07/20/06
THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH
(A Challenge)
Have you ever read the entire New Testament in search of what God has said about a certain subject? For the first time in my life (including Bible College and Seminary) I have actually done this!
I have always claimed that the Bible is my supreme authority in all matters of faith and practice (i.e. the Bible determines what I believe and how I live my life). Every church and Christian group that I have been a part of has also made this claim. But if the Bible really is my “supreme authority”, then why have I never fully searched it to discover for myself what it says about a specific subject? Why have I accepted what others have said about the source, without consulting the source itself in its entirety (Acts 17:11)?
Yes, I have read through the entire Bible several times in the past, but I have never done so with the intent of discovering its teaching on a particular subject. Neither have I known anyone else that has done this (not to say they haven’t). And yes, I have searched my Bible concordance on a variety of subjects, but a concordance is not able to give us the “whole will of God” on a particular matter. An exhaustive concordance only lists all the Bible verses on a specific word, not a specific teaching. For example, I would miss over 90% of all the Bible verses concerning the church if I only read the verses that contain the word “church”. Most verses about the church never actually use the word “church”, but instead use words such as “body”, “family”, “one another”, “yourselves”, “God’s people”, “saints”, “brother”, “us”, “you”, “believers”, etc. I have found that the only way to discover the “whole will of God” (Acts 20:27) on a particular matter is to read through the entire Bible (or New Testament in the case of the church since that is when it began). And yes, I have studied portions of the Bible on many subjects, but I have never searched “the whole will of God” on any subject!
Today, there is a lot of discussion and debate regarding the nature and purpose of the church. What is the church, and what is its primary purpose? What is it supposed to be? What is it supposed to do? Since the church is a major focus of the New Testament, and obviously important to God and to our spiritual growth, I needed to personally find out what God has already revealed about it. I could no longer continue to be spoon-fed by the second-hand or third-hand teachings of others. I realized that I am responsible to check it out for myself. I was reminded that “each of us will give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12). On the day that I stand before God, I will not be able to excuse myself by saying: “But my pastor said…”, “My teacher said…”, “My parents said…”, “My Christian books, tapes, radio or TV said…” etc. For decades I have accepted what others have said, rather than examining what God himself has already said in his word. Too often I have just “gone to church” without examining the Bible as to what God expects of the church (and my role in it). I asked myself if I had been “letting go of the commands of God and (was) holding on to the traditions of men” (Mark 7:8).
Recently over a two week period, I read through the entire New Testament and wrote down every verse on relationships - both inside the body of Christ (believers to believers), and outside the body of Christ (believers to unbelievers). This included all the verses which are prescriptive (commands to obey), and descriptive (descriptions of early church life and the lives of the apostles). Reading through the entire New Testament in a short period of time helped me to understand the verses in their context. And the purpose of writing down every verse on relationships was so that I would not miss anything. This also helped me to gain objectivity by not picking and choosing my favorites, or recording only verses that were within my experience or tradition. After writing down the verses, I carefully reviewed them and made some amazing discoveries about how we are to relate to each other as believers in Christ, and how we are to relate to unbelievers. It was not difficult to see commands and practices that were repeated over and over again throughout the New Testament. I firmly believe that if all believers did this, we would settle the issue as to what the church is to be and to do, and how we as believers are to relate to unbelievers.
You may be curious as to what I discovered through my research. If I were to tell you, I would be contradicting what I just stated regarding the need to check out the source for yourself! You would be getting it second-hand. My challenge and invitation to you is to do this for yourself, for others, and for God himself. You may say to yourself that you don’t have the time to do this. In your case it may take longer to complete. If so, that’s fine. But to accept our way of doing church without evaluating whether or not it is God’s way of doing church, is to place ourselves under the authority of tradition or taste, not the authority of Scripture. Like me, you will also one day stand before God and give an account of yourself to him.
Aren’t most false teachings and practices based on “partial truth” rather than the whole truth? For example, partial truths about God have led many to believe that God is only a God of love and grace, not of holiness and judgment. And partial truths about the church have led many to do church in a way that is foreign to the teaching of the New Testament.
As you know, people use Bible verses to believe and practice whatever they want. But how many have searched “the whole will of God” to determine their beliefs and practices? (See Matthew 4:4; Colossians 1:6; 3:16; 4:12). Are we picking and choosing our beliefs and practices “buffet style”? Or are we letting God determine them based on his already revealed will? Today, many are trying to “reinvent the wheel” on how to do church. But God has already revealed his will concerning the church. We just need to read it and obey it.
While the discovery of these truths is important, our daily practice of them is even more important. God says that we are to be “doers of the word” rather than to have knowledge of the word and not to obey it. Jesus said that “only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” will enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 7:21). Does “the will of my Father” only apply to how we live individually, or does it also apply to how we live corporately?
Keep up the fight – in HIS might!
Your brother in Christ,
Brennan Basler
Chandler, AZ
P.S. Please let me know what you discover after you finish your own “search on the church”.
Remember to search the “whole truth and nothing but the truth”…
By the way, this same process can also be applied to any subject, such as the purpose and practice of the Christian life. This sounds like the subject of my upcoming project!