Back when I was a student in grade school, there were some kids who truly disliked our math teacher. Why? There was only one answer he would accept for our papers and tests. It had to be “the right one.” It didn’t matter who you were. It didn’t matter how hard you worked, or how much time you spent. It didn’t matter how close you got. Anything but the right answer was just wrong.
Talk about “intolerance.” Talk about “closed-mindedness.” Talk about unfair! How unfair was it that he didn’t take it into account at all how much effort you put in? How unfair was it that the people with the “right answers” got the “A’s,” even if they were the same people who got “A’s” last time?
How unfair was it that on a paper with twenty questions, each question had only one right answer? No matter if you tried hard, meant well and were sincere? No matter how discouraged you were getting?
But if we hated the math teacher, we were wrong. Math is the search for right answers. And if you couldnt f’ind them, you had tutors, parents, and teachers to help.
The study of God’s Word is like that. The Holy Scriptures teach one truth: One set of right answers. Our gracious God is concerned about bringing them home to your heart. It doesn’t matter who you are, how hard you’ve worked, or how sincere you are. The right answer that comes from the Lord is what matters. And He wants you to have it!
So, He gave us the Bible. It says the truth: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified [declared righteous] freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:23, 24)
God gave the Ministry of His Word, the preaching of the Law and Gospel, to lead you to the right answers for your peace and salvation. For we are saved by God’s grace through faith alone in Jesus our Savior from sin. What a tremendous gift!
And if the “Good News” is hidden, then it’s hidden in plain sight, as the Apostle Paul reminds us: “...if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing. ...The unbelievers [do not] clearly see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is God’s image. Indeed, we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” (2 Cor. 4:3-5)
By God’s amazing grace and the Holy Spirit-given faith, you and I are Christians committed to our loving Savior’s right answers – however strange that seems to the world. God's answers are there in the Bible – for us to have them, believe them, find peace in them, and share them with others. Come to God’s House and learn more about Jesus’ great love for you!