53 When Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. 54 He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? 55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? Matthew 13:53-58 (NASB) (Read verses 56-58 on the site)
The condition of the “visible church” in our time is quite tragic. It is full of professing Christians who appear to be running headlong into apostasy in ever increasing numbers. In this post we will attempt to look at what it is in these people that has brought this about. Why have they fallen into darkness and we have not? There are leaders amongst those on the broadway that leads to apostasy that have a problem taking God’s Word as absolute truth….
On the other hand, I have always taught God’s Word as literal truth yet there are many places in the Word that some professing Christians have a problem taking literally because, if we do, then it refutes their pet theology exactly to the point. That is the nature of God’s truth. I have had some very ugly discussions in Bible Study classes about doctrine in which certain people were insistent that a section of God’s Word cannot be taken literally even though the only refutation they have against doing so is human philosophy. This, my brethren, is unbelief in action. Unbelief in Matthew 13:58 at the top of this post is the Greek word ἀπιστίαν (apistian), which speaks of faithlessness or uncertainty, distrust, or unbelief. It is used in the New Testament to show a lack of acknowledgment of Christ in Matthew 13:58 and Mark 6:6, a want of confidence in His power in Matthew 17:20 and Mark 9:24 and a want of trust in the God of promise in Romans 4:20 and Hebrews 3:12 and 3:19.