You Can't Staple Fruit to the Tree

Christ is not merely after people who aren't anxious. He's after people who aren't anxious because of how they trust so surely in Him as their Rock.

He is not after merely humble or devout people. He's after people who are humble and devout because they know the sweetness of knowing Him.

He is not after merely pure and holy people. He's after people who are pure and holy because they know the pleasure to be had from sin doesn't hold a candle to the pleasure to be had in seeing and knowing and following Him.

There are no shortcuts in the Christian life. Jesus gets no glory when we try to staple fruit to the tree. He gets glory when obedience is compelled by His own delightfulness, beauty, and pleasantness. When that happens, then the Holy Spirit -- and not we ourselves in our flesh -- is producing His fruit in us.

On the Leading of the Holy Spirit

Have you ever heard somebody say that the Spirit “led” them to do something? Or something like, “I felt led to” do such and such? I’ve heard those kinds of statements. I’ve said those kinds of things, too. But what do people mean when they say that? And, more importantly, is that a Biblical way of understanding and speaking about the Spirit’s ministry among believers?

It might surprise you, as it did me, to learn that the phrase “led by the Spirit” occurs only twice in the New Testament:

• Romans 8:13-14 – For if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
• Galatians 5:16-18 – But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.

You’ll notice that both occurrences of “led by the spirit” come in the context of the mortification of sin. The Holy Spirit’s testimony about His own role in “leading” believers is specifically set alongside the putting away the desires and deeds of the flesh. To do that is to walk by the Spirit; that is, to walk by means of Him: to be led by Him. And so if we are going to be relentlessly Biblical, this has to be the way we primarily understand and use that phrase: being led by the Spirit. “The Spirit led me to put off my anger and bitterness.” “The Spirit led me to mortify my lust for attention and recognition.” And so on.

That’s Not How We Use It

But people rarely do restrict their usage of this phrase to the specific context of mortification. Instead, I’ve observed that we use it in (at least) two ways. First, we say that the Spirit led us to do something in order to give glory and credit to God for favorable and gracious circumstances and providences that we’ve experienced. Some good thing has happened, and we simply are being conscious to not take any glory for good things to ourselves. Rather, we desire to ascribe the various mercies we receive to the good, meticulous providence of a sovereign and loving God who ministers to His people through the agency of His Holy Spirit.

And I think this is good. Even though we must stipulate that we’re not using the phrase exactly as Paul coined it, we aren’t trying to slip in any weird theology. We’re just trying to give credit where credit is due. And besides, since Scripture does teach the absolute sovereignty and meticulous providence of God, we have a theological basis for speaking this way. It is good, and right, and proper. In fact, I’d even say that we must give credit to the Spirit in this way.

But some people speak about being led by the Spirit in another way, too. They use it as a seal of their authority for what they have to say or what they propose to do. This is wrong, for it assumes that the Spirit is subjectively “leading” them in some revelatory sense, similar to how Paul was forbidden to enter Asia in Acts 16. (In fact, these people may often cite such passages in Acts, entirely ignoring the drastic differences in redemptive history between then and now.) This is not only not what being “led by the Spirit” means in its Scriptural context (cf., again, Rom 8:14 and Gal 5:18), but it misunderstands how God speaks and how the Spirit guides us in this age: namely, both through the sufficient, Spirit-inspired and God-breathed Scriptures.

It All Comes Back to Authority

The issue of authority is, I think, the kicker for how this second sense of the phrase differs from the first, and also how it errs theologically. When people in the first category are saying that the Spirit led them to do something – for example, God seems to have “laid it on your heart” to pray for someone – they’re simply trying to deflect glory for a good thing that has already happened. By contrast, when people in the second category are saying that the Spirit is leading them to do something – for example, to sell their house and move in with you (true story) – they’re trying to garner authority for something that has not yet happened.

Thus, aside from the strictly Biblical usage of the mortification of sin, the “leading of the Holy Spirit” is discerned much like the decretive will of God: only in retrospect. We’re able to look back on a good thing that God has accomplished in our lives – even something as internal as feeling led to pray for someone some particular week, only later to find out that they had a really rough week and needed that prayer – and discern: “The Spirit was leading me to pray for you this week!”

On the other hand, it is without Scriptural or theological foundation and thus entirely invalid to say, “The Spirit is leading me to sell my house and just step out in faith,” or “The Spirit is leading me to preach in your pulpit this Sunday.” Though the person might be sincere, this really is just scrambling for some authority to validate one’s own subjective gut-feelings and impressions.

And if you disagreed with me, what if I told you that the Spirit led me to write this blog post? What could you do? You'd be entirely stymied by my appeal to the authority of the Spirit with no objective means of evaluation. You most certainly wouldn't want to resist the Holy Spirit, would you? You see how that just becomes a power play?

Scripture is Our Authority

But God has already given us a perfectly sufficient means for evaluating and validating such impressions: it is His perfectly sufficient, always-profitable (2Tim 3:16-17), everything-we-need-for-life-and-godliness (2Pet 1:3) Word, as revealed in many portions and in many ways in the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments. Peter declares that the prophetic word as revealed in Scripture is something more sure even than the personal eye-witness of the transfigured Christ (2Pet 1:16-21, ESV)!

That is our authority. And if anyone attempts to elevate his own subjective impressions to be at least on par with the authority of Scripture by flippantly adding that he was “led by the Spirit” to do something, he dishonors the sufficiency of what the Holy Spirit has already led men to speak and write as the uncontestable Word of God (2Pet 1:21). Indeed, the “things of the Spirit” (ta tou pneumatos; Rom 8:5 cf. 1Cor 2:14) are the words spoken and written by the Apostles as they were taught by the Spirit (1Cor 2:12-13).

