Category Archives: Doctrine

Doctrine

A Spirited Defense

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Today we have a guest post from Hunter Hansen who comments on SFL as Viniator3 and blogs at WritingAllWrong.com.

The Holy Spirit. To a Fundamentalist, it’s not just a teacher, comforter, illuminator, and expositor-in-chief: it’s the best defense of Scripture’s meaning east or west of the Mississippi. Who needs heretical, man-made teachings such as historical-grammatical exegesis or context when you have the Holy Spirit backing your self-chosen heresy carefully guided interpretation?

The formula is simple: take any Scripture passage from anywhere. See how it agrees with what you’ve been taught? That’s the Holy Spirit showing you what the Scripture really means.

For example:

Ephesians 5:18 – “Be not drunk with wine.” = Don’t drink, ever.

Leviticus 19:28 – “Ye shall not … print any marks on upon you.” = No tattoos, ever.

John 13:35 – “By this shall all men know—” Oops, let’s skip this one.

Malachi 3:8 – “Will a man rob God?” = Tithe or die.

Once the Holy Spirit has “shown” you these meanings, the defense is set. And it’s impervious against all manner of attack or dispute. Observe:

Scorner: “Dude, you’ve got it all wrong. That’s not what that verse means.”
Fundy: “Brother, you’re gonna need the Holy Spirit to enlighten you on this passage.”

Shortcomer: “Well, the Holy Spirit showed me something different here.”
Fundy: “Brother, since I have more of the Spirit than you, I think you would be wise to see what the Bible really says.”

Deceiver: “As you know, I’ve steeped myself in the Holy Spirit, and I came to a different conclusion on that verse.”
Fundy: “To him that thinketh he standeth, brother: take heed, lest he fall.”

Compromiser: “But this is what God-fearing, Bible-believing people hold to, and there’s no real issue with it.”
Fundy: “Brother, as Scripture teaches, even the very e**ct shall be deceived in the last days. And in this Laodicean Age….” Note: “Elect” censored here, as fundies typically dare not utter it.

Liberal, clandestine Calvinist Bible professor: “So as you can follow, the context gives us a different meaning there.”
Fundy: “That might be what ‘man-made’ theology says, but I’m gonna go with what the Holy Spirit says about that.”

The Holy Spirit: Because the last thing God wants is for you to be wrong about interpreting the Bible as it should be interpreted. With the Spirit on your side, you’re always on the winnin’ side. Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift!

Doctrine

The Universal Questions

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If we are all sinners then why is my list of sins so much worse than your own?

If God own the cattle on a thousand hills then why do you constantly beg for my money to build His buildings?

If Jesus is so kind and gracious, then why do those who claim to follow him better than anyone else seem so petty and cruel?

If works do not save us then how do they then sanctify us?

If you had 507 people saved last year, where are they now?

If if our neighbor doesn’t have enough clothing or food and we do nothing but speak platitudes to them is that enough?

If fundamentalism is changing the world then why is the world so spectacularly unchanged?

If you love God and God loves the whole world then why can’t anybody see His love in you?

Doctrine

Aftershocks

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Free from the law, oh happy condition! What a blessedness, what a peace is mine to know that my standing in Christ is not about what I do but about what he has already accomplished. What joy unspeakable it is to know that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God.

And yet…

Some days when trials come and life seems nothing more than pointless pain, there is voice that whispers again the familiar lies in my ear and tells me that it is all my own fault that I suffer. “It’s because you didn’t got to church last Sunday. It’s because you didn’t tithe. It’s because you haven’t led single soul to Christ yet this year. That is why you suffer. Because you haven’t done enough. Because you are not good enough. Because you chose to stray from the old paths. That is why you are being judged.”

Even after the earthquake is over and your feet stand on solid ground there remain the spiritual aftershocks which can briefly shake again the foundations of your world. And when they come (as they inevitably will) all we can do is cling to a more sure foundation: that the Lord knoweth who are his and that He has loved them with an everlasting love. He knows what we are. He knows what we’ve done. He loves us anyway.

This present pain is not punishment. But some lessons are not easily unlearned. Some roots of doubt go deep.