While it is common for all of mankind to desire a certain degree of “certainty” in life, apart from the promises of God, there really are no “guarantees in life” to be found within the fallen world in which we live. In a letter to the French scientist Jean-Baptiste Leroy in 1789, Benjamin Franklin famously wrote, “… in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”
While the secular world offers little in terms of hope and security to the peoples of the world, God’s Word abounds with promises to those who would come to Him by faith to receive His mercy and forgiveness. Amongst those promises are the guarantees of Jesus to forever be with His followers (“…lo I am with you always.” Matthew 28:20), and that He would never leave or forsake them (“… him who cometh to me I will in no wise cast them out.” John 6:37). Biblical scholars proclaim that there are literally thousands of these promises (guarantees) made by God to mankind to be found within the pages of Scripture.
Not all the promises of God to man however are of a positive nature. For both Isaiah and Jesus made the promise that if one put the thoughts and edicts of men above the doctrinal teachings of God’s Word, that man in essence would then be guaranteeing that his own heart would be far from the heart of God:
“This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with
their lips; but their heart is far from me.
But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”
Matthew 15:8,9 (Isaiah 29:13).
Unfortunately, many of the foundational theological beliefs of Christendom that have developed throughout the years of Church history are founded more upon the wisdom of man than upon the clear teachings of Scripture. This in turn guarantees that not only will the believer be severely hampered in their understanding of the Personage and Ways of God, but that their hearts would also be “far away from the heart of God” in their fellowship with Him. Until these faulty theological paradigms are exposed and replaced with Biblical Doctrine, believers will have difficulty in truly resting in and benefitting from the numerous promises and guarantees to be found within the written Word of God, and thereby experiencing a true “heart to heart” intimate fellowship with Him. This is the clear teaching put forth by Jesus here in the 15th chapter of the Book of Matthew.
To all who would desire to learn more about these common faulty paradigms that exist within the Church today, and thereby come to know God on a more personal and intimate level, to you we sincerely proclaim, “Welcome to the world of “Paradigms Tossed.”
