The Need for Biblical Conviction in a World of Biblical Compromise

Introduction

Compromise is a word that our world is all too familiar with. People of all ages in recent days have experienced the temptation to compromise their values and morals in the wake of an avalanche that is ravaging our society. We look around our world and we see problems left and right and many of them are the result of compromise, especially within the church. In recent months, multiple pastors have apologized for saying that Jesus Christ is the only way that one can be saved because they now believe that that is a message that is divisive and not tolerant. There have been other pastors who have recently apologized for what they used to teach regarding homosexuality in the Bible as they used to teach that the Bible calls that a sin that we are called to repent of just like gossip, lying or drunkenness but now one prominent pastor in Atlanta shared that he knows what the Bible says about it but his experience tells him something entirely different. He has compromised the Gospel. RC Sproul shared that the number one reason that people compromise the Gospel is to please men. We love our neighbors as Christ commands us to do - but we must never water down the Gospel and compromise on it in order to gain a would be friend or acquire an earthly possession. The Gospel is too eternally valuable to ever dare compromise on because if we don’t stand on something, we’re going to fall for everything! We must have some sort of conviction in this life especially with why the Bible says.

Throughout the history of the church, whenever Christianity became popular, compromise almost always has followed as Christians began to compromise their beliefs in favor of fitting in with worldly morality. We look around our world today and we see people compromising their faith and we even see non-Christians compromising their values in order to simply fit in and find acceptance with those around them. Now, there are times where compromise is a good thing because, get this, not every hill is one worth dying on and most of the time, our way isn’t the only way! But there are some hills that are. There are times where we must stand our ground because of our Biblical convictions and we’re going to look at one of those hills this morning as we look at what Hebrews 4 tells us about God’s Word. The authority and truthfulness of God’s Word is absolutely a matter of conviction in the life of a Christian, not compromise. We can disagree about the interpretation of things in God’s Word, but we cannot give one inch regarding the authority that God’s Word has over every aspect of our lives from morality, to identity, to sexuality, to ethics, and everywhere in between. What our changing world needs, desperately, is a group of people who stand on the centrality of Scripture without shame as Romans 1:16 commands.

As we get ready to look at our (short) text this morning, ask yourself this: Do I have Biblical Conviction or am I one who has made Biblical Compromise in recent days? Have I allowed the things of this world to change the way that I value God’s Word, or does God’s Word change the way that I see this strange new world?

Hebrews 4:11–13 CSB

11 Let us, then, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall into the same pattern of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 No creature is hidden from him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.

The theme in this short passage of Scripture is two fold: verse 11 concludes the previous section of Scripture and tells us that we must obey or else we will fall away. How do we obey? verses 12-13 spell this out: we listen to God’s active, powerful, and true Word and we allow His Word to change everything about us - not the other way around.

God’s Word is Personal

What do you believe about the Bible? This is a loaded question with many different responses. Many Americans believe that the Bible is a fictional book with made up stories. Some believe that the Bible is a book that contains some wisdom that can be helpful, but it is nothing more than a resource to be used on occasion. There are even some people who attend churches who believe that the Bible is a good book but it isn’t inspired by God and it isn’t as important as our feelings or compared to what our society tells us to think or believe. What we see in Scripture, though, is that there is a God who created all things who has revealed Himself to us supremely through His Son, Jesus Christ

Hebrews 1:1–3 CSB

1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways. 2 In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

God has revealed Himself to us through Jesus Christ and we know Who Jesus is by reading His Word. So many people know things about Jesus or certain stories in the Bible, but they don’t actually know Jesus and this is what the preacher of Hebrews is warning against in this entire chapter: the danger of unbelief and not entering God’s rest by grace through faith in Christ. This is a serious subject! So where does God’s Word come into play here? How does God’s Word help us as we strive to enter God’s rest and obey what He wants us to do? Many ask this question because they believe that the Bible is outdated and only impacts people of a different time in history… Hebrews 4:12 tells us that God’s Word is living. Why does God’s Word matter in the life of every single human being on planet earth today? Because it’s author is alive - not dead - and its message is still the only message that solves our greatest problem. Not only is its author living but His Word itself lives and breathes and changes lives today!

