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Commenting on Christendom, culture, history, and other oddities of life from an historic Protestant perspective.

Sunday, April 12, 2015

Special Revelation – Part 3 – The Necessity of Scripture Continued

Continued from Part Two – The Necessity of Scripture . . .

What if the prophets spoke but the prophecies were not written down? How would we know what came to pass or what was to come to pass? What if God did not write down the Ten Commandments? How would we know to keep the Sabbath?

Scripture is not merely revelation, but inscripturation—It’s revelation committed to writing. It is an everlasting deposit of divine revelation. It was divine revelation when Paul preached Christ at Thessalonica. But when it was written down as Acts chapter 17, it became inscripturation.

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son…

Hebrews 1:1

Not all of divine revelation was recorded. Throughout redemptive history, God has spoken to His people. But for His own sovereign purpose, He did not have all His “speakings” inscripturated.

And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

John 21:25

The Necessity of Inscripturation

Inscripturation is necessary for the following reasons:

  • Because of the corrupting effects of sin. A written revelation is more objective and less prone to corruption. Moreover, a written revelation is less affected by the vicissitudes of history. This is especially important when prophecies must be preserved for successive generations.

  • Written prophecy is better judged in written form. When prophecy is written down, it is preserved. It may be scrutinized by future generations. Events foretold two hundred years in the future are not verifiable during the prophet’s lifetime. Only through the written record may the prophet be vindicated.

  • Written prophecy acts as an indictment and a warning. In Scripture we see God indicting His people through the prophets for idolatry, covenant breaking, and unbelief. Furthermore we see God’s wrath poured out, as was prophesied, upon nations, cities, and peoples. These events have been inscripturated for our instruction and warning. These events provide witness to God’s justice and wrath.

  • Written prophecy preserves the promises of God. Certain prophecies were not fulfilled in the generation in which they were uttered. This preserves His promises, giving hope to His people throughout redemptive history.

  • Instcripturation shows the permanence of God’s revelation. Written revelation demonstrates that the Word of God abides forever. It does not change, nor do the wants, desires, and opinions of man affect it.

  • The written Word of God may be tested. God has objectively revealed Himself and His will to us in the pages of Holy Writ.

  • God commits His words to writing for the greater assurance of His people. Each of the preceding points shows how inscripturation works towards our assurance and sanctification.

Conclusion

In summary, Scripture is necessary because it . . .

  • Expounds upon general revelation

  • Provides the way of salvation

  • Is the chosen communication method of the King

  • Is more than just revelation, providing us the inscripturated words of God

  • Presents a recorded record of God’s promises and dealings with His people

  • Is objective and self-authenticating (we will talk more of this in a later post)

  • Reveals God and His will to us

  • Is sufficient for doctrine and life

--The Catechizer

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Friday, April 10, 2015

Special Revelation – Part 2 – The Necessity of Scripture

This post, and the one to follow on this topic, was adapted from a study I did several years ago; the study was partially based upon notes I had taken during a Dr. Greg Bahnson lecture on this topic.

The necessity of Scripture is demonstrated by the following:

  • Scripture expounds upon general revelation

  • Scripture provides the way of salvation

  • Scripture is the way the king communications to his people

  • Scripture is more than revelation

Scripture Expounds Upon General Revelation

The term “general revelation” refers to God making Himself known (i.e., revealing Himself) to all people everywhere. God reveals Himself to us, both internally and externally, through the created order. This revelation is sufficient to establish basic knowledge of God, our sin, and our impending judgment.

On these topics—and a host of others—Scripture provides us the details that were previously unrevealed.

Scripture obviously provides further information pertaining to the nature of God. The Trinity and the duel-nature of Christ jump to mind. But Scripture also reveals to us things about God’s nature that might or might not have been deduced, such as . . .

  • God is self-existent and -sufficient:

    In the beginning God…
    Genesis 1:1
    And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.”

    Exodus 3:14

  • God is eternal:

    …from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
    Psalms 90:2
    …Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

    Revelation 1:8

Whether or not we would have drawn these conclusions on our won is unclear. But there are some things that are perfectly clear: Man in his unregenerate state knows the one, true God, suppresses this knowledge in unrighteousness, and is under God’s just judgment. Scripture crystallizes this:

...although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and fourfooted animals and creeping things.

Romans 1:21-23

Scripture provides the way of salvation

General revelation leaves us in judgment, for only law is revealed. The Mediator is not revealed to us in the trees, animals, or human kind. The answer to the Heidelberg Catechism’s question number 19 tells us that special revelation was used to reveal Christ to us throughout redemptive history:

From the Holy Gospel, which God Himself first revealed in Paradise, afterwards proclaimed by the holy patriarchs and prophets, and foreshadowed by the sacrifices and other ceremonies of the law, and finally fulfilled by His well-beloved Son.

The catechism proceeds to tell us about true faith and the necessity of believing the gospel. But why does the catechism make such pronouncements? How do we know it’s correct? The answer is in small print at the bottom of its pages—God has provided the way of salvation through scripture.

Scripture is the way the king communicates to His people

Can you imagine a king that has never entered his kingdom? Never spoke to his people? Never gave any laws or commands? Never set kingdom policy? Any such man would be a king in name only.

God is an ever-present king. Indeed, He is THE King. He has chosen a people for Himself—a covenant people. The covenant was not ratified, however, like covenants are between men and kingdoms. There was no bargaining; there was no dialog; there were no debates; there were only pronouncements—only declarations. The King has spoken.

