He Keeps, Guides, Allows

June 22

“So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ,” Colossians 2:16, 17.

Some things in the Bible are not matters for debate. The Ten Commandments, for example, are not God’s ten suggestions as to how man must comport himself but are immutable law.

The Word itself does clarify points that could be difficult to understand, such as the killing that occurs in warfare. The commonly held point of view here is that if it is a ‘just war,’ such as World War II which was fought against godless Nazi tyranny, the Allied soldiers firing the weapons of war were not in the same category as the one who kills in variance to the law of God.

On the other hand, the terrorist who slays the innocent in order to rid the world of unbelievers cannot be considered to be waging a just war by the standards of Christian belief, although under another religious world view, he is relegating himself to a place in paradise by doing so.

In the eyes of Jesus,” the Author and Finisher of our faith,” Hebrews 12:2, we are admonished to “love your enemies, do good to those who persecute you and despitefully use you,” Matthew 5:44. His example is to love and to forgive those who revile and slay us.

No better example of this extreme love exists than His prayer from the cross, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do,” Luke 23:34. This, more than any other word of scripture evidences the heart of God that sent the Only Begotten Son to die in man’s place so man need not die but enjoy an eternal place in heaven (see John 3:16).

Though these are immutable truths, there are aspects of living the life of faith that are candidates for debate. Colossians 2:16, 17 (above) suggest some of them—foods and festivals—being among them. At one time, for example, adherents to the Catholic Church were prohibited from eating meat on Friday. Today, that rule has been rescinded.

Another example is in the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13), which Protestants end with the words, “For Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever, amen,” 1 Chronicles 29:11, but which Catholics do not use in their version of the prayer.

The consensus among scholars is that the closing words were not in Christ’s original prayer but were added later. We can justify this addition by saying that they are beautiful and Biblical in origin or we can quote the verse that forbids “adding to or taking from” the Word of God (see Deuteronomy 12:32).

The debate comes when we consider whether ‘transferring’ words of scripture from one place to another constitutes adding to or taking from the Word itself.

In another matter, regarding ‘feasts,’ some people jubilantly enter the celebration of Christmas and Easter while others believe that to do so is to dishonor the One whose birth, life, death and resurrection we profess to celebrate. Is there a Biblical place to which we can go to settle that dispute? No, there is not. It seems to be one of those matters left to the conscience of the individual.

Because God has given us a free will, He also gives us latitude in how we shall live out our Christianity. As long as we are faithful to the immutable law of God and to the One who gave His life to fulfill it in our behalf, perhaps we can safely exercise our discretion, knowing His love keeps us and His Holy Spirit guides us into all truth, even while allowing us our own choices in some things.