Faith is the Key
by Ken Eckerty
You can take any doctrine in the Bible, and I mean any doctrine,
and come up with scripture that seems to contradict it. Why do you think
we have so many denominations? Every church has their own set of
scripture that they use to defend their point of view—whether you're talking
about whether one can lose their salvation, the gifts of the Spirit, water
baptism, or the final destination of the wicked.
The Word of God is not just a written book of words. It is
a living, breathing, spiritual revelation of the mind of God. The natural
man cannot understand the things of the Spirit. (1 Cor.
2:14) If we simply look at the “letter” of the word without the Spirit’s
interpretation, then we have nothing but cold, sterile words which do not bring
life, but death. We use our Lord Jesus as a good illustration of
this. He took upon Himself the “form of a servant” and walked upon this
earth in human flesh. The religious leaders knew Jesus in the
flesh. They saw Him with their eyes and heard His teaching with their
ears. They knew His mother and father. They knew He came from
We can use this same application to the written word.
There are words, chapters, and books that can be read with the eyes and
meditated upon with the mind. But the written word is much more than just
letters, and if we cannot see past these, we will not see the divine treasures
that lie beneath. Just as the people in Christ’s day couldn’t see past
His flesh, so too, we are at risk of not seeing past the letter. Paul
said “…the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Cor.
3:6) A good example of this is the Roman Catholic teaching on the body
and blood of our Lord. Jesus said that unless we eat His body and drink
His blood, we do not have His life in us. (Jn.
6:53) If we read these words literally (in the letter), it seems like
Jesus is teaching cannibalism, and in fact, Catholicism does indeed teach that
the bread and wine actually turn into the physical body and blood of our
Lord. However in the Spirit, we understand that Jesus wasn’t literally
talking about His physical skin and the red blood in his veins and
arteries. He was speaking of the spiritual reality of consuming Christ:
receiving the forgiveness of sins by faith in His blood, being a partaker of
His death, and maintaining daily fellowship with the Father in Christ.
Modern evangelicalism boasts today of being literalists—that is,
when the text has an “obvious” literal meaning, then it should be interpreted
literally. “When the plain sense makes common sense seek no other sense”
is the interpretive motto of the evangelical church. As a result of this
thinking, the modern church believes in a literal hell, with literal flames of
fire, burning literal flesh that will literally go on forever and ever.
The problem with this methodology is who determines what is the “obvious”
meaning? Certainly we have texts in the Bible written as a narrative; for
example: the gospels record the trial, death and resurrection account of Jesus
in narrative form. In these cases it is obvious that the literal meaning
is the correct one. This is not to say, though, that spiritual
application cannot be found in a narrative text. For example, during the
trial of Jesus, Peter denied the Lord three times. We believe this
literally happened, but is there not any one of us who has not denied the Lord
in our words and deeds, and fled from Him (spiritually speaking)? Can we
not all apply this narrative text to our own life and experience? In the
case of the gospel accounts, I think it is safe to assume that we can interpret
these texts literally. Jesus literally went on trial, was literally
crucified, and literally raised from the dead.
However, there are other passages of scripture that are not as
easily interpreted. In fact, I would suggest that most of the Bible was
NOT written to be interpreted literally. The Bible is full of parables,
metaphors, and symbolism that represent some deeper, hidden meaning. Is
the lake of fire a real lake with real flames OR is it figurative language signifying
something else? Are the fires of “hell” (Greek word “Gehenna”)
referring to a literal geographical place OR is it simply figurative language
to describe the severity of God’s judgment? Is the mark of the beast a
literal tattoo or does it have a hidden meaning not
obvious if simply read in the “letter?” Theologians like to pick and
choose which verses to interpret literally—and it’s usually to help give more
credibility to their own theological slant. If a beast with seven heads
and ten horns isn’t literal, then why should the lake of fire be? Who
gave these theologians the qualification to be the interpretive experts?
NOTE: An excellent article going in to more detail on symbolism
in the Bible can be found at: http://bible-truths.com/lake1.html.
You can always find truth in the “letter,” but there is also a
deeper spiritual meaning behind the obvious. The “letter” is the obvious,
but God’s deeper truths are not so easily found. Those men who choose to
go beyond just the pure letter are often called “mystics” or accused of
“spiritualizing” the scriptures. The early church fathers would be
shocked at some of our modern church doctrine. (Ex. Pre-tribulational
rapture, futurist, and ultra-dispensationalism views,
etc.) Today’s scholars have discarded much of the “mystical” teaching of
the early fathers in favor of a more “literal” interpretation. The idea
of “spiritualizing” the scriptures, however, is an absolutely ridiculous
accusation. Modern theologians are trying to take a spiritual book and
interpret it literally. In actuality, the exact opposite is true.
The Bible, appearing to be a literal book, is to be interpreted in the
Spirit. The current method of literal interpretation has birthed all sorts
of errors in the Church to include transubstantiation, futurism, and eternal
torment—just to name a few.
