Beloved, I pray that
you may prosper
in all things and be
in health,
just as your soul
prospers.
For I rejoiced
greatly when brethren
came and testified of
the truth that is
in you, just as you
walk in the truth.
I have no greater joy
than to hear
that my children walk
in truth.
3John 2-4
The apostle
John writes these words to Gaius a brother in truth and loved by John. John was
overjoyed to hear that Gaius walked in the truth and the apostle John under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit add that he (John) could have no greater joy
than to hear and know that those whom he taught and called his children also
walked in the truth. Walking in truth is to have your soul prosper. Walking in
truth brings joy to those who teach you the truth. Walking in truth is a
outward sign of what is occurring in a person’s heart. When your heart is in
the truth you walk according to the truth and this brings joy to our Father in
heaven. Truth is found only in
Scripture as it is God revealed, His will, and His commands for us so that we
live according to His will and purpose for man. Scripture interprets Scripture,
not man, not man’s suppositions, or presuppositions, his philosophy, his
ideology, rather it Scripture determining our presuppositions, our
suppositions, our philosophy, and our ideology. In man’s search for meaning,
the origin for life, the soul, and for why there is evil he often begins with
his own beliefs as foundational and then is led in a ship shod manner
developing what seems correct, even at times using Scripture to support his
presuppositions only to teach falsity, even heresy. You may walk in shallow
water and enjoy the cool of the water
but you are not swimming. You may enjoy the water but you have never enjoyed the
richness of the water, the joy of diving deep into its depths and seeing all
that resides in the depth. The truth is to be found in the depths, skimming the
surface will never lead a person to the fullness of truth found in the depths
of Scripture. To accept without examination is the beginning of folly leading a
person in things which are not bringing joy to God, and certainly in time not
even to anyone. We live, as Christians say, eternally with God, but so often
they live their lives as though eternity is only a dream. It is easier to just go
about believing than to search out if what is believed is true. This is what I
am attempting to do in these blogs; swim in the deep water, search Scriptures
and find the truth, then apply that truth in daily living.
It is
incumbent to search out the truth, to know what is to be believed, then to
apply that knowledge in our lives. We must strenuously resist any doctrine that
is not aligned with Scripture even when we find that what is believed is not
supported by Scripture. When it comes to the origin of the soul and for those
who teach and assume the doctrine that the soul is divisible, or to be material
must be resisted for it makes the nature of Jesus Christ, His soul, to be
contaminated with sin. Be careful in your examination and do not become wiser than
Scripture, that which is written for our learning and understanding. For
instance; to say that we confess that generation, the production of a new
individual of the human race is an inscrutable mystery, we must then also admit
that life in all its forms in its transmission is a mystery. Many theologians
and philosophers resist that the soul is ex nihilo, but if they did an did not
insist on divisibility of the soul, or that of their belief that the identity
of essence in all humans, then their evil would not be so great. But as has
been shown, there is no Scriptural proof for their doctrines of the soul even
if some would not go so far in their attempt to moderate such doctrines. Even
if there are those who desire to moderate such obtrusive doctrines according to
Scripture they do not explain the doctrine of sin as they have no value and
lose all meaning as to the propagation of sin.
It should
be pointed out that to make a theory as to the origin of the soul the
foundation or ground of a doctrine as that is to make it fundamental to make it
the Christian system of the doctrine of original sin would be unreasonable and
presumptuous. To do so those men who teach such doctrines as preexistence of
the soul, or Traducianism that assert their doctrine of derivation, and the
consequent numerical sameness of substance in men is make and then to admit
that not to include such doctrine then original sin is impossible. They say
that nothing can be true even if plainly taught in Scripture, by their not
having the ability to explain this plain teaching in the Bible, they refuse to
believe Scripture. Oh! How we see this done by people in denominations that
when shown the truth of Scripture and the falseness of their practices and
beliefs simple refuse to believe and follow Scripture. They will not “give up”
their beliefs, especially when they point to tradition as their foundations for
their beliefs: i.e., “If it was good enough for grandma and grandpa, it is good
enough for me.” Never questioning what they believe, they just simply do not
want to be bothered with facts even if they are Scriptural. Therefore, when it
comes to those doctrines outside of Scripture that have led people into false
teaching, even heresy and when it comes to hereditary depravity, they will not believe
unless they can explain its transmission. They hold to one fact, right or
wrong, unless hereditary depravity of the soul in a s child is not the same
numerical substance as the soul of the parent, they won’t believe. Even if the
plain assertions of Scripture which are God given by inspiration, even those
verses or Scripture that seem obscure, unintelligible, and seemingly self–contradictory,
those least received adoptions of Scripture, those theories of the constitution
of man and the propagation of man be adopted; they refuse Scripture in favor of
what has been propounded as truth even when not supported by Scripture. The
truth of God is found in His word and to speak other than that truth, to teach
what is not taught in Scripture and to make cause for people to believe a lie,
is to hang a mill–stone around their neck.
No man has
this right!
Where there is no revelation,
The people
cast off restraint;
But happy is he who keeps the law.
Proverbs 29:18
Read and Pray: Tarry and Learn
Richard L. Crumb
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