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 My
grandfather once described a certain preacher with two words (of
his country dialect): "Shaller! Shaller!!" In case you
city folk do not recognize those words, they say there was no
depth to the man.
We
must not confuse muddy water with depth, and we cannot expect
all saints to be master theologians; but "going on to
perfection" (Heb. 5:12-f) involves putting the surface
pieces of Bible information together, AND digging out the basic
principles God would have us know. We are vulnerable to
"kooky" interpretations of detail in close proportion
to our failure to grasp the basic underlying truths.
God
expresses His grace toward man "in Christ" (Eph. 1: 2:
3:), a principle clearly taught. When He gave His Son to die for
us, He established the realm in which, and the means by which
the individual may be partaker of His grace. If this was clearly
taught and understood we would erase much of the speculation
concerning "grace" as a sort of Watkins liniment to be
rubbed on at the 11th hour; or an "enabling
power" God sends to indwell certain ones (the elect?).
The
"church" is God's herd, flock, covey,
etc., of people who put their trust in Christ, looking to Him as
Lord and Savior. Centuries of history have wed us to the idea of
"church" as a society in which blessings are stored
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or dispensing by the
administrators; a society which must validate baptism, the
Lord's Supper, and even the proclamation of truth. This
confusion over the nature of "church" continues
to lead us into problems.
Extremes
range from a denial of the "entity" of a local church,
to putting the local church in practically the same position
Romanism puts the universal church. We must better understand
the N.T. use of "church" before we can work out many
details.
Justification
by faith, a solidly based Bible principle (Rom. 3: 4: Gal. 2:16-
3:) has been smothered beneath negations of "faith
only," Old and New Covenant confusion, and evangelical
ideas of depravity and imputation. Until we get the basic idea
of justification by faith straightened out in our heads, we will
run wildly about, striking at this or that error of detail, but
leaving our brethren shaken and dazed as respects principles.
Free-will,
Direct Relation of Man to God, Ultimate Authority, the Role of
Conscience, Judgment, and other like topics must be given our
careful study. Our pride, and "know it all" attitudes
must give way to "seeking" (Matt. 7:7) or we will
remain SHALLER!
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