1 Corinthians 2:12-16 (CSB) Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God. We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people. But the person without the Spirit does not receive what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually. The spiritual person, however, can evaluate everything, and yet he himself cannot be evaluated by anyone. For
who has known the Lord’s mind, that he may instruct him?But we have the mind of Christ.
The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience, although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and his will which is necessary unto salvation. Therefore it pleased the Lord at sundry times and in divers manners to reveal himself, and to declare that his will unto his church; and afterward for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan, and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which maketh the Holy Scriptures to be most necessary, those former ways of God's revealing his will unto his people being now ceased.
Lets walk through the points:
The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience, although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable
Romans 2:14–15 (CSB) So, when Gentiles, who do not by nature have the law, do what the law demands, they are a law to themselves even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts. Their consciences confirm this. Their competing thoughts either accuse or even excuse them
Romans 1:18-20 (CSB) For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse.
Psalm 19:1–3 (CSB) The heavens declare the glory of God, and the expanse proclaims the work of his hands. Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge. There is no speech; there are no words; their voice is not heard.
Romans 1:32 (CSB) Although they know God’s just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die—they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.
Romans 2:1 (CSB) Therefore, every one of you who judges is without excuse. For when you judge another, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things.
In an CNN Red Chair Interview, Richard Dawkins was asked what would he say if he met God after his death:
What's going to happen when I die, if I met god in the unlikely event after I died, I think the first thing I would say is well, which one are you? Are you Zeus? Are you Thor? Are you Baal? Are you Mithras? Are you Yahweh? Which god are you?
Which is a bit peculiar, to say the least. But that bit of end-of-ones-life banter with the Holy Almighty God is leading up to what Dawkins really wants to ask and I quote:
And why did you take such great pains to conceal yourself and to hide away from us?
Richard Dawkins. CNN Red Chair Interview. September 5, 2012. CNN
But God did not hide himself. Not even close. I would even give Mr. Dawkins a fair shake if Christ came in as a nobody and left as a nobody and then all of sudden myth after myths started coming up about some son of a carpenter in the Palestinian Middle East some 2000 years ago.
Christ came in as a nobody, this is true. Yet, it pleased the Father by the power of the Spirit to reveal God in the flesh--his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, Son of God who is God:
John 1:14–18 (CSB) The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John testified concerning him and exclaimed, “This was the one of whom I said, ‘The one coming after me ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.’ ”)
Yet, the entire basis of the Jewish faith prophesied that this was to be start. Starting with Genesis and ending with Malachi. Over 200 prophecies about the upcoming Messiah:
Indeed, we have all received grace upon grace from his fullness, for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Christ, born of a virgin, into a know-nothing family, in a know-nothing back-country town of Bethlehem.
Isaiah 53:1-2 (CSB) Who has believed what we have heard?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
He grew up before him like a young plant
and like a root out of dry ground.
He didn’t have an impressive form
or majesty that we should look at him,
no appearance that we should desire him.
All of humankind, you, me, and Mr. Dawkins, included are without excuse. From Adam onwards, God has written his moral law upon our hearts. Despite our born sin nature and our own sin, we try to suppress that God exist or God is not who he says he is why? So that we can do sin more--so that we can do what is right in our own eyes. That is our natural born state.
But God, fully perfect, fully good, fully holy, and fully merciful and love, did what for the world? Sent his only begotten Son.
And for all the atheism and agnosticism and suppression of the truth that the sons of Adam try to come up with, no one in their right mind can deny the historical Jesus of Nazereth. You wouldn't just be denying the Bible but the historical records of the greatest empire of all time: the Greco-Roman Empire.
John 1:18 (CSB) No one has ever seen God. The one and only Son, who is himself God and is at the Father’s side—he has revealed him.
John 3:16 (CSB) For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
We are without excuse.
yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and his will which is necessary unto salvation
1 Corinthians 1:21 (CSB) For since, in God’s wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of what is preached.
Even though all of the creation bears witness that there is a God, all the general revelation cannot give saving knowledge. You and I are not going to go to the Grand Canyon and behold its breathtakingly majesty or look up to the sun, moon, and stars and think, "Wow I am filled with sin and I need this God who made all of this to send his Son to live and die for me so that I might die and live unto him." No!
How do we know that we are born sinners in need a Savior? How do we know that there is the One Holy God, maker of the heavens and earth, who is gives grace upon grace, new mercies every day, and steadfast love that never ceases? How can we know these things?
This beautiful truth can only be found in the word of God--the Holy Scriptures.
But you and I know that the Bible is not a mere literary text--although it contains all kinds of literature. But it cannot be compared to any man-created, man-written texts like the Odyssey, the works of Shakespeare, the Book of Mormon, and the Quran.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (CSB) All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
This Bible, all sixty-six books contain thereof, are completely, perfectly inspired by the Holy Spirit that work through some 40+ authors, through their mind, written abilities, and the like to give us the written word we have today.
