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The
Church: Guardian of the Truth
Part
1
by
Reverend Michael Voytek
How important is truth? It seemed that after the tragedy of
September 11th, America had rediscovered the existence of
absolute right and wrong and thus absolute truth. But it now seems that
as the remains of the World Trade Center have been gathered up and
trucked out of Manhattan, so has this newfound understanding been
removed from the mind of many Americans. The mantra that “Truth is
relative” or “That is truth for you, but not for me” echoes in our
ears. Truth is again declared to be a human construct, based upon
personal or corporate opinion rather than as an absolute that exists
apart from the mind of man. This type of thinking will ultimately lead
to the utter devaluation of all truth and would answer our initial
question that truth is only important as long as I find it useful. It is
a tool to be used and discarded as the occasion demands. But is this the
correct answer? Fortunately for us there is another answer not grounded
in the shifting opinions of man, but in the ultimate source of truth
himself, namely the Lord God Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. He
has graciously provided a depository of objective truth in His revealed
word, the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament. We must turn to Him
and this revelation to find the correct answer to our question.
Scripture
records that our understanding of truth must begin with God himself.
He is not only the author of truth, “Thy
word is truth,” (John 17:17) but He is truth personified (John
14:6). The late Professor Louis Berkhof wrote the following as he was
considering the Scriptural terms for truth and their application to God:
“When
God is called the truth, this is to be understood in its most
comprehensive sense. He is the truth first of all in a metaphysical
sense, that is, in Him the idea of the Godhead is perfectly realized; He
is all that He as God should be, and as such is distinguished from all
so-called gods, which are called vanity and lies, Ps. 96:5; 97:7;
115:4-8; Isa. 44:9,10. He
is also the truth in an ethical sense,
and as such reveals Himself as He really is, so that His revelation is
absolutely reliable. Num.
23:19; Rom. 3:4; Heb. 6:18. Finally,
He is also the truth in a logical
sense, and in virtue of this He knows things as they really are, and has
so constituted the mind of man that the latter can know, not merely the
appearance, but also the reality, of things. Thus the truth of God is
the foundation of all knowledge.”
Because
this is so:
“He
is the source of all truth, not only in the sphere of morals and
religion, but also in every field of scientific endeavor.”
Not only is truth important to God, but it is important, indeed
essential to us. Our salvation is founded upon the veracity of the
Gospel proclaimed to us. Not
in vain does the Heidelberg Catechism answer the question “What is
true faith?” with “It is not only a certain
knowledge, whereby I hold for truth
all that God has revealed to us in his word, but also a hearty
trust…”
Furthermore, not only our eternal destiny, but our daily lives here on
earth are dependent upon truth. Consider for a moment the importance of
truth in the areas of applied science (technology); social interactions
(family, church and state); business (especially in light of the recent
corporate scandals and the cry for truthfulness in reporting); etc. Even
if many deny truth’s importance, much of life is based upon the firm
foundation of truth.
Who
had God called to be Guardians of Truth?
Since
God’s revelation is truth and man’s very existence and life are
contingent upon truth, another question must be answer at this point.
Because truth is critically important, into whose hands has God
entrusted the protection and promotion of truth? Before we attempt to
answer this question, it is necessary to understand what is entailed in
this responsibility. The guarding of the truth can be viewed from two
different angles or aspects. The first is positive, the proclamation or
promotion of the truth. The second is negative, the confronting and
overturning of error. But that is not all. As the title of Richard
Weaver’s book Ideas Have Consequences suggests, what we hold as truth not only
affects our thinking but our very lives. So each of the above mentioned
aspects must include both a knowledge or cognitive sense but also a
practical, applicatory sense. We must not only know and proclaim the
truth, but we must also apply the truth to our own and our listener’s
lives. We must not only confront erroneous thinking, but we must also
confront the evil fruit that such thinking produces. Our preaching,
teaching, exhortation, counseling, apologetics - whatever the Lord calls
us to do in regards to the truth must include the focus on both word and
deed, doctrine and praxis.