  • He has chosen His people:

    Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

    Psalm 33:12

  • He has given His law to His people – Exodus 20


  • He has chosen to dwell among His people:

    …I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

    2 Corinthians 6:16

Through His Word and by His Spirit, our great King continues to speak to us.

Stay tuned for Part 3.

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Wednesday, April 08, 2015

Special Revelation - Part 1

We confess that this Word of God was not sent nor delivered by the will of man, but that men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit, as the apostle Peter says; and that afterwards God, from a special care which He has for us and our salvation, commanded His servants, the prophets and apostles, to commit His revealed word to writing; and He Himself wrote with His own finger the two tables of the law. Therefore we call such writings holy and divine Scriptures.

The Belgic Confession, Article 3

In the Seventeenth Century, a running dogfight ensued among Protestants over the place and authority of Scripture in the life and teaching of the church. A group called the Antinomians instigated the fight. The Antinomians, or Sectaries as they were called in England, were very much like our present-day Pentecostals. They held that Scripture was subordinate to the direct revelation of the Spirit, which each believer was supposed to receive. This supposed direct revelation was most important in preaching, as one Antinomian made clear: “I had rather hear such a one that speaks from the mere motion of the spirit, without any study at all, than any of your learned scholars, although he may be fuller of Scripture.”

The Puritans, of course, held a much different view. They championed the concept that Scripture was sufficient for doctrine and life.

There is not a condition into which a child of God can fall but there is a direction and rule in the Word, in some measure suitable thereunto.

Thomas Gouge (1605 - 1681)

The Puritan’s position was firmly rooted in the Reformation. Martin Luther said, “We have never yet desired anything else…than the liberty to have the Word of God, or the Holy Scriptures, to teach and to practice it.” The Reformation sought to return Holy Writ to God’s people by loosing it from the shackles placed on it by the Church of Rome.

This idea was highly esteemed among the Puritans. William Tyndale told a priest at Gloucestershire that “if God spare my life, ere many years pass, I will cause a boy that driveth the plough shall know more of the Scriptures than thou dost.” Indeed, God’s people are to be a people of the Book. John Ball’s Catechism answers the question, “Doth the knowledge of the Scriptures belong unto all men?” with, “Yes, all men are not only allowed, but exhorted and commanded, to read, hear, and understand the Scripture.” John Cotton exhorted his congregation to “FEED upon the WORD” and to “Let not a day ordinarily pass you wherein you will not read some portion of it, with a due meditation and supplication over it.” Richard Baxter implored his readers to “love, reverence, read, study, obey, and stick close to the Scripture.”

Scripture, in the Puritan view, was to be our sole authority. Cotton Mather referred to Scripture as “The rule according to which conscience is to proceed…” John Lightfoot echoed this sentiment: “This is the glory and sure friend of a church, to be built upon the Holy Scriptures…The foundation of the true church of God is Scripture.” Theological claims, therefore, are to be tried in but one court, “…by that which transcends all human antiquity, customs, counsels, and traditions (though all those may contribute some help), the Word of God.” Thus human opinions must bow to God’s Holy Word, as John Owen makes clear: “Pin not your faith upon men’s opinions…the Bible is the touchstone.”

To the Puritans it was clear: Scripture is to be our sole authority for doctrine and life, and as such, it is necessary and sufficient. It is upon this footing that we shall take our steps.

  • The first step will be to understand why Scripture is necessary.

  • Next we shall learn about the sufficiency of Scripture.

  • And finally, we shall consider Scripture’s place as our sole authority for doctrine and life.

--The Catechizer

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Thursday, March 05, 2015

Why Systematic Theology?


“[Systematic theology] is like the box top of a jigsaw puzzle, and every believer is a theologian in the sense of putting the pieces together. If we fail to recognize there is a box top (i.e., a unified whole) to Scripture, we will have only a pile of pieces.”

Michael Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way

In the words of LeCrae Moore, "I was a drug baby...," meaning, my grandmothers drug me to church. I was raised in an environment that was purportedly Christian. It’s still murky to me as to how much of that was based in cultural norms rather than Biblical imperatives. As I got older my allegiance to the latter became more pronounced--it all seemed a proper exercise of my free will. Looking back, though, now that I’m older, wiser, and more Biblically informed, I understand that this was a sovereign work of God's Spirit.

Over time my hunger for good teaching grew, and so did my discontentment with my spiritual diet. I was dissatisfied with my ability to weave all of my theological beliefs into a cohesive whole. Unlike many who come to the Doctrines of Grace through the study of the Scriptures, it was this "study" itself which I pursued. "How do I study the Bible so I that can be convinced of the verity of the concepts taught therein?"; "How do I know what the concepts are?"; "How do I walk someone through my belief system from point A to point B to point C, etc."; "How does what I believe about God relate to what I believe about man?” And, “How does that relate to what I believe about atonement, forgiveness, sin, the Law, the Old Testament?,” and so on.

Without knowing the term, I was in pursuit of "systematic theology.” A number of years ago I was introduced to the Heidelberg Catechism and was struck by the way each question naturally flowed into the next. "What comfort do we have...?” “What knowledge is necessary to avail oneself of this comfort?” “From where do you know these things?” “What is required of us?” Is this possible?..." I knew shortly after discovering this treasure that I had found what I was looking for.

If you have a desire to improve your understanding of the Bible, then learning how to systematize Scripture’s teachings is a great place to start. The historical, orthodox creeds of the Church can help you do just that, as well as resources available from Logos Bible Software. Here are a few titles now available for download:



--The Deacon

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Monday, January 26, 2015

Rome, The Infallible Interpreter?

