Understanding the Sufficiency of the Scriptures: By Jerry Wragg

Pastor Jerry Wragg impacted my Christian life in such remarkable ways. He was the finest mentor I ever had (outside of my parents).

This blog he recently wrote is totally worth your time: READ ON.........

from http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12723103&postID=113203049972981888

JerryW said...

"I really hesitated offering this response because it is way too long, and is largely experience-driven (my own). But it raises questions that I believe have been on the heart of every believer on both sides of the continuation vs cessation issue (sorry, Phil Johnson, for bringing this up again). Incidentally, if you’re from a cessationist background but your claim is that your continuationism is only exegetical without having changed how you actually relate to God (e.g. revelations), then you either haven’t held the view very long or you aren’t practicing what you claim to believe. In fact, I can’t imagine why someone would conclude that scripture teaches continuationism without vigorously pursuing such interaction with the Creator, especially if it guarantees daily, albeit less authoritative and reliable, data directly from on high.

Be that as it may, on to my personal experience (what a knife-edge to walk). I have lived my entire Christian life being sanctified, making crucial decisions, raising a family, facing an evil culture, shepherding the flock of God, praying, seeing God work intimately in my life, knowing His pleasure, smarting under His discipline, learning to be selfless, cultivating humility, being powerfully led by His Spirit, becoming more courageous in bold evangelism, establishing deep doctrinal convictions, loving Jesus Christ and His cross beyond words, and experiencing the overwhelming wonder of worshiping my God---all exclusively through the instrument of the “living and abiding word of God” in His hand! What does this prove? Only that until its biblical arguments are convincing, none of what continuationism promises holds any necessary attraction for me. If God does reveal Himself “freshly” for my practical daily walk by some other means than the Bible I sure haven’t missed it. The Lord is as “fresh” to me now as ever! Does He strongly compel me to do this or that and go here or there? His word assures me that He does, by means of the Spirit’s sanctifying grace (as I yield to His written will – Eph. 5:18), by the mind of Christ renewing my fleshly reasoning (as I obey the truth - 1 Cor. 2:15; 2 Cor. 10:5), by doctrinal convictions cured over time (as I develop discernment – Heb. 5:14), and by the refining of my faith (as I entrust myself to Christ’s written promises, providential care, and saving love – Rom. 8:26-30). Some may ask, “what about those everyday practical ‘forks in the road’ where the dilemma of making a ‘wrong’ decision seems to demand ‘clearer insight into the future’”? For me, such cases are fairly routine and I resolve them in two ways: (1) I exhaust all possible avenues of wisdom commanded in scripture, namely, seeking wise counsel, applying any biblically explicit principles, examining subtle motives and unbiblical ideas that cloud my thinking, and trusting that the Spirit is working out His sovereign will in my life. Having first given the matter these considerations and found no more compelling clarity, I move forward in faith (even if I’m not quite sure, hence the faith!); (2) The previous steps build a deeper discernment over time so that such considerations begin to occur imperceptibly. No more “answer” is needed, nor do I believe one is offered by the Lord. Otherwise, how would I come to know and trust the promised goodness of God in the “waiting”?

On that note, I have often wondered why so many Christians seem to “need” specific clarity from God in the daily issues of life. If an intimate walk with Christ demanded a whole set of daily, personal revelations guaranteeing the “best path for me” how would I ever learn simple entrustment? Moreover, wouldn’t I be held responsible for carrying out every prescriptive detail of the revealed plan? And since I already lack faith where the scriptures are concerned, wouldn’t my immaturity quibble even more over God’s specific path for me because “His ways are not my ways…and His thoughts are higher than my thoughts”? In addition, how would I ever have enough spiritual insight to comprehend what He has ordained for me in each moment of my life, and how could I bear the burden of failing to line up with it all? And if inner promptings are direct revelations from God to me personally and I fail to obey to the detail, haven’t I violated His directly revealed will in the same manner as disobeying His written word? But some will say, “Isn’t it the same issue when cessationists fail to follow a “strong conviction” to witness to the guy at the bus stop”? No, because though God has directly commanded that we call all men to repent, He has not revealed his perfect and specific will for each circumstance. Upon further reflection, I may be guilty of selfishness and self-preservation by not responding to inward convictions I have come to believe over time (e.g. compassion for the lost, selfless and courageous evangelism), and must learn to respond more discerningly to Kingdom-opportunities. But I am in no danger of rebellion against a direct “word-for-the-moment” revelation. Quite frankly, I haven’t been able to keep up with all that scripture commands or promises as it is, so I’m compelled to believe that there is much more yet to be “experienced” as I behold wondrous things from His word and tremble to heed them. So far, God has strengthened my faith by His word alone apart from such specific revelations. If I’ve missed such a crucial resource as fresh, divine revelation for my sanctification during the last twenty-three years, you would think that glaring perversion, gross spiritual atrophy, serious doctrinal confusion, and frequent ruinous decisions would litter the landscape of my Christian experience (evidences all too common among many who live by revelations outside of scripture). After all, if a believer neglects any other spiritual discipline (including the use of spiritual gifts in the body), even for a short time, the watered seed of dereliction does bloom! Yet, in every persistent battle with the flesh (e.g. pride, weak faith, ignorance, laziness, unforgiveness, idolatry, and more) and my own daily struggle to humbly trust the Lord for His perfect will (a work-in-progress known all too well by my family and close friends) I have found scripture a ready and utterly sufficient weapon against the enemy, and a thorough implement for spiritual surgery. True, continuationists may make the same assertion, but not without being inconsistent. Continuationism necessitates the conclusion that cessationists have missed the personal work of the Spirit available to all believers, and therefore are floundering in a sea of non-dynamic adherence to ancient words alone. As a logical consequence, cessationist-churches must be “quenching the Spirit[‘s]” most significant work by emphasizing the specific application of ancient scripture over the contemporary and individual-specific revelations given directly by God. I fail to see how these conclusions can be avoided given the continuationist’s claim that private revelations occur today.

So what do we make of those nagging “checks and promptings” in our “spirit”? Are “strong impressions” (i.e. to witness to someone, to listen to a radio preacher, to be a missionary, to speak a serendipitous word of encouragement, etc.) to be taken as “direct” revelations from the Lord? For the continuationist, the answer is yes, not only because of an alleged lack of a verse or passage to the contrary (never mind that cessationism has yet to be dispensed of with so little an offering), but also because these revelations represent a needed specificity the Bible, it is claimed, never intended to offer. I would submit, however, that the answer depends on what is meant by “direct”. For instance, the singular testimony of scripture regarding Christian growth is that as one’s understanding of biblical truth deepens through obedience, strong conviction, passion, and discernment increases exponentially (Heb. 5:14; 1 John 2:13-14). Now, if I’m inwardly (indeed, almost audibly) compelled at some moment to share Christ with someone, must I conclude that the Lord has directly revealed His future will to me for that moment? Isn’t it possible (even more probable) that I am simply being “directed” through biblical convictions which the Spirit has seasoned through obedience over time, for His providential and effective use at that particular moment? Or, perhaps I’m experiencing a range of normal, biblical thoughts brought on by a combination of biblical truth and Christian experience? Our minds (inner man) work this way in every other arena of life, why must we suddenly spiritualize every strong “notion” and divinize each inner “impression”? Perhaps some clarity can be gained by looking at the way our conscience works. The scripture’s teach that the conscience strongly “condemns” or “affirms” us, depending upon how we respond to the strongest inner standards of conviction we believe (Rom. 2:14-15). Such condemnation and affirmation may be so inwardly powerful that it seems like audible “screaming”! Yet, no one would claim (I hope) that the promptings of the conscience are direct revelations from God. In fact, it is dangerous to give the conscience ultimate authority since it can be wrongly trained, sending false alarms where no sin exists, or no alarms when real guilt is present. It seems to me that inner convictions operate in a similar fashion. The more biblically refined my convictions, the more Spirit-driven my strong “impressions”. But if I mistake sensitive and mature spiritual convictions for “direct revelation” from God I will most assuredly “hear” God’s will where He has not spoken, and miss His clear written direction in pursuit of more than He offers in the Bible. Another example may help---if I have strong “impressions” about specific ways to apply the biblical admonition “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church”, am I receiving direct revelation specifically for my marriage? If not, how do I know the difference, since it is claimed that God gives “fresh revelations” for the practical areas of my life? And if, on the other hand, by applying scripture to my marriage I have strong convictions about ways to love my wife more biblically, what is lacking? As I see it, the idea of direct, divine, freshly revealed specifics for my life cannot be a both/and proposition. Either I believe that all inner thoughts specific to my life are directly given by God to complement the general principles of His written revelation, or they are the fruit of a Spirit-trained mind being “led” by obedience-produced convictions.

More to the point…these “promtings” and “impressions” are easily explained as God’s providential leading in a spiritually seasoned believer whose biblical convictions “speak to them” in the milieu of daily living. These strong thoughts can result in experiences ranging from the mundane to the seemingly impossible. They DO NOT demand the belief that God has directly spoken beyond scripture. His providence working through obedient believers is all that is needed (Phil. 2:12-13) to experience His leading. Lest we think this is only an issue of semantics, I believe what continuationists call “fresh revelation” is actually the Spirit’s providence combined with strong biblical convictions at best, or the accommodation of weak faith by desiring a “sensation” of knowing God’s specific will at worst.

In light of the above, my experience (apologies for the argument from experience) with Christ has now become the “trained-behavior” that keeps me wondering if continuationism is more the result of wanting something that obedience to the written word already affords.

My point is not that experience rules my conclusions, only that my experience continues to prove what God’s word overwhelmingly claims, namely that it provides everything the Christian needs until glory."