THE SCRIPTURE SAITH

The Apostles had a firm understanding of New Testament theology and were in no way confused about the doctrines of which the Holy Spirit inspired them to write. They lived their lives in accordance with these teachings, and as a result, the power and effectiveness of their ministries was abundantly clear for all to observe. This of course, causes us to wonder why the church today is so unable to follow after their example. As compared with the early church in the Book of Acts, the church today in many respects; appears feeble, ineffective, and powerless. How could the church have come to this end, after such a powerful beginning? A close examination of the errant theological doctrines that have served to guide the church over the last two thousand years reveals the answer to this mystery, in stark detail. But an early church father named, Clement of Rome, succinctly identified the correct path for the church when he encouraged Christians to follow everything that, “The scripture saith.”1

Just recently, I assisted my family in moving all of the worldly possessions of my aging grandmother into the confines of a shared bedroom, in a local nursing home. At 96 years old, with ears, eyes, body, and mind failing her, our family had to make the painfully inevitable decision, to provide this final refuge for the sunset of her life. At first, I was saddened when I realized just how few possessions remained and the tattered condition in which I found them. But my heart gradually sank even deeper as the magnitude of the occasion began to come fully into view, and without any forethought whatsoever, my spirit cried out within me, “How could it have come to this?” How could the life of this great matriarch, who has nurtured and courageously led our family for over 70 years, reach such an ignoble end? The bitter reality staggered me and it has troubled my thoughts ever since.

How could it have come to this? A question regretfully answered by the ravages of time and the relentless circumstances of the fallen world in which we live, in regards to my dear sweet grandmother. But the answer doesn’t come quite so easily, when posed of the state of the modern church. Where did we go wrong? Where did we veer off the path and settle for so much less than what God intended for us? This divergence came very early on, and can even be seen within the pages of scripture on numerous occasions. The Apostle Paul rebuked the Galatian churches for it when he scolded, “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?”2 Paul understood that scripture was given by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and that by obeying its truth’s, the Christian would be led by and empowered by the Holy Spirit, which in turn would produce the fruits of the Spirit, in their lives. That is why Jesus corrected the false assumptions of the woman at the well by stating that, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”3

Spirit and truth, you cannot separate them or diminish one to the detriment of the other. Unfortunately, that is exactly what the church has been doing since its inception; devising doctrines of demons that either, seek to eliminate the necessity of the work of the Holy Spirit completely, by worshiping the false gods of truth, logic, and reason, or by giving themselves over to the impulses of the flesh, seeking after spiritual experiences and emotional encounters, after chucking sound doctrine right out the window. Be it a, deliberate perversion of the clear teaching of scripture to satisfy carnal motivations or a lack of faith in the inerrant, authoritative, and inspired word of God, rebellion against God’s word is at the heart of this issue, as it has been from the very beginning. “Has God indeed said?”4 Whether we are speaking of the twisted teachings of the Gnostics, Ebionites, and Judaizers of the first century or the religious and scholastic apostasy of the medieval times, the pattern of rejecting the, “Scripture saith” model, can be clearly seen.

The reformation, led by Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin, sought to right the ship in this regard, and they made tremendous progress in returning the church to a firm footing, grounded upon the truth of God’s word and the power of His Spirit. However, as water droplets slowly erode a stone foundation, the more cunning voices of Immanuel Kant, George Hegel, Karl Barth, and Soren Kierkegaard, softened the resolve of the church and weakened its knees with the deceptive dogmas of liberalism, higher criticism, and neo-orthodoxy.

How did we come to this present state of the church, in 2015? A church that believes what the world believes about God and His creation, and a theology that supports the worldly view of our sin and its consequences. A faith that is only as strong as the parameters of our own feeble minds and intellectual capacity, and a power that is confined to asking for permission to operate, within the anemic religious system which sponsors it. Rudolf Bultmann, a champion of neo-orthodoxy, “…denied the reliability of the Bible, suggesting it had been encrusted with the views of the church rather than factual teaching about God and Christ.”5 Ha! That’s rich, and it couldn’t be further from the truth! The church and her doctrines have become so encrusted with the views of the world that it has become blinded to the factual teaching about God and Christ, found in the pages of the Bible. How did we come to this? We came to this because we have refused to come to the truth that the early church knew oh so well, “The Scripture saith…”1

Works Cited
1. Moody Handbook of Theology, Enns, Paul, 1989, Moody Press, Chicago, IL. Ch. 28, pg. 410
2. New King James Version, Holy Bible, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Publisher, Gal 3:1-3
3. New King James Version, Holy Bible, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Publisher, John 4:24
4. New King James Version, Holy Bible, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Publisher, Gen 3:1
5. Moody Handbook of Theology, Enns, Paul, 1989, Moody Press, Chicago, IL. Ch. 31, pg. 465