Sola Scriptura Part VI

Show Overview

Show 14 440 Sola Scriptura Part VI
April 7th 2015
Live from Salt Lake City, Utah
This is Heart of the MatterTGNN’s original show where Shawn McCraney deconstructed religion and developed fulfilled theology., where we do all we can to try and worship God in Spirit and in Truth.

I’m your host, Shawn McCraneyFounder of TGNN and developer of the fulfilled perspective—calling people to faith outside of religion.. Brother Matt Slick, founder of CARM and a man who believes he can explain Calvinism to our audience will be here in the Heart of the Matter studios May 5th for a two-hour special. Now listen – the purpose is to learn from Matt about what Calvinism is and what it isn’t. The format will be non-confrontational as Matt will take three to five minutes to explain a concept of Calvinism, field questions from me and even from you if you like. I reject Calvinism as representative of biblical Christianity. But I am not going to site chapter and verse to question Matt. I’m just going to ask him questions about Total depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints. If there’s time, we may talk about Calvin himself.

Tuesday, May 5th from 8-10 pm right here in the HOTM studio/church. If you want to be here live, please join us. We will serve refreshments and libations.

Thoughts on Popular Topics

Two more things:

First – “Blood Moons”

Nothing but hype for hyper people to get hyper over. It’s just another embarrassment for the Body – EVEN if Jesus returns after them – the logic and reasoning and thinking is really shabby. Lord forgive us for being so willing to perpetuate anything on earth as a means to stay on high alert.

Secondly, if you have any means possible to watch the HBO special on Scientology, do it – especially if you are LDS. Every Latter-day Saint on earth ought to watch this film as L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the faith, was not unlike Joseph Smith in so many ways in terms of his claims, and the guy who took over once Hubbard died was very much like Brigham Young. Actually, every religious person ought to watch this documentary as a means to remind themselves OVER and OVER and OVER again to run from men and their controls – and look directly to God.

A Moment From the Word

And with that, how about a moment from the Word? Run “From the Word” here please.

Ephesians 2:19 says that:

“the redeemed are of God’s household, and are built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone.”

We’ve remarked in the past that foundations are poured – laid – once. They are not poured and laid over and over again so when Paul speaks of the household of God built upon “the foundation of apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone.” He is speaking of a foundation laid and not to be added to or laid again. Paul then says that the building upon the foundation is forever growing but the foundation HAVING been laid is permanent. Turning to the Greek we KNOW that once the foundation was laid, it was laid permanently – once and forever, why? Because the word used, a participle – “epoikodomethentes” in proper syntax is translated “having been built.” So that’s a done deal – a foundation of prophets (Old Testament) and apostles (New Testament) with Jesus being the chief cornerstone.

We know that the apostles of Jesus had to be witnesses of His resurrection for that is one of the things they witnessed to.

In First Corinthians 9:1 Paul writes:

Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord?

When the apostles sought to replace Judas with someone to continue on as a personal witness – which was prophesied should occur and is in part why they did it – they looked for an individual which (it says in Acts chapter 1):

“had companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.”

1. Apostles must be first-hand witnesses.

Additionally, 2. Each of the apostles of the Lord received their call to that office by Christ.

Luke 6:13

And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them, he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles

In the calling of Paul, the same was true:

Galatians 1:1

Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)

3. Apostles must be infallibly inspired.

1st Thessalonians 2:13

“For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the…”

Apostolic Authority and the End of Succession

"word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe."

You see, it was essential that these apostles were infallibly inspired. As such, they secured against all error in their public teaching, whether by word or writing. This is why Jesus gave them in-person training when he established His church. No passed down office from man to man who are qualified in the ways of the world!

Miraculous Powers of the Apostles

The final biblically established qualification for an apostle was, 4. The power of working miracles.

Listen to what the word says about the apostles after Jesus ascended into heaven.

Mark 16:19
So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following.

Acts 5:12
And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people.

Luke said of Paul in Acts 19:11

Acts 19:11
And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.

Speaking of Peter it says in Acts 5:15
"Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them."

As a result of all of these factors, and within the context of scripture, the true apostles of the early church could not any more have had successors than there needed to be a successor to Jesus Himself! They are the only authoritative teachers of the Christian doctrines. The office of an apostle ceased with its first holders as their CONTRIBUTION to the foundation was made once and for all.

This point is reiterated when Paul said in 1st Corinthians 4:9:
"For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to deathSeparation from God—now overcome. Physical death remains, but it no longer separates us from life with God.: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men."

It is clear from this passage that the office of apostle was a one-time situation (as they were "last") and that they were "appointed unto death" (meaning they would die for the cause) and that they would be made a spectacle before the world, and angels, and men through this sacrifice.

The Question of Apostolic Succession

What I want to know is why only then? Of course the LDS would say: "it wasn't only for then! We have living apostles today," but that is incongruent with scripture.

The question remaining is, Why did Jesus call twelve mortal men, train them, have them witness His life, miracles, and resurrection, and then not bring in any more? (Long beat)

I mean I trust they did exist and did do what scripture claims for that time but AGAIN – why were they only there for that time? We can't say that they continued on from Peter – that's a myth. We can't say that they were restored – that's a bigger myth. And if we're protestants why were these special witnesses with special powers only around then?

The answer I used to give was these men kick started Jesus' church (as part of the foundation) and were "not needed" once it got rolling. Really? Is that what the historical record of the church supports?

So (again) WHY did Jesus only call twelve mortal men who all died out by 68 AD with the exception of John? Could it be… could it be that those men were called to oversee the physical church alone until Jesus returned – and then the body of Christ from that time forward has been in the control of the Holy Spirit and void of ANY type of authority in men or apostolic influence – with the exception of their writings?

Think about it.

And with that let's have a word of prayer.

PrayerPrayerPrayerPrayerPrayer

Let's continue tonight with a discussion about apostolic succession and authority. It's a bit of a reiteration but an important one when it comes to subjective ChristianityA direct, personal relationship with God—free from institutional authority, guided by personal relationship, faith and agape love..

There are three main schools of thought when it comes to authority and apostolic succession floating around out there today. I would suggest that there is a fourth that has been ignored but remains the most viable.

The first claim is that the Apostles were the ones with authority from Christ to…

Apostolic Authority and the Religious Debate

Establish His Church and oversee its establishment. From this point, the Catholics claim a continued succession of Popes authorized to reign in Jesus' name – and they have an apparent line of individuals proving connection to the original apostles. The reason apostolic authority is important when we read the New Testament is it is very apparent that these twelve men were purposely trained by Jesus, imbued with power, and established churches by their oversight and inspiration after Christ. Reading the New Testament and taking it literally, there is little wonder why many people believe apostolic authority is necessary today.

The Protestant Reformation

The second line of thought was this line of authority (and the church along with it) became corrupt as the original apostles died off and that God reformed the whole mess – a movement initiated by a Catholic Priest by the name of Martin Luther then carried forward by a number of others after him. Where the Catholics said there must be a continuation of the visible physical church and its authority (which streamed directly from the original apostles), the Protestant claim was the standards of faith come directly from the Bible and not from men or church. In a sense, this early reformation was nascent Christianarchy as Luther had no right or authority (even from scripture) to do what he did. It was also a nascent form of Christian Subjectivity because what Luther said and taught was certainly his subjective views presented to the world and in conflict with the objective faith of Roman Catholicism. Unfortunately, Luther and the other reformers with him introduced Sola Scriptura as the means by which to subjectively determine truth which led to thousands of divisions in the body – some with some really deleterious results.

Restorationist Movements

The third approach was through what we might call the Restorationist movements popular in the early 19th century and seen in groups like Alexander Church of Christ, Ellen G White’s Seventh Day Adventists, Russel’s Jehovah’s Witnesses and Joseph Smith’s Mormonism. All of these groups – plus hundreds of other lesser knowns – use the New Testament (in part) as their standard of faith in addition to the “inspired” writings and insights of their leaders. In other words, they use the Bible AND the Holy Spirit as their standard of faith – and like the Catholics, and like most Protestant faith, they have established the way they do and see things and demand conformity.

Comparison of Approaches to Christianity

Let’s liken these three approaches to Christianity today to three factories.

Catholic Protestant Restorationist

Notice a few things: All three of these major religious machines:

• Demand conformity to their respective approach.
• Claim authority from one source or another.
• Appeal to the Bible and claim to agree and to be in harmony with its tenets, and
• Resist, refuse, and/or even mock the views and approaches of the others.

Also notice that all of them are taking people into their institutions and then pushing them back out into the world with their particular BRAND of faith stamped on their minds and hearts. I mention this because all of these houses are, and have been, filled with people who all have sought God, have had some interest or another in the things of God – billions of them – since the ascension of the Lord Jesus. And all of these people have, while alive, found themselves under the thumbs of these institutions in some manner or another –

• Doctrinally
• Ceremonially
• Financially
• Morally, and
• Liturgically

And billions have died – gone to God – believing to some degree or another that their factory had instructed them in the correct way, that they had the right baptism, the right view of God, the right take on the teachings of Jesus. Step back with me – while all claim some sort of exclusivity on the standards of faith we have to admit that all three houses cannot be right – not in everything. We might even admit that none of them are right.

Now before we hit on what I would suggest is the only solution – which is a non-solution really – there is an approach that inserted itself into all of this mess as a means to bring peace. It’s called Universalism and it is propagated most publicly in an organized religion called Unitarianism. This subject is large and can, like the four major factories, be broken up into Christian Unitarians and Universal Unitarians and everything in between. I mention this liberal division of thought and belief for a few reasons: First, because of the general belief in every faction of Universalism that

Jesus' Divinity and Apostolic Authority

Jesus was not God I personally see the approach as utterly failing and therefore the movement ought not be included in the discussion of the standards that govern the Christian faith. Some may believe me narrow minded on this but . . . too bad. If Jesus wasn’t God incarnate then He was just a man. And if just a man the end result would be all men ought to all be able to save themselves. No way. Plus I think the biblical narrative is more than clear that Jesus was God with us. For these reasons and many more, I exclude Universal Unitarianism’s standards of faith from the mix.

So, is there another option to the apostolic authority question and the view of scripture and spirit as the standard of faith? I think so – and if you have watched us this year, you know the solution I propose – subjective Christianity. But how do I substantiate and support this view using the Biblical narrative of Jesus calling and sending apostles out and the existence of scripture – especially the New Testament and what it describes?

The Role of Preterist Eschatology

This is where preterist eschatologyStudy of “last things”—TGNN teaches all biblical eschatology was fulfilled in 70 A.D. More comes into play and why this view is so important to a cohesive view of subjective faith. Not long ago I had a pastor write and say that he thought our views on subjective Christianity were good but that I was harming my stance (that promoted the subjective view) by maintaining what he viewed as the arbitrary unprovable objective view that Jesus returned in 70 AD. And while I admit that this view is certainly open to interpretation, and that I could be wrong about it, and that no matter what a person believes relative to eschatology it’s not a hill to die on when it comes to our faith in Christ Jesus, the preterist view goes a long, long, LONG way in solving what men and their history of organized Christianity have not been able to solve.

Before I quickly summarize the view and why it works so well in response to the three factories, let me encourage any and all of you to go back to our archives at www.hotm.tv and turn to 2014 and watch and critique our thirteen shows titled: “When does the Bible say Jesus will return.” These programs provide all the supports to the idea that Jesus returned with judgement (as He said He would) to His apostles – within a generation.

Apostolic Authority and Its Implications

So how does this view support subjective Christianity and all the debates over what governs the standards of faith in the Body today? Try and see it this way: The Catholics (and the LDS) are correct when they see the apostles as being the ones with the power and authority. But they are incorrect in thinking that power and authority was going to be passed down through a string of Popes or a restoration of apostles. The Lord’s chosen were chosen to reach to the House of Israel before destruction – and to reach the Gentiles (through Paul) as prophesied.

All the epistles and letters were to the believers in that day encouraging them to be faithful, hang on in faith, and wait patiently for His promised arrival. These special witnesses were killed off (as Jesus told them they would be) except for John who may have remained until the end of the ageThe close of the old covenant era, fulfilled in 70 A.D.—not the end of the world. – which was the age of the House of Israel that ended in 70 AD with the destruction of the Temple.

If we allow ourselves the right to see all of scripture as having taken place and as having direct primary purpose to the believers in that day and time as a means to lead them through until Jesus arrived, we will give ourselves the ability to understand what it looks like and means not only to be a follower of Jesus today but how to “do church.” However, if we continue to go along and believe that Jesus is still coming back for His church, and that scripture was written to us today to govern and guide, we will forever be adding to and filing into one of these three (or four) factories to receive their imprint on how to do church and how to believe.

It is my hope to get believers to begin to see that our history of attempts to do church have been an utter fail BECAUSE of a faulty premise – that the Bible was written for us here and now by the Apostles, that authority remains in the hands of men to exercise upon others as

Understanding the Approach to Early Christianity

Intermediaries, and that Jesus is still coming back to gather up His church which He started back in 30 AD.

So, what does this “other” approach suggest? That the twelve apostles were sent by Jesus to reach out to the House of Israel (and Gentiles through Paul) before He returned, as promised, in 70 AD to collect His church which the gates of hell did not prevail against. That the letters they wrote to the believers in different parts of the world were to encourage and guide them. That the Word of God, once it was collected as a whole does serve as a spiritual measuring stick to test all things but that it must be understood by and through the Spirit – which governs individual believers today. And that every believer is individually responsible for what they accept and deem as truth according to their susceptibility to the Spirit of God which, above all things, moves men and women to faith and love and nothing more.

Critique of Sola Scriptura

In the face of all of this, I have maintained that the Protestant view of Sola Scriptura has been a fail and we have provided a number of different examples of why. How about one more as tonight we launch into a direct look at the New Testament and its place in the Body?

Important Dates

I want you to remember these dates as I speak. Ready? 1680 to 1815. Got that span of time in mind? Good. Hold onto it for a second. In the meantime, I want to appeal to a map I’ve drawn to begin our discussion of the New Testament. (SHOW MAP ON OVERHEAD)

A reasonable, contextual, combined understanding of the early church, the New Testament communications.