Saturday, January 15, 2011

HOW TOLERANT ARE WE TO BE IN THE WORLD?

In America, we are to tolerate other people, just as they are to tolerate us. But we do not have to tolerate false ideas or accept as equal to truth that which is a lie. Proverbs 29:27 says: "An unjust man is abominable to the righteous, and he who is upright in the way is abominable to the wicked." In other words when the righteous and the upright speak, the wicked hate what they say. The wicked are intolerable to those who are upright. They can't stand our ideas or the truth we speak from the Scriptures.

   Van Leeuwen writes that we are not to be so tolerable that we end up elevating moral ambiguity to the point of making it relative and not absolute. "At that point tolerance is no longer a virtue, nor is it right, but it is morally indifferent in the face of evil. … Tolerance is not an adequate response to evil." The Bible is inspired by God and therefore it is correct in what it teaches. If this was not so, it is not from God!

   Inspiration of Scripture gives us the absolutes for life and for eternal issues. The writers are inspired by the Holy Spirit.     --Dr. Mal Couch (1/11)