BLOGGIN IN THE BIRG
BASED ON WHAT?
John Thompson
A common question that should be asked when discussing different beliefs whether between Christians or with non-Christians is; “based on what?” The question asks for the reason a person has come to their conclusions. It is one thing to state what you believe. It is another to explain why you believe it. Every statement a person offers as fact should come with evidence for the statement being a fact. So here is my question about where we as Christians should base our beliefs.
Do you rely primarily upon internal or external evidence for the truth in regards to scripture? What I mean is; do you rely upon scripture to interpret external events or do you use the experience of external events to interpret scripture?
Someone might say; it doesn’t matter either way. People can witness or experience an event and interpret it any way they wish. Two people can experience the same event and come up with two totally different views on what took place and why. People can also do the same thing with the scripture. They can read a passage and come up with two totally different interpretations of the meaning of the passage. So it doesn’t make an difference whether you interpret the Bible based on your experience or interpret your experience based on the Bible. Both approaches amount to the same thing.
Now the problem with the analysis above is very simple to point out. It is true that people can interpret events differently and can just as well interpret scripture passages differently. The problem is with the conclusion that because of these two truths, it doesn’t matter whether you approach the Bible as primary or experience as primary.
The Bible is primary for this reason; events cannot interpret themselves, but the Bible does. Events are not capable of correcting a point of view, the Bible is. This is why God has given us the scripture. God is the wisest of all beings. In His wisdom, He gave us the scripture to establish the truth for man in a way that would enable us to test any perspective with an infallible standard.
YOU GOTTA HEAR THIS
John Thompson
The picture you are looking at is of our two year old son Samuel, asleep on the floor in the midst of a loud thunderstorm. Now you might just think, “AWWW, that’s so cute.” Well, it is, but that’s not my point. The story behind the picture is the real gem. You gotta hear this!
The thunder boomed so loud that it rattled the house. Samuel ran off of the enclosed front porch into the house, squealing and crying. At first, I laughed. What a dad! But then we saw how upset he was and began to try to comfort him. We talked to him in soft assuring tones. I even told him, ” Don’t worry son, God will give you peace in the midst of the storms of life,” but the thunder continued. Then I had a thought.
I used to host a radio program many years ago, and the theme song was “Anchored In The Lord” by Douglas Miller.
Now this song talks about being anchored in Christ in the midst of the storms of life. So I put the song on and cranked it up over the noise of the storm. As I sat on the couch, eyes closed, listening to the song, Samuel came over and stood next to me. He was motionless for the entire song. To my surprise, when the song ended and I opened my eyes, I saw what you see in the picture.
That boy was sound asleep on the floor! The music stopped. The thunder stopped. You couldn’t hear a better message preached on a Sunday morning than the one I heard that night.
A FRESH WORD
John Thompson
Thesis statement: The Bible, being the Word of God, is both efficient and sufficient to instruct the Church in both faith and practice until Jesus returns.
The most profound of all questions is, “why is there something, rather than nothing?” and the second most profound question is, “do you believe the scripture?
The second question is the answer to the first question, since God’s Word is the only infallible account of the beginning and nature of our existence. When we treat the Bible as nothing short of God’s Word, we not only discover the origin of the universe visible and invisible, but we also discover our place in it. That discovery becomes a lifelong revelation of the Creator and our relationship to both the Creator and the creation.
Because the Bible is the Word of God, there is no lack in its ability to tell us all we need to know about any ultimate question of existence. The God, who is revealed in nature and in the Scripture, is not capable of an inefficient communication. Nothing necessary is omitted and nothing unnecessary is included.
This understanding of the nature of the Bible, brings us to an extremely important issue for all of mankind, but especially for believers; is the Bible all that God has to say to us until the return of Jesus Christ, or is there more? This is undoubtedly the most important issue for the church of Jesus Christ throughout all of time to this present moment!
Let me frame the issue with the utmost simplicity; do we have a sufficient revelation in the scripture or do we need a continuing revelation beyond the scripture?
We certainly should not miss the importance of asking and answering this question. If the Bible is the complete and only infallible Word from God, then anything offered as God’s word that is not found explicitly or implicitly in the Bible should be rejected, as well as anything that is contradictory to the testimony of scripture. If we believe that the Bible is the Word of God, then we need only to consult the scriptures themselves to answer this question, so let’s see what it says. I am going to reference 4 scripture passages although there are many more that could be mentioned. The reason for these particular passages is what I see to be profound and very specific testimony to the nature and function of the scriptures themselves
Hebrews chapter 1 verses 1 and 2: On many past occasions and in many different ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets. 2 But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe.
