A few years ago, I was confronted by a dear friend of mine about her growing uncertainty in the truth contained within the Bible and many foundations of her faith. In particular, she was investigating the Emergent Church movement and beginning to embrace their very “tolerant” theology. Her questioning about many “bedrock” theological issues and her lack of certainty about God’s truth and the inerrancy of the Bible led me to investigate the Emergent Church movement and the more widespread assault that the Church is currently undergoing as it pertains to Biblical truth.
At that time, I was very encouraged by the book, The Truth War, by John MacArthur. Within its pages, MacArthur discusses the pitfalls of postmodern thinking (that truth is relative and certainty, assurance, and bold convictions are arrogant and therefore wrong), the importance of standing firm in the faith as presented in the Bible, and ways to identify and address the errors and false teachings that are seeping into our churches and pulpits.
The book walks you through Jude, a book written to warn believers about false prophets within the church and to encourage them to stand firm and fight for the truth. MacArthur reminds readers that as we “fight” for the faith, we are to do it in spiritual terms, being mindful that the real enemy is not people, but rather “arguments and pretenses" (2 Corinthians 10:5) and “powers of this dark world" (Ephesians 6:12), and that this “truth war” is never to entail physical force or weapons.
I was encouraged by MacArthur’s clear stance presented in this book that we as Christians have been given the Word and the Spirit to be assured of THE Truth. I am reminded of Luke 1:3-4, which states,
"With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.”
The war on truth is real and it is being fought within many of churches in America today. One way I was challenged by this book, among others, is to KNOW what I believe and WHY I believe it and to stand FIRM in Biblical truth. God’s truth is so deep and rich—let us all be diligent to KNOW God’s Word, study it, and stand firm in the Lordship of Christ and the power and inerrancy of His Word.
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