If this book, made up 66 books, is inspired by God, breathed out by God, do you think that mankind, in our born sin nature and we by nature continuously sin against God, can understand this book?
What if have the highest IQ? What if we have the greatest education? Scratch that, what about the greatest Christian education--from preschool, to the finest private Christian School, to the best Bible College, to the most conservative theological Seminary and spent a lifetime doing nothing but study the word of God? Maybe we can understand the word of God on our own--if we just tried hard enough?
We, who know and believe the gospel, know for a fact it is not dependent on man to understand God but it is on the mercies and grace of God to reveal himself to man for us to understand Him.
1 Corinthians 2:12–14 (CSB) Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God. We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people. But the person without the Spirit does not receive what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually.
What has been freely given to us by God? life, provision, his Son, his Spirit, his Scriptures just to name a few.
So think on this:
Ephesians 2:8-9 (CSB) For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— not from works, so that no one can boast.
What is God's gift in this passage? Is it Grace? Faith? Salvation? The answer is yes. D, all of the above.
So how does God allows you to understand his Scriptures?
Ezekiel 36:26-27 (CSB) I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will place my Spirit within you and cause you to follow my statutes and carefully observe my ordinances.
For you to know and embrace the salvation of God, God must first give you a new heart and His Spirit and not a moment before. Until God gives us his own heart, his Spirit dwelling in us, his Son's righteousness for our sin, renews our mind, opens our eyes, unplugs our ears and quickens the tongue so that you and I can now understand God and his wonderful works.
To know God is a supernatural work of God in his people. There are no exceptions to this.
Therefore it pleased the Lord at sundry times and in divers manners to reveal himself, and to declare that his will unto his church
Hebrews 1:1 (CSB) Long ago God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways.
Don't be put off by the old-school word, 'sundry'. It just means "different times".
In various times and manners, God did reveal himself, through the various priests, prophets, kings, and ordinary folk, but he did not do so continuously.
For example, take the prophet, Jeremiah, and look at the verse ones of every chapter:
- "The word of the LORD came to me"
- "The Lord says"
- "The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah..."
In between the times that God spoke to Jeremiah, what did Jeremiah do? He went about his ordinary business. Living his life. Waited on the Lord to speak. Not all at one time but when God chose to speak so that Jeremiah could convey the will of God for the peoples of the earth.
God in his own time, according to his own will, for his own glory reveal his will to his people through whomever and whatever he might be pleased.
and afterward for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan, and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing
Proverbs 22:19–21 (CSB) I have instructed you today—even you— so that your confidence may be in the LORD. Haven’t I written for you thirty sayings about counsel and knowledge, in order to teach you true and reliable words, so that you may give a dependable report to those who sent you?
Luke 1:3–4 (CSB) So it also seemed good to me, since I have carefully investigated everything from the very first, to write to you in an orderly sequence, most honorable Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things about which you have been instructed.
Romans 15:4 (CSB) For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures.
Matthew 4:4–10 (CSB) He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will give his angels orders concerning you, and they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”
Isaiah 8:19–20 (CSB) When they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the spiritists who chirp and mutter,” shouldn’t a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? Go to God’s instruction and testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, there will be no dawn for them.
But now we have the Christ, Son of God, who is God. God the Father, decided, in one history changing moment, revealed his only begotten Son--the Hebrew-scriptures-concealed Messiah and Savior of the world alongside the New Testament-revealed Worthy Lamb Who was Slain.
Glory, glory to Him alone!
TODO:
You want to know something that should blow your mind?
Romans 1:16 (CSB) For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.
Look at the verse carefully. Does it say "the information about the gospel is the power of God for salvation" or does it say, "the gospel is the power of God for salvation?"
God was going to save his people from their sins. The people were too weak to save themselves. But God himself will come to save him. That is when the Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, to live and die as we ought but failed to do so. If you believe what Christ says, repent your sins to him, and trust in Him, you shall be saved. End of the story. Nothing more. Nothing less. That is the gospel.
And yet the gospel was not an object that was to be held and pass down for generations. It was not like the royal family that Christ had to marry a woman and his wife birth a child and that child begat a child where the gospel must continue on like a king and would die if the king had no heir. Surely, Christ is the son of David but when Christ was born, that was it. End of the line. The Perfect King has come. The throne of the kingdom of God is now perfectly filled by the Son of Man who perfectly lived.
The gospel was given to one another by preaching it. The gospel was given to one another by writing it down and passing it on. The gospel, however imperfectly we share it with our words, is the power of God in salvation for those who believe, to the Jew first and also the Greek. For in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith!"
And the word of God lives forever. Burn all the Bibles and destroy all of the Internet and it will live forever. But the Bible is not of this world. It is the breathed out words of the Almighty Creator God of the Universe.
