This blog is to be devoted to the understanding of God’s Word in all its richness and fullness.  In order to do this, it will be necessary to apply time-honored principles of interpretation.  I will let Scripture explain Scripture.  Personal opinions will be shunned.  Personal philosophies will be shunned.  In the study of God’s Word, an attitude of worship is essential.  It is God’s purpose of revealing Himself and His plan for the redemption of mankind (and our response to His revelation) that should be of primary importance in our study and discourse, not looking for Scripture to support or defend our personal opinion or position.  There are secret things that He has not revealed to us (Deut. 29:29) and we should not try to read God’s mind and impose our thoughts into His plan; i.e. where Scripture is silent, we should not go.  There are wonderful depths and amazing glories within His Word that He has revealed that we should first understand and apply to our hearts and souls before ever looking for the mystical or “reading between thelines.”

     I believe that one of the primary reasons that the church (the visible Christian churches) are so ineffective today is their failure to disciple their members; the failure to teach Bible doctrines in depth.

     Therefore, this blog will try to promote understanding of what it means to be “in Christ”; what it means to “walk in the Spirit”; then, how do we accomplish that?  We will ask a lot of questions in regards to how, why, where, when, who, what, as regards to Scriptural words, phrases, order of priority of word/phrases, in order to get a deeper meaning than any commentary gives.  It is “exposition” of the Word that is the object first; then it is the “application” of the lessons learned to our lives that are the goals of this blog.

    Our personal conduct should always be under the light of Ephesians 4:15 – “But speaking the truth in love, may grow up in Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.”  Let’s analyze part of this verse as a great example of what I mean.

     This phrase must first be regarded within its context in chapter 4 of Ephesians, then within th book of Ephesians as a whole, then within the entire Bible.  It introduces the positive aspect of the Apostle Paul’s teaching with regard to the function of the ministry in the Christian Church.  The object of the ministry is to bring us all to “a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13).  As Paul teaches, in order to attain that objective, we must start where we are: and the first thing we have to do is to realize that we are children and subject to some of the characteristices of children; children in a spiritual sense.  So having warned us that we must not henceforth continue as children, Paul exhorts us to “speak the truth in love” and to “grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ”.

     The Greek word translated “speaking” would be better translated as “professing”, so we should translate the phrase “professing the truth in love”.  It is not merely speaking, but it includes the idea of discussing it together, and teaching it.  It includes the whole of our deportment (attitude, actions, decisions, words, facial expressions, body language, everything).  We are to be true and to walk in the truth and in love.  We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro, but rather, holding the truth in love, we must grow up into Christ in all things.

     “Speaking the truth in love” does not mean that we regard and hold “fellowship” to be more important than truth.  This verse does not say that we are to tolerate anything and everything; just that the truth be professed in love; and we must not hesitate to do so.  All it takes for evil to florish is for a few good men to do nothing.  Instead of being like wather vanes, turing this way and that, we are to “hold to” somethng particular and definite, even the truth.  This necessitates that you know the truth!!     How can I judge these various “winds of doctrine” that blow around and about me unless I know the truth.  The truth is solid, a definable standard which is found in the Bible and has been stated in various Creeds and Confessions drawn up through the centuries to safeguard the truth concerning our Lord and His great salvation.  These truths state clearly what is to be believed; dogmas which do not subscribe to these stated truths must be denounced.  These truths we must “hold on” to.

     Every one of us is to understand, to believe, the truth revealed in the Scriptures, “the faith which was once delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3).  Today, instead of clear doctrine there is vague teaching about God and the brotherliness and Christ-likeness and of doing good and being loving.  This happens because there can be no sound teaching unless the teacher knows what the truth is.  The business of the Church is not to speculate about God and about the Perswon of Christ; it is to teach the revealed truths concernig them, to communicate the principles revealed in Scripture, and to build herself up on her most holy faith.  “But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine (sound teaching) which was delivered you (Rom. 6:17); or “Hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me” (2 Tim. 1:13).

     These doctrines are not from the minds of men: “I certify you, brethern, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.  For I neither received it of men neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Gal. 1:11-12).  To Timothy Paul says, “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2).  The Christian message is precise truth, consisting of propositions about God, and the LOrd Jesus Christ, His Person and His work, about the Holy Ghost and His work, the only way to salvation, the Church, and all necessary truth about life.

     We must be equally careful to “hold the truth in love”.  What Paul is saying is that while we “hold the truth” or “Profess the truth” we are to watch our spirits.  False teachers are liable to disturb us and annoy us, and we have to oppose them, and to do so strongly.  But we must not do so in a wrong or bitter spirit.  We must never be hard and rigid, we must never be lagalistic or self-righteous; but we must emphasize the absolute necessity of definitions, creeds, and of explicit Scripture.  We must never behave in such a manner as to give the impression that our one concern is to prove that we are right and everyone else is wrong.  We must never do so merely to win an argument or a dispute.

     The truth of which Paul writes must never be approached with the intellect only.  If my heart is not moved by the truth, if I do not feel it and its power, my spirit is wrong.  Truth must produce passion, and in a truly Christian profession there is emotin and feeling.  A truth which is only held in the intellect becomes hard, and arid and dry; and a man of whom this is true can never speak the truth in love.  The goal of stating the truth in love is to help others; in order to win souls for Christ.  We must feel love for those who are unlearned, misguided, or led astray in order to lead them to the truth.  We must be able to “rightly divide the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15).  We must never start by denouncing, we must start by explaining and expounding.  We are told that, as Jesus looked upon the people, He saw them “as sheep without a shepherd and had compassion on them” (Mat. 9:36).  We must realize that love is not sentimental and weak; love is strong, love is true, love is pure.  To love a person truly is to desire the very best possible for that person.  Sometimes love hurts – “Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth; and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth” (Heb. 12:6). 

     The principle which should govern us in all this is the well known principle enunciated early in the history of the Christian Church – “In things essential, unity; in things indifferent [things which are not essential, and concerning which there is no absolute certainty] liberty; in all things charity.”

     Welcome!