Good afternoon, Zane.
Lots going on around here. So what’s going on around there? Hope it’s good.
Oh, no—I’m hearing rain on the roof. I’m going out to cover my mill.
Love and prayers—Tua/Ray.
Hypocrisy runs deep through the entire human race. It’s an integral part of our DNA that has given cause to this being such a fallen world. Hypocrisy is a natural component of the NATURAL SIN NATURE. That Biblical fact really is the premise for the Biblical Gospel. And if that fact is not personally and individually accepted and believed by everyone, I have to reason that there is no Biblical basis for personal SALVATION, or REDEMPTION. The whole idea of Jesus Christ dying on a cross as the once-for-all Sacrifice for the SIN of the whole world is just silly—IF it were possible for such SALVATION/REDEMPTION to be achieved by any other means. God Himself could be judged as being HYPOCRITICAL to have so misrepresented His plan for man.
“We don’t know.” Hang on those words. Explore the psycho-spiritual meaning of those words beyond their literal meaning. I see glaring HYPOCRISY. It definitely was not a matter of their not knowing, or not being able to know—it was simply a matter of their not wanting to go there, or even consider the validity of the Gospel message as presented by John the Baptist—they simply didn’t like what his message would do to their preferred and established comfort zone, and all the power and control they had come to enjoy.
This track of thought is leading me to examine not only the sad mindset of RELIGION THAT IS DETACHED FROM A HEART AFTER GOD, but also the equally-sad mindset of SECULARISM THAT EXCLUDES GOD—or the big “No one knows” rhetoric (like, “You can’t know for sure”) of AGNOSTICISM. I recognize both as expressions of HYPOCRISY—because both are essentially saying something like this: “Don’t bother me with this stuff about personally seeking God and acknowledging sin, gaining forgiveness, and repenting—along with all those scare tactics about heaven and hell. Phooey! I just want everyone to be truthful and honest and I think we should simply train everyone to be nice to each other. After all, the big worldwide conflict over religious claims and ideologies simply confirm that nobody really knows much of anything about absolute truth relating to God. Besides, it becomes so clear that all those churches that spout their beliefs and biases are also stuffed full of HYPOCRITES!” Those who think that way are convinced that their bias is far superior—offering a wonderful man-made quest for utopia—without God. It looks to me more like a bunch of HYPOCRITES HYPOCRITICALLY CONDEMNING OTHER HYPOCRITES FOR THEIR HYPOCRISY. All things considered, isn’t that about the state of affairs that we have here on planet earth?
It’s particularly interesting to note how clear is the HYPOCRISY of AGNOSTICISM. They, with straight faces, exclaim that THEY KNOW that ONE CANNOT KNOW. So how in the world do THEY KNOW the very thing that they insist ONE CANNOT KNOW? These hypocritical discrepancies can be quite confusing..
Do you see here a principle in the way God chooses to reveal Himself to men in this exchange between Jesus and the “chief priests and the elders”? Jesus clearly chose to withhold the clear revelation of His reality and Authority from these guys who were bent on misusing that revelation. If they were so unwilling to accept the message of “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near,” He had no intention to expand their understanding with further revelation.
“I write these things to you who BELIEVE in the name of the Son of God so THAT YOU MAY KNOW that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).