Novelty Doctrines
by an Old Disciple
“That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.”~ Eph. 4:14-15
“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.~ 1 Cor. 13:11
I am not a theologian, but I do profess to be a student of the Word of God. I’ve mined its pages for well over sixty years now. There are numerous controversies that have arisen in the interpretation of the scriptures. The reason being, as my older son Andrew so ably states, “Because we have an infallible Bible, doesn’t mean we are.” We are still fallible creatures and subject to error.
Because some do not have the patience to keep digging, they give up before striking pay dirt. Such a person never discovers the true riches hid between the covers of God’s Book. Whenever men give up on the truth of the Father, invariably they turn to the traditions of their fathers; thus making the Word of God of none effect. This is where all the “novelty doctrines” find their inception.
Two such man-made fads have arisen from taking the extreme position of either John Calvin (the Sovereignty of God), or Jacobus Arminius (the free will of man). I find whenever you have two such extreme positions, keeping the pendulum in the middle is the safest and most sure way. Therefore I offer the following. It may not satisfy some, but I am comfortable with it, Rom. 14:5, b.
Paul affirms we were in Christ before the foundation of the world, Eph. 1:4, a. But the same man states in Rom. 16:7 that his brethren were in Christ before him. Therefore the one must be speaking positionally and the latter experimentally. One makes you safe, the other makes you saved. It seems to me (a fallible creature) that in eternity past we were only “In Christ” in the mind of God. Else we were never “In Adam.” And if that be the case, we were never lost.
Well that’s my two-cent’s worth. It may not sound like much, but it has been of great value to me through these long years of listening to the controversy on the subject.
“In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity."― St. Augustine
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Great, Dad. Thank you.