The Roman Catholic Church claims that only she can correctly interpret the Scriptures. We Protestants, of course, “protest” such a claim. But before we even make our Scriptural case for Sola Scripture, a few questions come to mind. Such as, if only Rome can correctly interpret the Bible, who was providing the interpretations as the Epistles were being read aloud in the early church, and why is no mention of this need made by Paul and the others?(Along those lines, who interpreted the letter for Philemon?) Besides “Because we say so,” why ought we accept Rome’s claim as the sole interpreter? And here’s an even better question posed over at Green Baggins . . .

I do want to ask formally this question: if the RCC has a monopoly on the interpretation of the Bible, how come they have not come out with an inerrant commentary on the Bible? They keep telling us that “our own private interpretations” are wrong when they run foul of the RCC. However, they don’t tell us what every verse in fact means. I would think this would be a rather high priority, seeing as how we are dealing with direct revelation from God. I want to know what God said to me in His Word. How can the Roman Catholic find that out? Would it not be vitally important that we have God’s Word all figured out by the church as to its meaning? If a RC apologist responds by saying that it is all interpreted in the Tradition, I would say that they are operating with a definition of Tradition that doesn’t really work. Tradition is basically what the current RCC teaches. Besides, very few verses have ever been definitely interpreted by the RCC as to their meaning. Where is the definitive interpretation of the Bible? In the Protestant tradition, we really don’t have to worry about that. We have and can learn from all the writers of the past, while not having to agree with any one or group of them, unless, say, we take a vow upholding a particular confessional standard.

You can read the rest of the post here.

--The Catechizer

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Friday, January 02, 2015

Are We to Expect Extra-Biblical Revelations?


Coming from a Word of Faith Pentecostal background I am all too familiar with the claim that God speaks to the individual believer outside of Scripture. I recall a former “pastor” of mine saying mid-sermon, “Yes, yes, lord, I’ll say that.” This type of conversational relationship with God was something we were all to expect.

But ideas have consequences. Anytime you offer a competing authority, Scripture loses. We see this with Rome when God’s Word takes a backseat to her councils, traditions, and papacy; we see this in cults with their leaders and “holy” books; and we see this with Evangelicals who have “a word from the Lord.”

The stakes are high so we better be sure of the truth. To that end, author and speaker Nancy Guthrie sheds light on this (unfortunately) controversial topic in a post penned for the The Gospel Coalition site; here’s a taste:

When we read the Scriptures we are not just reading a record of what God has said in the past. God actively speaks to us in the here and now through the words of this amazing book. The writer of Hebrews makes this point clear when he quotes Old Testament passages and presents them not as something God said to his people sometime in the past, but as something God is currently saying to his people (Hebrews 1:6,7,8, 2:12, 3:7, 4:7). He writes that "the word of God is living and active" (4:12). It is exposing our shallow beliefs and hidden motives. This word is personal. You and I hear the voice of God speaking to us—unmistakably, authoritatively, and personally—when we read, hear, study, and meditate on the Scriptures. . .

. . . Many of us read these accounts [Job hearing God speak from the whirlwind; Moses hearing him call from the fiery bush; Samuel hearing him call in the dark, etc.] and assume that the Bible is presenting the normal experience of all who follow God. But is it? Graeme Goldsworthy speaks to this question in his book Gospel and Wisdom. He writes, "Every case of special guidance given to individuals in the Bible has to do with that person's place in the outworking of God's saving purposes." He adds, "There are no instances in the Bible in which God gives special and specific guidance to the ordinary believing Israelite or Christian in the details of their personal existence."

Are there instances in the Scriptures in which people describe a sense of God speaking to them through an inner voice? We read accounts of God speaking in an audible voice, through a supernatural dream or vision, a human hand writing on a wall, a blinding light, or a thunderous voice from heaven. This is quite different from the way most people who say that God has told them something describe hearing his voice—as a thought that came into their mind that they "know" was God speaking. One prominent teacher who trains people on how to hear the voice of God writes, "God's voice in your heart often sounds like a flow of spontaneous thoughts." But where in the Bible are we instructed to seek after or expect to hear God speak to us in this way?

You can read the rest here.

--The Catechizer

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Sunday, April 27, 2014

A Four Year Old’s Trip Heaven?

Heaven Is for Real is the true story of the four-year old son of a small town Nebraska pastor who during emergency surgery slips from consciousness and enters heaven. He survives and begins talking about being able to look down and see the doctor operating and his dad praying in the waiting room. The family didn't know what to believe but soon the evidence was clear.

Colton said he met his miscarried sister, whom no one had told him about, and his great grandfather who died 30 years before Colton was born, then shared impossible-to-know details about each. He describes the horse that only Jesus could ride, about how "reaaally big" God and his chair are, and how the Holy Spirit "shoots down power" from heaven to help us.

Told by the father, but often in Colton's own words, the disarmingly simple message is heaven is a real place, Jesus really loves children, and be ready, there is a coming last battle.

The above description is from the Heaven is for Real Website which exists to promote a book, now a movie, by the same title. In my misspent years in Word of Faith Pentecostalism, my understanding of heaven was shaped by those who had claimed to have visited, such as Roberts Liardon in his book I Saw Heaven. His book reads like a child’s visit to Disneyland, with magical creatures (". . . it seemed as if they were talking among themselves"), water fights with Jesus in the River of Life ("He dunked me! I got back up and splashed Him, and we had a water fight"), and our own personal mansions filled with gadgets too advanced for earth ("I sat down on a black velvet couch - it was alive - and comfort just reached up and cuddled me"). Todd Burpo’s description is much the same, and since this is a New York Times #1 Bes Seller many are buying what this kid and his parents are selling.