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths
when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
For when he received honor and glory from God the Father,
and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory,
"This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,"
we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven,
for we were with him on the holy mountain.
And we have something more sure,
the prophetic word,
to which you will do well to pay attention
as to a lamp shining in a dark place,
until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
- 2 Peter 1:16-19, ESV -

Horton on the Gospel

Came across this video, and really liked it.

Some notable quotes:

A definition of the Gospel: "From Genesis to Revelation, the Gospel is God's promise of a Son who will crush the serpent's head, forgive the sins of His people, raise them from the dead, and give them everlasting life solely on the basis of His grace for the sake of Christ."

The Gospel is founded upon God's grace: "The Gospel never tells us something to do. The Gospel tells us about something that's been done."

Confronting popular catch-phrases that betray false conceptions about the nature of the Gospel: "We hear people say today, 'We need to live the Gospel. We need to do the Gospel.' But actually, we need to do the Law. You can't do the Gospel. That's a category mistake. It's the most fundamental, basic theological mistake you could make: to confuse the Law with the Gospel. ... If we confuse those two things, we'll make ourselves partly our own saviors."

Confronting popular catch-phrases that betray false conceptions about the nature of mission and Gospel ministry: "We do not extend Christ's incarnation. We do not contribute to His redeeming and reconciling work in the world. We are the ones who are redeemed and are telling everyone else about it. We are witnesses to His redeeming work, not extensions of it."

Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law
through the body of Christ,
so that you might be joined to another,
to Him who was raised from the dead,
in order that we might bear fruit for God.
- Romans 7:4 -

Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
and He said to them, "Thus it is written,
that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day,
and that repentance for forgiveness of sins
would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things.
- Luke 24:45-48 -

Acknowledge God's Absolute Sovereignty in Suffering

The first two lessons we've learned from Jeremiah are that (1) we ought to suffer along with our brothers and sisters who suffer and (2) we must acknowledge the role of sin in our suffering. The third lesson we can learn form Jeremiah's righteous response to suffering is that we must acknowledge God's absolute sovereignty even in the unpleasant and painful circumstances.

One of the things that is striking throughout the book of Lamentations is that Jeremiah finds no solace in attributing the destruction of Yahweh's covenant people to second causes. Rather, he attributes the agonizing desolation of Israel to Yahweh Himself. He declares that "Yahweh has caused her grief" (Lam 1:5) and has "inflicted" this pain "in His fierce anger" (Lam 1:12); it is He who has knit together this yoke, who has given her into the hands of her enemies, who has rejected her, and has trodden her as in a winepress (Lam 1:14-15). You'll notice that he does not speak of God merely "allowing" such devastation. Instead, he speaks of God actively accomplishing that which He had purposed to do:

• Lamentations 2:17 – Yahweh has done what He purposed; He has accomplished His word Which He commanded from days of old. He has thrown down without sparing, And He has caused the enemy to rejoice over you; He has exalted the might of your adversaries.
• Lamentations 4:11 – Yahweh has accomplished His wrath, He has poured out His fierce anger; And He has kindled a fire in Zion Which has consumed its foundations (cf. Lam 2:1-7).
  
• Lamentations 3:37-38, 43-44 – Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, Unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High That both good and ill go forth? … You have covered Yourself with anger And pursued us; You have slain and have not spared. You have covered Yourself with a cloud So that no prayer can pass through.

And again, as we did with the discussion on acknowledging sin, we have to be careful not to draw a direct parallel in this situation, and perhaps in many other situations. In Jeremiah's case, God is explicitly inflicting punishment. This may or may not be so when we suffer. But even if He's not explicitly punishing or disciplining, it is still wrong to locate the origin of these unpleasant events somewhere outside of God.

Job's case makes that clear. He did not attribute His suffering to second causes, but always recognized that God was sovereign in his afflictions (Job 1:21; 2:10; 12:9-10). And God commended him for that (Job 2:3; 42:7). And lest you think Job was somehow confused about who caused his sufferings since he was never privy to the opening interaction between God and Satan, the inspired text of the narrator of the book of Job agrees at the end of the book: "...and they consoled [Job] and comforted him for all the adversities that Yahweh had brought on him." Get that. Not, "...all the adversities that Satan had brought," and not even "...all the adversities that Yahweh allowed." These were adversities that Yahweh himself had brought upon Job.

The lesson for us, then, is that when we suffer, we should not seek to save God from His sovereignty. If we do that, we cut the legs out from under the solid, robust theology of God's absolute sovereignty that we depend on and cherish so much in those very times of suffering. To try to soften God's involvement with sin by reducing it to a mere permission rather than a definite ordinance is to weaken the spine-strengthening power that is supplied by Romans 8:28. To insist by our word choice that God merely allows evil and suffering rather than intentionally and wisely brings it about in order to glorify Himself and thus most greatly bless the creature destroys the very theology of sovereign grace that is (1) such a comfort to our souls in such troubling times and is (2) precisely that for which God means to receive glory and honor.

God means to be glorified in being recognized as the ultimate Mover and Determiner of all things. Let us not seek to rob Him of that.

I am Yahweh, and there is no other,
The One forming light and creating darkness,
Causing well-being and creating calamity;
I am Yahweh who does all these.
- Isaiah 45:7 -

Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass,
unless the Lord has commanded it?
Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that both good and ill go forth?
- Lamentations 3:37-38 -

Jeremiah's Five Lessons

1. He identifies with, and suffers alongside, his people.
2. He acknowledges that sin is at the root of suffering (even though not all suffering is a direct result of personal sin).
3. He acknowledges God’s absolute sovereignty in his suffering.
4. He recognizes that although God is sovereign, He is not the enemy.
5. He sets his hope entirely on, and rests in, God’s character.

