Dear Fellow Believers,
Even though I have spoken on the absolute versus relative perspectives again and again, I am constantly encouraged to do more of it. Indeed, this is the key to understanding many Scripture passages that appear at first glance to contradict themselves. And this is the topic of the Grace Cafe gang, broadcasting
twenty-five years ago in Cleveland, Ohio on station WCCD, the largest Christian radio station in that city.
The absolute versus the relative perspective is simply two different ways of looking at the same event. It's looking at world events through the knothole of a fence versus looking over the fence. For instance, you can be describing a good work and rightly say, "I did it" because, in relation to others, you DID do it (as opposed to any other people doing it). But you can
also say, "God did it," because no one can do anything without the influence of God, "for it is God operating in you to will as well as to work for the sake of His delight" (Philippians 2:13).
"I did it" is true, but relative. We are relating your action to the action of others. "God did it" is also true, but it's absolute. It is the cause of all causes.
One of the most illustrative examples of this is Pharaoh's heart. Before Moses even went to Egypt, God
told Moses that He would harden Pharaoh's heart (Exodus 4:21). Then—wonder of wonders!—we read in Exodus 8:15 that "Pharaoh hardened his heart." Even an eight-year-old can understand this.
TEACHER: Billy, why do you think Pharaoh hardened his heart?
BILLY: Because God said He would harden Pharaoh's heart.
Some theologians (read "idiots") pit these verses against each other so as to make Scripture contradict itself. Having accomplished
this, they then shrug their shoulders and remark, concerning the sovereignty of God, "Well, it's just a mystery." No, it's not a mystery. Why don't you ask eight-year old Johnny about it. He will tell you, "Both things are true. It's just that one verse describes a secondary cause of Pharaoh's hard heart—Pharaoh—and one an absolute cause of it, namely, God."
Thank you, Johnny.
Johnny elaborates upon this theme: "When I turned seven last year, I blew out my
birthday candles. Sensing a teaching opportunity, I asked those in attendance, 'What caused the candles to be extinguished?' One person said, 'Air!' Another person said, 'Your mouth!' Another person said, 'YOU did it!' Who was correct? They all were. Fortunately there were no theologians at my party, because a theologian would have said, 'We have one testimony saying that the air put out the candle, we have another saying that Johnny did it. We cannot reconcile these two statements, therefore we
contend that, as both these answers are absolutely true, the extinguishment of Johnny's birthday candles is an utter mystery.'
"Ah no," eight year-old Johnny continues. "Only one answer is absolutely true: I blew out the candles. But even this is not ABSOLUTE absolute, because all is of God. But certainly it requires a career idiot to confer absoluteness upon the air. Yet this is just what the theologians do when they confer absoluteness upon Exodus 8:15, which merely shows
Pharaoh doing what God said beforehand He would cause Pharaoh to do."
I am loving this Johnny kid.
Thanks to Rodney Paris for putting this video together, and thanks to all of you for continuing to support this work through good times and bad, for thirty-one years now. The work continues because of YOU.
With much appreciation and love,
Martin