Antithesis

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For a better understanding of what I am firmly convinced is the absolute truth I offer the following quote:

"If the truth of the Christian faith is in fact truth, then it stands in antithesis to the ideas and the immorality of our age, and it must be practiced both in teaching and practical action. Truth demands confrontation. It must be loving confrontation, but there must be confrontation nonetheless."

Francis A. Schaeffer

One of the major issues of our age is the absolute lack of unity of our professed beliefs and our daily actions. So many today make a claim to be "Christian," while their actions leave me scratching my head. It is amazing how much biblical knowledge can be gained today with our vast arrray of resources, yet the lack of literacy shown by believers, the many divisions within the body of believers, and simple pride makes one wonder if most people are even serious about their faith.

Schaeffer uses the word "antithesis" throughout his writings to accurately describe the foundation of an accurate worldview. When people have beliefs, and act in ways that are in direct opposition to what the Bible teaches, the worldview they profess to have doesn't represent the foundational antithesis required by the Bible. Therefore can this type of person claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ as described in the Bible?

It is not for me to judge someone's eternal destination. Only God and that person truly know the answer to eternity. Although without evidence of Biblical conformity, or an outright rejection of Biblical standards, there is a problem.

"We must acknowledge and then act upon the fact that if Christ is our Savior, he is also our Lord in all of life. He is our Lord not just in religious things and not just in cultural things such as the arts and music, but in our intellectual lives, and in business, and in our relation to society, and in our attitude toward the moral breakdown of our culture. Acknowledging Christís Lordship and placing ourselves under what is taught in the whole Bible includes thinking and acting as citizens in relation to our government and its laws. Making Christ Lord in our lives means taking a stand in very direct and practical ways against the world spirit of our age as it rolls along claiming to be autonomous, crushing all that we cherish in its path."

Francis A. Schaeffer


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