A. P. Adams said,
...I do not mean to say that the spiritual meaning of Scripture
is always something entirely different from the letter; oftentimes it is
so, but not always by any means. The Spirit of the Word is its real,
true, full meaning, whatever that may be; sometimes that true meaning is
properly expressed by the letter, but in order to get the full meaning you must
take other scripture in connection with it, you must perhaps refer to Old
Testament types or allegories, or prophecies. Bible truths run into one
another, and all are harmonious with one general plan; we need to study these
truths not only to learn what they signify in themselves, but what are their
connections with other truths, and what is their relation to the plan; in this
way, we get somewhere near the full truth. Partial truths, with a great
deal of error mixed in to fill up, are the curse and bane of modern
orthodoxy; the Spirit of the Word saves us from this curse. I would not
have anyone understand that I teach that under every word, phrase and sentence
of Scripture there is hidden away some mystic sense entirely different from the
letter, that we must endeavor to dig out. I do not say that this is so;
neither do I say that it is not so; for, knowing how wonderfully the letter
sometimes hides (as well as reveals) the true meaning, that meaning being
something entirely different from the letter, I would not dare to put my finger
upon any sentence, phrase or word of Scripture and positively declare,—‘this
has not a mystic sense.’ However, what I do say is this, that he who
expects to saunter carelessly through the fields of Bible lore, picking up the
rarest and most valuable gems of truth upon the surface, as one might pick up
pebbles upon the beach, will find a great deal of his building material wood,
hay and stubble, in that day when “Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for
the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire
shall try every man's work of what sort it is. (1 Cor.
3:13)
There is a false assumption being propagated by modern
theologians today that the Bible was written to be easily understood. If
this is the case, why do we have hundreds, even thousands of different
denominations each claiming a different belief on “supposedly” very easy to
understand Bible verses. Twenty people can read
a passage of scripture and come up with twenty different interpretations.
Who is right? Can twenty people contradict each other and all have the
truth? There may be many applications, but only one truth. Truth be
told, God has intentionally made His Word difficult to understand.
Proverbs 25:2 says, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory
of Kings to search out a matter.” God hides deeper truth, and He hides it
behind the “letter.” Perhaps a few examples would be in order here.
In Genesis chapter 2, God tells us that one river ran out of
All Truth is a Matter of
Revelation and Faith
Most Bible truths, no matter how obvious and clear-cut they
might seem, cannot be proved beyond a shadow of a doubt through Bible study
methods. There will always be other passages that appear to
contradict. I can get out my various Bible translations, concordances,
dictionaries, and commentaries and do a thorough study on any subject.
And while these certainly can be helpful in helping my understanding of a
certain Bible doctrine, truth is not revealed through our study efforts; and
more importantly, truth is never grafted in our hearts through continual mental
exercises (study, meditation, memorization, etc.). Intellectualism never
leads to the truth. The Bible is a spiritual book, and so it can only be
opened by the Spirit. The key to understanding any biblical truth is
through faith—revealed and grafted into our hearts by the spirit of God
Himself. Yes, we need to study to show ourselves approved; yes, we need
to rightly divide the Word of Truth, but truth cannot be obtained apart from
spiritual revelation and faith. If we are simply relying on our study
helps and commentaries to help us understand and interpret the Word of God, we
will fall short; and I strongly believe that much of our current church
doctrine is founded on the methods and interpretations of men rather than the
revelation of the Father. Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do men say that
I am?” Only Peter gave the correct answer, “Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God.” Jesus’ reply was very telling: “…Flesh and blood has
not revealed this to you, but my Father which is in heaven.” The modern
evangelical church prides itself on its seminaries, degrees, conferences, and
systematic theology to lead them to into a knowledge
of the truth. But it’s quite obvious to anyone with an open mind to see
that the Church is in a totally confused state with its various denominations,
creeds, and doctrines—each one boasting to know the truth. Which church
is right? Carnal fruit can only come from a carnal church, and so the
only reasonable conclusion that a person can come to is that we are
interpreting the Word of God according to our own intellect and carnal
minds. There seems to be very little “revelation from the Father” in the
Church today.
Any man who has ever been given direct revelation knows
it. He discerns deep within his soul that it has not come about by His
own study methods or thinking processes, but given to Him by the Father through
His Spirit. It has become ingrained deep within Him and becomes a matter
of faith. Nothing can persuade this man. No amount of debate, human
reasoning, or “supposed” contradictory Bible passages will convince him
otherwise, because He has been given the revelation by God Himself, and the
very faith he has is not his own, but is the faith of Christ. You know
this type of man because he is willing to stand on the truth of this revelation
no matter what the opposition—even willing to die for his beliefs.
Take for example the doctrine of universal reconciliation.
For every passage I use to try and prove the validity of this doctrine, someone
else can take the very same passage and refute it with the same passion.
