Six years ago, I wrote two posts about spiritual understanding. On my first post I made such statements as: “When we harden our heart against one specific moral truth, moral truth as a whole becomes hard to understand”. The second post was written to explain why it is so.
Today, I would like to approach the same truth from a different angle in view to clarify the moral principle behind my assertion.
The need to fine-tune our moral discernment
There is a Scripture found in the Book of Isaiah that says, in reference to Jesus:
Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good” (Isaiah 7:15).
When I was a young believer this scripture puzzled me. My question was: What eating curds and honey has to do with the ability to refuse the evil and choose the good? Happily, through the years, God made it clear to me that curds and honey stand for the products of God’s land, as represented in the Promised Land. Here is one of the verses:
So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8)
Therefore Isaiah was simply saying, through a prophetic utterance, that Jesus was going to feed on the very best of God’s land. And when a person feeds always on the best he develops a fine taste and consequently can discern quickly when a nutrient is corrupt. In other words, he is able to discern when something is bad and when something is good.
It is this sort of constancy that helps us to develop discernment. The person who vacillates constantly between what is holy and what is profane will be in difficulty when the time comes to detect corruption. Hence, it can be maintained that when we harden our heart against one specific moral truth, moral truth as a whole becomes foggy and hard to assess.
Job had understood the principle. Listen to what he says:
Is there iniquity in my tongue? Cannot my taste discern perverse things?” (Job 6:30, KJV).
These words reveal that when iniquity is in our tongue we can no longer discern accurately between what is holy and what is perverse. We are left in a sort of moral limbo, in the muddy waters of an unsanctified life.
The sharpness of our conscience
One of the greatest gifts God has given to us is the intuitive notion of good and evil, i.e., what is generally called our conscience. We receive it at birth, but become aware of it some months later. At first, this gift is acute and razor-sharp, but when it is resisted, and more so, resisted over a long period of time it looses its accuracy. In fact, in extreme cases, it gets so dull as to become nearly useless. The Scripture refers to such cases when we read:
Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron” (1 Tim. 4:2)
These words refer to a conscience that has grown insensitive due to a long process of misuse and abuse. But the degenerating process didn’t take place over a night. It started with a hardening of the heart in regard to a specific moral truth. When this happens God tries to turn us back by all kinds of means, but the more we resist Him the darker things get. That is the reason why a large number of Christians are disorientated when it comes to moral truth. In some churches what was called bad a few decades ago is now called good, and what was called good is now called bad.
Paul writes:
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:2)
Here the apostle to the gentiles is stressing the fact that the more we conform to this world, that is, to its moral values and practices, the more we lose our ability to prove what is good and acceptable to God.
A godly training
The author of the Book of Hebrews confirms what we have seen so far. Here are his words:
But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” (Heb. 5:14)
Here we have it: Our moral senses have to be exercised, and exercised on a daily basis, for to discern both good and evil is an art which calls for discipline and determination. It is not for the halfhearted or for the one who fears the intimidating moral pressure the world exercises.
What is true in the life of an individual is also true in the life of a church. If a single sin is tolerated or canonized, the moral roof of that church will begin to leak, and if nothing is done the hole will increase and a moral catastrophe will surely ensue. This, and little else, will cause the downfall of numerous Christian communities. The injunction is clear:
Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” (James 4:8)
In yielding to these words resides our hope.
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