Ann Childress, member of Christ Presbyterian Church (PCA) in New Braunfels, TX, (also my home church), has written a brief, but insightful, book review. In it she not only provides the review, but she also reminds us of the problems posed by the types of claims . . .

Extra-biblical revelations and prophecies are problems because they deny both the completeness and the sufficiency of Scripture. It is only “all Scripture” that has the claim of being “inspired by God,” God-breathed (2 Tim 3:16). With the coming of Jesus and His apostles, the day of God speaking “to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways” ceased (Heb 1:1-2, 2:2-4). While we acknowledge the Holy Spirit’s ongoing illumination of Scriptural truth, we deny new, extra-Biblical revelations and prophecies. Because our Bible is the inspired Word of God, the church has received it as such, and it has come to us sufficient and complete. . . .

. . . Of utmost importance is the fact that Colton’s extra-biblical revelations of heaven do not match the Bible exactly by any means (although his father gives many Scriptures trying to make them parallel). Colton’s revelations not only add many things about heaven that the Bible never reveals, but at one or (perhaps) two points contradict Scripture. Keep in mind that while some of these are silly, that does not lessen the offense against the sufficiency and completeness of Scripture. Colton’s revelations include (but are not limited to):

  • Jesus has a rainbow colored horse. (His father notes that there are horses and rainbows in the Bible, so this must be true.)
  • Before Christ’s Second Coming and the bodily resurrection, people have physical bodies in heaven. (If this is the correct understanding of Colton’s revelation, this is a contradiction of revelation. Indeed, Jesus is in heaven in His resurrected body, but before His body was resurrected, He yielded up His spirit and His spirit went to heaven as His body was laid in the tomb, Matt. 27:50, Luke 22:43. When we die, our spirits go to heaven, but our physical bodies are buried awaiting Christ’s Second Coming, at that moment our bodies will be resurrected and glorified, 1 Cor. 15:20-26, 35-49; Rev. 6:9-10.)
  • All people in heaven are either in their late twenties or early thirties (as his father notes, just like Jesus when he died) or they are children. Everyone (except Jesus) has wings of differing sizes, halos, and sashes of differing colors.
  • It is Gabriel who is sitting on the throne to God’s left.
  • Colton saw God on His really big throne and God is really big. (In heaven, we will behold God, but God is spirit. How did Colton see God? Interestingly, while his pastor father presses him about Jesus’ appearance for years, he never mentions pressing or even asking him about God’s appearance. This is either another contradiction of Scripture or it comes perilously close.)
  • Colton watched the Holy Spirit shooting down power to his father when his father was preaching at church. (And this occurred during the three minutes of Colton’s visit to heaven when his father was at the hospital?)
  • “The angels carry swords so they can keep Satan out of heaven.” (What of Christ Jesus’ defeat of Satan? What about God’s allowance of Satan’s approach to His throne in Job? Is the only reason we’ll have no reason to fear Satan and his hordes in heaven attributed to angels?)
  • Jesus wouldn’t let Colton have a sword in heaven as he would “be too dangerous.” (Assumedly, this would only be true if people had physical bodies in heaven.)

You can read the entire the review here.

--The Catechizer

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Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Should We Seek Extra-Biblical Revelations?

One of the issues resolved by the Reformers was that of final authority, i.e., Are the Scriptures sufficient for doctrine and life? The Reformers, of course, answered in the affirmative. Louis Berkhof summarized their case as follows:

In Scripture each succeeding book connects up with the proceeding (except in contemporary narratives), and is based on it. The Psalms and the Prophets presuppose the Law and appeal to it, and to it only. The New Testament comes to us as the fulfillment of the Old and refers back to nothing else. Oral traditions current in the time of Jesus are rejected as human inventions, Matt. 5:21–28; 15:4, 9; I Cor. 4:6. Christ is presented to us as the acme of the divine revelation, the highest and the last, Matt. 11:27; John 1:18; 17:4, 6; Heb. 1:1. For the knowledge of the way of salvation we are referred to Scripture only, to the word of Christ, and the apostles, John 17:20; I John 1:3 . . .

Both Rome and the Anabaptists rejected the sufficiency of Scripture. Rome put as Scripture’s rival her church councils and traditions, with the ultimate authority residing in the pope. The Anabaptists, however, had a low view of Scripture for other reasons: they sought guidance from an “inner light” and direct revelations from God, resolving that the Spirit worked apart from the Word because the Word was dead.

Swarmers

Renting the Spirit from the Word by claiming direct revelations from God was something the Reformers could not abide. For that reason, Martin Luther derisively referred to them as “swarmers” because they were “swarming everywhere, deranged by the devil, regarding Scripture as a dead letter, extolling nothing but the Spirit and yet keeping neither the Word nor the Spirit.”

Likewise, in speaking of the link between the Spirit and the Word, John Calvin wrote . . .

Two things are connected here, the Word and the Spirit of God, in opposition to the fanatics, who aim at oracles and hidden revelations apart from the Word.

The Sufficiency of Scripture

The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men . . .

Westminster Confession, chapter 1, article 6(a)

The confession states that everything we need to know for doctrine and life is either expressly or by consequence set forth in Scripture. Moreover, because it is the “whole counsel of God” there is nothing left to be revealed in this life. In other words, the Scriptures are sufficient for all men at all times and therefore can’t be added to.

Incomplete to the Complete

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son . . .

