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Basic Bible Beliefs is an
attempt to give a broad overview of the essential tenets of
Christianity. The thirty-one theses are by design fundamental, biblical,
and creedal. They are a work in progress since the disclosure of God
experienced by each person is never ending. Ultimately, they can reflect
only the revelation of God that has been encountered and understood by
the limitations of man.
Jesus of Nazareth raised the question, "Is a candle brought to be
put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a
candlestick?" He raised the question to illustrate that His coming
brought into the physical world the complete revelation of God for man.
He added, "For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested;
neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad"
(Mark 4:21,22). The mystery of life has now been revealed by the coming
of Jesus Christ.
Although nothing is now hidden, nothing has been kept a secret, many
fail to grasp the truth that is revealed in the coming of Jesus. The
failure to understand the mystery, although the answer has been given,
is again revealed by Jesus. After stating that all things pertaining to
life and godliness have been revealed, He admonished, "If any man
have ears to hear, let him hear" (4:23). The ultimate revelation of
God has been given but unless one has ears to hear it will be missed.
The question is not whether man will hear or not. Since man was created
with ears to hear, he will hear. The questions are, "What will he
hear?" Or, "To whom will he listen?" As Jesus continued,
"Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be
measured to you . . ." (4:24). To the exact degree that Jesus is
heard, as opposed to listening to another voice, is the precise
intensity of revelation received. To the extent that Jesus is heard is
the mystery of life understood.
Moreover, this mystery of hearing Jesus is more than the content of what
Jesus is saying at any given moment of time. For in any moment of
revelation what will be ultimately heard is not the preciseness of the
words of Jesus but only what the mind can understand. Since unknown
truth can only be approached from the vantage point of what is already
known, the ultimate revelation of the mystery of life, Jesus Christ, is
always progressive.
The nature of how the mind of fallen man works forces the understanding
of truth to come in bits and pieces. It is not that God doles out His
revelation a little at a time because as Jesus said, "For there is
nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept
secret, but that it should come abroad." The complete disclosure of
God to man has been given. Jesus Christ has come.
However, the fallen mind of man works in such a way that the complete
revelation of God is blocked from penetrating the heart of man. Or, as
Paul stated, "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are
lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which
believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the
image of God, should shine unto them" (2 Cor. 4:3-4). The pieces of
the puzzle of life only appear to come one by one because the mind of
man has to be conquered to enable the gospel to penetrate the heart.
Each time the mind interacts with the revelation of God, the gospel has
the power to overcome the current resistance of the mind. The new
mind-set, the new understanding, can now be permeated with a more
complete revelation. Gradually, the understanding of the revelation of
God expands.
The speed of the accumulation of the knowledge of God is in direct
proportion to the breaking of the resistance of the mind. It is the
current thoughts and the current persuasion that always limits the
fuller understanding of the ways of God. Jesus, knowing this fundamental
truth, stated, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples
indeed" (John 8:31). It is the perpetual hearing of Jesus that
enables the learner to grow continually—to expand his understanding of
the revelation of God.
There is no level of understanding where the disciple can say he has
arrived. For perfection is not arriving at a fixed position, a level of
completeness, because perfection is resting in the perfect process, the
continual hearing of Jesus. After Jesus stated, "Take heed what ye
hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you," he
said, "and unto you that hear shall more be given" (4:24).
There has been nothing hidden or kept secret but the ultimate
understanding of the revelation of God by man comes only to those whose
minds are continually being transformed.
The danger that invariably confronts the hearer of Jesus is the
temptation to take what has been heard, or understood, and make it the
essence of life. What Jesus has said becomes more important than Jesus
Himself. The truth revealed by God becomes the idol that causes man to
change ". . . the truth of God into a lie, and [worship and serve]
the creature [what God has said, or created] more than the Creator . .
." (Rom. 1:25).
The one who has once heard will now not hear. He will now attempt to
experience life in what he has heard or experienced in the past. As
Jesus stated, ". . . unto you that hear shall more be given. For he
that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall
be taken even that which he hath" (4:24,25). He that has lost his
hearing ear will also lose the life that only the hearing of Jesus has
produced.
It is not what has been heard but Who is being heard that is the essence
of the mystery of life. What is being heard will always be shaped by the
mind that hears it. Who is saying what is being heard, if it is Jesus,
never changes. It is only the continual hearing of Jesus that produces
the essence of life. The continual experiencing of Jesus and Jesus alone
brings to fruition the ultimate revelation of God.
These basic Bible beliefs are set forth only as the current
understanding of the revelation of God. They are fundamental; they are
the elementary truths of Christianity. They are an attempt to give the
foundational blocks on which the Christian faith rest. Basic Bible
Beliefs does not claim to be exhaustive nor the final word on the
revelation of God.
They are Biblical in the sense that the revelation of God that has come
down to us today in what we know as the Bible serves as the qualifier of
all that is believed. More specifically, it is the words of Jesus, as
recorded in the gospels, that are accepted as the standard-bearer for
all Christian beliefs. Although it is impossible to remove man totally
from being a part of the equation in his understanding of the words of
Jesus, Basic Bible Beliefs attempts to let the words of Jesus speak for
themselves.
They are creedal in that they are only what has come to be believed at
this point of understanding. They are not creedal in the sense of
becoming a dogma by which man can attempt to measure or to live his
life. Basic Bible Beliefs is only the current persuasion of the
revelation of God. They are the existing manifestation of the faith in
which I believe.
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