Contemporary Christianity’s Relentless Subversion of Biblical Love
We humans really do think too highly of ourselves, and this truth is always much greater than we suspect. [1] I am guilty of this; you are guilty of this; in fact, no man on this planet can claim innocence concerning this very central problem found within the human heart. While we as Christians understand such a truth to some extent, no man understands it as well as he ought. The recognition and admission of this is crucial for the good of our souls. Without it, we will tend to grant ourselves the dangerous license of setting aside the real authority of God’s Word in place of our own impulsive thoughts, feelings, and human “wisdom.” When the Apostle Paul preached to the Athenians on Mars’ Hill, he addressed this very problem while teaching them about the God whom they worshipped in ignorance. [2] Before coming to the conclusion of his sermon, Paul detailed this aforementioned issue of man’s tendency to fashion deities after the image of his own subjective thoughts and feelings. When stating this principle, Paul supplies a very interesting (primary) verb:
Acts 17:29: “Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man.”
Paul’s argument would have been quite stunning to his audience. His premise is that all men have an obligation to serve and worship God because He alone is the creator of everything. [3] Creation was not the collective effort of the spirits and deities of the Graeco-Roman world, rather, the One true God created all things by His singular power and authority. This, of course, is a repeated truth found throughout Scripture, [4] and Paul is offering this matter as a primer to his overall Gospel call. But in stating this truth, Paul is establishing two important principles for all men whether saved or unsaved:
1. Our Debt to God: “We ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like…”: The primary verb in this statement is boxed in red in the graphic above – ophilomen [we ought]. This is a word that speaks of one’s debt to another, and in the case of man’s relationship with God, it refers to our divine obligation towards the Lord who is the Creator and Despot [5] of everything. What Paul states here is both crucial and powerful. He is letting us know that men are not at all free to entertain thoughts about God which He Himself has not revealed. Implicitly, Paul is indicating to us that it is Scripture, and Scripture alone (sola Scriptura), [6] that must be embraced in order to have an explicit revelation of the One who is, Himself, the exegesis [7] of the Father: Jesus Christ. When men wax eloquent regarding their own philosophies and subjective feelings about God’s nature, they are violating their divine obligation towards the One who created them – which, of course, is called idolatry. Man’s lack of freedom to think of God as he wishes mirrors the principal commandments found within the decalogue. [8]
2. Our Natural Corruption: “…that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man.” This text reveals the other side of the drachma in Paul’s argument. On the one side (as previously noted), men are not free to think of God as they wish; on the other side of things, Paul reveals that men have this sinfully innate tendency to liken the infinite God to the finitudes of this fallen world. As Paul was surrounded with a full bevy of statues, images, and altars to the many deities, daemons, and spirits of the Graeco-Roman world, his references to gold, silver, and stone would have been extremely self-evident. Athens was filled with such statues, images, and altars made of gold, silver, and stone, and thus, his rebuke is quite clear. But what was more piercing was his refutation of men’s tendency to craft deities after the art and thought of man. What a deep and penetrating blow this must have been to his proud audience, teaming with an abundance of artisans and academics. Their highest achievements of mind and hand were quickly thrown into the trash heap of human depravity by this one statement. And the words that Paul used in this statement are quite telling: technes (art) and enthumeseos (thought). We get our word technology from this Greek word technes. With the worship and adoration of technology in our modern day, we see that mankind’s problems never really change. The other term, enthumeseos, is rarely used in the N.T. The root of this term comes from the word thumos (passion) and is used to speak of the hidden musings of men [Matthew 9:4: And Jesus knowing their thoughts [enthumeseis] said, “Why are you thinking [enthumeisthe] evil in your hearts?, Hebrews 4:12: For the word of God …able to judge the thoughts [enthumeseon] and intentions of the heart.]. What a pride-stripping moment this must have been to the Athenians! And for Paul to make this declaration on Mars Hill, where the philosophers gathered to pontificate their knowledge about the gods, reveals an abundance of boldness that is too easily missed through a casual reading of this narrative.
In all of this, the Apostle’s teaching is quite clear: truth comes not from the art and thought of man, instead, it singularly comes from the revelation of God’s Word. What Paul teaches us is very important, and it is applicable to all men – saved or unsaved. . . . .
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True Discernment 
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