Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith. (Hebrew 13:7) There is always a temptation in us to disregard the teachings of saints in the past; particularly pious Christians avoid labels (which I dont argue with), but there is a problem when were unwilling to identify our beliefs and compare them with Scripture and define them with a modern vernacular. I have heard Christians deny divine election adamantly, all the while claiming to neither be Arminian nor Calvinist, while its all too true that they are, in fact, Arminian. Also, I have heard those that adamantly pedal dispensational teachings, and yet they despise the label of dispensationalism being attributed to them when they are radical dispensationalists! Simply saying I only hold to the Bible, whether we like it or not, is not true. We are influenced by saints around us, as we should be. But let us not put on a facade and claim to be more pious than we are, claiming falsely to hold only to the plain teaching of Scripture. We have learned much from saints in the past, which have provided a defense of fine doctrines such as the Trinity, predestination, eschatology, and the like. Just because we dont know that our beliefs have labels doesnt mean, automatically, that they dont exist; it means we are ignorant as to how such beliefs were articulated in the first place. The sooner we find ourselves willing to learn such things, the sooner we will be able to distinguish from accepted falsehood in our lives through subtle doctrines and deceptions and the truth of what Scripture plainly and deliberately teaches; only let us hold on the the teachings of those that strived to keep the faith, even going to far as to suffer persecution and death!
Posted on: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 21:31:10 +0000
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