Hebrews 1:1-2

The writer of Hebrews juxtaposes the patriarchs and prophets to Christ. The point being that their writings were partial, incomplete; this is why there was a succession of prophets and books of the Bible. Christ, however, being the pinnacle of revelation, was truth in its entirety (John 14:6; Col. 2:9).

No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.

John 15:15

All that the Father wanted revealed was made known to the Biblical writers. This information, and only this information (Jn. 21:25), was later codified into the Scriptures by the work of the Spirit (Jn. 14:26). It is this completed, inscripturated word that is to be taught (I Tim. 4:13), and it is by this completed work of revelation that we are fully equipped:

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

Furthermore, because God’s revelatory work is complete, we are able to proclaim “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27), and we are able to rest in the knowledge that what we have in the Scriptures is “the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.” (Jude 1:3)

Modern Swarmers

Modern “swarmers” abound. Some, like Harold Camping, Pat Robertson, or the late David Wilkerson, are well known to us, and so is the shame they brought on the body of Christ because of their claims of revelations. But these “God whispers” don’t only occupy leadership roles in major ministries, nor do they only fill the gaudy stages of “Christian” TV programs. Pentecostals, Charismatics, and many Evangelicals seek revelations apart from Scripture. For those seeking these revelations I have two things I’d like you to consider:

First, think about what you’re saying when you say something like, “God spoke to me,” or “God is giving me a word for you,” or, as a former “pastor” of mine would say mid-sermon, “Yes, yes, lord, I’ll say that.” God doesn’t take kindly to those who claim to be speaking on His behalf when He has not spoken. As a matter of fact, this crime is so heinous that, in Old Testament times, God commanded that the offenders be put to death (Deut. 13, 18:20-22, 13:12-13; Ez. 13:1-9; Zech. 13:3).

Second, what’s wrong with the revelation that He already provided? Considering the case made above, why do you think the Scriptures are incomplete? Why are they not sufficient for you? Instead of seeking a new “word,” how about mastering the revelation you’ve been provided (2 Tim. 2:15)?

Conclusion

All those seeking extra-Biblical revelations must stop trying to find a back door to God (or, as Martin Luther put it, stop trying to view God in the nude). God has spoken, and still speaks, through the Bible—and those same Scriptures remain sufficient for doctrine and life. Not the Spirit working apart from the Word, but the Spirit working through the Word.

The Bible is something more than a body of revealed truths, a collection of books verbally inspired of God. It is also the living voice of God. The living God speaks through its pages. Therefore, it is not to be valued as a sacred object to be placed on a shelf and neglected, but as holy ground, where people’s hearts and minds may come into vital contact with the living, gracious and disturbing God. . . .

James Montgomery Boice, Foundations of the Christian Faith, pg 48

--The Catechizer

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Tuesday, April 01, 2014

Unique? It Really Is!

From Great Commission Publications:

Many authors have been captured by a noble theme; we call them inspired. Many books have stirred hearts and even changed lives; we call them inspiring. Paul speaks of Scripture in a completely different sense. Whatever power exists in the written word to move the soul or redirect a life—and that power is considerable—it is different from that of the Bible. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16:17).

First, look at the Bible’s source. It is breathed out, as it were, by God himself. God’s agency is direct and intimate, not merely providential. God’s agency is direct and intimate, not merely providential. God did more than guide the authors of Scripture in producing the final result. The human authors varied in their literary skills, education, and background, note of which God bypassed in using them. But, as Peter notes, “no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21). As B. B. Warfield wrote, “The men who spoke from God are here declared, therefore, to have been taken up by the Holy Spirit and brought by His power to the goal of his choosing.” It was not their goal or their agenda they were promoting, but God’s. Whatever the Bible says, God says. And therefore, to quote Warfield again, the writers of Scripture looked on their work as “divinely safeguarded in even its verbal expression, and as divinely trustworthy in all its parts, in all its elements, and in all its affirmations of whatever kind.”

The Bible’s source is the key to its power. Because it is God-breathed, the Bible is therefore “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” Scripture does what no merely human writing can do. It reveals the totality of God’s will concerning everything we need to know on earth about the righteousness that God demands. And in doing that, it is the perfect instrument for equipping the Christian minister completely for his work—and the Christian layperson too.

The questions for you today are these: What are you doing with God’s word? Are you in it daily, even if briefly? Are you letting the Word “dwell in you richly”? (Col. 3:16). If it is God’s Word, dare we treat it as optional reading?

May God give us perseverance in his Word.

--The Catechizer

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Thursday, February 27, 2014

A Law-Gospel Poem

The law supposing I have all,
Does ever for perfection call;
The gospel suits my total want,
And all the law can seek does grant.

The law could promise life to me,
If my obedience perfect be;
But grace does promise life upon
My Lord’s obedience alone.

The law says, Do, and life you’ll win;
But grace says, Live, for all is done;
The former cannot ease my grief,
The latter yields me full relief ….

The law brings terror to molest,
The gospel gives the weary rest;
The one does flags of death display,
The other shows the living way ….

Lo! In the law Jehovah dwells,
But Jesus is conceal’d;
Whereas the gospel’s nothing else
But Jesus Christ reveal’d.

Ralph Erskine (1685-1752)

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Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Should We Seek Extra-Biblical Revelations?

