…continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister; Colossians 1:23
The Greek philosopher Aristotle is claimed to have stated: ‘doubt is the beginning of wisdom’. While this may glimmer to the worldly wise, these words are but fool’s gold in light of the wisdom that is in Christ, for it is ‘the fear of the Lord [that] is the beginning of wisdom’ (Proverbs 9:10).
Nevertheless, Aristotle’s alleged sentiment was promulgated by later philosophers like Descartes, and underpins the system of higher education. As a result, the world is full of heaven-indifferent, sniggering Bible critics. Puffed up in their fleshly minds, such view it as a weakness to trust implicitly in God’s Holy word. And yet, a critical attitude towards the Bible is regarded as broad-minded, independent thought. In reality, such are narrow-minded, and reveal that they are incapable of appreciating thoughts that originate in heaven.
Jesus tells us that ‘except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven’ (Matthew 18:3). The quality that children have is the very opposite of doubt — implicit trust. The reason why a child so trusts what you tell him is because, unlike a grown man, he has no pride of opinion. He has no preconceived ideas. By contrast, the ‘wisdom’ of the idolatrous Aristotle is in essence the setting up of oneself as their own god, for such think that the power of their own minds and senses is all that is required to judge what is true.
While it may come as no surprise that such a condition exists in the world, it is a mistake to think that this philosophical disease exists only in unbelievers. Paul begins 2 Timothy chapter 3 by reprimanding the last-day generation:
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 2 Timothy 3:1-4
One may easily be mistaken to think that Paul is referring to the world here. But the next verse demonstrates that this is not the case, as Paul describes the ones of whom he speaks as ‘having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof’ (2Timothy 3:5). The world has not ‘a form of godliness’, for they make no profession of God. Therefore, it is professed believers in the last days that Paul is speaking about.
We also learn that these high-minded, doubting ones are ‘ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth’ (2Timothy 3:7). We may gather that, while professing to believe the Bible and spending much time in studying its doctrine, this class is never able to come to any definite position on what it teaches, practically or theologically. Refusing to shake off the imprisoning culture of doubt that the world and their own pride has fastened upon them, such are unable to let go of their own ideas. The no-mans land of doubt may be thought of as a wise position to take, but it is in fact cowardice that prevents us from jumping into the trench and firing at the other side. Double mindedness is not faith, but unbelief, and there is no such thing as neutral territory in the war we were born into.
Becoming ‘grounded and settled’ is a work of God performed readily by Him. The only thing we must do in order for Him to reveal the truth to us is to be willing to obey in every aspect of our lives. Jesus promises: ‘If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine’ (John 7:17).
Christopher Sparks