There is a movement that is growing like wildfire around the world and it shares that people can love Jesus without loving the Bible. People want to pick and choose the sections that they like and ignore the parts that they don’t like. This really has to do with the Old Testament as some want to unhitch the Old Testament from the New Testament and ignore it entirely because it’s confusing or hard to understand… Whenever we pick and choose, we demonstrate that we have so much room to grow. Jesus and the Bible go hand in hand - just as our Savior lives, His Word lives and God’s Word will live forever unlike the things of our world. Think of all of the books that you’ve read in your entire life. Some of you all are book people and maybe you have read so many books that you can’t even begin to think of that number… others, though, might be able to get pretty close with a guess or two. Regardless of how many books you’ve read, chances are you have read a book before that is either out of print or so far removed from your brain that you don’t remember a single thing from it. This is how books work often times, we have to read them for a class and the information is in one ear and out the other as soon as the test is done. We read a book only to forget the book or be unable to access the book years down the line. This is not so with the Bible!

Isaiah 40:8 CSB

8 The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God remains forever.”

See, Scripture doesn’t need our help to come to life. Some are so nervous about presenting the Gospel or talking to someone about the Bible because they feel the pressure of making the Bible sound appealing or important - God’s Word does this by itself because it is alive. It endures forever! What is an example of the life found in Scripture? How do we know that Scripture is personal and that it impacts us today?

During our Wednesday night Bible study time here in the Sanctuary, we’ve been participating in a course on Church History through MBTS and we’ve been learning about some of the persecution experienced by the early Christians. They were persecuted initially by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem but that quickly spread throughout the Roman Empire. So much persecution followed, in fact, that if you claimed to follow Jesus Christ in some regions you could be burned alive or thrown into the gladiator pits. Years before these early Christians had their entire copy of God’s Word, they would have fragments and perhaps a single letter or two that they would read. They would then pass their letter to another church and receive a letter that they had received and they’d study that letter and seek to apply it to their life. These letters were like seeds and they helped the early Christians grow spiritually and numerically as more and more people heard about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and were saved. The Roman emperors tried to wipe out the church time and time again, but they failed. We wonder why? The reason is because it is impossible to kill God’s Word because it is alive. It is personal - it isn’t outdated or irrelevant. It is the the power of God as it speaks about the only way that we can be saved. As we study God’s Word, we see Who our God is, who we are, and what God desires from us.

In a world full of Biblical compromise, we have to first remember that we have a Bible that is inspired by God and deeply personal in the lives of His people as His Word changes our hearts and actions. Because God’s Word is alive, we must take seriously our task of understanding the Bible and sharing it with those around us because, second,

God’s Word is Powerful

The next word the preacher of Hebrews uses in verse 12 to describe the Word of God is that it is effective and the literal Greek word is the word “energes” which is where we get our word “energy” from! This doesn’t mean that whenever you only get 2 hours of sleep and you need some energy in the morning that you go and you eat your Bible like you would drink a morning cup of coffee - but it does give us a word picture for the power found within God’s Word as there is energy in what we read. Where does this effectiveness come from? Praise the Lord that it doesn’t come from you or me. Aren’t you thankful that whenever you’re at your lowest point, you can find energy and life and strength inside of God’s Word to fill your cup? That’s good news! If you’ve ever played sports or had a competition or performance or speech of some type, you know that feeling of having butterflies in your stomach, don’t you? The nervous excitement attached with what you’re about to do? Guess what? Pastors get that each Sunday morning too - not because of a performance or competition, but because there is something powerful found in Scripture and proclaiming its truth to the local body of Christ should make anyone nervous and excited because of what we find inside of God’s Word.