One of the issues resolved by the Reformers was that of final authority, i.e., Are the Scriptures sufficient for doctrine and life? The Reformers, of course, answered in the affirmative. Louis Berkhof summarized their case as follows:

In Scripture each succeeding book connects up with the proceeding (except in contemporary narratives), and is based on it. The Psalms and the Prophets presuppose the Law and appeal to it, and to it only. The New Testament comes to us as the fulfillment of the Old and refers back to nothing else. Oral traditions current in the time of Jesus are rejected as human inventions, Matt. 5:21–28; 15:4, 9; I Cor. 4:6. Christ is presented to us as the acme of the divine revelation, the highest and the last, Matt. 11:27; John 1:18; 17:4, 6; Heb. 1:1. For the knowledge of the way of salvation we are referred to Scripture only, to the word of Christ, and the apostles, John 17:20; I John 1:3 . . .

Both Rome and the Anabaptists rejected the sufficiency of Scripture. Rome put as Scripture’s rival her church councils and traditions, with the ultimate authority residing in the pope. The Anabaptists, however, had a low view of Scripture for other reasons: they sought guidance from an “inner light” and direct revelations from God, resolving that the Spirit worked apart from the Word because the Word was dead.

Swarmers

Renting the Spirit from the Word by claiming direct revelations from God was something the Reformers could not abide. For that reason, Martin Luther derisively referred to them as “swarmers” because they were “swarming everywhere, deranged by the devil, regarding Scripture as a dead letter, extolling nothing but the Spirit and yet keeping neither the Word nor the Spirit.”

Likewise, in speaking of the link between the Spirit and the Word, John Calvin wrote . . .

Two things are connected here, the Word and the Spirit of God, in opposition to the fanatics, who aim at oracles and hidden revelations apart from the Word.

The Sufficiency of Scripture

The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men . . .

Westminster Confession, chapter 1, article 6(a)

The confession states that everything we need to know for doctrine and life is either expressly or by consequence set forth in Scripture. Moreover, because it is the “whole counsel of God” there is nothing left to be revealed in this life. In other words, the Scriptures are sufficient for all men at all times and therefore can’t be added to.

Incomplete to the Complete

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son. . .

Hebrews 1:1-2

The writer of Hebrews juxtaposes the patriarchs and prophets to Christ. The point being that their writings were partial, incomplete; this is why there was a succession of prophets and books of the Bible. Christ, however, being the pinnacle of revelation, was truth in its entirety (John 14:6; Col. 2:9).

No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.

John 15:15

All that the Father wanted revealed was made known to the Biblical writers. This information, and only this information (Jn. 21:25), was later codified into the Scriptures by the work of the Spirit (Jn. 14:26). It is this completed, inscripturated word that is to be taught (I Tim. 4:13), and it is by this completed work of revelation that we are fully equipped:

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

Furthermore, because God’s revelatory work is complete, we are able to proclaim “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27), and we are able to rest in the knowledge that what we have in the Scriptures is “the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.” (Jude 1:3)

Modern Swarmers

Modern “swarmers” abound. Some, like Harold Camping, Pat Robertson, or the late David Wilkerson, are well known to us, and so is the shame they brought on the body of Christ because of their claims of revelations. But these “God whispers” don’t only occupy leadership roles in major ministries, nor do they only fill the gaudy stages of “Christian” TV programs. Pentecostals, Charismatics, and many Evangelicals seek revelations apart from Scripture. For those seeking these revelations I have two things I’d like you to consider:

First, think about what you’re saying when you say something like, “God spoke to me,” or “God is giving me a word for you,” or, as a former “pastor” of mine would say mid-sermon, “Yes, yes, lord, I’ll say that.” God doesn’t take kindly to those who claim to be speaking on His behalf when He has not spoken. As a matter of fact, this crime is so heinous that, in Old Testament times, God commanded that the offenders be put to death (Deut. 13, 18:20-22, 13:12-13; Ez. 13:1-9; Zech. 13:3).

Second, what’s wrong with the revelation that He already provided? Considering the case made above, why do you think the Scriptures are incomplete? Why are they not sufficient for you? Instead of seeking a new “word,” how about mastering the revelation you’ve been provided (2 Tim. 2:15)?

Conclusion

All those seeking extra-Biblical revelations must stop trying to find a back door to God (or, as Martin Luther put it, stop trying to view God in the nude). God has spoken, and still speaks, through the Bible—and those same Scriptures remain sufficient for doctrine and life. Not the Spirit working apart from the Word, but the Spirit working through the Word.

The Bible is something more than a body of revealed truths, a collection of books verbally inspired of God. It is also the living voice of God. The living God speaks through its pages. Therefore, it is not to be valued as a sacred object to be placed on a shelf and neglected, but as holy ground, where people’s hearts and minds may come into vital contact with the living, gracious and disturbing God. . . .

James Montgomery Boice, Foundations of the Christian Faith, pg 48

--The Catechizer

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Sunday, December 15, 2013

What is Liberal Theology and Why Should I Care?

Many Evangelicals embrace liberal theology without even knowing it. Without a strong understanding of Sola Scriptura, and to a lesser degree a commitment to the historic creeds, confessions, and catechisms, we leave ourselves open to having the “faith once and for all delivered to the saints” reinterpreted for us by the culture. It’s also important to identify the fox before he arrives with designs on your theological chickens. Pastor Kevin DeYoung offers some help:

Gary Dorrien, an Episcopal Priest, a professor at Union Theological Seminary, and the foremost expert on American liberal theology, explains:

“Before the modern period, all Christian theologies were constructed within a house of authority. All premodern Christian theologies made claims to authority-based orthodoxy. Even the mystical and mythopoetic theologies produced by premodern Christianity took for granted the view of scripture as an infallible revelation and the view of theology as an explication of propositional revelation.” (The Making of American Liberal Theology: Imagining Progressive Religion, xv).