With
this in mind, let us attempt to answer our second question, namely to
whom has God entrusted the protection and promotion of truth? It is our
contention based on Scripture that the primary agent to whom God has
entrusted the vital task of guarding the truth is the covenant people of
God, or the visible, corporate church. To support this thesis, our
overall approach will be to first survey the Scriptures of the Old and
New Testament to establish its biblical basis. Next, we will briefly
survey church history, paying particular attention to how the church
understood and carried out this task, specifically in her formulation of
creeds and confessions. Finally, we will apply what we have learned to a
present day situation, specifically the claims of Mr. Harold Camping,
president of Family Radio. His recent teaching includes the assertion
that God has declared that the visible church is dead, that its officers
have no spiritual authority and should repudiate their offices, and that
the Holy Spirit has left what remains of the church into the hands of
Satan.
The
Old Testament People of God as Guardians of Truth
Turning
now to the early chapters of Genesis, we discover that God entrusted His
Holy Word to Adam from the very beginning of his existence (Gen.
1:28-30). God also called him to guard the garden, the meeting place of
God and man (Gen. 2:15). Unfortunately, Adam’s failed to fulfill both
of these responsibilities. He neither upheld God’s word as true nor
confronted the error that Satan had introduced into the garden. In
addition, Adam did not practice the truth but believed and followed the
lie (Gen. 3:1-6). Needless to say, the result were disastrous. Notice,
however, that God did not forsake Adam; instead He further declared and
entrusted His word of promise to him and expected him to rely upon it
(Gen 3:8f). We learn from this incident that God’s revelation of truth
brought with it the responsibility to guard and promote it.
As we continue on our journey through the book of Genesis, we encounter
a man the patriarch Noah. He not only received and guarded God’s word,
but obeyed it to the saving of his household (Heb. 11:7). He was
declared by the Apostle Peter as “a
preacher of righteousness” (2 Pet. 3:20). Still later, we encounter
another man of God, the patriarch Abraham. God greatly honored him by
not only giving him great and precious promises and the grace of faith
to believe in them (Gen. 15:6), but also by designating him as a prophet
(Gen. 20:7) and one who obeyed God’s voice and “kept
his charge, commandments, statutes and laws” (Gen. 26:5).
God’s
calling not only include covenant heads such as Adam, Noah, and Abraham;
but also the covenant people of God as a whole. Moses was not only
called by God to lead the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt
(Exodus 3:10), but also to deliver His word to Israel for safekeeping
(Exodus 24:4; Num. 33:2; Deut. 31:9). As we noted earlier, this task of
safekeeping (guarding) included knowing God’s word as well as putting
it into practice. Israelite parents were commanded to know and teach it
to their children throughout the day (Deut. 6:4-9). The Levites and
priests were to teach it to the people (Lev. 10:11; Deut. 33:10). The
elders of the people were to render just judgment according to it
(Exodus 18:20-22; Deut. 1:13-18). The king that would arise at a latter
time was commanded to personally copy it and meditate upon it (Deut.
17:18-20). In other words, all aspects of the lives of the covenant
people of God were to be informed by it. It was their glory and crown in
the sight of all the nations (Deut. 4:5-8). The Apostle Paul summarized
this duty in his epistles to the Romans when he declared that “unto
them were committed the oracles of God” (Rom. 3:2).
Furthermore,
not only were the Old Testament people of God responsible to know and do
God’s word of truth, but they were called to confront error in
doctrine and life both within the covenant community and without. For
example, the people were required to evaluate any prophet that came upon
the scene based upon the clear instruction found in the Law of God
(Deut. 13:1-5, 18:22). They were also not to learn the religious beliefs
of those who dwelt in the land of Canaan, nor follow their practices
(Deut. 18:9-14). They were called to be a holy people, set apart for
God’s purposes, directed by His law, for His glory and praise. In
summary, the Old Testament people of God were called to positively and
negatively guard His word by knowledge and by life.
