We are certainly in the midst of a challenging situation with the current COVID-19 pandemic. It is unique in our lifetimes, and it has brethren scrambling to study their Bibles to determine the proper response to questions regarding assembly, obedience to civil authority, and worship.
There is insufficient room to answer these questions in this short article. Suffice to say that this writer is likewise studying and seeking to make proper applications that will please our Lord. “For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord” (1 Corinthians 4:4).
However, this writer has observed some bad argumentation being used by advocates for a particular position, and accepted seemingly without hesitation or examination by their readers or hearers. This is dangerous. Admonition is needed to be as the noble Bereans, who “searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11).
Consider what NOT to do when examining these issues:
DO NOT enter your study with a desire to justify a particular position. This is so important, and so difficult. All of us have our own preferences, but “no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:11). For someone to say “It is difficult to believe that God is happy/unhappy” regarding any particular position is irrelevant. You don’t know what God wants unless you find out it is so by studying His word. To go into a study with preconceptions, or personal desires is dangerous. This is why false teachers prosper, because individuals turn to them have “itching ears” (cf. 2 Timothy 4:3). They are looking for someone to tell them what they want to hear.
DO NOT seek authority through what the Bible does not say. Whenever any argument starts with the word “Imagine”, it is safe to say it has no place in the decision making process of Christians. This is the realm of the denominations. “Imagine the possibility that Lydia’s household had infants in it. It is difficult to believe that God would condemn infant baptism.” Silence does not authorize. The scripture alone equips us “for every good work” (cf. 2 Timothy 3:17). If the Bible is silent, we must not speculate on God’s will or desire. And shame on those preachers and teachers who are making such an appeal, confusing God’s people in this time.
DO NOT take passages out of context in an attempt to justify your decisions. Again, such action is done all the time among the denominations. Paul’s words in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” is an example of an oft quoted passage that is used in wildly inappropriate ways.
Finally, DO NOT use Romans 14 as a means of justifying action that is sinful. So often brethren are willing to appeal to Paul’s great discourse on brethren’s treatment of one another as authority to stand by and approve of one who is in sin. If you have questions on whether something is allowed by God or not, you don’t go to Romans 14! In the context of the passage, the actions to which Paul refers (eating meats and observing days) were acceptable to God if done in good conscience. To say that people who come to different conclusions in our present circumstance should respect each other’s convictions and conscience is only justifiable if said actions are seen to be acceptable to God. If sin is involved, our response should be to warn the sinner, that he might repent. Romans 14 says not to judge the one received by God. If a person’s actions are without authority, we are to warn and convict, lest their souls should be lost!
Rest assured that the devil is using this pandemic to attack the faith of God’s people. Some will wilt (cf. Matthew 13:21) because they lack sufficient “root in [themselves].“ Some will follow their heart, and “because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world” (1 Peter 5:8-9).
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