What Love for God Is and Isn't

I was listening to a sermon by John Piper on Romans 8:28 this week (as I've been listening through his Romans series, chapters 6 through 8) called "All Things for Good." And I was just overwhelmed with delight to come to this point in his sermon. He was discussing the "those who love God" part of Romans 8:28, and thus discussing what it means for us to love God. In order to do that, he also spent some time discussing what love for God is not.

I've spent some time (with Piper's help) trying to unfold this doctrine of love for God in my own thinking here and here, along with the posts under the "Love of God" tag that can be found on the sidebar. Yet what Piper said in this sermon is exactly what I want to say, and exactly what my soul resonates with.

This topic -- what it means to love God -- is what the universe is about. And so when I hear these things, everything I experience of reality is that much more real. When I'm contemplating the purpose for which I was created, I am more alive than at any other time. I am made to worship more greatly and more purely, which is to say, I enjoy God more at this time than at any other time. I pray that the same be true for you.

If you'd like, you can listen to the sermon as well here. The stream loads pretty quickly, and the section that the below edited transcript is taken from starts at either "-27:00" or "-22:10." For whatever reason it seems like two different versions might load. So you can just let it load for a minute and then click over to -27:00 or -22:10 and listen along. (I always recommend listening to Piper along with reading him when possible.)

Anyway, he says:

What the Love of God Is Not

So what does it mean to love God? How can you know if you are in this number? The best way I can think to make the answer clear is to say three things that love for God is not. At least the essence of love for God is not these three things.

Loving God is not meeting his needs. The way we love man is different from the way we love God. In Acts 17:25 Paul said, "He [is not] served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things." God is radically different from us. He is the source of all things and has no needs. He cannot be helped or improved. There are no defects to reverse or deficiencies to supply. We cannot love him by supplying his needs. He has none. Therefore the essence of our love for him must be an experience of receiving. (And I do regard joy as essentially receiving pleasure from the object of our delight.)

That leads to the second thing that love for God is not. Loving God is not, in its essence, love for his gifts – gifts like forgiveness, justification, escape from hell, resurrection to a pain-free life, etc. Indeed if we love God, we will cherish these gifts and be thankful for them, because we would not have God without them. But loving God is treasuring God himself revealed in his gifts and treasuring God himself beyond his gifts. His gifts are precious to the degree that they bring us to God and show us more of God. When you love God, God is central in your affections, not his gifts.

This word "affections" leads us to the third thing that love for God is not. The essence of loving God is not the things that love for God prompts you to do. Love for God may prompt you to leave mother and father and forsake all that to declare his glory among the nations. But leaving mother and father and forsaking all are not the essence of love – they are the fruit of love. Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." This does not mean keeping his commandments is love. It means love is the kind of heart that prompts you to keep commandments.

In John 21:15-17 Jesus illustrates this connection when he asks Simon Peter three times, "Do you love me?" When Peter says, "Yes," Jesus does not say, "Good, that must mean you are obeying my commandments, because obeying my commandments is love." No, he said, "Feed my sheep." In other words, if you love me, act like it. Love my flock and feed them. Feeding sheep is the fruit of loving Jesus.

In other words, what I am saying is that love for God is a matter of the heart’s esteem for God before it produces anything else. It is something internal and involves spiritual emotions. It is not, in essence, a deliberated choice or a deed. It is more like a reflex of the heart to the perfections of God revealed especially in Christ. If you equate the deeds of love with the essence of love you will produce hypocrites – people who imitate the deeds and claim to love God when their hearts are far from him. If you equate love for God with love for his gifts, you produce hypocrites – people who are very glad to feel forgiven and declared righteous and delivered from hell and heaven-bound, but have no pleasure in God himself. They don’t love God. They just don’t want to have bad guilt feelings or go to hell.

What the Love of God Is

Therefore I think it is absolutely crucial that we clarify what the essence of love for God is. Let me grasp for the kinds of words that I think will help us know if we love God. Loving God is desiring God himself beyond his gifts. Loving God is treasuring God himself beyond his gifts. Love for God is delighting in God himself beyond his gifts. Love for God is being satisfied in God himself beyond his gifts. Love for God is cherishing God himself beyond his gifts. Love for God is savoring God himself beyond his gifts. Love for God is valuing God and prizing God and revering God and admiring God beyond his gifts. All these words are grasping for that essential response of the heart to the revelation of the glory of God, especially in Christ through the gospel. It is a glad reflex of the heart to all that God is for us in Christ.

Grounding our Experience of Fellowship in Objective Reality

I wonder what comes into your mind when you hear the word "fellowship." Some may think of friends. Others think of having interesting and inspiring conversations. Others think of sharing a meal or having a snack. Still others think of the time of a church service or Bible study where the teaching is officially over and everyone gets to just "hang out."

It's funny how certain words -- Biblical words -- come to be co-opted and used by our own circles of the Evangelical subculture. It's also kind of scary. We can be using the exact same language as the Bible, and thus suppose we are being Biblical, and yet mean something entirely different than the Bible means by it. We have refused to read such words in their Biblical contexts, and instead have ripped them from their contexts and then invest and infuse them with our own meanings. (For an example of how we've done that with the word 'love,' click here.)

The Lord Jesus recently blessed me with a wonderful opportunity to regularly teach and shepherd a terrific group of saints in a Bible study setting as a ministry of Grace Church. As I thought and prayed about what I'd wanted to teach on to begin my time with them, my heart was inclined to do something on fellowship. A home Bible study -- whether at a church with 70 members or 7,000 -- is a place where life is lived out together in community, a place where we can spur one another on to love and good deeds (Heb 10:24-25), and to encourage one another as long as it is called "Today," so that none will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (Heb 3:12).

