by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
We sometimes hear someone say “prove it is a sin,” with the idea that unless the Bible says “this is a sin,” it is acceptable to the Lord.<\/p>\n
But, the criteria is that for something to be acceptable to the Lord, one must “prove it is <\/b>acceptable<\/em>” (Romans 12:1-4). If you cannot prove it is <\/b>acceptable, then you sin <\/b>by doing something you cannot and did not first prove is acceptable by correct use of evidence.<\/p>\n We do not have to prove that a separate priesthood and an incense altar are sinful in the church, but those who utilize such must prove it is acceptable to the Lord. Men could not be priests in Israel unless they could first prove their genealogical credentials (Ezra 2:62). The burden of proof was not on others to prove they were not <\/b>properly credentialed. It was each man’s responsibility to prove genealogical records properly credentialed them to be descendants of Aaron. If you could not prove it, you were disqualified or too defiled to risk using you in the priestly role.<\/p>\n It was Nadab and Abihu’s responsibility to prove that the source of fire they used was acceptable (Leviticus 10:1-10). They had no right to think “this is acceptable unless someone can show us a ‘Thou shalt not get fire from this particular source.'” The burden of proof is on each of us to “prove what is <\/b>acceptable<\/em>” (Ephesians 5:10; I Thessalonians 5:21). Prove first, then act on the proof. To do otherwise is sin.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Terry Wane Benton We sometimes hear someone say “prove it is a sin,” with the idea that unless the Bible says “this is a sin,” it is acceptable to the Lord. But, the criteria is that for something to be acceptable to the Lord, one must “prove it is acceptable” (Romans 12:1-4). If you…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[78,912],"class_list":["post-85616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-authority","tag-silence"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":69991,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-authority-of-scripture\/","url_meta":{"origin":85616,"position":0},"title":"The Authority of Scripture","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 30, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Two fundamental and opposite approaches to biblical authority are common today: View #1: Everything is permissible unless the Bible expressly forbids it. If the Bible does not say not to, then we can. View #2: We can do nothing unless the Bible permits it, and we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9457,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/doesnt-rahabs-example-prove-that-lying-is-acceptable-in-some-situations\/","url_meta":{"origin":85616,"position":1},"title":"Doesn’t Rahab’s example prove that lying is acceptable in some situations?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 13, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Doesn't Rahab's example prove that lying is acceptable in some situations? Answer: We know: That we cannot do evil that good may come from it (Romans 3:8). The Lord did not commend Rahab for lying (Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25). We are told not to lie (Colossians 3:9). That all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36793,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/prove-what-is-acceptable\/","url_meta":{"origin":85616,"position":2},"title":"Prove What Is Acceptable","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 25, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Thessalonians 5:16-24 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I doubt it has escaped your notice, but there are people around us who don\u2019t always do what is right \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0How do you know who to trust? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0People claim to be Christians, but we know people can and do lie \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0For\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15851,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/has-god-ever-accepted-a-defective-sacrifice\/","url_meta":{"origin":85616,"position":3},"title":"Has God ever accepted a defective sacrifice?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Has God ever accepted a spotted, unclean, defiled, blemished, blind, lame, or sick sacrifice? Answer: \"Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it will not be accepted for you\" (Leviticus 22:20). \"But if it has any defect, such as lameness or blindness, or any serious defect, you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40415,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/given-to-change\/","url_meta":{"origin":85616,"position":4},"title":"Given to Change (Benton)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 25, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton \"My son, fear the LORD and the king; Do not associate with those given to change; For their calamity will rise suddenly, And who knows the ruin those two can bring?\" (Proverbs 24:21-22) To be \"given to change\" is to be reckless. This is not a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2568,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-you-prove-there-is-a-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":85616,"position":5},"title":"How do you prove there is a God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 17, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How do you prove that there is a God to a friend who insists that there isn't a God? Can you teach me how? Thanks. Answer: The first thing that you need to ask yourself and your friend is: Would any proof of God's existence be adequate to your\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85616\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}