Issue 873 – The Scale – October 5, 2022
Allow me to start this morning with a bible verse that I believe wholeheartedly to be true.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17
I hold to the belief that the Chicago Statement of Biblical Inerrancy is correct. It is not by any stretch of the imagination inerrant in and of itself, as Scripture is, but it accurately represents my view on the topic.
I do not believe that every doctrinal position drawn from the pages of Scripture is of equal importance or that every verse must be interpreted in the same way by all believers.
I often view things on a scale of certainty of zero through ten. Zero is an issue or position you have no opinion on, and a ten is a hill you choose to die on.
There are biblical hills that I cannot bend on, such as the virgin birth, the trinity, the divinity and humanity of Christ, salvation by grace alone, that believers go to glory with the Lord and unbelievers to eternal separation from God and a few others. On those, I am a ten.
There are others that I hold firmly, but throughout the church’s history, good and godly people have disagreed. For example, I am (today) probably an eight on being a Calvinist, while I have friends who are equally eights on being Arminians. We can hold our positions firmly and debate them vigorously but still recognize that we are believers and work together for the furtherance of the kingdom.
On some other issues, I am not quite so confident. At times a doctrine may move up or down in my certainty scale.
I am a ten that Jesus is returning and that his return is imminent. I am probably a three on which eschatological position describes when his return is in terms of the timing of the tribulation.
A wise scholar whose identity has been debated coined the phrase centuries ago, “in essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity (or love).”
Too often, Christians make every issue of doctrine or practice a hill to die on. We try to make areas of conscience into the dividing line of who is and isn’t part of the kingdom.
Do we dip, dunk or sprinkle in baptism? I hold to a believer baptism position, but I know many believers who hold something different. The thief on the cross wasn’t baptized at all.
Can a Christian drink, smoke, or go to the movies? I have fundamentalist friends who say absolutely not and others who see that as a matter of liberty.
Do the gift of tongues or signs and wonders still occur? True believers hold differing positions.
Should a Christian get a Covid vaccine or follow government guidelines? There are rabid people on both sides of the issue.
There is no end to the list of possibly divisive issues out there. There is a finite list of absolute truths.
Even my list of essentials doesn’t define who is and isn’t a Christian; it just helps me know who I can minister to and fellowship with. Some true believers don’t hold to the orthodox tenets of the faith. We are all wrong on some issues of faith.
Let’s hold fast to the essentials, hold strongly to the critical issues and love others who disagree.
Kevin
Be blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word
Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone)
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is from the English Standard Version (ESV).
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