Our world is obsessed and confused about power. People will compromise wherever they feel they have to in order to possess more power. This has happened outside of the church and sadly it has happened inside the church as well. There have been many church going people who have sought to water down the Word or to say that the Bible says something clearly but that it doesn’t really matter all that much because people feel a different way. What we have to figure out in our lives is what will we stand upon. Are we content standing on our feelings that change by the day or will we stand on something significantly stronger and more reliable and more authoritative? Take our world’s stance on absolute truth. There is a growing trend from older generations to younger generations to reject black and white statements that have only 1 correct answer with everything else being incorrect. In other words, many people believe that all truth is subjective and no truth is objective or absolute. How can we make these determinations? What makes something “true” or not? I might say that medium rare steak is the best type of steak but you might be more of a fan of a well done steak because you prefer eating charcoal and that’s fine because it’s your perspective just understand that well done is meant for good and faithful servants, not steaks! Joking aside, neither one of us can make the statement that our steak is hands down the best steak that there is because we lack that authority. It’s not black and white, it’s subjective and based on our taste buds. But what about this statement: there are only 2 genders. Is that subjective or objective? Is that absolutely true or is that something that will change kind of like our taste buds? See, we live in a world that believes that that statement can change depending on how we feel… so where can we do for help? We can’t go inside our deceitful hearts like our world loves to do… we must turn to God’s Word because God’s Word is from God, our Creator, and God’s Word like our God is true.

Genesis 1:27 CSB

27 So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female.

So you and I know people who want to fight against this but they aren’t fighting against an opinion or an outdated perspective, they are fighting against the Word of God. The same Savior who alone saves sinners from death to life is the same Author of Scripture which alone has the power to help guide us in the pathway of righteousness in the middle of a world full of compromise and confusion. God’s Word is powerful because of its author and we must simply stand on what it says because our God determines what truth is. Scripture is effective at changing lives and we must allow Scripture to change our viewpoints, not the other way around. You and I are not powerful enough to twist Scripture to fit our position - Jesus has all authority and His way is the right way. His Word has the authority to tell us what we must do. Let’s look at what we must do with this powerful and effective Word - turn with me a few books backward in your Bibles to Ephesians 6 where we find the armor of God passage

Ephesians 6:17 CSB

17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the word of God.

If you and I are going to stand strong during the cultural battles of this day, we must make sure that we stand on God’s Word which serves as our sword in the fight! The Bible -as the sword of the spirit - is the only offensive weapon found in the armor of God passage of Ephesians 6 and that’s purposeful. How do you and I defeat the lies of our culture? By speaking the truth of Scripture in love as Ephesians 4:15 instructs us to do. How do you and I fulfill the Great Commission? By going and telling other people about the truth of the Gospel as we seek to make disciples of our neighbors and the nations! Sometimes something happens in our lives and we rush to the Word for defense and answers and that’s absolutely appropriate because a sword can be used for defense to block a dangerous blow… but the sword is also to be used on the offense. This requires us to know our Bible. This requires us to be impacted by Scripture in the first place and to desire to see others changed by God’s Word as well because we understand how powerful it truly is! Maybe that doesn’t quite make sense to you - how powerful is the Word of God?

In John 1 we read this

John 1:1 CSB

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:3 CSB

3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.

So how important and powerful is the Word of God? Here this is in reference to Jesus Christ, and we see that Jesus created the whole world… that’s not just kind of powerful, that’s the most powerful event that’s ever taken place. Out of nothing, there came to be everything all at one single time! Let’s think more about how powerful the Word of God is

Isaiah 55:11 CSB

11 so my word that comes from my mouth will not return to me empty, but it will accomplish what I please and will prosper in what I send it to do.”

God’s Word accomplishes God’s purposes - that’s pretty powerful! Let’s look at one final example of the power of God’s Word

1 Corinthians 1:21 CSB

21 For since, in God’s wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of what is preached.

God’s Word changes lives. God’s Word shares with us the greatest message of all and that is the message that Jesus Christ saves sinners! That powerful message is still effective and it is the only message that can bring about eternal change to our lives today. Have you responded to this message today? Has the best news saved you? Have you hardened your heart, or has God’s Word penetrated deep down into your heart and changed you from the inside out?

