Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: (Romans 1:21–22, 24–26)

With these truths in mind, Christians cannot simply bury their heads in the sand and “go along to get along” as the world demands they support increasingly‑godless expressions of sexual confusion. They can’t just assume that every situation is an isolated incident that comes from a well‑meaning but confused person.

Christians must step back and see the larger picture. This is not a “culture war”—merely a clash of the old with the new, of your grandparents’ ideas with Gen Z. This is a “truth war”—a direct assault on the authority of God Himself.

What is happening in America today is not primarily a “culture war”—merely a clash of the old with the new. This is a “truth war”—a direct assault on the authority of God Himself.
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Seen in this light, the responsibility of Christians is clear. We must make a determination to stand for God and for truth. How do we do that?

Trust in God’s Word

In the midst of the moral confusion of our day, God’s Word stands true. It shines as a light in the darkness—revealing God, His love for mankind, the sin that separates us from God, the atoning work of Christ that can reconcile man to God, and the life of holiness that God has designed for us to live.

In fact, the Word of God is the only inerrant source of truth and the absolute rule by which we can determine right and wrong.

Think about the incredible nature of God’s Word.

It was directly inspired by God. He breathed every word of Scripture: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God . . . ” (2 Timothy 3:16). “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21).

Amazingly, God used more than forty different men from a variety of backgrounds over a time span of 1,500 years to record each word. The writing took place on three contents (Europe, Asia, and Africa) and in three languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek). Yet, the entire book completely agrees and has been validated time and again by history, archaeology, and science.

If you asked ten contemporary authors to individually write their viewpoint on just one controversial subject, you would come up with a wide range of conflicting opinions. And yet, the Bible covers hundreds of controversial subjects by many different writers—and the entire book agrees. There can be only one reason for this: the Bible has just one Author—God.

And this very Word of God is preserved for us today. “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever” (Isaiah 40:8).

Do you realize what that means? You and I can hold in our hands the actual preserved Word of God—His revelation to us. God’s Word is objective truth in a changing world. It is pure and right in a day of darkness and confusion. “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him” (Proverbs 30:5).

God’s Word is objective truth in a changing world.
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These basic truths about God’s Word are Christian doctrine 101. So why am I reiterating them here? Because our world is bent on casting doubt on God’s Word, claiming it is outdated and irrelevant. The world paints Scripture as harsh and Bible‑believing Christians as bigots. Even “progressive Christians” go along with these views as they explain away the Bible as a mere human book, allowing them to pick and choose which passages they will accept.

If you are going to stand for Christ in a God‑rejecting culture, you will need an unshakable conviction in the accuracy, authority, and relevance of God’s Word to your beliefs and daily life.

If you are going to stand for Christ in a God‑rejecting culture, you will need an unshakable conviction in the accuracy, authority, and relevance of God’s Word to your beliefs and daily life.
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A real trust in God’s Word goes beyond a theoretical ascent that the Bible is true, to a heart‑level belief that God is right. It is a trust that God’s wisdom as revealed in His Word is good and righteous and the best way for people to live.

Let’s bring this distinction down to the real world. If a classmate or co‑worker poses a question like, “Why does God hate gays?” or “But do you really think that a boy who feels trapped in a girl’s body should be forced to live as someone he is not?” do you cringe? Do you feel like you have to explain away the clear truths of Scripture and avoid questions about the moral laws God has written into human life? Or do you believe that God’s way is the best way—including for the person actually experiencing same‑sex attraction or gender confusion?

These questions get to the heart of if we merely believe God’s Word in an academic, doctrinal sense—“Of course I believe the Bible!”—or if we believe that God’s Word is the good and perfect revelation of His wisdom for humanity to flourish.

Beware of Accommodating Theology

One of the sad commentaries on the apostasy of our day is that people who claim the name of Christ are among the more vocal supporters of the godless agendas of the day. Even churches have spurned Scripture as the absolute Word of God. As I travel the nation, I see churches with pride flags out front and messages on their signs supporting everything from gay marriage to transgenderism to Critical Race Theory to Marxism . . . everything except Jesus Christ and His gospel. Entire denominations have abandoned any pretense of submission to Scripture as their final rule of faith and practice, instead serving as centers to regurgitate the prevailing cultural messages with “Love your neighbor” wording thrown in to Christianize their message.

Some of this is simply evidence of the apostasy that the Bible warned us will come. It is the great “falling away” of 2 Thessalonians 2:3 and of the people who “shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” of 2 Timothy 4:4. No doubt, some of the people and churches who deny or refuse to declare what the Bible actually teaches on these topics of the day never were born‑again believers or preachers of the gospel of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection for our sin.

But the challenge for Bible‑believing Christians is that we must not follow the example of liberal, woke Christianity. As our culture turns to wickedness, Christians must not abandon biblical convictions; they must study them out in Scripture.

Know What Scripture Teaches

So how about you? Do you know what the Bible teaches about the doctrines that form your faith and Christian practice?

