The Author Decides the Meaning!

In a day when many decry the assault on traditional values  regarding  gender identification and the redefinition of marriage as presented in the public square, it is easy to miss the target of the onslaught. The target has always been Jesus Christ and His law-word. When God’s creation of people as male and female is deemed “not the final say on the matter,” we end up with such confusion as to make everything else in life meaningless. If God didn’t get this right, then who can? Likewise, if we decimate the essence and reality of what becoming “one flesh” means (uniquely possible only between a male and a female), we are destroying the image the Bible gives us of Christ’s relationship to His church and the individual believer.

Martin Luther had this to say when it came to the distinctions of Biblical faith:

 Faith must be purely taught: namely, that He and thou art made as it were one person: so that thou mayest boldly say, I am now one with Christ, that is to say, Christ’s righteousness, victory and life are mine. And again, Christ may say, I am that sinner: that is, his sins and his death are mine because he is united and joined unto me and I unto him. For by faith we are so joined together that we are become one flesh and one bone, we are members of the body of Christ, flesh of His flesh and bone of His bones: so that this faith doth couple Christ and me more nearly together than the husband is coupled to his wife.[i]

Don’t get lost in peripheral arguments trying to convince critics of the veracity of the Bible’s claims in these areas. And, don’t allow those who call themselves followers of Jesus Christ  wiggle room as they seek to make peace with the surrounding godless culture. We must stand for the truth of Scripture even if everyone else around us refuses to do so. As St. Paul declared in Romans 3:4: As it is written: "So that You may be justified in Your words, and prevail in Your judgments."

 We have work to do to advance God’s Kingdom and must not spend our time, efforts, and financial resources attempting to appease those who do not fear God nor keep His commandments. There are fields to harvest, prepared for us by our Lord and King. May we go out with the only tool that will allow us to reap: the Word of God.

[i] Referenced in R. J. Rushdoony, Good Morning Friends, vol. 1 (Vallecito, CA: Ross House Books, 2017) 114-15.