And so I looked up the instances of the word koinonia in the New Testament. And I found that in an overwhelming number of instances, koinonia has very little to do with what mainstream American Christians call fellowship. Here's a breakdown of its use in the New Testament:

Fellowship with Each Other

• Acts 2:42 – They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
• 1 John 1:3, 7 – …what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. … but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
  

Contributing Resources

• Romans 15:26 – For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.
• 2 Corinthians 8:4 – …begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints…
• 2 Corinthians 9:13 – Because of the proof given by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ and for the liberality of your contribution to them and to all…
• Hebrews 13:16 – And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
  

Fellowship with The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

• 1 Corinthians 1:9 – God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
• 1 Corinthians 10:16 – Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?
• 1 John 1:3, 6 – …what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. … If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
• 2 Corinthians 13:14 – The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.
• Philippians 2:1 – Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion…
  

Participation and Partnership

• 2 Corinthians 6:14 – Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?
• Galatians 2:9 – …and recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we might go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.
• Philippians 1:5 – in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now.
• Philemon 1:6 – and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ’s sake.
• Philippians 3:10 – that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.
  

Objective Reality

What I come away with as I read these uses of koinonia is the notion that fellowship is an objective reality. As noted above, it is an objective state of relationship with each of the Members of the Trinity. It is a sharing in the Good News of the Gospel (Phil 1:5), in faith in Christ (Phm 1:6), and even in sufferings (Phil 3:10). One is said to have fellowship in something when one gives his money and resources (Rom 15:24; 2Cor 8:6; 9:13; Heb 13:16). And even the fellowship that we have with each other is spoken of as an objective reality based upon the work of God in Christ, and not merely a subjective enjoyment of one another (1Jn 1:3, 7).

And even where the word koinonia is not used to describe this concept based on the objective work of Christ, the reality of it is apparent elsewhere in the Scriptures. In Romans 6, Paul speaks about our baptism into Christ (i.e., our salvation) in terms of union, or fellowship, with Him.

• Romans 6:3-7 - Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.

Then in 1 Corinthians 12, he speaks of this same baptism in terms of our union with Christ's body. As we are united to the Head, we are also united to all those who are united to the Head.

• 1 Corinthians 12:12-14 - For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many.

And so, Biblically speaking, our fellowship is an objective reality that was accomplished by the atoning work of Christ.

Consider what James Montgomery Boice says about contemporary vs. Biblical concepts of fellowship (from his commentary on Philippians, p. 31):

“The word fellowship has been so watered down in contemporary speech that it conveys only a faint suggestion of what it meant in earlier times. When we speak of fellowship today, we generally mean no more than comradeship, the sharing of good times. But fellowship originally meant much more than a sharing of something, like the fellowship of bank robbers dividing their loot. It meant a sharing in something, participating in something greater than the people involved and more lasting than the activity of any given moment. When the Bible uses the word, it means being caught up into a communion created by God. […]

“This is the way the Bible regards fellowship, and it was this for which Paul was so thankful in the case of the young church at Philippi [1:5]. They may have had things in common. But Paul is not speaking of these. He is thankful for their share in the gospel of God. They had been taken up into a divine fellowship. They were united, not upon a social level, but by their commitment to the truths of the gospel.”

So this idea we have of fellowship as being the time in the worship service or Bible study where we all talk and have food is a misunderstanding of what the Bible says fellowship is. Of course it involves our interaction, conversation, and enjoyment of one another. But all of that – let's call it – subjective stuff is rooted in something objective: the fellowship we have with the Father and with each other by virtue of the saving work of Christ on the cross (Rom 6:3-7; 1Cor 12:12-14).

And one thing that can make our subjective experience of fellowship with each other seem awkward, or forced, is forgetting that our fellowship is grounded in this objective reality. We base our conversations and interactions with each other more on superficial things than on the fellowship we have as beneficiaries of the Gospel and as children of God. We base our "fellowship" with each other on shared interests, mutual hobbies, common experiences, being in similar "life stages," and so on, and so we exclude those who don't fit that mold – even though we may not intend to or even know that we're doing it.

Improving our Fellowship by Improving our Conversation

So what can we do to remedy this problem? How can we better ground our subjective fellowship in the reality of our objective fellowship?

Well, the primary way I believe we fail in this is in our conversation – the things we talk to each other about. And so I think that's the place to start improving. The big take-away application point from all of this talk about subjective and objective fellowship is that we must improve our everyday, relaxed, natural conversation, especially with other believers. We devote so much time to talking to each other about our families, our jobs, sports events, movies we’ve seen, TV shows we watch, aspirations we have and so on. And these are good things. But the things of Christ, spiritual things, the things of the Scriptures are so much more worthy of our attention and conversation than those other things. And comparatively, they often don't occupy enough of our interaction with each other.

In Deuteronomy 6, just after God gives Israel the Greatest Commandment to love Him with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, the very next thing He says is, “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Dt 6:6-9).

He commands them to be talking about His Word all the time. I think that it's significant that this command comes directly after the Greatest Commandment in all the Law (Mt 22:36-38). I take that to mean that there is no surer way to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, than to be constantly meditating and musing over and speaking about His truth. And you’ll remember that keeping the first commandment is how you will keep the second greatest commandment (cf. 1Jn 5:2), which is: to love your neighbor as yourself.

Love for each other – the cornerstone of our fellowship – is based on our love for God. And our love for God is greatly affected by how great a place His Word and His truth occupies in our hearts and in our mouths.

So, after a sermon in church or a Bible lesson at a mid-week Bible study, don’t just immediately start talking about the weather. Talk with each other about the sermon or the lesson. Talk about the main Scripture text in the message, about significant things that stood out to you. Talk about how you were affected by God's Word.

