I’ve seen the bumper sticker to the right several times.  I agree with the statement at the bottom, but it doesn’t go far enough.  The “one truth” is the person of Jesus Christ… as Jesus Himself said in John 14:6.  Yet within Christianity and Scripture there are statements, doctrines, and beliefs that seemingly contradict each other.

It is not a contradiction to say that the first will be last and the last will be firstIt is not a contradiction to say to be great you must become a servant.  It is not a contradiction to say that to find your life you must lose it.  It is not a contradiction to affirm that Jesus was 100% God and 100% man at the same timeWhen a person is a Christian they have to become comfortable with “contradictions” otherwise the Scriptures will not make sense and their faith will not have room for genuine Biblical Truth.

This may be too simplistic for some, but I have become somewhat comfortable with the seeming contradictions of my faith.  For example… I have no problem with God being absolutely sovereign with nothing happening outside His will AND AT THE SAME TIME affirming that man is 100% free to choose for himself what he will and will not do.  I have no problem saying that God does not hear everyone’s prayers AND AT THE SAME TIME saying God hears every prayer everyone prays (Some He chooses to ignore, and in that sense He doesn’t “hear” them.).  And there are many others I could name!  What seems to be contradictory to some is in actuality the beauty of God’s perfect truth.  There are some who aren’t able to live with the seeming contradictions and as a result go so far as to call those who don’t believe like they do heretics (See tomorrow blog… God willing).

Personally, I am comfortable with things that seemingly contradict each other in Scripture.  That just makes me want to dig much harder and deeper into God’s Word… to know Him better and marvel at His unsearchable ways.  After all… if we completely understood God then by definition He would no longer be God.  As it is written…

Romans 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways! 34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor?”

Isaiah 55:8 For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.

As you read Scripture and come upon something that seems to contradict a belief you already hold, consider these possibilities: 1) The belief you’ve held may very well be wrong (Imagine that! God contradicting US?!); 2) There is something that at the present you don’t understand that will harmonize to seeming contradictions; 3) Both things are indeed true and you must accept them both as truth.  I end with Paul’s thoughts from Romans 14 & 15…

14:4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike.  Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.  15:1 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up…