Truth is ancient; it's grey hairs may make it venerable;
it comes from Him who is the ancient of days. --Thomas Watson

 

13 July, 2006   comments: (0) Back To The Bible   Salvation is Free But Truth Must Be Bought Arthur Pink noted how readily men with a superficial understanding of Scripture consider themselves qualified to pass judgment on the teachings and writings of those who have devoted a lifetime to the continuous and concentrated study of God's Word. He understood that the Word of God does not yield up it's meaning to lazy people. Salvation is free; but "Truth" has to be "bought" (Proverbs 23:23); yet few indeed are willing to pay its stipulated price. Not only do the Scriptures have to be "searched" (John 5:39), and searched "daily"... (Acts 17:11); not only does passage have to be carefully compared with passage (1 Corinthians 2:13); not only must all this be done in meekness (Psalm 25:9) and complete dependency upon God (Proverbs 3:6); but there must be a fervent crying "after knowledge" and an importunate "lifting up of the voice for understanding," and seeking her "as silver" (which entails hard labor and diligent perseverance), yea, a searching for her as for "hid treasure" (Proverbs 2:1-5). It is at the above point that so many have failed. The meaning of God's Word cannot be ascertained as easily as can that of a newspaper article, nor can any enter into the "mystery of the Gospel" (Ephesians 6:19) as readily as one may solve a problem in mathematics. If a person approaches Holy Writ with prejudice, his mind is closed against its teachings. If he regards any passage as plain and simple and is satisfied that he already understands it, he is not likely to cry unto God for or receive light from it. If he assumes that he is now in possession of practically all that the Bible teaches on a subject (contrary to 1 Corinthians 8:2), or blindly follows some man unto whom he credits the same thing, then God will take the wise in their own craftiness (1 Corinthians 3:19) and suffer them to remain in darkness. It is because of this that so many are misled by the mere sound of certain words. Our last statement has received many a solemn illustration. Take the controversy which has been waged in certain quarters as to whether or not man remains in a state of consciousness after he passes out of this world. How many who deny that he does so, have appealed to such passages as "the dead praise not the Lord" (Psalm 115:17), "the dead know not anything" (Ecclesiastes 9:5). But the matter cannot be settled so easily. Those passages must be studied in the light of their contexts, the dispensation under which they were given, and then interpreted in harmony with other passages of a different, but not conflicting, nature. Take again the great controversy between the Reformers on transubstantiation: how easy it was to be deceived by the mere sound of those words, "This is my body!" ... [From unequipped men] has been a zeal which was not proportioned with spiritual knowledge. Men with the merest smattering of Scripture consider themselves qualified to pass judgment on the teachings and writings of those who have devoted a lifetime to the continuous and concentrated study of God's Word. To a multitude of evangelists and preachers of today, we would say, "O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom" (Job 13:5). Rightly has it been said: "Modern theology is largely based upon the sound rather than the sense of Scripture. And it is an everyday practice for men to expound texts who cannot even quote - much less expound - the contexts" (J. M. Sangar). "Not a novice" (1 Timothy 3:6) has been deliberately ignored, and "Be not many of you teachers" (James 3:1) has been defiantly disobeyed. --A.W. Pink, Studies in Atonement Related Information and Resources: Learn how to study the bible in A Workman Approved By God videos Martin Luther: Bible study requires humility John MacArthur: Accurate bible interpretation is hard work Do you do this?: "I feel like this verse means..." Posted by: Jim B.   Link: http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.322   Be the first to post a comment about this article        Home  |   About  |  Videos   |  Calvinism