Let the subjective experience of your fellowship with each other be rooted in the real, objective basis for that fellowship: the fellowship that we have as fellow-partakers of the grace of Christ.

Therefore, laying aside falsehood,
speak truth each one of you with his neighbor,
for we are members of one another.
- Ephesians 4:25 -

Defining and Defending Biblical Apologetics

There's so much that I want to say about this video from James White. But every time I set my hand to write, I recognize that what I want to say is exactly what he's said in the video. (You might also check out this post, which is best read in the context of this entire series.)

But just for some context, James White is president of Alpha and Omega Ministries, a Christian apologetics ministry based in Phoenix, Arizona, and is an elder at Phoenix Reformed Baptist Church. He hosts a weekly radio program called The Dividing Line, and this segment is taken from the show on June 24th, 2010. White is entirely devoted to a presuppositional approach to defending the Christian faith, and in the below video he explains how the theology of the Bible itself requires that one be a presuppositional apologist if one is to be consistently Biblical.

I know 42 minutes is a long time, but I promise you it is well worth your time.

But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him. … For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, "He has blinded their eyes and he hardened their heart, so that they would not see him with their eyes and perceive with their heart, and be converted and I heal them."

- John 12:37, 39-40 -

"All Truth is God's Truth"

Whenever I hear this assertion it's usually being given as substantiation for some devaluation of the sufficiency of Scripture. Whether that be trying to force billions of years into Genesis 1-3, claiming that one's counseling methodology ought to be informed by secular psychological theory, or seeking to legitimize an over-concern with worldliness in the name of being missional or contextualizing the Gospel, this phrase gets a lot of mileage from those seeking to evade the teaching of the sufficient Scripture by affording undue authority to other sources of knowledge. When it comes down to it, the question of the validity of this statement is a question of epistemology. How do we know what we know? What is the authoritative source of all knowledge?

The Bible contains the revelation of the specific words of God to specific people. Because of this specificity, the Bible is said to be the "special revelation" of God (cf. Grudem, p. 122-123). General revelation, on the other hand, is "the knowledge of God’s existence, character, and moral law, which comes through creation to all humanity" (Grudem, p. 122). Such revelation is "general," or "common," because it is revealed to all humanity -- it's something we all have in common, so to speak.

The relationship of the authority of special revelation and general revelation is of particular importance to the issues raised above, i.e., the age of the earth, Biblical vs. integrationist counseling, and the nature of the natural man's spiritual death. The scientist, psychologist, or postmodern thinker argues that all truth is God’s truth, and so if something is found to be true by means of scientific analysis of general revelation, well then that is a manifestation of God’s common grace. Since truth which is gleaned from general revelation, it is argued, is just as much God’s truth as truth gleaned from special revelation, both special and general revelation are equally authoritative and thus each ought to have a place in Christian epistemology.

As a dear brother of mine has said, "Perhaps all truth is God's truth, but not all words are God's Word."

The problem with this "All-truth-is-God's-truth" line of reasoning is that it simply does not acknowledge the inherent difference between general revelation and special revelation in both glory and authority. Scripture assigns to itself more authority than it does to general revelation. Though general revelation is perceived through God’s creation, and though God’s creation began as "very good" (Gen 1:31), the consequences of the Fall of man present a twofold problem. First, God subjected the entire creation to futility (Rom 8:20-23), cursing His "very good" creation as a result of Adam's sin (Gen 3:17). Second, when Adam sinned, all humanity died with him (Rom 5:12). So even though it is through creation that the invisible attributes of God have been clearly seen, leaving men with no excuse (Rom 1:20), the depravity of fallen man causes him to suppress that clearly revealed truth in unrighteousness (Rom 1:18), rendering both fallen creation and fallen man unqualified epistemological authorities. The creation in its current state is not a reliable subject of study because of its corruption, and since no part of humanity's existence was unaffected by the Fall, our total depravity makes us unreliable students.

The Word of God, on the other hand, is not fallen. Indeed, the law of Yahweh remains perfect, sure, right, pure, clean, true, and righteous altogether (Ps 19:7-9). Unlike the corrupted creation and its depraved students, the integrity – and thus, the authority – of special revelation is entirely unblemished by the Fall. Further, Yahweh's perfect law "restores the soul" (Ps 19:7) of depraved mankind, something general revelation cannot do. "Far greater than all general revelation is the glory of God revealed in His Word, because the Word transforms the heart of man" (Street, Counseling, p. 44).

Those who tout "All truth is God's truth" as a way to put observation of creation (scientific or otherwise) on equal footing with Scripture simply do not realize the inherent difference in glory and authority between general revelation and special revelation.

Even though the heavens are declaring the glory of God (Ps 19:1) such that men are without excuse (Rom 1:20), general revelation cannot free man from the corruption that even it is enslaved to (Rom 8:20-23). Only special revelation can do that; that is, the Word of God which is perfect, restoring the soul (Ps 19:7), able to make us wise unto salvation (2Tim 3:15) .

So all truth may be God's truth, but not all words are God's Word. God's decisive, sufficient, perfect Word surpasses even His good, yet corrupted, creation in both glory and authority.

And that must drive our epistemology. Otherwise, it is not a Christian epistemology.

The law of Yahweh is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of Yahweh is sure, making wise the simple.
The precepts of Yahweh are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of Yahweh is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The fear of Yahweh is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of Yahweh are true; they are righteous altogether.
They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them Your servant is warned;
In keeping them there is great reward.
- Psalm 19:7-11 -

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 -

Rejoicing in Suffering

One thing I hear very often from evangelicals is that we don't rejoice in our sufferings themselves, but in the products of that suffering -- what the suffering produces (e.g., perseverance, proven character, and hope, Rom 5:3-4; cf. Jas 1:2-4), and will eventually give way to (i.e., an eternal weight of glory, 2Cor 4:17). And I understand that. We don't enjoy trials as if we're masochists or even ascetics, as if we love suffering for the sake of suffering. We do have a great, deep, abiding joy even during our trials, but we have that joy because of the God-ordained products of that suffering.

