Yes? No? The start of our ‘Stand’ (Ephesians 6) in the battle, because if we don’t believe in Absolutes, then we are on the wrong side.
I remember, at university, that the group of people I tended to ‘hang out’ with were those who, though perhaps far from intellectuals, loved to ‘discuss’. One time the discussion was on the subject of absolutes. My argument, putting aside content or context, that absolutes always existed… that if you didn’t believe in absolutes then that was an absolute statement and the argument was null and void. That really was a fun discussion. But, the context is important.
Yes there ARE absolutes. If we don’t believe there are then what do we have to stand on and make decisions? What’s our foundation? Relativism does not work! If people can believe anything then there is no cohesion, there is nothing that is a foundation or will connect us. For the Christian, this is untenable. There are absolutes! God. Jesus. The Holy Spirit. The Word. Those are absolutes. And they form the foundation, in this case a 4 pillared one.
If you eliminate, for the sake of discussion, that there are no absolutes then where does that leave us. Anarchy? The best definition of anarchy is ‘absence’. Absence is what exists when there is no foundation… primarily because I can choose what I want to believe regardless of relevance or reality – and so can you. If we both have only our own little one person world, then we truly are bereft. Anomie (“social instability resulting from a breakdown of standards and values”, according to Webster) replaces and the result (Webster) is: “personal unrest, alienation, and uncertainty that comes from a lack of purpose or ideals.”
This latter state is sometimes reminiscent of what is occurring with our youth.
But the point is… you can’t eliminate absolutes. They are. Our issue is what we will accept and adopt as our absolute. We have two choices, and only two choices. We either accept the gift of life that comes from salvation, of accepting Jesus as Lord or we accept the lack of hope and assurance that occurs when we reject Jesus. In rejecting Him we accept the hopelessness that comes from following the devil. We will choose one or the other. There is no fence sitting. But even if you initially choose the the devil even by default, you always have hope when you turn to God. He will never turn you aside when you accept the gift of Jesus into your life. You can choose life – not death. Hope – not helplessness. Joy, Peace, Purpose, Meaning… once you accept Jesus.
“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under
heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
(Acts 4:12 ESV referring to Jesus)
End of discussion, end of question – this is the absolute.
