There is not a single contributor to the New Testament that was not concerned with accuracy of the word. This ought to be the case if scripture is what we believe it is as Christians. The whole salvation enterprise (I.e. man’s hope for the future) depends on it. If indeed one is saved by what he believes, then he must of necessity believe the right thing. Sound doctrine ensures and secures salvation.
The last command of Christ before His departure was for believers to go into the world and spread the good news (the Gospel) exactly as He had taught it[1]. This was a necessity because God’s incarnation into the world (as Jesus Christ) was aimed at saving man-kind from his descent into the Devil’s abyss. It is the message that through knowledge of Him and His work that is to accomplish this goal. This “downward spiral” was the consequence of man’s rebellion against God in agreement to suggestions from the devil[2]. Man essentially became an agent of God’s enemy because he believed a lie. God in His mercies however, extended a hand of salvation through His death and resurrection. Unless man gets the right message and tunes in to the truth of Jesus Christ, he remains on the descent into eternal death. Perhaps the most vivid of this image is captured by the fact that man has been called to a restored relationship with God and its attendant eternal life; yet he believes he been called to earthly riches—something that characterizes every false promise of the devil.
The
truth that saves man is Jesus himself[3].
The word of God is the only truth there is. Anything else that claims to be
truth must be grounded in Him alone. This idea may not have been clear enough to
some. This is obvious because the supposed custodians of the scriptures
rejected Truth when He arrived. They had bought into a lie and therefore cannot
recognize Truth even if it became a man, stood in their midst and directly
corrects their lies. He tells them categorically;
“I am the way and the
truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”
- John
14:6
He continued
by telling them them he had authority to forgive sins[4]
and that anyone who sees him has seen the father[5].
He told them consistently that He is the Son and God is the father and that
they are one[6].
He confirms the trinity to mankind by introducing the Holy Spirit[7].
For these truths, they sought to kill Him[8]
instead of believing Him. It ought to be seen that those who have drank too
deeply from the well of lies, must of necessity seek to extinguish truth in its
smallest manifestations. Ironically, those who claim to be its representatives are
also those who seek to extinguish it. This must explain that Jesus’s encounters
with the Pharisees were always a clash between lies and truth (i.e. life and
death). It is only in those moments that we see a combatant Jesus. To those who
are truthful enough to accept that they are lost sinners, He was the gentlest
and the most charitable of all souls. No man, if indeed they are sane can claim
to be without sin. Why did the Pharisees not know this? This question is
answered by the most zealous of them;
“for all
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” — Romans 3:23
By this time, he had encountered truth and had been
transformed[9]. The encounter with truth transforms men by renewing
their minds. This is what is referred to as regeneration and
cannot happen apart from truth. And when it does, salvation is guaranteed.
Truth
begins with the recognition that one is a sinner and that he needs the salvation
of Jesus who is in fact, God the son in flesh and had come into the world in fulfillment
of the promise made thousands of years earlier. And that scripture is His word
and He is His word. This should explain why lies did not survive any of their
encounters with Jesus. His word gives life and saves. When an adulterous woman
was about to be stoned to death under the legal lies of the Pharisees, Truth
only needed to speak. She was not only saved, those who sought to kill her
walked away in the shame of their own sins. That was truth in action and it shows
that unless truth brings salvation, lies will ensure death. This should make a
case for salvation and the role sound doctrine plays in the larger scheme of
things. SD-21 the Sound doctrine
conference will for the first time in West Africa create an opportunity for a
conversation on the importance of sound doctrine. Those who will be part of it will
be showing their love for Truth—Jesus. Go to part 3
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment