I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth,(John 16:12-13 – ESV)
We hear much talk of “red letters” as if only the words of Jesus in the gospels are needed and the words of the Apostles are not necessary, as if the words of Jesus are somehow against the words given by the Holy Spirit to the other biblical writers. Some act as if the words of Jesus alone represent the whole counsel of God.
Jesus himself dismisses with this idea, Christ said that the Spirit would not only bring all the teachings of Jesus to their remembrance, but that He would also bring new truth and revelation to the Apostles upon His death. The epistles of Paul, for example, do not confuse the teachings of Christ, they magnify them. Paul declared that “we have the mind of Christ” in accordance with Jesus’ own words (1 Corinthians 2:16).
When people try and convince you that they are taking the high road in saying “back to Christ” they are actually going against Christ’s own teaching, as He said, in essence, “On to the Apostles, through them will my teaching increase”. If we want to truly be “red letter Christians” then we ought to pay attention to what those red letters of Jesus have to say about the authority of the apostolic writings.
6 comments:
Important stuff...
When we truly believe that the Bible is the infallible word of God, we will not dismiss any of it. If it wasn't important, it wouldn't be in there.
"Infallibility" of the Scriptures has come under attack in some academic circles. They say that the Bible never claims outright to be infallible. Inerrancy is not disputed the same way, just infallibility.
Ahem, who is the ultimate author of the Bible? And is he capable of failure? Hmph! (mumbling) Smart people, indeed! Maybe they're wearing their mortarboards a little too tight.
Btw, I got the verses to look at regarding hell & the presence of God. I haven't studied them yet, but I'll check them out later. Thanks!
The fact that this discussion even needs to take place is an indication of the need for reformation. It is amazing that "Christians" would question the Word of God and the importance of the entire book.
Good post, definately important stuff.
Reformation would BE a revival...
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