| | | | Creating a legacy of biblical literacy - Jude 3 the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints Jude 3
Have you ever noticed that when a story is retold, the details change a little every time it's passed on? The initial account might have been accurate, but after the story is retold a few times the details become exaggerated. Sometimes we forget the details, or more likely we can't resist 'spicing it up' a little to make it more interesting ("I know it's not true, but the true version was boring…")
That's why it's important for Christians to be very intentional when it comes to biblical doctrine. Just because you read something on the internet, or heard a teaching by a pastor, or read a book by a famous author, doesn't mean what you read or heard is biblical. Just because something feels right, or seems to be good, doesn't mean it's biblical. The one true test that determines whether something is biblical is simply - Does scripture support it?
When the Apostle Paul taught in the city of Berea, the people listened, but then they tested what Paul spoke against scripture:
Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Acts 17:11 (NIV)
In other words they weighed Paul's teaching of the Old Testament prophecies concerning Jesus Christ with the actual scriptures themselves to see if what he taught was biblical (it was!).
I have to be honest, one of the concern I have with many of the newer churches that appeal to the younger generation is the lack of biblical literacy. When a generation is brought up being taught "about God," but not being instructed in how to read, interpret, and apply the word of God in their own lives, that generation will end up being susceptible to any doctrine that happens to appeal to them. I believe that's one of the reasons that the church got so far off base in the middle ages (I.E. The Crusades, Papal infallibility, selling indulgences, etc); The bible was in Latin, the congregation didn't have bibles, they couldn't read Latin, so the people only knew what the priests told them.
If the next generation isn't instructed in how to read, interpret, and apply the word of God, they too will not be capable of discerning truth from errant doctrine.
C. H. Spurgeon noted...
"The church is always one generation short of extinction. If our generation fails to guard it and pass it on to the next generation, it will be the end." CH Spurgeon
In other words, we as Christians must have a vision that goes beyond our own lives, and our own generation. Jude is giving us a mandate to be purposeful and intentional to remain grounded in the "faith once and for all delivered to the saints," and to continue to deliver that faith to successive generations of saints, unchanged, and unaltered.
Pastor Clay | | | | | | | |
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