But isn't it interesting that people tend to be so black and white when it comes to the political arena. There are very few people who allow for gray areas. The Bible has examples of things that oppose each other even though those areas are all equally correct, this is called an antinomy.
Contradiction: Two propositions/statements that cannot both be true at the same time. Neither can they both be false at the same time. One must be true, the other false, one false, and the other true.
Antinomy: Two propositions/statements that appear to be contradictory and which further investigation cannot rationally or logically resolve - and yet both are held to be true.
Question: How do you know that something is an antinomy and not a contradiction? How do you know that what seems contradictory is actually an antinomy? How do you know that what you think is an antinomy is not simply a paradox that you haven't figured out yet? Well, from a rational viewpoint, you can't. From a rational viewpoint, an antinomy is either a contradiction-in-disguise or a paradox-in-disguise. If we were to ever resolve it, it would be a paradox. If we are never able to resolve it, it's a contradiction.
The Scriptures reveal numerous antinomies. For example, how can there be a distinction between the Persons yet a unity within the Godhead? Or, how can Jesus be fully human and fully divine? Or, how could the eternal Son of God, the Creator of the universe, die on the cross? How could the Son who always enjoyed perfect union with the Father cry out, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” How could the Bible be a completely divine, inerrant book written by completely human agents? How can salvation be totally an act of God, independent of human means, and yet require a human response to the divine initiative?
However, notice that these really only seem to be contradictions. We know that there are no errors in the Bible. That is the doctrine of inspiration and inerrancy. We also know that there is nothing logically impossible within the mind of Almighty God. That is the doctrine of Theology Proper. So, we could spend a lifetime (and indeed many have) trying to flesh out the exact mechanics for our answers to the questions in the paragraph above. But I do not believe we will ever fully comprehend nor fully explain all the questions we can ask. Healthy tensions do exist in the minds of believers with regard to important biblical truths which are clearly taught in the Bible.
But we need to remember that where God’s Word seems to run against our sense of things, His Word must be trusted and believed rather than our man-made theological system / logical answers. Man’s understanding will always be inferior to God’s knowledge. God does not tell us everything He knows. But He does tell us truthfully what we need to know in order to be redeemed and live righteously.
It is not easy to explain in language, good for all time, all the truth we believe, in just a few sentences. The meaning and definitions of words changes over time, even within one generation. This is the difficulty of semantics, which refers to the various aspects of meaning in words and the inability of mere words always to communicate perfectly our intended meaning. in words and the inability of mere words always to communicate perfectly our intended meaning. There is also the difficulty that has been present ever since the judgment at the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11) when God caused the differences in languages.
Political leanings do not define who we are as Christians. Love those Republicans and Democrats. All of them are invited to my table until they excuse themselves. And some of them have for some of us and have not for others.
Everyone thinks that if the Holy Spirit comes upon a person they will not be angry, right? Sweet loving Jesus and all that..
1 Samuel 11:6
And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly.
Mark 11:15
And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;
The Holy Spirit can inspire anger in us and He can inspire unconditional love in us. There are some things that just burn me up that others can not see. Deceptive men can not deceive the Holy Spirit. Jesus was angry with righteous anger and reacted when he entered the temple. He ignored the political arrangement of the temple businesses. He stood upon reality. He declared, "It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves." You don't think that he was angry?
We step back from our favored team and can realistically determine who is truly great at playing the game if we are honest with ourselves. Some can't do that and will actually murder those who favor an opposing team. There have been some of those kind of incidents in the news in recent times.
People need to chill out and stop being so polarized, so black and white. Around these here parts where I live it is implied from pulpits that you cannot be a Christian if you don't belong to a certain political party. Hogwash! Jesus exemplified traits and ideas that lean left and right. He ate and drank with sinners and prostitutes.
The lens that a Christian should view everything is through the Bible. Not politics. Not sports affiliations.
Jesus, the name above every name. We focus upon Him. This we can all agree upon?
Institutions of man will fail. Man is not the answer. Jesus the Christ of Almighty God will never fail. You can have your political leanings, I have my Jesus. You can have your sports teams, I have my Jesus.
America's moral decline is a spiritual problem, not a political one, and its solution is the gospel, not partisan politics.Why are unbelievers today writing off Christianity as just another political movement? Which is the real Christian agenda—spiritual transformation or social and political change?
It's difficult to imagine a skilled, steady-handed heart surgeon abandoning his life-giving medical practice to become a prize fighter. Ruining the hands and squandering such extraordinary skills in that way defies logic.
Christians produce Christians. Evangelizing and not politicizing is our true call in the Lord.
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