So today's the beginning of a 40 Day reading of The Westminster Standards by myself and some other Brethren. Starting with the first chapter concerning the Word of God, I expected much of what I read to mirror what I already knew about Scripture. Namely, it's authority, and its truth and power. This was true, yet I was paused in my reading and driven to contemplation, almost immediately as I read in the 1st sentences of the 1st section these words:
Nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men unexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of his will, which is necessary unto salvation.Romans 1 is clear proof of the truth in this statement. Yet it still holds for me a level of profundity as I think about the necessity of the proclamation of the Gospel. Mars Hill, Acts 17 is an example of nature, creation and providence showing the goodness,wisdom and power of God in such a way that men worshipped. That they were not worshipping the one true and living God was a function, in part, of their lack of access to and understanding of the Scripture and what (really WHO) it reveals. Enter Paul, to bring a right context to what they already knew about God. That He was wise and powerful, they knew, that He was THE ONE TRUE GOD they didn't. They were without excuse insomuch as they saw around them creation, nature and providence; yet they were unable to believe unto salvation apart from a proclamation of the nature of God and His will...... Anyway, as much as we understand that there is no such thing as an atheist, there is also no such thing as a person saved from the wrath of God apart from the knowledge of God and His will revealed only in Scripture.This is encouraging right? I mean, in truth, everyone we come across at least knows there is a God (again Romans 1), so we can start with that presupposition. It is our jobs to use Scripture to explain the God they know exists and His nature and will to them. Of course section 5 of the Westminster Standards gives this beautiful nugget:
We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the church to an high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scripture. And the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole (which is, to give all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man's salvation, the many other incomparable excellencies, and the entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God: yet notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts.In other words, we can by normal means, bring a person to understand the depth, doctrine, majesty, purpose, prevailing statements, perfection, etc, that clearly show the Bible as the Word of God. Yet, nothing but the work of the Holy Spirit on the heart of a person brings FULL persuasion and assurance of the truth and authority of it.
Magnificent!! These two pieces combined make for a grand philosophy of evangelism, in my opinion. We preach the truth (knowing so since it is contained in the canon of Scripture) about what God has done in Christ. We preach this to people who are not ignorant of God's existence, though are of His nature and will. We do all we are equipped to do to make this message clear and insure it's accurate conveyance, yet realize that no clarity of our speech or accuracy of our proclamation turns a man to Christ. We labor to magnify the excellency, beauty, and truth of God's revelation of Himself in Christ. Yet, all of those efforts, apart from the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of that man, will only produce a man who knows much about God, but is not persuaded and sure of His own standing with that God. These are just the beginnings of my contemplation of what I've read on day 1 of #wcs40. What are your thoughts?
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