“You Can’t Handle the Truth!”
“Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24).
It’s a now-famous line from the movie, A Few Good Men. In that instance the truth had to do with a “Code Red” order that took the life of a marine, ostensibly for the greater good. However, there are occasions when the truth that people can’t handle does not involve a hidden and questionable secret. Biblical truth is plain and open for all to see. Furthermore, it does not involve some new discovery. The New Testament has been the same since the first century. So it ought to be declared in no uncertain terms to the news and entertainment media:
“YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH!”
We know they cannot because of their response to the interview that Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty had with the magazine GQ. The media became incensed at what the patriarch of the family said, but what it boils down to is that most people think they can commit sin and live in sin yet God will grant them heaven. The truth is that those who refuse to admit that their conduct is sin and refuse to repent of it shall be forever lost in the fires of hell. And they can’t handle that because it isn’t the way they think, nor is it the way their friends think. But it was the message of Jesus and the message of the apostles.
What Did He Say?
Duck Dynasty, which this writer does not watch, is the most popular reality show on cable TV. Besides having millions of viewers and selling Duck Dynasty products, the group recently had three bestselling books in the Top Ten Non-Fiction category in the same week. Members of the family have been making personal appearances, and Phil Robertson, the head of the family was recently interviewed by GQ, who undoubtedly asked him questions, hoping to elicit the kind of responses he gave. One ought to read the entire article in its context, but this quote was cited:
“Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers—they won’t inherit the kingdom of God” (A2).
This quote appeared in the Orlando Sentinel on December 19, 2013. It is the truth, and those in the media cannot handle it. Normally conservative Bill O’Reilly couldn’t even handle it. He said he thought the sentiment expressed was too harsh. When Laura Ingraham tried to tell O’Reilly that Robertson was paraphrasing from 1 Corinthians, he basically ignored her and repeated himself (on his December 19th Factor program). Most Christians undoubtedly recognized the passage immediately.
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6: 9-10).
One wonders how it came to be that referring to a verse in the Bible would cause the media elites all over the country to be outraged. It must be because they do not know what the Bible teaches about sin. Or maybe they don’t want to know. Many politicians, for example, either don’t know that the Bible says “all liars shall have their part in the lake of fire which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Rev. 21:8), or they simply choose to ignore it. Likewise the media champions homosexuality, and they will threaten, browbeat, and try to shut down immediately anyone who disagrees with their viewpoint. They want to classify as “hate speech” anyone who would cite anything against homosexuality—even God.
O’Reilly did two other things on his program that were disturbing. He said that God was a little rough on homosexuals in the Old Testament…. Commanding Israel to put them to death (Lev. 20:13) does show that God considered the sin bad for society. He also destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of their “grievous sin” (Gen. 18:20). What Bill and many others do not seem to realize is that God has not changed His mind with respect to that sin, as 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 demonstrates. Paul calls homosexuality “vile” and “against nature” (Rom. 1:26). Now who are the media going to complain to about that? Will they make an effort to ban the Bible—or just put in jail everyone who reads from it?
The second thing that O’Reilly did was to resort to the old dodge, “The Bible says not to judge.” He even put Luke 6:37 up on the screen: “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and it will be forgiven you.” These remarks are explained more fully in Matthew 7:1-6, but Jesus is talking about making personal condemnations—drawing conclusions based on insufficient data. He is not saying that sin should not be called sin. No one is guilty of judging when God has defined something as evil, wicked, or sinful.
Jesus defined marital adultery as divorcing one’s mate and marrying another (in the absence of the one put away having committed adultery). Was the Lord judging and thus in violation of His own commandment? Was John the Baptizer not guilty of judging when he told Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife” (Mark 6:18)? No, he was pointing out his sin to him that he might repent of it. Instead, Herod jailed him and later had him executed (as the result of the indignation of his “wife”). Herod could not handle the truth.
Was Jesus judgmental in Matthew 23 when He said, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” (13-14ff)? How about when He referred to them as “blind guides” (16), asking how they could escape the condemnation of hell (33)? The Lord was being truthful about their condition, trying to get them to see it. He explained why He used such terms. If Jesus was not judgmental in applying the Scriptures to people’s sins, then why are those who follow Jesus so viciously attacked for doing the same thing?
Repentance
Jesus not only said it in Luke 13:3; He repeated it in Luke 13:5: “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” Repentance means changing one’s ways. If a person wants to repent of being intoxicated, he quits drinking. If he repents of being a thief, he quits stealing. If he repents of committing fornication, he will no longer live with someone outside of marriage. If he repents of the sin of homosexuality, he ceases to be a practicing homosexual. How difficult is that to see? The Bible will not change its message; it is society that is wrong—not God.
Many do not know what the Bible teaches because they have never read it. They think that Jesus was a first-century Hippie, who went around preaching love, peace, and tolerance. While He did speak of all of those things, the Hippies did not practice it the way He did. Concerning love, Jesus taught that we should love one another all right (Matt. 22:37-40), but that means doing what is in the best interests of others (1 Thess. 5:15)—including telling them the truth (Gal. 4:16).
Concerning peace, He came to make peace between man and God, which involved His death on the cross. Because Jesus paid the price for our sins, we can have peace with Him. However, the Lord knew that many would be hostile toward Christians, and He told His followers:
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ’set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.’ And ‘a man’s foes will be those of his own household’” (Matt. 10:34-36).
Jesus was not meaning that His followers should fight others in a physical manner, but members of the same family would be divided over Him, the truth, and the gospel. Jesus did not leave heaven merely to ask people, “Can’t we all just get along?” He came to reconcile man to God, and when that occurs, we will all get along. Those who refuse to hear God or obey Him are the ones who cause division.
