Time for a short quiz for all of you English scholars out there. Since most of us have been speaking and writing in English all of our lives, this should be really quite simple. I’ll put some sentences and you just pick the one that sounds right to you. Ready or not here we go.
On this first one imagine you called me on the phone and asked, “Is this James Pasley?”. Which of the following would be the right way for me to answer? (1) That’s me., (2) This is he., or (3) This is him.
Okay, let’s just do one more and then we’ll check our answers and see what we’ve learned. This time suppose I ask you, “Didn’t I see you and the president together yesterday?”. Which answer would be right grammatically? (1) It wasn’t me., (2) It wasn’t he and I together., (3) It wasn’t us., or (4) Maybe it was me, but not him.
Sometimes it is hard to know what sounds right and even more often, at least with grammar, what sounds right is not correct. If you guessed number two on both questions you got the right answer, but those two don’t really sound right to us, do they? Most of us would have chosen any of the other choices before choosing number two. My wife is a certified elementary teacher and a writer and she missed them, so don’t feel too bad. Because of the rampant practice of misusing these pronouns in everyday speech even strict grammarians have begun to accept this usage.
What is the point of all this, you may be asking? The point really is quite simple. If something sounds right to us or we think it is right that doesn’t make it right. Even if the majority of people believe something is right that doesn’t make it right. Now in the area of grammar or even man-made laws like the speed limit if enough people make enough of a fuss those rules and laws can be and have been changed. There are some laws, however, that are beyond our ability to change. Gravity is one example of this kind of law. We can accept it, deny it, or ignore it, we could even all vote to abolish it. Regardless of what we say or do the law of gravity is unchanged, and stepping off of a cliff will still result in a nasty fall. That is the way all of God’s laws are.
God told Naaman to dip seven times in the Jordan River to cure his leprosy, but Naaman didn’t think that sounded right, so, he headed toward home, rejecting the law God had given for his recovery. He even suggested some alternative rivers that he thought would be better. One thing that he couldn’t change was the fact that he still had leprosy. He continued to have leprosy until he submitted to the will of God. In the same way today we have people denying God’s laws, ignoring them, and suggesting alternatives. Unfortunately, as long as we do so we are lawbreakers and guilty of sin against God.
God established marriage, defined it as one man and one woman, and set it as the only acceptable outlet for sexual expression. Our society has tried to change any and everything to what sounds good to them or what they think should be right. What we have to get through our thick heads is that no matter what laws we pass in our country, no matter what is acceptable to society as a whole, and no matter what churches and their leaders compromise on; God’s laws regarding sexuality and marriage will still remain the same. His laws, not ours, will judge us on the day of judgment.
The congressional delegates of the state of Massachusetts may say that two men can marry, but that does not make them married(Matthew 19:4-5). Our society may accept that two adults who love each other are not wrong to become sexually involved even though they are unmarried, but God still calls it sin(1 Corinthians 6:19-7:3).
Marriage and sexuality are just the tip of the iceberg. Space doesn’t allow us to deal with all of the moral and religious standards that God has put in place, but we will all stand before Him to give an account of the things we have done(2 Corinthians 5:9-11). Until we understand that God’s laws are immutable (unchangeable) and eternal, we will continue to be in danger of receiving his wrath. How do we think that we can receive God’s promises and blessings while we disregard his warnings, disrespect his ordinances and, in essence, spit in His face like rebellious teenagers. We’d better wake up and realize who is in authority; and who is not!
On this first one imagine you called me on the phone and asked, “Is this James Pasley?”. Which of the following would be the right way for me to answer? (1) That’s me., (2) This is he., or (3) This is him.
Okay, let’s just do one more and then we’ll check our answers and see what we’ve learned. This time suppose I ask you, “Didn’t I see you and the president together yesterday?”. Which answer would be right grammatically? (1) It wasn’t me., (2) It wasn’t he and I together., (3) It wasn’t us., or (4) Maybe it was me, but not him.
Sometimes it is hard to know what sounds right and even more often, at least with grammar, what sounds right is not correct. If you guessed number two on both questions you got the right answer, but those two don’t really sound right to us, do they? Most of us would have chosen any of the other choices before choosing number two. My wife is a certified elementary teacher and a writer and she missed them, so don’t feel too bad. Because of the rampant practice of misusing these pronouns in everyday speech even strict grammarians have begun to accept this usage.
What is the point of all this, you may be asking? The point really is quite simple. If something sounds right to us or we think it is right that doesn’t make it right. Even if the majority of people believe something is right that doesn’t make it right. Now in the area of grammar or even man-made laws like the speed limit if enough people make enough of a fuss those rules and laws can be and have been changed. There are some laws, however, that are beyond our ability to change. Gravity is one example of this kind of law. We can accept it, deny it, or ignore it, we could even all vote to abolish it. Regardless of what we say or do the law of gravity is unchanged, and stepping off of a cliff will still result in a nasty fall. That is the way all of God’s laws are.
God told Naaman to dip seven times in the Jordan River to cure his leprosy, but Naaman didn’t think that sounded right, so, he headed toward home, rejecting the law God had given for his recovery. He even suggested some alternative rivers that he thought would be better. One thing that he couldn’t change was the fact that he still had leprosy. He continued to have leprosy until he submitted to the will of God. In the same way today we have people denying God’s laws, ignoring them, and suggesting alternatives. Unfortunately, as long as we do so we are lawbreakers and guilty of sin against God.
God established marriage, defined it as one man and one woman, and set it as the only acceptable outlet for sexual expression. Our society has tried to change any and everything to what sounds good to them or what they think should be right. What we have to get through our thick heads is that no matter what laws we pass in our country, no matter what is acceptable to society as a whole, and no matter what churches and their leaders compromise on; God’s laws regarding sexuality and marriage will still remain the same. His laws, not ours, will judge us on the day of judgment.
The congressional delegates of the state of Massachusetts may say that two men can marry, but that does not make them married(Matthew 19:4-5). Our society may accept that two adults who love each other are not wrong to become sexually involved even though they are unmarried, but God still calls it sin(1 Corinthians 6:19-7:3).
Marriage and sexuality are just the tip of the iceberg. Space doesn’t allow us to deal with all of the moral and religious standards that God has put in place, but we will all stand before Him to give an account of the things we have done(2 Corinthians 5:9-11). Until we understand that God’s laws are immutable (unchangeable) and eternal, we will continue to be in danger of receiving his wrath. How do we think that we can receive God’s promises and blessings while we disregard his warnings, disrespect his ordinances and, in essence, spit in His face like rebellious teenagers. We’d better wake up and realize who is in authority; and who is not!
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