There is a very telling line at the very end of the book of Judges, which says, “In those days there was no king in Israel, every man did what was right in his own eyes” Judges 21:25. Today in America it could also be said of us, every man does what is right in his own eyes because it is generally understood among many that there are no moral absolutes. Following the death of Moses and his generation there was a period of 400 years in Israel’s history, which could be summed up by the statement, “…and there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel” Judges 2:10.
Today in America there is much talk about the universality of God, so that people of every faith are said to believe in the same God. This movement is called Syncretism. According to Wikipedia, “Syncretism involves the merger and analogizing of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thus asserting an underlying unity and allowing for an inclusive approach to other faiths.” The Bible, however, does not speak of God in such a way.
During the time of Judges there was increasing ungodliness in Israel, as a result God repeatedly gave the people over to slavery. Judges were raised up to deliver the people, however, the people could no more read the signs of the times than they were willing to read the Bible. So we read of them,
” But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their ancestors, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.” Judges 2:19
The Bible has much to say about false gods and none of it is good. In America, as in the rest of the world, there are many false gods. It is true that anything can become a false god in the heart of a sinful person, but the worse false gods are those made of false ideologies. The victorious Christian is one who strives after the truth as revealed in the Bible and follows the ways of the Apostle Paul.
“We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” 2 Corinthians 10:5
The Christian does not speculate, which leads to false knowledge of things that seem high and lifted up but are against a true knowledge of the one and only God. The false religions of the world have a pretense of good but in the end they lead to eternal punishment.
If you think such words are false, narrow, bigoted, and unChristian then listen to the words of Jesus when He prayed. “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word” John 17:6. When Jesus came into the world He chose certain men to be with Him, and He said that He chose them out of the world. What does that say about the world? Jesus also said as recorded in Matthew’s Gospel that broad was the path that leads to destruction and many go in that way – MANY go in that way.
Jesus was given men from the Father that were taken out of the world, which is necessary because the men of the world believe lies about God, religion, and virtually everything that is important. For this reason Jesus said, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth” John 17:17. No one can find their way apart from the truth and truth is not your or my truth but God’s truth, which is only found in God’s word the Bible.
Jesus defined eternal life in this way, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” John 17:3. The Father is the only true God and all the rest are false gods. Jesus revealed the Father as He said, if you’ve seen Me you’ve seen the Father. To know Jesus is not to simply to know facts about Him but to be known by Him.
In that awful Day of Judgment many will find out that they did not truly know Jesus because He will reveal to them that they were not known by Him. God knows all things but He does not recognize everyone as belonging to Him, but only those chosen by the Father and who were then given to the Son.
You say, what if I am not chosen and if I am not one of those given to the Son by the Father, as Jesus said? What you need to concern yourself with is the condition of your own heart. Do you recognize that you are a sinner and that you cannot save yourself (Ephesians 2:8, 9)?
Do you recognize that Jesus Christ is Lord and there is no other God beside Him and that includes you? Your eternal destiny does not lie within the power of your own hands, because if it did that would make you God. There is one God and one Lord and you or I are not Him.
The recognition of God, our sinfulness against Him, sorrow for our disobedience and defiance toward Him, and our desire to turn from sin and submit to His holy will is evidence of true salvation. The recognition of the Bible as the only true and authoritative Word of God is further evidence of God’s Spirit working with the believer’s soul.
The true Christian does not do what is right in his own eyes but what is written in God’s holy Word the Bible.