John 3:18, 19
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of Gods one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil
1 Corinthians 1:18
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
1 Corinthians 2:14
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Matt 23:19
Ye fools and blind....
At age 68, a believer for over 50 years, there are a lot of things I still have questions about: about life, things in the bible, theological points, and so on.
But there is one thing I am certain of, and that is that we live in a blighted world, of blind and foolish men and women.
Take the theory of evolution. It has been discredited 10,000 times over, and not just by Christians. It is even more untenable today, with what we now know about microbiological complexity, and the fine-tuning of the physical universe, and the utter mathematical improbability that any life form could have developed by chance (which is to say, by nothing, for chance is nothing), much less the millions of diverse and amazing plant and animal forms that fill the earth. And yet otherwise intelligent human beings say they believe this, that all those amazing philosophers and scientists someone listed above are the product of blind mechanistic forces which spawned life in some murky primordial sludge.
There is only one logical explanation for this madness, and that is the biblical one: we are all born blind, and we remain so until God takes the initiative and opens our eyes, to behold the truth, His truth, and to see just how foolish and sinful we are, and how holy, righteoeus, just, and full of lovingkindness He is.
I don't need to call any man or woman a fool, though. God does that himself, in his word, and He is the Judge of the World, not I. And not just the so-called "God of the Old Testament." Jesus called a spade a spade, and a fool a fool.
Matt 7:26-29
"And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:
For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes."
To all I would say: Don't be foolish, but be wise. Outsmart me if you wish, but don't try to outsmart the Lord God who made you. You can attempt the former and not be a fool, perhaps, but not the latter. "There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."
Why would you choose death? Why not go to Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Oh, I'll tell you why: because of your sins and your pride.
Well, that's what once kept me away from God once too, but I've got some cheerful news for you: God can take care of your sin, and your pride, and your skepticism, and your rebellion, and your reluctance to "have this Man rule over you."
I'll tell you a story about the great Bertrand Russel. Toward the end of his prolific life, he was having lunch one afternoon with a bright young Indian philosophy student. The latter kept trying to engage the great man in philosophical discussion, but wasn't getting much response. Finally Russel said to him: "Young man, how can you be concerned about such things? I have to read a different mystery novel every day just to distract my mind from what the wold is coming to."
Point: In the end, all his philosophy and mathematical knowledge game him no comfort. Was he a genius? Oh yes. Was he a fool? Oh yes, a fool too. "For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?"