When Jesus taught tolerance, He was speaking of the acceptance of people, not sin. Usually it has been the case, since the Tower of Babel, that racial prejudice has persisted, and Jesus’ own people, the Jews, exhibited it as much as anyone. He reminded them at the outset of His ministry that Elijah traveled to the region of Sidon to help a widow during the famine. Likewise it was another foreigner, a Syrian named Naaman, for whom God arranged for his leprosy to be cleansed. For reminding them that God cared about all nations they tried to kill the Lord (Luke 4:24-30).
Later, Jesus taught about a Samaritan who helped a Jew who had been beaten, robbed, and left for dead (Luke 10:25-37). They could not have been thrilled by this lesson, since they despised the Samaritans. They hated tax collectors, but Jesus not only spoke to one; He became a guest at his house. The lesson that Jesus was teaching is that all people are valuable to God—even Samaritans and tax collectors. Jesus also treated an immoral woman with civility in John 8. However, He did not approve of her conduct. He told her, “Go, and sin no more” (John 8:11). Despite her sin, Jesus did not think she was a worthless human being. Christians should not feel that way about anybody—whether of a different race, gender, nationality, or even known for a particular sin, such as homosexuality or prostitution. Rahab changed. All people can.
The Gospel
If O’Reilly’s response was inadequate, others in the media went ballistic. Prominent figures quickly condemned Robertson for being intolerant (which he was not). Anyone who listened to a montage of these statements soon realized that they were vastly more intolerant of him than he was of anyone else. What these types of people fail to understand is man’s condition before God and the purpose of the gospel.
Will Piers Morgan and the other critics acknowledge that they have sinned before God? We know atheists refuse to acknowledge the concept of evil. How about those influential hosts of news and entertainment programs? Sin separates us from God (Isa. 59:1-2). All throughout the Bible we see the devastating results of sin on individuals, cities, nations, and the world. How tragic it was for Adam and Eve to lose the fellowship they once enjoyed with God when the world was fresh and new! Then, because they allowed sin to enter the world, they had to endure their oldest son murdering his brother. David suffered immense personal losses because of his sin with Bathsheba. Examples are too numerous to mention.
The city of Babel left off its huge building project after God confounded their language; Sodom and Gomorrah were obliterated because of their homosexuality; Jericho, Nineveh, Babylon, and Rome were destroyed because of their sins. Tyre and Sidon, Edom, and numerous other nations no longer exist because of their departure from the true and living God and a refusal to repent. Even the nation of Israel (God’s own people) suffered at the hands of their enemies, and Jerusalem was left utterly desolate—twice. Shouldn’t we all be getting a clue about sinfulness from all these various events?
When the whole world rebelled against God, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Gen. 6:5), God brought destruction upon the whole world. People could not stop thinking about sin. Perhaps they lived by a “might makes right” philosophy; certainly the whole earth was filled with violence (Gen. 6:11). Maybe they were devoted to sexual sins, as our modern world is. What we know for certain is that they were beyond redemption because they rejected the message of salvation that Noah preached (2 Peter 2:5). In order to be pleasing to God, they would have had to repent of their sins, but they refused to do so.
God did not create this world to last forever. He will destroy it with fire (2 Peter 3:10-13)—maybe when people are as thoroughly perverted as before. One thing that history has taught us is that eventually a society pays for exalting their Madonnas, their Lady Gagas, their Miley Cyruses, their Jezebels, and their Boy Georges. When a society is so thoroughly saturated as ours is by pornographic magazines, videos, and cable stations, how far away from destruction can we be?
When we add to these facts that abortion has shed the innocent blood (none is more guiltless) of more than 55 million innocent children, we realize that this nation has a great deal to answer for.
Good News
So why is the gospel called “good news”? The answer is that, even though we are dead in our sins, God has provided a solution to the problem we have created. No one needs to remain in the sinful state in which he now finds himself. If it were not for God’s grace, this option would not be available. However, receiving the benefits of salvation from sin means that one must emerge from the cesspool into which he has fallen. The only escape comes through repentance—through refusal to participate in those activities which dragged us down in the first place.
As stated earlier, this is what people refuse to do. They want to continue in sin and think that God should save them anyway—if they believe in God at all. For this reason repentance proves to be an obstacle. Not very many people are going to refuse to be baptized in order to have their sins washed away once they are willing to repent. Convincing them that the behavior they have established as a pattern is wrong is what confounds them.
Unfortunately, the devil has originated some religious doctrines that tell them they are saved in spite of repentance. Assuring people they are saved by “faith only” is an appealing doctrine because they think they can enter the kingdom of God without giving up their sin. Wow! Is that good news or what? It certainly would be—if true. One just needs to ignore a great portion of the Bible. Could someone remain an idolater and be a Christian? Those in Thessalonica could not. Paul commented on the way they “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thess. 1:9). They gave up the idolatry, which is listed right alongside homosexuality and adultery in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. No one can be saved from these sins and enter the kingdom while practicing them.
A second religious error promoted by many is that, not only can one be saved by belief only, once he is saved he cannot be lost. Voila. One can therefore be saved without any repentance whatsoever. Paul the apostle, however, told those in sin at Athens (they were especially idolaters) that God “…now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man who He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31).
The gospel is good news because it teaches that all men can give up every sin they commit against God (1 Cor. 6:11). All can be washed, sanctified, and justified before God when they repent and are baptized in order to have forgiveness of all transgressions (Acts 2:38). This is the truth of the matter. Who will repent, be baptized, and live a life of holiness instead? Who is able to handle the truth?
“YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH”