Are You on the Right Side of Scripture?

In recent months I've heard a lot of people talk about being on the right side of history when it comes to any number of social or political issues that tend to divide our nation. That certainly seems like a significant question. Yet there is an even greater question to be asking than this. You see, there is no way for us to currently know with certainty if our decisions will be on the right side of history. All we need to do to prove this is to look back at some of the ideas that once seemed right at the time, but now are recognized as absurd. Slavery once seemed right to many Americans. The Holocaust once seemed right to many Germans. The question that we need to be asking isn't are you on the right side of history, but rather, are you on the right side of Scripture. 

The words of Scripture are timeless and true. They are like an anchor that can keep us from drifting towards all sorts of bad ideas that seem right at the time. The key question is who will you trust? Will you place your trust in the eternal words of the living God, or in the latest ideas of humanity? Let's look a just a few claims from Scripture about God's Word--some of these inform, some encourage, and some challenge us: 

• Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. -John 17:17
• As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless he shields all who take refuge in him. -Psalms 18:30
• There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death. -Proverbs 16:25
• Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. -Proverbs 3:5-6
• The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever. -Isaiah 40:8
• Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it. -Luke 11:28
• It is written: Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. -Matthew 4:4

I'd like to challenge you to either rethink or double-down on seeking to live according to God's words. Let his ideas increasingly become the guide that you live your life by. Let his instructions reshape your thinking about everything...On ethics, on entertainment, on money, on sex, on what you will do with your life, on what you will do after this life, literally on EVERYTHING. That means when the verses of Scripture go against what we think or feel to be true that we lay down our understanding and make the choice to follow the ideas of Scripture instead. This idea has historically been known as the authority of scripture. Genuine Christians are called to let scripture be the final authority on all matters. Yes, that's extreme. But it's also good. Will we trust that the all-powerful, all-knowing God who made us and everything in the universe knows what he is talking about when it comes to how life should best be lived? Will we take him at his word? Will we obey him? Or, will we insist that we have better wisdom, better insight, better solutions than our Creator? Trusting ourselves comes natural to us, but as we look at the chaos in the world around us, do we really have reason to place confidence in human wisdom that is at odds with God's Word?

There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death. -Proverbs 16:25

The Scriptures clearly call us to take God at his Word and place our lives under its authority. At the end of it all, will you be on the right side of Scripture?

At the end of it all, will you be on the right side of Scripture?

Heavenly Father, we confess that we so often exalt our human ways and our human wisdom above yours. Please have mercy upon us and forgive us for our pride. Help us to take you at your Word so that we might obey you and live according to it. Help us to have the faith and the courage to believe that your ways prove to be better than ours in the end. Give us the strength to turn from trusting in ourselves or in others so that we might trust you fully, and we pray that our hearts would find true and lasting joy in following you fully. Amen.