{"id":5709,"date":"2018-01-08T13:22:07","date_gmt":"2018-01-08T19:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/?p=5709"},"modified":"2018-01-08T13:22:07","modified_gmt":"2018-01-08T19:22:07","slug":"using-master-key","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/01\/08\/using-master-key\/","title":{"rendered":"Using the Master Key"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jody Apple<\/strong>
\nThe supervisor of an apartment building usually has a master key. This key allows him to open any locked door in the building\u2014if indeed he wants to enter.
\nTo many, issues of Biblical authority and doctrine seem liked locked doors. Is the Bible really divinely produced? How can we know? If it is, how do we know what God requires of us? How do we unlock difficult doctrinal questions? Is there a key, a singular solution, which resolves all difficulties? We do have a key. Our key is reason (logic) and the \u201claws of thought\u201d that all proceed from God\u2019s own rational nature. The question is what will we do once we have unlocked a door?
\nWhether or not we use a logician\u2019s formal parlance, we are familiar with using logic when we deal with various Biblical questions. For example, concerning the question of whether or not the Bible is inspired and credible, we know how to use the Law of Excluded Middle. The simple logic of \u201cX is either true or not true\u201d stems from God\u2019s logical thought patterns. Any rational person understands that a statement of \u201cfact\u201d is either a true statement, or it is not a true statement.
\n\u201cThe Bible is divinely inspired.\u201d This statement is either true or false. The Bible is either from God, or it is not from God. How do we know? We engage in the intellectual task of determining whether the evidence proves that the Bible did originate with God. If we truly want to find the answer, we evaluate the Bible\u2019s characteristics. If God authored the Bible, it will possess attributes that prove it to be beyond human capabilities. For example, we find that the Bible reveals information that man simply did not know or understand until much later in history. This demands an explanation: Who supplied this knowledge? Since such information is beyond human production, its source must be God.
\nThe same principles that enable us to determine the Bible\u2019s inspiration and authority also apply to specific questions of faith and practice. Jesus presented a straightforward logical argument when Jewish priests and elders challenged his authority (Matthew 21:23ff). In response, He asked a question: \u201cThe baptism of John\u2014where was it from? From Heaven or from men?\u201d (vs. 25). Though His answer might appear to have been a diversion, it was not\u2014because their answer to that question would apply with equal force to the questions about His own authority.
\nJesus presented a choice between two diametrically opposed propositions. The religious leaders understood that there existed only two possibilities for the source of John\u2019s baptism: God or man. A logic teacher would identify this as a \u201cstrong disjunction,\u201d in which only one of the two can be true. Once again, we recognize this as an intellectually simple task. Examine the evidence, and determine whether John acted on authority from God or from man. Why was this so hard for Jesus\u2019 challengers? Their difficulty was not intellectual; it was moral and volitional.
\nIf John\u2019s baptism was from Heaven, why had they not obeyed? Applying the question to Jesus\u2019 authority\u2014if Jesus\u2019 teaching and miracles were clearly from Heaven, why did they not submit? The leaders\u2019 thought process is extremely significant. Among themselves they fully acknowledged the consequences of the first option. If John\u2019s baptism (or any other teaching) were<\/strong> from God, they were obliged to obey. Intellectually, they had no problem understanding that there were only two options\u2014that something was either from God or not from God. Since they did not want<\/strong> to obey, however, they responded disingenuously: \u201cWe do not know\u201d (vs. 27).
\nUnfortunately, evidence and logic do not always lead to belief and obedience, because the process by which facts produce faith can be interrupted. It is man who interrupts the process, never God.
\nJohn 11 recounts the resurrection of Lazarus\u2014a miracle that produced two very different responses. Based on what they saw, some witnesses came to believe Jesus was the Messiah. Others who witnessed the same evidence concluded that Jesus should be put to death. What derailed the evidence-to-faith process was not the lack of proof, but rather the unbelievers\u2019 unwillingness to bring their souls into harmony with what God had demonstrated to them.
\nMore often than not, unbelief has little to do with the facts and our ability to access them. It has more to do with our will, moral integrity, and emotions. It is no wonder, then, that God repeatedly encourages people to make the right (and righteous) choice.<\/p>\n