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Continuing in Truth
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;”
Hebrews 2:1–3
Today the school is known as a bastion of liberal thinking and practice, but it was not always that way. When the founders drew up a mission statement for their educational institution nearly four hundred years ago, they wrote, “To be plainly instructed and consider well that the main end of your life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ.” The motto of Harvard University is still Veritas—truth—but the school has strayed far from its foundations.
Such change is all too common, and often happens very quickly. Individuals, churches, and groups that once proclaimed and defended the truth abandon the principles that they held dear and replace them with others. Beliefs and doctrines that were once held as vital are downplayed or altered. Sometimes this is the result of intentional shifting, and other times it is because the boundaries were not maintained and defended.
Truth is not held accidentally. It must be firmly gripped, or it will be lost. Jude warned, “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 1:3). The faith of those who have gone before us is an example and inspiration to us, but it is not enough. We must take a stand for truth and defend it in our generation.
Hebrews 2:1–3
Today the school is known as a bastion of liberal thinking and practice, but it was not always that way. When the founders drew up a mission statement for their educational institution nearly four hundred years ago, they wrote, “To be plainly instructed and consider well that the main end of your life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ.” The motto of Harvard University is still Veritas—truth—but the school has strayed far from its foundations.
Such change is all too common, and often happens very quickly. Individuals, churches, and groups that once proclaimed and defended the truth abandon the principles that they held dear and replace them with others. Beliefs and doctrines that were once held as vital are downplayed or altered. Sometimes this is the result of intentional shifting, and other times it is because the boundaries were not maintained and defended.
Truth is not held accidentally. It must be firmly gripped, or it will be lost. Jude warned, “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 1:3). The faith of those who have gone before us is an example and inspiration to us, but it is not enough. We must take a stand for truth and defend it in our generation.
Today’s Growth Principle:
It is usually what seems to be small changes in principle that leads to abandoning the truth.
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