True biblical doctrine can only bring spiritual life when, first, it is a true
revelation revealed by the Spirit, and second, it is accepted by faith. There
is no other way. Any other path we try to take to find Truth will,
inevitably, lead us away from the truth. When we first came to the Lord,
most of us didn’t study theology objectively, and say, “Yes, this seems
logical. I will follow Christ.” No! God opened our eyes by
revealing Himself to us and we simply believed by faith! It was not an
intellectual exercise. God revealed Himself to us and we believed—it’s
that simple! And in the same manner as when we first received Christ, we
must also grow in grace the same way—by faith. God reveals His truth to
us (in His time) and we receive it by faith. Sometimes we are not ready
to receive more truth. Spiritual immaturity is one of the primary reasons
the Lord keeps Truth from us. Our faith is too small and God must mature
us through trials and difficulties to prepare the soil of our heart. As
we see God working in our lives, and we learn to trust Him more and more each
day, deeper truth is revealed. God desires all of us to mature and grow
in the knowledge of His truth, but not all of us are in the same place in our
faith.
I use to really struggle trying to figure out what a certain
passage meant or formulate an opinion on a certain doctrine. The danger
in struggling and struggling with a particular passage or doctrine is to come
up with some interpretation in the flesh. We are so study-minded in the Church, that many of our doctrines have elements of Truth,
but have men’s fleshly minds intertwined. I am not saying that there is
anything wrong with disciplined study to help us understand the
scriptures. However, it is much better to struggle in prayer than over
our study books. If I don’t understand something, I ask for wisdom from
above. In due season, God will reveal the meaning. Sometimes it is years down the
road before God speaks to us on a matter. The Lord will use difficulties in our
life to bring us to an “end of ourselves,” and it is in this broken state that
God reveals Truth. Ps. 18:26 says,
With the pure You reveal Yourself pure;
and with the perverted ones You appear perverse.
A person who is proud in his ability to study the scriptures may
think he takes Truth away from his studies, but in reality the Lord has met
that man where he is and that man walks away with nothing more than carnal
doctrine. On the other hand, the man who is broken before the Lord and
realizes how little he knows of the mind of God will walk away with direct
revelation, and oftentimes, this revelation goes against the common “orthodox”
teaching. I’d much rather wait ten years to get direct revelation from
the Father than diligently study for a month and receive a fleshly
interpretation. Fleshly knowledge brings forth death; direct revelation
from the Father brings forth His life.
Another major reason for the doctrinal confusion within the
Church today is the matter of pride and self-glory.
The Church is filled today with men who are full of themselves and proud of
their learned education. Ezekiel 14:2-5 is very telling when it says,
“God answers men according to the idols of their own heart.” Again, “With
the pure You reveal Yourself pure; and with the
perverted ones You appear perverse.” Revelation from the Father will not
come to the proud and to those who think they have a “handle on the
truth.” The Lord intentionally keeps truth from these men “…that seeing
they may see and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand….”
(Mk. 4:12) Some things never change. There will always be Pharisees
in our midst who will ask, “…dost thou teach us?” and they will cast us out of
their synagogues. (Jn. 9:34) These men, instead
of receiving revelation from their Father, receive carnal interpretations after
the idols of their own hearts.
Conclusion
Why do you think the Lord made His Word so difficult to
understand? Does God desire to confuse His children? Of course
not! He wants us to put all of our hope and trust in Him even when it
looks utterly impossible to men. This brings God the most glory.
Any doctrine that gives preeminence and glory to man is not truth, and any
so-called truth that can be figured out with the intellectual methods of man
and proven in a debate is, rest-assured, not truth. “With men, it is
impossible, but with God all things are possible.” And my dear brothers
and sisters, this takes faith. He wants us to look to Him for
revelation—not to men, study resources, or seminaries.
There “seems” to be a great contradiction in the Bible
concerning the doctrine of the final destiny of man. Half the Word of God
seems to teach eternal punishment, and half seem to teach universal
reconciliation. Which side do we choose? Which is the truth?
It’s not a matter of weighing which side has the most support. We can’t
lock ourselves in a room with all our study resources and them walk out six
months later and declare that “we have found the truth.” God is saying to
us, “Here are two seemingly opposite views. Both cannot be true. So
which will you choose?” We cannot choose solely on the basis of
scriptural evidence, because both views “seem” to have credible biblical
support. The answer is “faith.” We will choose based on the faith
we have in the work of the Cross.
Our faith is too small to believe that God can save beyond the
grave. Our God is too weak because we do not have the faith to believe
that nothing is too great for Him. The Lord is asking us, “Will you have
the faith to not only believe that I CAN save all men, but that I WILL save all
men?” It’s not about “studying”—it’s about faith. Do we have the
faith to believe that Christ’s Cross can save to the uttermost? If you
don’t have the faith to believe, will you ask Him to give you the faith?
If any man lacks faith (and wisdom), ask the Lord who shall give liberally to
all men. (Mark 9:24; James 1:5)
Jesus said, “When the Son of Man returns will He find faith on
the earth?”
Will we have the faith to believe that God’s love is greater
than we ever imagined, and that He is bigger than we ever thought
possible? Will we believe that “with men it is impossible, but with God
all things are possible?” Faith is the key “and without faith, it is
impossible to please Him.” (Heb. 11:6)
