What the Bible says about Truth, Departure from
(From Forerunner Commentary)
This idea, "As he thinks in his heart, so is he" applies both to the righteous and the evil. Here, the subject is evil. We can translate the first half of verse 7 in a more modern way as, "As he calculates in his soul." "Calculate" puts a twist on the word "thinks," making it a bit stronger and providing a sense of deceit—that the person is considering the odds of a scheme.
In all three verses, Solomon warns against exploitative people, against those who are slick controllers who manipulate others through charm or beguiling words. God is telling us that we need to have enough discernment to look on the heart, as the proverb says, "As he thinks in his heart, so is he."
There is an inseparable connection between teaching and practice: We cannot practice truth until we are taught it. We pick up some things from our culture because people do not do everything wrong; from time to time, they hit upon things that are right. Thus, in Romans 2, Paul writes about the conscience of the unconverted. There may be little or much in a given culture in harmony with God and His way.
So, as a person thinks in his heart—as he has been educated to think—is the way he really is. Doctrine - teaching - becomes important because, within the framework of His purpose, we really cannot walk in way of God until He teaches us the truth. He must feed the mind with the right knowledge if the person is going to do right as a way of life. This is what God is after, which is why doctrine is so important.
Thus, God says, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6). This verse does not mean that the child will do everything right but that the child's basic training will never completely leave him, and if his parents start him off in the right way, "as the twig is bent, so grows the tree." It is a generality, but a true one. What people need is truth. We need the doctrines put together in the correct way so they lead in the right direction—toward God's purpose.
What matters is the thinking material that the person works with because the knowledge that his mind, his heart, assimilates will form the basis from which he calculates. If a person lacks truth, he will not come to proper decisions and produce the right actions.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Sovereignty of God (Part Eleven)Related Topics: Acknowledging the Truth | Acting Upon Truth | Assimilation/ Feeding Process | Calculating | Child Training | Conscience Must Be Educated | Conscience Must Be Trained | Deceit | Discerning Truth | Doctrine | Man's "Schemes" | Manipulation | Sovereignty of God | Spiritual Practice | Train up a Child in the Way He Should Go | Truth, Departure from
A principle is being brought out here. The priests had let down in their devotion to God, performing their duties in a routine manner, not taking them seriously. Therefore, the people let down also. When the priesthood casts off the truth, then so too do the people.
John O. Reid
TithingRelated Topics: Tithing | Tithing, Principles of | Truth, Departure from | Truth, Despising | Truth, Guarding | Truth, Love of
Apostasy ("the falling away") is not necessarily a departure from an organized body but a departure from truth, as the context shows. It points to a deliberate abandonment of a former professed position or belief.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Flood Is Upon Us!Related Topics: Apostasy | Apostasy, Process of | Belief, Abandonment of | Falling Away | Truth, Departure from
Some think that, when someone accepts heresy, he will "leave the church." That may occur on some occasions, but this confuses hairesis with apostasia. In this verse, apostasia is translated "falling away" in both the KJV and NKJV, giving the impression that it refers to leaving an organization. But apostasia means "to depart from truth"! One can remain in an organization and be departing from truth all along.
This is vitally important to us living at the end time! Notice what Paul writes in II Thessalonians 2:9-12 about this:
The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Damnable HeresiesRelated Topics: Apostasy | Apostasy, Process of | Deception | Deception, Guarding against | Hairesis | Heresy | Heresy | Lawless One | Love of the World | Lying wonders | Truth | Truth, Departure from | Truth, Despising | Truth, Guarding | Truth, Love of
Though these words were written specifically about the book of Revelation, the principle is significant in light of today's church. Christ's concern at the very end is that His people do not deviate from what is written in the book. To remain in His safety, a Christian must be submissive to Him, worshiping Him in every aspect of life, continuing to develop in Christian freedom, not enveloped by an attitude that may prove to be spiritually fatal.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Guard the Truth!