The inspiration and authority of Scripture
The deity of Christ
The way of salvation through Christ
The New Testament local church
Creation and the sanctity of human life
Gender as the creation of God
The institution of marriage and the biblical family
The holiness of the Christian life
The sufficiency of Scripture for all matters pertaining to life and godliness

This list is just a starter. And the point is not to discourage you if you haven’t studied these biblically. It is, rather, to encourage you with the fact that the Bible speaks clearly to every one of these issues.

If you don’t know what you believe from Scripture, you will be susceptible to faulty theology that undermines biblical truth. Once that happens, it’s only a matter of time until you no longer have the truth.

Repeating what other people have told you is not enough. You need to know the biblical reason behind what you believe. You need to know what the Bible teaches on the vital topics of our day.

So what can you do? The answer is simple: study Scripture. Paul exhorted Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Don’t let the word study conjure up negative thoughts of reading a dry textbook or cramming for a test. For one thing, God’s Word is interesting and relevant, and it is applicable to our daily lives. It’s worth our focused attention and intense study. But even so, not all study of Scripture need be intense or technical. There are multiple ways we learn from God’s Word. Here are a few of the core ways:

Read Scripture daily. There is no substitute in the Christian life for the regular intake of God’s Word. Job said, “I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12). Just as we eat daily, so we should daily nourish our souls in God’s Word. Reading through the New Testament or the entire Bible in a year can be a great way to become grounded in the larger truths of Scripture.

Attend church faithfully. The pastor’s job is to preach God’s Word (2 Timothy 4:2). So if you are in a Bible‑preaching church, you should be hearing God’s Word expounded. There is an accumulation of spiritual understanding that takes place as you sit under biblical preaching from week to week. Additionally, most churches have small groups that meet weekly. These groups are essentially Bible study groups. Those are tremendous opportunities to build weekly Bible study into your life.

Study a topic about which you have questions. What are the areas about which you personally have questions? Or what are the areas, perhaps even from the list above, that you have a general sense of what the Bible may teach on this issue, but you couldn’t articulate it from the Bible to someone else? Those are a great place to start on a topical Bible study. Ask your pastor or another mature Christian what key passages relate to a given topic and begin right there. Read those passages, and make notes on what they teach. Ask follow up questions. As you repeat this process, you’ll understand what the Bible teaches about these matters of importance.

Apply Scripture. One of the ways we discover the sufficiency of Scripture is by applying it to our daily lives and to cultural questions. As you encounter questions or decisions, train yourself to ask, “What does the Bible say about this?” The Bible is not only “given by inspiration of God,” but it “is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). It guides and directs us in every significant area of life.

Share Scripture with others. If you want to learn something well, commit to teaching it to others. That decision alone prompts study. After all, the teacher always learns more than the student, because of the study the teacher invests. How do we share Scripture with others? All of us should be sharing the essential truth of salvation by faith in Jesus alone with people who don’t know Christ (Mark 16:15). If you’re a parent, you have been given direct instruction to teach your children God’s Word (Deuteronomy 6:7). There are a hundred ways to do this, including short family devotions, talking about the Lord and His Word throughout the day, and helping them evaluate issues or decisions biblically. As Christians, we should also be investing in teaching younger Christians (2 Timothy 2:2). You might do this through a formal discipleship program, coming alongside to encourage someone in their faith, or perhaps teaching in a children’s ministry or small group at church. In any case, as you prepare to share Scripture, you’ll be strengthened through your own study.

The great British statesman William Wilberforce said, “There are four things that we ought to do with the Word of God—admit it as the Word of God, commit it to our hearts and minds, submit to it, and transmit it to the world.” Are you engaged in these activities?

Stand on Biblical Convictions

At the end of the day, a stand for truth will require courage. It will require Christians with biblical convictions that run deeper than the allure of being accepted or avoiding persecution that may come from their stand.

And that stand is worth it. The men and women who have changed the world have been the men and women the world could not change. Of course, this hasn’t stopped the world from trying. Long is the list of Christians who have been threatened—and some martyred—for their stand for truth and for God.

The men and women who have changed the world have been the men and women the world could not change.
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From Elijah to Daniel to John the Baptist to the apostle Paul, those in the pages of Scripture who made a difference were those who stood firm in their faith even when the whole world was against them.

History, too, records the lives of men and women such as John Huss, Anne Askew, William Tyndale, Hugh Latimer, John Bunyan, and many others who held to the truth and lifted up the gospel when it would have saved their lives and freedom to not take a stand. But their courageous stands preserved the truth for us today.

And that is what our decision to stand will do for those who come after us. May God enable you and me to be among the men and women today who determine to stand on truth.

This post is adapted from chapter 1 of my recent book, What Can the Righteous Do? Each chapter provides an answer to this question originally posed in Psalm 11:3. The book is available at strivingtogether.com and Amazon.

^[1]Benjamin Franklin, “Speech in the Constitutional Convention,” June 28, 1787, in The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787, ed. Max Farrand (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1911), 92.

^[2]Benjamin Franklin, Letter to George Whitefield, September 17, 1757, in The Works of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 4, ed. John Bigelow (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1904), 438-440.

^[3]Donald Lutz, The Origins of American Constitutionalism (Baton Rouge, LA: LSU Press, 1988), 136–149.

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