Article: Our Truth and The Way of Death

I recently wrote a series of articles about God’s truth concerning sexuality and, by extension, about marriage and the family.  Although it also applies to many other things, this article is a bit of a continuation of that discussion.

I will talk some about statistics here but I do not cite specific statistics from specific sources in this article.  The exact numbers differ somewhat from study to study and report to report.  However, all of the data I have looked at indicate the same overall trends and those trends, not the specific numbers, is what is important.  After-all, if I ask you if you want me to drop a bowling ball on your foot, you aren’t likely to ask me if it is a 10 pound or a 12 pound ball before making your decision.  You know that either one is bad and the specific number isn’t really all that important.

I would like to begin by looking at two verses in Proverbs, Chapter 14, verses 12 and 27.

Proverbs 14

12 There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.

27 The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, To turn one away from the snares of death.

We have a way that seams right to us.  For many of us, that way is our own way.  Overall, as a society, we think we are so enlightened.  Between modern science and psychology, we think we have it all figured out.  I think it’s time we took a look at the situation we are in and honestly ask ourselves a question and try to answer honestly.  How well has what we have figured out actually worked out for us?  Is Proverbs 14:12 correct?  Has the way that has seemed right to us been the way of death?  Or do we need to do as Proverbs 14:27 suggests and bring back the fear of the Lord, so that we have access to a fountain of life, To turn us away from the snares of death?  Let’s see.

Let’s look at something more specific.  Roughly 50 to 60 years ago, we began to move away from God’s standards concerning marriage and the family.  Has that had a positive or a negative impact on the family and on society in general?  Let’s take a close look at that.

Even some of the seemingly positive things, when you look a little closer, are not that positive.

For example, the divorce rate is decreasing.  That’s great, right?  That depends on why it is decreasing and, in order to figure that out, you have to look at a few other statistics.  The thing is, the marriage rate is also decreasing.  At the same time, cohabitation outside of marriage is increasing.  In other words, the divorce rate is decreasing because people are deciding not to get married in the first place and, instead, are opting to simply live together.

Of course, some of these extramarital cohabiting arrangements result in the birth of children.  Parenting, even in the best of circumstances, is hard and can sometimes put strain on the relationship between parents.  When the parents are not in a committed relationship and when strain is put on the relationship, unsurprisingly, one of the parents often leaves the relationship.  Also, though somewhat decreased, the rate of divorce among married couples is still very high.  As a result of these and other factors, the number of single parent households is increasing.

This is to the detriment of the children.  Many single parents do very well at raising their children and I am not suggesting otherwise.  However, for multiple spiritual as well as practical reasons, children do better when raised in a household with both mom and dad, partially because there is more security and consistency.  For that matter, mom and dad do better too, partially because of having the support of the other parent in bearing the daily burdens and stresses that go with parenting.  Overall, everybody in the situation is just better off when children are raised in a household with both mom and dad, a situation which is becoming less and less common.

Before I continue, let me say that I am aware that there are exceptions to this, such as in the case of abusive spouses/parents and, while those situations certainly do exist, they are not the overall norm.

The increase in single parent households is to the detriment of society in general, a fact which can also be observed statistically.  Reported levels of happiness are decreasing significantly, especially among young people.  Incidents of suicide are increasing significantly, especially among young people.  These things are admittedly multifactorial, with many of the involved causal factors up for debate, but I think that it is certain that one of the big factors is the moving away from God’s standards concerning marriage and the family.  As we have turned from God and His way more and more, these other negative societal issues have increased more and more, and all of this has happened within the same time frame.  I don’t think this is a coincidence.

Objectively, it doesn’t look like our way is working out very well, does it?  It looks as though Proverbs 14:12 is correct.  As much as we like to do things our way, our way is the way of death.  So, we might want to try something else.  How about trying God’s way?  How does this fountain of life work that Solomon spoke of in Proverbs 14:27?

Let’s look at it from a New Testament prospective.

Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The wages of sin is death.  Ultimately, this is talking about spiritual death, separation from God for eternity.  However, sin has consequences in the short term as well.  It was because of sin that physical death entered the world, along with a slew of other negative consequences, and this all stemmed from us beginning to think we knew better than God what was right and what was wrong.  That’s what the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was all about.  It made us think that we had the knowledge within ourselves of what was good and what was evil.  It made us believe that we could set that standard on our own.  Well, we have set that standard and look where it has gotten us.

But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.  This truly is a gift, in that we cannot earn it, but we do have to do something.  We must submit to Jesus, as Lord and Master.  We must realize that our way is not The Way.

Consider these words of Jesus.

John 14

1 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.

2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.”

5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Jesus is the Way, the only Way.  He is Truth, personified.  His Truth is the only Truth.  Our truth is sin, the wages of which is death.  We have seen that.  His Truth leads to life everlasting.  He is the only Way to that life.  Not our truth, not our way, not our life, but His Truth, His Way, His Life.

Romans 10:13

For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Calling on His name does not mean just saying “Jesus please save me”.  This refers to calling out to Him, in order to acknowledge that our way is the way of death, that His is the only way, and submitting to His way.  Have you submitted to His way or are you still clinging to your way?  How is your way working out for you?  Do you want to maybe try His way and see if that doesn’t work out better?  Taste and see that He is good (Psalm 34:8).  If you want to know how to do that, check out the “The Most Important Thing” section of this website.

Author: Scott Duck