God’s Word is Penetrating

Whenever you and I think of a sword and the damage that it can cause, we usually think of a flesh wound. A sharp Roman sword was a weapon of mass destruction and was the weapon of choice for the greatest military to that point in human history… but the sword could only do so much. The Word of God is not only something that is sharp and important, but it is something that judges the thoughts and intentions of the human heart… The Word of God is a big deal! How many of you have ever read something in the Bible that you’ve wrestled with before? You’re not alone there - if you’ve read the Bible before you’ve probably come across something that just doesn’t make immediate sense from a human standpoint. Whether it be a worldwide flood, the ramifications of sin, our fallen sinful nature, a talking donkey, salvation being exclusively through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, a holy God loving sinful humans, or something else, you’ve probably wrestled with Scripture before and you’ve had to have a come to Jesus meeting. In that meeting we have to do something. We have to evaluate the way in which we are looking at the Word of God. Are we looking at God’s Word with a mentality of submission or one of suspicion? You might be here today and you’re searching for something true and you are still a little suspicious about the Bible and you’re trying to figure out what makes the Bible so authoritative. Hebrews 4:12-13 is your answer. Get this: whenever we understand that the Bible is God’s Word for us then it is the Bible that reads us, not the other way around. The Bible penetrates beneath our skin… the Bible does what no other book or person can do. God’s Word cuts and performs lifesaving surgery on the hardest substance known to man… not diamond, granite, or Missouri limestone which seems to lie an inch or two beneath the surface. God’s Word changes our heart!

The picture painted here in this verse is one of a heart surgery. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God’s Word is like a surgeons knife and it cuts deep into our lives to do something of utmost importance. God isn’t interested in simply giving His people a new name tag or a fresh coat of paint or a new hair cut or a brand new t-shirt… God gives His people new hearts.

Ezekiel 36:26 CSB

26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

How can this happen? Only through the power of the Word of God in which we find out about the Son of God taking our place on the cross of Calvary and through His sacrifice for our sins, we can receive forgiveness and genuine heart level transformation. Ask yourself, has God’s Word changed your heart today? If you’re here and you just go to the Bible for a coffee mug verse here and there then you’re just barely tasting and seeing the goodness before you… If you’re here and you think the Bible is outdated or not important to your life, friend, you don’t know what you’re missing out on! So many misunderstand what the Bible is. Some say it’s a life book with all the answers we need inside - but you won’t find in Scripture what you should eat for dinner tonight or what you should get your spouse for valentines day. So what is the Bible? The Bible is God’s Word for His people. Let’s break that down into two parts. If it is God’s Word then what does that tell us about the Bible? God is holy, true, and all-powerful… this means that His Word is important.

2 Timothy 3:16 CSB

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness,

This means that even those clobber passages that some like to ignore because it clobbers hot topic items in our modern world are inspired by God and we must submit to them. The Bible is a truthful and purposeful book because God is its author. Because of this, we must be changed by the Bible and obey what it says instead of elevating our opinions or feelings above what the Bible says. As a Southern Baptist Church, our only statement of faith per our church constitution is the BFM 2000 which says this about the Bible, “It (the Bible) has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy” I don’t know about you, but I’m thankful that we can look to God’s Word and find truth in its contents because we’re living in a world that is searching everywhere for truth, identity, and satisfaction. So the Bible is God’s Word… but it has an audience. Much of the New Testament is letters that were written to a specific church and people group in the Roman Empire. The Bible was written to its original audience… but this doesn’t mean that the Bible isn’t “for” us - it certainly is! The Bible is for God’s people. Some people will hear the Gospel message found in Scripture and they’ll reject it. Maybe you’ve tried to talk with someone about the good news of Jesus Christ or about what the Bible teaches about God’s design for marriage or sexuality and they’re not having it and maybe you feel defeated because you think that you didn’t save that person from their worldly way of thinking… If you’ve ever felt that way, don’t - you and I don’t save anyone… we’re not that powerful! Only God, through His Spirit, and through His Word, is able to give someone a new heart. Our responsibility is to know the Word, apply the Word, and proclaim the Word.