2 Timothy 3:15 (CSB) and you know that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
2 Peter 1:19 (CSB) We also have the prophetic word strongly confirmed, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
People keep thinking that the Bible is not necessary. Christians, especially today in the age of information, take it for granted. But the Bible is most necessary for faith. You can scour the internet and find people who came to faith by a dream by God. And I am not here to argue against that. But why is true and why people come to Christ is the power of God in the gospel that is written down and kept in our hearts throughout the history of mankind.
To have and preserve faith in Christ makes the holy Scriptures most necessary.
Christian, want to debate on this. Try living your life for a week, completely stripped of the Holy Scriptures, and tell me where your mind and heart is at.
Some of you can tell me that because most of us don't engage in the word of God outside a pretty instagram post for months. I am not here to condemn you nor shame you. But without the Bread of Life, how do you expect to live?
Hebrews 1:1–2 (CSB) Long ago God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him.
I grew up Charismatic and with that, I grew up knowing that the gifts of the Spirit were infinite and given to each believer so that we would minister to others and love our neighbor as ourselves. This command is like loving God with our hearts. (Matthew 22:37–40)
Here is the thing: I have accepted a lot of Charismatic doctrine as belief. Granted, I was not born again when I was in Charismatic churches--I was not saved and did not have the Triune God dwelling in me--therefore, I could not understand nor believe any doctrine that I heard or read.
It was not until several years ago, I started to take my common beliefs about Charismatic doctrine and press that up against the Bible because we are instructed to do. Most known spiritual gifts I could teach from the Bible. All spiritual gifts are not of us but of the Spirit. Gifts of healing and miracles are not of us but of God alone. 1 So that is easily taught from the Bible.
There is one gift that irked me: prophecy. In most Charismatic circles is taught as either an word of encouragement all the way into soothsaying and fortune telling. But what does the word of God say about prophecy?
1 Corinthians 14:3 (CSB) But the person who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouragement, and consolation.
1 Corinthians 14:31 (CSB) For you can all prophesy one by one, so that everyone may learn and everyone may be encouraged.
And
1 Corinthians 13:8–10 (CSB) Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will come to an end.
Any Charismatic could quote you 1 Corinthians chapters 12 to 14. But the following passage is what captured my attention:
1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 (CSB) Don’t stifle the Spirit. Don’t despise prophecies, but test all things. Hold on to what is good.
I have heard this used by Charismatic don't stifle the Spirit and don't despise prophecies. But in all the years I have seen prophecy done, I have never seen a prophecy given that was tested against the word of God.
Old Testament prophecy is easy to test. If the prophecy does not come true, then the prophet is a false prophet. But remember, ultimately, all of the Old Testament was prophesying about the coming Messiah.
Since Christ has come to save his people from their sins, what of prophecy now?
Prophecy in the Old Testament was literally the preaching of the word given to man by God. That prophetic word is now written in the Bible. Since Christ has come, all prophecy and prophesying is now the preaching of the word of God. It is literally preaching what Christ has done for us.
In other words, in the absolute sense of the word, prophesying is the preaching of the gospel of God.
Go back and read every NT passage about prophecy and prophesying and see if it still stands up to the test.
1 Corinthians 14:3 (CSB) But the person who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouragement, and consolation.
Preaching of the word of God and the preaching of the gospel done right is this! It is the strengthening, encouragement, and consolation of the saints.
1 Corinthians 14:31 (CSB) For you can all prophesy one by one, so that everyone may learn and everyone may be encouraged.
Preaching of the word of God and the preaching of the gospel done right is this! It is the learning and encouragement of the saints.
1 Corinthians 13:8–10 (CSB) Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will come to an end.
Preaching of the word of God and the preaching of the gospel done right is this! There will be a day when preaching will come to an end because we will behold the face of our sweet Savior!
1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 (CSB) Don’t stifle the Spirit. Don’t despise prophecies, but test all things. Hold on to what is good.
Preaching of the word of God and the preaching of the gospel done right is this! Preach the word of God and proclaim the gospel rightly and your people can easily test your preaching against the word. In other words, you are not out here giving sport analogies, life coaching tips, business wisdom, some kind of TED talk or how to live your best life. No! We are to preach Christ crucified! (1 Corinthians 1:23)
And surely, I am not the only one who discovered this. I stand on the shoulders of the giants before me. Because, this is how the Church defined prophecy since the Apostles. For them prophecy in the NT church was always preaching. It does not make sense otherwise.
And just how important is preaching? For we know that:
Romans 10:17 (CSB) So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.
Just how important is preaching the word of God, the full counsel of God, and the gospel of our risen Christ.
Christ, in his preaching at Satan, said this:
Matthew 4:4 (CSB) He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
In other words, the word of God--the Bible--is the mouth of God. God has spoken and has done so in his word. Are we listening?
Footnotes
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I do hate this seemingly strawman argument from Cessationists against the Charismatics because no Charismatic would claim that they are the ones who healed the sick or performed miracles. If they did make that claim, they would be false shepherds. But I digress. ↩