But what I fear is that many Christians hear this kind of statement and take it the wrong way. They may hear it and believe that suffering for righteousness' sake is merely something to get through, and not something that is a stimulus to enjoy the glory of God.

So what do I think we should think about this issue?

First of all, we must let verses like Philippians 4:4 and 1 Thessalonians 5:16 govern our understanding of joy in trials or suffering, because it's true that we are commanded to rejoice always. I think 2 Corinthians 6:10 is also a helpful passage to consider, as it tells us that we can be sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.

What I must guard against in my own thinking is the notion that the only true joy or hope that I can have in very unpleasant trials and suffering is in the prospect of that suffering coming to an end. In other words, when I suffer for righteousness' sake, I need to be able to, in that moment, recognize that God has ordained that this happen, and that His purpose in ordaining that this happen is the same reason that He ordains everything else to happen: so that He might be displayed and enjoyed as glorious. And that glory is my greatest good. (That's what Romans 8:28 means.) And so if the trial has come about to reveal God's glory, then I want to enjoy His glory even in the midst of that trial, otherwise I'll waste that trial. So:

1) God ordains that His people suffer and go through trials in order to reveal His glory.
2) God's glory is what I am most happy and satisfied in.
Therefore, 3) I rejoice in the suffering for what it reveals of God.

That is precisely what was going on in Acts 5:40-42, when the apostles rejoiced that they had been counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Christ. They were rejoicing, not only in the fact that one day the suffering would end, but they saw suffering for Christ's sake as such a privilege and honor -- that they would be displaying His glory and sweetness by giving up their comfort, to put it mildly -- that they were happy to experience it. This is that blessing that Jesus pronounces upon those who suffer for righteousness' sake in Matthew 5:10-12. It is what Peter says in 1 Peter 4:12-16: that to the degree we share in the sufferings of Christ we should keep on rejoicing, because in that moment we are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on us.

So it's important for Christians, in our thinking about our Christian life, not to simply rejoice in the midst of our trials because someday they'll end. We must rejoice in our trials, because in the midst of those trials God 1) is manifesting His glory, which is my greatest joy, 2) has called me "blessed" when such things happen, and 3) causes His own Spirit to rest on me in those instances. The eternal weight of glory that our light and momentary affliction is producing for us is something that we can begin to enjoy even now -- and even in the midst of that light and momentary affliction.

To illustrate a bit, I offer this admittedly imperfect analogy. Compare being sick to sin in our Christian life, medicine to trials, and health to holiness in the Christian life. When I'm sick, I need medicine. Taking that medicine is often very unpleasant in itself. It tastes pretty terrible. There's no way that I would drink this stuff for fun. I'm only going to take it because I know it will make me healthy. But because the taking of the medicine has so often been paired with being rid of my sickness and regaining the joy of my health, I do actually become happy to see the medicine when it's presented to me. My joy in being healthy begins to merge with my joy in taking the medicine, because the medicine is the means by which I will get healthy. I don't groan when I see the medicine. In a strange sense, rather than being bitter, it becomes sweet to me.

Similarly, because trials are paired with 1) seeing and enjoying the glory of God in greater degrees and 2) my increasing Christlikness, I rejoice in those trials also. The "health" that I rejoice in in the above analogy is not simply heaven when I'm free from all suffering, but the enjoyment of God's glory and the progress of my sanctification here and now.

So, when you suffer for the name of Christ, don't waste the opportunity that you've been given to see and enjoy and make much of the glory of God in Christ through that suffering. Receive it with thanksgiving, with joy, with a sense of honor and privilege that you have been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake (Phil 1:29).

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!
- Philippians 4:4 -

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you,
which comes upon you for your testing,
as though some strange thing were happening to you;
but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing,
so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.
If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed,
because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler;
but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed,
but is to glorify God in this name.
- 1 Peter 4:12-16 -

So they went on their way from the presence of the Council,
rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.
- Acts 5:41 -

For to you it has been granted
for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him,
but also to suffer for His sake.
- Philippians 1:29 -

The Patristic Consensus: Sola Fide

I mentioned on Tuesday that in my study of early church history I'm finding myself very encouraged by the fact that the historic core evangelical principles of sola Scriptura and sola fide are taught not only in Scripture, but also in the writings of the Church Fathers. I mentioned that evangelicals shouldn't feel like when the Apostle John died the Church was hijacked by Roman Catholics. Rather, from the close of the Apostolic age through the medieval period and up through the Reformation, God has preserved a faithful remnant of His people teaching His Word even in the most faithless of times.

We mentioned that if there was any sort of "patristic consensus," the Fathers agreed on the core evangelical doctrines of sola Scriptura and sola fide. Tuesday we looked at sola Scriptura, and today we look to their testimony regarding sola fide: the doctrine that we are justified by faith alone, and receive absolutely no merit for our works as regards our justification.

And remember, the Fathers' writings do not establish sola fide, or any other doctrine. We don't look to them as our authority, but -- as even they themselves have counseled us -- to Scripture alone. Nevertheless, their writings do indeed affirm sola fide, and there is a great deal of encouragement that we can receive from that.

Clement of Rome (c. 30-100): “And we [Christians], too, being called by His will in Christ Jesus, are not justified by ourselves, nor by our own wisdom, or understanding, or godliness, or works which we have wrought in holiness of heart; but by that faith through which, from the beginning, Almighty God has justified all men; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (Epistle to the Corinthians).

Ignatius of Antioch (c. 50–c. 110): “His cross, and his death, and his resurrection, and the faith which is through him, are my unpolluted muniments [legal titles]; and in these, through your prayers, I am willing to be justified” (Epistle to Philadelphians).

Polycarp (c. 69–160): “I know that through grace you are saved, not of works, but by the will of God, through Jesus Christ” (The Epistle of Philippians).

Justin Martyr (d. 165) in his Dialogue with Trypho: “No longer by the blood of goats and of sheep, or by the ashes of a heifer . . . are sins purged, but by faith, through the blood of Christ and his death, who died on this very account.”

Athanasius (c. 296–373): “For naturally, since the Logos of God was above all, when He offered His own temple and bodily instrument as a substitute for the life of all, He fulfilled by death all that was required.” (On the Incarnation of the Logos, 6-7, 9.)

Didymus the Blind (c. 313-398): “. . . a person is saved by grace, not by works but by faith. There should be no doubt but that faith saves and then lives by doing its own works, so that the works which are added to salvation by faith are not those of the law but a different kind of thing altogether.” (From his Commentary on James, 2:26b.)

Hilary of Poitiers (c 315-67) on Matthew 20:7: “Wages cannot be considered as a gift, because they are due to work, but God has given free grace to all men by the justification of faith.” (Cited in George Finch, A Sketch of the Romish Controversy, 230.)

Basil of Caesarea (329-379): “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord, that Christ has been made by God for us righteousness, wisdom, justification, redemption. This is perfect and pure boasting in God, when one is not proud on account of his own righteousness but knows that he is indeed unworthy of the true righteousness and is (or has been) justified solely by faith in Christ” (Cited in Chemnitz, Examination of the Council of Trent, 1:505).

Ambrose (c. 339-97): “Therefore let no one boast of his works, because no one can be justified by his works; but he who is just receives it as a gift, because he is justified by the washing of regeneration. It is faith, therefore, which delivers us by the blood of Christ, because blessed is he whose sins are forgiven, and to whom pardon is granted.” (Cited in Finch, A Sketch of the Romish Controversy, 220.)

Jerome (347-420) on Romans 10:3: “God justifies by faith alone.” (Deus ex sola fide justificat). (In Epistolam Ad Romanos, Caput X, v. 3, PL 30:692D.)

Jerome (347-420): “He who with all his spirit has placed his faith in Christ, even if he die in sin, shall by his faith live forever.” (Cited in Jacques Le Goff, The Birth of Purgatory, 61.)

Chrysostom (349-407): For Scripture says that faith has saved us. Put better: Since God willed it, faith has saved us. Now in what case, tell me, does faith save without itself doing anything at all? Faith’s workings themselves are a gift of God, lest anyone should boast. What then is Paul saying? Not that God has forbidden works but that he has forbidden us to be justified by works. No one, Paul says, is justified by works, precisely in order that the grace and benevolence of God may become apparent. (Homily on Ephesians 4.2.9.)

Augustine (354-430): If Abraham was not justified by works, how was he justified? . . . Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness (Rom. 4:3; Gen. 15:6). Abraham, then, was justified by faith. Paul and James do not contradict each other: good works follow justification.

Augustine (354-430): “When someone believes in him who justifies the impious, that faith is reckoned as justice to the believer, as David too declares that person blessed whom God has accepted and endowed with righteousness, independently of any righteous actions (Rom 4:5-6). What righteousness is this? The righteousness of faith, preceded by no good works, but with good works as its consequence.” (Expositions of the Psalms 1-32, Exposition 2 of Psalm 31.)

Ambrosiaster (4^th century), on Rom. 3:24: “They are justified freely because they have not done anything nor given anything in return, but by faith alone they have been made holy by the gift of God.”

Ambrosiaster (4^th century), on Rom. 3:27: “Paul tells those who live under the law that they have no reason to boast basing themselves on the law and claiming to be of the race of Abraham, seeing that no one is justified before God except by faith.”

Cyril of Alexandria (412-444): For we are justified by faith, not by works of the law, as Scripture says (Gal. 2:16). By faith in whom, then, are we justified? Is it not in him who suffered death according to the flesh for our sake? Is it not in one Lord Jesus Christ? (Against Nestorius in Norman Russell, 165).

Cyril of Alexandria (412-444): “For truly the compassion from beside the Father is Christ, as he takes away the sins, dismisses the charges and justifies by faith, and recovers the lost and makes [them] stronger than death. . . . For by him and in him we have known the Father, and we have become rich in the justification by faith.” (Commentary on Hosea. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, p. 29.)

Fulgentius, bishop of Ruspe (c. 467-532) commenting on Eph. 2:8: “The blessed Paul argues that we are saved by faith, which he declares to be not from us but a gift from God. Thus there cannot possibly be true salvation where there is no true faith, and, since this faith is divinely enabled, it is without doubt bestowed by his free generosity. (On the Incarnation, 1.)

For by grace you have been saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
- Ephesians 2:8-9 -

By the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight;
... But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested.
... For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.
- Romans 3:20, 21, 28 -

Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due.
But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly,
his faith is credited as righteousness.
... For this reason it is by faith,
in order that it may be in accordance with grace.
- Romans 4:4-5, 16 -

...knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law
but through faith in Christ Jesus,
even we have believed in Christ Jesus,
so that we may be justified by faith in Christ
and not by the works of the Law;
since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.
- Galatians 2:16 -

The Patristic Consensus: Sola Scriptura

One of the classes I'm taking this summer is Historical Theology I. It's a church history course covering the events from Pentecost through the pre-Reformation period. One of the things that I've found mightily encouraging is that the historic core evangelical principles of sola Scriptura and sola fide are taught not only in Scripture, but also in the writings of the Church Fathers -- from the first, second, third, and fourth centuries.