If God’s Word has changed your heart today, then friend you know that you have a responsibility to help others see the truth of God’s Word and His amazing gift of salvation through the cross of Jesus Christ. This will require you to hold to your Biblical convictions in a world of Biblical compromise. We live in a world where people don’t understand the Bible and many view it as a threat to their ideology and worldview. Even people who claim to be Christians are putting the Bible on the back burner in order to justify living a certain way or doing a certain thing. See, we’re all going to give an account to God one day. Look at Matthew 12:36

Matthew 12:36 CSB

36 I tell you that on the day of judgment people will have to account for every careless word they speak.

Is anyone honestly looking forward to that moment? Here’s what we need. We need help! We need grace. We need a snake crushing Savior who reverses curses and bears our sin and shame on the cross so that we can stand with confidence before our Father dressed in His perfect righteousness. That’s what we all need today and the only way we can have that position is for the Word of God to penetrate through our sinful flesh and change our heart of stone into a heart of flesh. We need to stand on God’s Word with conviction as the waves of our culture are attempting to toss us one way or the other on a variety of Biblical topics. We must remember that God gets to make the rules as the Creator of all things and we must follow His Word - not what feels right or looks appetizing. We have a Bible full of examples where people did that and they paid the consequence with their lives

Romans 1:22–25 CSB

22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles. 24 Therefore God delivered them over in the desires of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen.

May this never become true of us. May we never exchange the glory of God as found in His Word for a man-made lie, even if that lie sounds appealing or tolerant… That’s the danger of compromise.

What Does God’s Word Do?

God’s Word Gives Life Where There Was Once Death

Our world is walking in darkness because of sin. What God’s Word does is provide us with light and life through the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the power of His Holy Spirit. The same Gospel that has been shared for 2,000 years is still the only way that we can be saved of our sins. It is still the only way that we can be led from death to life. God’s Word is our only hope to escape this life alive.

God’s Word Gives Wisdom Where There Were Once Questions

All Scripture is God-breathed. We see in Hebrews 1 that Jesus is the radiance of the Father’s glory and the exact expression of His nature. Meaning this: Jesus is fully-God. Our world has many questions and we have many questions about certain things in this life and Jesus, as the Word of God, answers many of those questions in God’s Word. He provides us with wisdom to answer the things that our world has questions about. Think about how desperately we need wisdom today, parents of young children, especially with our current cultural climate. You’re going to have to talk with your child about abortion, pornography, sexual immorality, transgenderism, and dozens of other questions. What do you desperately need? Wisdom from God as you navigate those waters. James 1:5 tells us to ask God for wisdom and He’ll give it to us. This requires us to read God’s Word and find what the Word says about these types of questions. Never be ashamed to say “The Bible says it, that settles it” and have enough wisdom and knowledge of God’s Word to be able to back that statement up with what the Bible actually teaches about those types of hot topic questions and more.

God’s Word Gives Power Where There Was Once Weakness

If we look at our lives, we see weakness. We see that we all fall short of God’s standard and we all fail one another often. God’s Word shares with us that there is grace found in Jesus Christ. God’s Word shares that there is forgiveness for those who repent and trust in Christ as Lord and Savior. Our sins are so many that we can’t even begin to count them… but the mercy of our God is so much more. As we read God’s Word, we are filled with power but not that of our own. God changes us as we submit to His Word through the power of His Spirit. He fixes us up and not just with some minor cosmetic type changes, He does a full heart operation. And whenever He’s done, His Spirit dwells within us. God’s Word provides us with power as we follow what He says and stand on it faithfully. No longer can we be tossed around, we stand strong in Jesus Christ.

We must believe what we believe because we’ve determined it in our heart based on Scripture - not because of a passing feeling or because of a cultural moment. Feelings change. Cultures change. People change. The Word remains! Whoever you are, wherever you’ve been, whatever you’ve done, however you’ve been taught in the past, understand this: God has a purpose for you. You are not an accident. You are not a mistake. You are made in God’s image for His purposes. Look to Scripture and allow the author of Scripture to change you today, tomorrow, and each day as you follow after Him and as you stand boldly on His unchanging Word.