Dorrien goes on to say that later “Reformed and Lutheran orthodoxy heightened the Reformation principle that Scripture is the sole and infallibly sufficient rule of faith, teaching that scripture is also strictly inerrant in all that it asserts” (xv). He further argues that Roman Catholicism, Eastern Christianity, and the Anglican tradition were all based on external authority in their own ways as well.

But liberal theology, which Dorrien believes to be “the most creative and influential tradition of theological reflection since the Reformation,” charted a different course. Liberalism is both a tradition, coming out of the late-18th century Protestant attempt to reconfigure traditional Christian teaching in the light of modern knowledge and values, and a diverse, but recognizable approach to theology. . . .

Click here to continue reading.

--The Catechizer

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Thursday, December 27, 2012

Notable Quote: John Colquhoun

John Colquhoun (1748 – 1827) on the law-gospel distinction …

Every passage of sacred Scripture is either law or gospel, or is capable of being referred either to the one or the other…. If they [critics] blend the law with the gospel or, which is the same thing, works with faith, especially in the affair of justification, they will thereby obscure the glory of redeeming grace and prevent themselves from attaining joy and peace in believing.

Treatise on the Law and the Gospel

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Thursday, December 13, 2012

Notable Quote: William Tyndale

William Tyndale (1494 – 1596) on the law-gospel distinction . . .

In the Old Testament are many promises, which are nothing else but the Evangelion or gospel, to save those that believed them from the vengeance of the law. And in the New Testament is oft made mention of the law, to condemn them which believe not the promises. Moreover, the law and the gospel may never be separate: for the gospel and promises serve but for troubled consciences, which are brought to desperation, and feel the pains of hell and death under the law, and are in captivity and bondage under the law. In all my deeds I must have the law before me, to condemn mine imperfectness. For all that I do (be I never so perfect) is yet damnable sin, when it is compared to the law, which requreth the ground and bottom of mine heart.

I must therefore have always the law in my sight, that I may be meek in the spirit, and give God all the laud and praise, ascribing to him all righteousness, and to myself all unrighteousness and sin. I must also have the promises before mine eyes, that I despair not; in which promises I see the mercy, favor, and good-will of God upon me in the blood of his Son Christ, which hath made satisfaction for mine imperfectness, and fulfilled for me that which I could not do . . .

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Sunday, December 09, 2012

Notable Quote: R.C. Sproul

R.C. Sproul defines inspiration and infallibility:

Holy Scripture, as the inspired Word of God witnessing authoritatively to Jesus Christ, may properly be called infallible and inerrant.

Infallible signifies the quality of neither misleading nor being misled and so safeguards in categorical terms the truth that Holy Scripture is a sure, safe, and reliable rule and guide in all matters.

Similarly, inerrant signifies the quality of being free from all falsehood or mistake and so safeguards the truth that Holy Scripture is entirely true and trustworthy in all its assertions.

Explaining Inerrancy

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Saturday, August 25, 2012

Notable Quote: Herman Bavinck

In the Scriptures . . .

God daily comes to his people, not from afar but nearby. In it he reveals himself, from day to day, to believers in the fullness of his truth and grace. Through it he works his miracles of compassion and faithfulness. Scripture is the ongoing rapport between heaven and earth, between Christ and his church, between God and his children. It does not just tie us to the past; it binds us to the living Lord in the heavens. It is the living voice God.

Herman Bavinck (1854-1921), Reformed Dogmatics: Prolegomena

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Friday, June 03, 2011

David Wilkerson: The God Whisperer

The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men . . .

Westminster Confession, chapter 1, article 6

One of the issues resolved by the Reformers was that of final authority, i.e., Are the Scriptures sufficient for doctrine and life? The Reformers, of course, answered in the affirmative. Louis Berkhof summarized their case as follows:

In Scripture each succeeding book connects up with the proceeding (except in contemporary narratives), and is based on it. The Psalms and the Prophets presuppose the Law and appeal to it, and to it only. The New Testament comes to us as the fulfillment of the Old and refers back to nothing else. Oral traditions current in the time of Jesus are rejected as human inventions, Matt. 5:21–28; 15:4, 9; I Cor. 4:6. Christ is presented to us as the acme of the divine revelation, the highest and the last, Matt. 11:27; John 1:18; 17:4, 6; Heb. 1:1. For the knowledge of the way of salvation we are referred to Scripture only, to the word of Christ, and the apostles, John 17:20; I John 1:3 . . .

Both Rome and the Anabaptists rejected the sufficiency of Scripture. Rome put as Scripture’s rival her church councils and traditions, with the ultimate authority residing in the pope. The Anabaptists, however, had a low view of Scripture for other reasons: they sought guidance from an “inner light” and direct revelations from God, resolving that the Spirit worked apart from the Word because the Word was dead.

Swarmers

Renting the Spirit from the Word by claiming direct revelations from God was something the Reformers could not abide. For that reason, Martin Luther derisively referred to them as “swarmers” because they were “swarming everywhere, deranged by the devil, regarding Scripture as a dead letter, extolling nothing but the Spirit and yet keeping neither the Word nor the Spirit.”

Likewise, in speaking of the link between the Spirit and the Word, John Calvin wrote . . .

Two things are connected here, the Word and the Spirit of God, in opposition to the fanatics, who aim at oracles and hidden revelations apart from the Word.

David Wilkerson and the Modern Swarmers

For ten years I have been warning about a thousand fires coming to New York City. It will engulf the whole megaplex, including areas of New Jersey and Connecticut. Major cities all across America will experience riots and blazing fires—such as we saw in Watts, Los Angeles, years ago . . .