See, a popular view of church history among Protestants (and even evangelicals) is that Jesus, Paul, and the Apostles believed like we do, but after the close of the canon the Church was infiltrated by Roman Catholicism and all faithfulness to Scripture was lost. Basically, the contemporary Protestant view of Church History seems to be that, aside from a few faithful followers, the Church basically "went Roman Catholic" until Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin liberated her from her Roman Catholic shackles in the 16th century.

But such a perception is far from accurate. The writings of the Church Fathers overwhelmingly support the central tenets of evangelical conviction. And a careful study of church history shows us that through the entirety of the past 2,000 years God has preserved a faithful remnant even in the most faithless of times.

Often, Roman Catholic apologists talk about there being a "Patristic Consensus," a unanimous agreement among the Church Fathers supporting the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. Well, a balanced reading of the Fathers show that no such unanimity exists. The "early church" was not a homogeneous, cohesive, unified group of Christians, but rather a term that refers collectively to the disciples of the Apostles, the early apologists and polemicists, and second- and third-century theologians. And there is great variety among them. This has led Protestant apologists to call the notion of a Patristic Consensus a myth.

What's interesting, though, is that while the "early church" varied on many fine points of doctrine, if any sort of patristic consensus existed it was on the evangelical doctrines of sola Scriptura and sola fide. The following are some selections from the writings of the Fathers regarding sola Scriptura: that the Christian's authority is Scripture alone, and not the word of any pope, council, magisterium, or even church father -- even themselves!

And remember, while it's interesting and encouraging that these Fathers affirm sola Scriptura, their writings themselves do not establish sola Scriptura. As they will tell you themselves, they are not our authority; only Scripture is.

Irenaeus (c. 140–c. 202): We have received the disposition of our salvation by no others, but those by whom the Gospel came to us; which they then preached, and afterwards by God’s will delivered to us in the Scriptures, to be the pillar and ground of our faith. [And so the Apostolic oral tradition is recorded for us in the Scriptures.]

Tertullian (c. 160–235): The Scriptures . . . indeed furnish us with our Rule of faith. (Against Praxeas, 11)

Hippolytus (c. 170–c. 236): There is one God, whom we do not otherwise acknowledge, brethren, but out of the Sacred Scriptures. For as he, who would profess the wisdom of this world cannot otherwise attain it, unless he read the doctrines of the philosophers; so whosoever will exercise piety towards God, can learn it no where but from the Holy Scriptures.

Origen (c. 185–c. 254): In the two testaments every word that pertaineth unto God may be sought and discussed, and out of them all knowledge of things may be understood. And if anything remains which Holy Scripture does not determine, no other third scripture ought to be received to authorize any knowledge, but we must “commit to the fire” what remains, that is, reserve it unto God.

Origen (c. 185–254): In proof of all words which we advance in matters of doctrine, we ought to set forth the sense of the Scripture as confirming the meaning which we are proposing. . . . Therefore we should not take our own ideas for the confirmation of doctrine, unless someone shows that they are holy because they are contained in the divine Scriptures (Homily 25 on Matthew).

Athanasius (c. 296–373): For the true and pious faith in the Lord has become manifest to all, being both ‘known and read’ from the Divine Scriptures. (Letter, 60.6)

Athanasius (c. 296–373): The holy and divinely inspired writings are sufficient of themselves alone to make known the truth.

Athanasius (c. 296–373): In the Holy Scriptures alone is the instruction of religion announced—to which let no man add, from which let no man detract—which are sufficient in themselves for the enunciation of the truth.

Cyril of Jerusalem (315–386): Do not then believe me because I tell these things, unless thou receive from the Holy Scriptures the proof of what is set forth: for this salvation, which is of our faith, is not by ingenious reasonings, but by proof from the Holy Scriptures. (The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 4.17)

Basil (c. 329–379): It is evidently a falling away from the faith, and a proof of great presumption, to neglect any part of what is written, or to introduce anything that is not written.

Chrysostom (c. 344–407): When there is a question of Divine things, would it not be a folly rashly and blindly to receive the opinions of others, when we have a rule by which we can examine everything? I mean the Divine law. It is for this reason that I conjure you all, without resting in the slightest degree on the judgment of others, to consult the Scriptures.

Chrysostom (c. 344–407): `Tis from ignorance of Scripture that all our evils arise; hence the plague of so many heresies, hence our careless lives, our fruitless labors .. . They err who look not to the bright rays of the divine Scriptures, because they walk in darkness.

Chrysostom (344–407): These then are the reasons; but it is necessary to establish them all from the Scriptures, and to show with exactness that all that has been said on this subject is not an invention of human reasoning, but the very sentence of the Scriptures. (Homilies on the Statues 1.14)

Augustine (354–430): In those things, which are plainly laid down in Scripture, all things are found, which embrace faith and morals.

Augustine (354–430): Holy Scripture fixes the rule for our doctrine, lest we dare be wiser than we ought. (De Bono Viduitatis, 2)

Augustine (354–430): Let those things be removed from our midst which we quote against each other not from divine canonical books but from elsewhere. . . . I do not want the holy church proved by human documents but by divine oracles. (The Unity of the Church, 3)

Theodoret of Cyrus (c. 393–c. 466): Bring me not human reasonings and syllogisms, for I rely on the divine Scripture alone.

John of Damascus [c. 676–c. 760]: All things that are delivered to us by the Law, the Prophets, the Apostles, and the Evangelists, we receive, acknowledge, and reverence, seeking for nothing beyond these.

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 -

His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness,
through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
- 2 Peter 1:3 -

So we have the prophetic word made more sure,
to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place,
until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.
- 2 Peter 1:19 -