Jesus: The Inconvenient Truth
Terry L. Mitchell
September 08, 2009
My local newspaper recently began an editorial by quoting a portion of Galatians 3:28 from the King James Version of the Bible as follows: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male or female…." Interestingly enough, the editors chose to exclude the final and most important phrase of that passage, which states, "for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."
Even though the editorial had nothing to do with biblical matters, the verse from Paul´s epistle to the Galatians should have been included in its entirety. Without its concluding phrase, the passage loses its meaning and is rendered completely ridiculous. Of course there are Jews, Greeks, males, females, free people, and (unfortunately, even today) slaves – in the physical world. But as Paul was trying to tell the Galatians, in Jesus Christ (and in Him only), all of these earthly distinctions melt away.
Their treatment of this scripture verse is comparable to quoting someone as having made the following statement: "By law, governors are not permitted to succeed themselves in office." Clearly, that statement is completely untrue, as governors in 49 states are allowed to do just that. However, what if the person had actually included two additional words – "in Virginia" – at the end of his or her original statement? That would have made it totally accurate. Consequently, someone´s hypothetical decision to redact a portion of the quotation would have changed its status from true to false, just like those editors did with Paul´s words.
Obviously, the inclusion of the complete verse did not suit their purpose. They are not alone. Jesus does not suit the purpose of many today. That´s why people say "happy holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" and why the Christian Children´s Fund changed its name to ChildFund International, to mention just a couple of examples. While Jesus has become an inconvenient truth, He remains the only real Truth nonetheless.
Even though the editorial had nothing to do with biblical matters, the verse from Paul´s epistle to the Galatians should have been included in its entirety. Without its concluding phrase, the passage loses its meaning and is rendered completely ridiculous. Of course there are Jews, Greeks, males, females, free people, and (unfortunately, even today) slaves – in the physical world. But as Paul was trying to tell the Galatians, in Jesus Christ (and in Him only), all of these earthly distinctions melt away.
Their treatment of this scripture verse is comparable to quoting someone as having made the following statement: "By law, governors are not permitted to succeed themselves in office." Clearly, that statement is completely untrue, as governors in 49 states are allowed to do just that. However, what if the person had actually included two additional words – "in Virginia" – at the end of his or her original statement? That would have made it totally accurate. Consequently, someone´s hypothetical decision to redact a portion of the quotation would have changed its status from true to false, just like those editors did with Paul´s words.
Obviously, the inclusion of the complete verse did not suit their purpose. They are not alone. Jesus does not suit the purpose of many today. That´s why people say "happy holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" and why the Christian Children´s Fund changed its name to ChildFund International, to mention just a couple of examples. While Jesus has become an inconvenient truth, He remains the only real Truth nonetheless.
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