"But the Bible Doesn't Say..."

After several of Jesus’ parables He said, “Let him who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Matthew 13:9). He realized that some would find every excuse to reject the application of His teaching (Matthew 13:14,15). Yet, he knew some honest listeners would understand His message (Matthew 13:16,17).

Many in our culture are the same way as those who heard Jesus. Their hearts are hard. They hear sermons, read articles and listen to Bible principles and still use every excuse possible to reject God’s will in their lives. They refuse to take principles of the Bible and apply it to specific situations.

Inside and outside of the church, many will argue, “Well, the Bible doesn’t say (you fill in the blank).” They will use this to substantiate gambling, dancing, smoking, abortion, pornography and just about any other sin under the sun.

The Bible often uses broad principles that honest hearts will apply to specific sins and dishonest hearts will refuse to search.

For example, in Galatians 5:19-21, “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Paul is clear about the consequences of these sins. Those who commit them will go to hell. In fact, he condemns these sins “and the like.” In other words, Paul expected us to stay away from these or anything that was a close cousin to it.

So, you argue “the Bible doesn’t ever condemn dancing?” Look up the definition of “lewdness.” Does it sounds like a close cousin to what is seen on MTV, BET, or at your high school prom?

The New Testament never uses the word “suicide.” But, look up the term “murder” in Galatians 5 and consider the example of Judas and the principles condemning such action are present in God’s Word.

The same thing should be done for any other questionable issue with Bible words and principles. Christians need to spend less time looking for loopholes and more time standing on the commands of God.

The specific word or words we are looking for may not be there (cigarettes did not exist in the first century, neither did Powerball or raves) but the sinful motivation behind the sins did exist. Let him who has ears to hear, let him hear!

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