Debating Again?

(Hebrews 6:1) “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,”

I have found through the years that sometimes, people do not really want an answer. They like the debate. They do not want a definitive yes or no, an absolute right or wrong, a solid foundation to stand upon regardless of the circumstance. They like the question that just gives birth to another question. It provides for them a way out if they do not like what is being stated while setting themselves up as the questioning authority and quasi-intellectual.

The exhortation from God is to “grow up.” Hebrews 6:1 states that we are to have some principles settled in our hearts and minds and move on to the next step rather than re-hash these elementary things over and over. There are some principles that every Christian should have: * The Bible is the word of God, and is always right and the final authority - II Timothy 3:16-17 * When we find out what the Bible says on a given subject, we are to agree with it - I Corinthians 14:37 * Everything Scripture says about Jesus Christ is true - II John 1:9 * Every word of Scripture is written for me but not every word was written directly to me - I Corinthians 10:11. They are examples of faith [Hebrews 11] but I am not building an ark, sacrificing goats and calves, or worried about the mark of the beast. * There are divisions to be made in the Bible and are marked by how God dispensed His grace We are to study and put some work into finding these divisions - II Timothy 2:15 We are to understand why things are written as much as what is written * Our entire Christianity is built upon Faith Faith is believing what God said. That is the only definition that will fit every instance the word is used in Scripture.

I am not going to debate these things. I run across articles in which someone questions the virgin birth or resurrection, and I just skip over them. In a public debate many years ago, someone stated that “Rev. Hays has not considered that the Bible might be wrong.” They were perfectly correct. It never crossed my mind.

There are some basic principles that we need to nail down. They are unmovable, without compromise, and will entertain no debate. I have changed a lot of things in the 40 years of pastoring, but these do not change. I have had to publicly admit I was wrong on some doctrines and teachings, but the Bible was never wrong.

Questioning things is great. It is how we learn, discover, and grow. But there also has to be a foundation to stand upon, otherwise, everything just becomes another topic to debate with no real answer. It is time to put away the childish things and grow up.

(1 Corinthians 13:11) “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”