The Ditches of Relativism
by Christopher Hendrix
We live in a culture that praises moral relativism. The idea is, if you don't hurt anyone, you're free to believe what you want. If you avoid offense, relativism is satisfied. But if you share your beliefs, you're charged with blasphemy in this cultural mindset, which leads to reactions like: Don't tell me what to believe! Don't tell me how to use my body! Don't tell me what I said was wrong! How do you keep people happy? For them, only one absolute truth exists: appear uncertain in your beliefs. In other words, don't be too bold. Always leave room for doubt in case you're wrong.
The Absolute Truth of Hebrews
The writer of Hebrews challenges the expectation of immediate assurance of salvation. In Hebrews 4:1–5, rather than promoting complacency, the passage encourages greater confidence through self-examination and perseverance. The central question in this section and the following verses is: Are you truly saved? The writer's aim is to clarify misconceptions about salvation and strengthen those whose faith may be wavering. The content encourages readers to honestly assess their standing, offering both warning and encouragement.
Following chapter 3, the author refers to the Israelites in the wilderness. Their time there was unfaithful. Their repeated offenses showed a lack of belief. Their unbelief led them to reject the land God promised. They spurned the rest God offered. They feared the people in the land, viewing God as small and those people as large (both literally and metaphorically). Their low view of God grew from their lack of faith. In a sense, they were relativists.
Hebrews uses them as a warning of what unbelief looks like. A heart that may claim God, however, lives in disobedience and for itself will never see the final rest. This is why the command to fear is given here. We are to fear the Lord and who He is. We are to revere and view Him rightly higher than us, our enemies, and all of creation. In addition, we should fear if we examine our lives and realize that they don’t align with what we claim to believe. If our lives don’t align with the Scriptures, then we have a major problem. We should fear if we’ve placed our entire salvation on the sandy shores of a one-time prayer, an altar call, or a response when we were young. Instead, our salvation is based in Christ, and the evidence of this is a life lived on the rock-solid foundation of truth. We live holy lives because holiness dwells inside of us. Our holy lives are not based on something relative, but on truth.
The Two Ditches
The Christian life and understanding our salvation is a path with two ditches on either side. One side thinks we are saved when we’re not, hence the command to fear, which should drive one to repentance. The other side is doubt, into which Christians with weaker faith easily fall. They look at their lives, don’t see perfection, so they fear they aren’t saved or have missed the boat. They fear expressing certainty about salvation is wrong due to their doubt. This seems like piety, but it’s a false piety—neither what God wants nor what the Hebrews aim to accomplish. This is also relativistic.
Those who doubt fear the wrong thing. They fear their own works and that God will not fulfill His promises. But the remedy is to fear God. When a person fears God, they fully trust His promises. They fully believe what God has said. True fear of God recognizes He is God and He is trustworthy. Therefore, the command to fear in Hebrews also applies to those on the other side of the ditch.
Are you stuck in a ditch, self-deceived by relativistic criteria, or is your life matched to the Word of God? Do you truly believe in accordance with the truth, or do you waver in your faith and distrust the Lord’s promises? Then, repent and believe. Don’t fall into the ditches of relativism.