Note: I do not know when these things will come to pass, but I know it is not far off. I have unburdened my soul to you. Do with the message as you choose.

David Wilkerson, pastor of Times Square Church in New York and president of World Challenge

In my years as a Pentecostal I saw the shipped-wrecked lives of those who listened to the modern swarmers. I’ve also experienced (and sill experience) the derision of unbelievers as they scoff at Christ and His followers because of those who claim that God is whispering in their ear. Worst of all, these false prophets blaspheme our God by taking His name in vain. This crime of speaking when God has not spoken is so heinous that, in Old Testament times, God commanded that these offenders be put to death (Deut. 13, 18:20-22, 13:12-13; Ez. 13:1-9; Zech. 13:3).

A Plea

I call on David Wilkerson and other Pentecostals to stop trying to find a back door to God (or, as Martin Luther put it, stop trying to view God in the nude). God has spoken, and still speaks, through the bible—and those same Scriptures remain sufficient for doctrine and life. Not the Spirit working apart from the Word, but the Spirit working through the Word.

The Bible is something more than a body of revealed truths, a collection of books verbally inspired of God. It is also the living voice of God. The living God speaks through its pages. Therefore, it is not to be valued as a sacred object to be placed on a shelf and neglected, but as holy ground, where people’s hearts and minds may come into vital contact with the living, gracious and disturbing God.

James Montgomery Boice

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Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Notable Quote: William Perkins

William Perkins (1558 – 1602), father of Elizabethan Puritanism, on the law-gospel distinction …

The basic principle in application is to know whether the passage is a statement of the law or of the gospel. For when the Word is preached, the law and the gospel operate differently. The law exposes the disease of sin, and as a side-effect stimulates and stirs it up. But it provides no remedy for it…. The law is, therefore, first in the order of teaching; then comes the gospel.

The Art of Prophesying with The Calling of the Ministry

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Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Notable Quote: John Calvin

The chief ground of gladness and joy is when God restores to us pure and sound doctrine; for no scarcity of wheat ought to terrify and alarm us so much as a scarcity of the word.

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Tuesday, March 23, 2010

2 Chronicles 34 and the Reformation – Part Four (Conclusion)

Rev. Pollema continues from Part Three . . .

Faith Alone (Sola Fide)

“For by grace are ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8). Closely related to the principle of grace is the necessity of faith in the Christian life. There is no genuine experience of God’s power apart from faith. However, we are not acceptable to God on account of the worthiness of our faith. First of all, it is not our faith. It is the gift of God. But we can receive the benefits of Christ (perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness) and make those our own in no other way than by faith only (cf. Heidelberg Catechism 60 & 61).

Faith, then, calls for commitment of the whole being to the person and work of Christ. In the words of the Psalmist, to have faith is to “delight thyself also in the Lord; to commit they way unto the Lord” (Ps. 37:4–5). It is to deny oneself and to acknowledge Christ as both Savior and Lord. It is that “hearty trust that . . . forgiveness of sins, everlasting righteousness and salvation are freely given by God, only for the sake of Christ’s merits” (cf. Heidelberg Catechism 21). His is what the Apostle Paul means when he writers: “The just shall live by faith” (Rom. 1:17). And this is what Martin Luther rediscovered when he went back to the Bible. It was the righteousness of Christ, not his own, and that could be received only by faith. It is true faith that holds for truth all that God has revealed in His Word.

Scripture Alone (Sola Scriptura)

The Scriptures must be warp and woof of the individual’s life. It is through
Scripture alone that we come to know Jesus Christ as “the way, the truth, and the life” (Jn. 14:6). In the pages of Scripture we find what we need to know about sin, salvation, and the way of Christian living. The Bible is the only book that authoritatively speaks of the past, present, and future. In its pages are to be found the answers to the problem of sin and man’s greatest need.

It is little wonder that Satan hates God’s Word! From the beginning he has sneeringly asked: “Did God say?” (Gen. 3:1). He fears the Bible because it is the sword of the Spirit against which he cannot stand. His greatest victory today is among those in whom he has planted a seed of doubt, by frank denial or insinuation, in the classrooms of our schools, in the books we read, through Hollywood and the mass media, and yes, from the pulpit itself. God speaks to us today through the prophet Jeremiah:

“The wise men are ashamed , they are dismayed and taken; lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord; and what wisdom is in them?” (Jer. 8:9).

To the believer the Word also speaks:

“For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. The entrance of thy words giveth light: it givith understanding unto the simple.” (Ps. 119:89, 130).

Christ Alone (Solus Christus)

As one looks back at grace alone, faith alone, and Scripture alone, it becomes abundantly evident that each one centers upon Christ alone. “Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12). “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Cor. 1:30–31).

Today God’s Word needs to be rediscovered. We have to go back to the Bible. The dust-laden Bible upon the shelf, the oft talked about but undigested Word, the reinterpreted Word resulting from some new hermeneutic—the Word is just as much lost and forgotten today as it was in the days of Josiah. God’s Law, His will for the people, needs to be read and reread in the hearing of all if they are to be brought to a knowledge and sorrow for their sins. How refreshing it would be to have those who aspire to lead this country refer the people to the Law of the Lord and encourage them, as did Josiah, to abide by it. Since that seems extremely unlikely, may it begin with us. May our response to this Word be that of the Psalmist, even as it must have been for the people of Josiah’s day and for the Reformers of the sixteenth-century Reformation: “I rejoice at they word, as one that findeth great spoil” (Ps. 119:162).

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