The
New Testament People of God as Guardians of Truth
As
we now turn our attention to the New Testament, we again encounter a
variety of individuals who were called to guard God’s truth. The
premier example is that of our Lord Jesus Christ. He not only knew the
word of God, He was the Word made flesh (John 1:1-14). His earthly
ministry included the proclamation of the truth and the fulfillment of
all the just demands of the law of God as well as the confrontation of
the erroneous teaching and practices of many of His contemporaries. We
could profitably spend much time considering this aspect of His life and
ministry, but for the purposes of this article, we must focus our
attention on those for whom Christ came to redeem and call to
discipleship, namely the church. Throughout his public ministry our Lord
Jesus ministered unto the multitudes, but the main focal point of His
attention and effort was the preparation of a small band of hand picked
followers who would carry on the mission. These followers, who are
called apostles, were set apart as His
representatives and heralds of the truth of the Gospel. They were
commissioned to go and “make
disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to
the end of the age" (Matt. 28:19-20). He promised to send the
Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, who would cause them to remember His
words and who would guide them into all truth (John 14:16-17, 26).
The
Book of Acts provides an abundance of examples of
the work of the Holy Spirit of guiding the church into all truth
and away from error, especially through Christ’s commissioned
representative. For example, on the day of Pentecost we observe the
apostle Peter standing up with the eleven (Acts 2:14), answering the
questions of the crowd that had gathered, proclaiming the truth of the
Gospel and calling them to repent and be baptized (Acts 2:38); in other
words, to become Christ’s disciples, members of the church. Later,
when arrested by the leaders of the Jews and forbidden to preach the
Gospel, the apostles responded “Whether
it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you
judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard”
(Acts 4:19-20). After they were released, the apostles prayed “Now,
Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all
boldness they may speak Your word” (Acts 4:29). The Lord Jesus
answered their prayer and granted them great boldness to preach and to
confront the errors of their time. This included confronting lies and
deception within the church as well. It should not come as a surprise
that the next incident recorded by Luke is that of judgment upon Ananias
and Sapphira for lying to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:1-10).
Though
the apostle Peter functions as the main spokesman or chief
representative of the church in these accounts, Scripture records that
there were many who fulfilled Christ’s discipleship mandate. For
example, during the General Council or Synod at Jerusalem recorded in
the fifteen chapter of Acts, the elder of the Jerusalem church, whose
name was James, gave the final word and drafted the doctrinal and
practical response to the churches concerning the issue of Gentile
believers that had been brought to the council. Later, in his epistle
(the book of James), he both instructed believers in the truth as well
as confronted various errors in doctrine and life. Consider further the
apostle John. He was known in the early church as “the beloved
disciple or the disciple whom Jesus love” and later designated “the
apostle of love.” But he could just as easily been called “the
apostle of truth.” It is through the Gospel that bears his name that
we previously learned that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, that
Christ himself claims to be the truth (John 14:6), and further claims
that "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know
the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32).
Moreover, a major concern in all three of John’s epistles is that of
truth, especially Second and Third John.
Finally, who could ignore Jude, the Lord’s brother, who in his epistle
exhorted the church “to contend
earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints”
(Jude 3). His exhortation seems to have been necessitated due to the
many errors that were plaguing the church (see verses 4-19). Last, but
not least, in our survey of Christ’s heralds and foundations of the
church (Eph. 2:20) is the apostle Paul. Since the example of his life
and the specific teaching concerning God’s calling upon the church as
guardian of the truth play such a crucial role in the life of the first
century church and beyond, we will continue our study of his
contribution in next month’s issue.
To
summarize, what we have learned thus far is that God is greatly
concerned about truth and has ordained the visible, corporate church in
general, and the commissioned and gifted representatives specifically,
to proclaim and live the truth and to confront and reprove error in its
many forms. The church, through her officers, must continue to carry out
this divine task of guarding the truth and will continue to do so until
Christ himself returns from heaven to judge the living and the dead.
Amen!
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