Here is a reference to what we would call, the Old Testament or what the Jew would call, the Torah. It’s good to notice the limiting factor of the Divine Revelation before the arrival of Jesus in the words; “God spoke to our fathers through the prophets.”
This is not saying that people spoke about God, as some today would have us believe. It says specifically that it was God doing the speaking! This is a very important distinction. If it was only men speaking about God, then we may or may not take them seriously on everything they say. But if it is God ultimately who is doing the speaking, which is what the verse says, then we don’t have the right to pick and choose what we will or will not accept. We are limited to absolute belief. We are not allowed to speculate about the truth presented, we are only allowed to interpret according to the scriptural context given.
We are also limited by this verse in what we believe about the number of those through whom God spoke. The scripture says, “the prophets.” This indicates a limited number that were known to the people who were being spoken to. There was not an inexhaustible or unrecognizable group of prophets or this scripture using the word “the,” would make no sense!
Now before we look at verse 2 of this passage, I want to go to Acts 24 because it actually refers to and verifies what we have just seen in Hebrews 1:1.
Acts 24 and verses 25 – 27: Then Jesus said to them, “)foolish ones, how slow are your hearts to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and then to enter His glory? 27 and beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about Himself.
Again, we can see the limiting nature here where Jesus says, “all that the prophets have spoken. “All” indicates a limited amount on what was said and “the” shows a limited amount on who Jesus affirms as prophets. The 27th verse again shows this be describing the Old Testament as Moses, which would be the first 5 books, and “all” the prophets, which affirms, as Hebrews 1:1 does, that there was a limited number of prophets.
Now that we have seen the scriptures verifying themselves in nature and scope regarding the Old Testament, let’s look at what is stated regarding the New Testament in Hebrews 1 verse 2. 2 “But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe.”
We are seeing a flow here from God speaking in former times to God speaking in latter times. There is no difference being made regarding the fact that it is God who is speaking, only the method is being shown to be different. Instead of the prophets as the vessel, it is now through His Son. (Jesus)
From these 2 passages, Hebrews & Acts, we can see that God has limited His speaking, or if you will, His revelation, to the scriptures of what we now call the Old and New Testaments. Now let’s look at what Jesus says about the scope of the revelation that He gave and whether or not we should expect any further revelation before He returns. Let’s look at Matthew chapter 28 and verses 18 to 20: 18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 God therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Here we see Jesus commissioning His disciples before He ascends to heaven, not to be seen again until His second coming. It is important to see that Jesus said they should teach ALL that He commanded them. It is safe to believe that they did exactly as they were commanded. That would mean that EVERYTHING Jesus wanted the church to know would be given to us by the apostles. There is no mentions about anything more needing to be given after their deaths. In fact, in John chapter 17, Jesus prays for all that will believe on Him through THEIR word. We have no directive from Jesus or His apostles that any later revelation will come or be necessary before Jesus returns. In this context, ALL means ALL!
Our last scripture is Ephesians chapter 2 and verses 19 to 22: 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
In these few verses the church is described as citizens, God’s household, a holy temple in the Lord, and a dwelling of God. While we could comment on each of these descriptions extensively, I would like to focus on the aspect of the church as a building in which Jesus is the cornerstone. This building is said to be built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. There is no reason to separate these apostles and prophets from any other descriptions we have seen in the previous scriptures mentioned in this article. Foundations are only laid once. Here Paul is giving the Holy Spirit directed view of the church as a building that continues to grow and progress on the scriptures that end with the apostles of the Lord.
When we allow the scriptures to describe themselves, we see the complete Old Testament which comprises Moses and the Prophets, and then the New Testament which ended with the apostles. Since Jesus gave everything he wanted to say to them and then commanded them to give everything to the church, there is no reason to look for anything further. We would need the apostles to tell us that there would be more before we would look for more. They didn’t, therefore there isn’t!
We have a Fresh Word. The Bible is God speaking yesterday and today. The scripture is never stale! We have no other revelation or word from the Lord. Anything offered as a Word from God, the Lord, or the Spirit must come from the scripture or be compared to scripture. Praise the Lord for His everlasting Word!