The epistles of the apostles confirm most emphatically the necessity
of constant revelations from God. The apostolic churches could not
do without such revelations. Hence the necessity of the churches
communicating with the apostles and the apostles writing their
epistles, embodying the will of God.
For instance, an error arises, as was the case in Colossae. Paul
was at the time in Rome, but the church in Colossae sent a special
messenger to Paul, viz.: Epaphras, who explained the situation to the
apostle and caused the letter to the Colossians to be written as a
refutation of that peculiar error. The Scriptures were not sufficient
for the guidance of the Colossians. The new emergency required a new
communication from God, a new revelation, and God gave it through Paul,
his servant.
So with all the epistles. Each has a particular object. None is a
treatise on theology, putting forth all that is necessary to know for
all ages and all men. There is not one written for that purpose.
The first epistles of Paul, I and II Thessalonians, 52 and {378} 53 A.
D., express the joy and satisfaction of the apostle on account of the
manner in which the people of Thessalonica had received the gospel.
He cautions them against the sins prevalent in that great city, and
comforts those who mourned over the loss of dear relatives. The "dead
in the Lord" will be resurrected at the coming of the Lord, and this
event is more fully explained, in accordance with the prophecy of
Daniel concerning the "little horn" (Dan. viii).
The next epistle, that to the Galatians, A. D. 53 or 57, is a warning
to the churches in that district not to mix up the rites of the Mosaic
law with the ordinances of the gospel, as the two were so different
from each other as Ishmael and Isaac, Sinai and Zion. And to give this
admonition force, the writer proves that his knowledge of Christian
truth was derived not from human teaching, but from God through
immediate revelation, wherefore the apostles of the Lord had recognized
him as their equal (chap. i, 2).
The epistles to the Corinthians were written A. D. 57 in reply to a
letter received by Paul from the branch in Corinth, requesting his
advice on certain points (ch. vii, 1); also to correct some errors
of which he had heard by report (i, 11; v, 1; xi, 18). The state of
the branch was, however, such that the Apostle deemed it necessary to
send Timothy there also, thus imparting both by letter and by verbal
preaching communications from God. Mark how special emergencies require
special revelations!
The epistle to the Romans (A. D. 58) is the most systematic of all
the writings of Paul, and one that by Protestants is considered the
basis of gospel theology. The scope of this epistle is to reconcile
the Jews and the Gentiles in the church of Christ, by placing all on
one level in the sight of God. "All have sinned; all must be saved by
the same means." This is the whole epistle in one sentence. Now, it
is instructive to notice how the apostle in this important letter to
the Romans illustrates the question under consideration. In the very
first chapter he says he is constantly praying that God may give him an
opportunity of visiting Rome, not indeed as a tourist and sightseer,
but "that I might impart unto you some spiritual gift" (ch. i, 11).
What "spiritual gifts" are, we learn in I Cor. xii, viz.: "Word of
wisdom," or "knowledge," "faith," "healing," "miracles," "prophecy,"
etc. So that it was not enough, according to Paul, for the Christians
in Rome to have all the sacred Scriptures, including this letter, but
they needed something more. They needed "spiritual gifts" continued
among them. It has been reserved for later {379} "Christians" to
discover that Paul was wrong, and that "spiritual gifts" were of no
account as long as the Scriptures were to be had at a cheap price.
To have the Spirit of God is, further, put forth as the necessary
condition of a "child" of God. "If Christ be in you the body is dead
because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness." "As
many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." "The
Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children
of God" (chap. viii). Such is the importance given to the possession
of the Spirit of God. But we have already seen that the very office of
the Spirit is to "lead into all truth, and to reveal things to come."
He who has the Spirit has, therefore, the Spirit of revelation, and
the apostle contends that man without the Spirit of revelation is a
stranger and an enemy to God (chap. viii, 5-9). The apostle further
states that at the time when the fulness of the Gentiles has been
gathered in, direct communication from God will still continue. "For
there shall come out of Zion the deliverer and turn away ungodliness
from Jacob" (chap. xi, 26). How could this be possible if all
communication with God had ceased with the close of the New Testament?
But they have not ceased, "for the gifts and calling of God are without
repentance" (chap. xi, 29).
This may suffice to show that the great Apostle of the Gentiles never
meant his letter to the Romans nor any other letter to close the
channels of revelation.
Let us remind ourselves of one more fact. The writers of the New
Testament themselves state that they had not _written_ all that was
necessary for instruction. In writing to the Corinthians about the
partaking of the Lord's supper Paul gives some general directions, but
concludes by saying: "The rest will I set in order when I come" (I Cor.
xi, 34). Now, what instructions or arrangements are here left out? We
do not know. But we see that the written word was not meant to convey
all that was necessary to know. The same expression we find in the
second letter of John. "Having many things to write unto you, I would
not write with paper and ink: but I trust to come unto you, and speak
face to face" (II John, 12). See also (III John, 13). Who can then say
that we in the books of the Bible have all that written which God ever
intended to convey to mankind, and that revelation has ceased? The idea
is in direct contrast to the word of the apostles.
It is instructive to notice how theologians have been compelled {380}
to turn their own reasons upside down, and to stretch the various
passages of Scripture on their learned racks in order to make them
fit for all occasions. Luther's explanation of our Lord's prayer is
a curious instance. "Daily bread" means, according to that noted
reformer, not only what you eat and drink, but "bread" means also a
house and a wife, obedient children, good neighbors and "other such
things." Whether in "daily bread" was included the beer-keg that Luther
received among his wedding presents, the reformer does not state, but
in the "other such things" is room for a considerable quantity of
"bread." Of course, that kind of exegesis fills everything into the
Bible. By it anything can be got of anything or of nothing, but God
never put it there. Man did it, and, by so doing, proved himself to be
on the wrong track, to say the least.
In order to gain a sound understanding of the word of God, the various
books must be read as Mr. Locke says the Epistles ought to be read.
He requires you to read through one epistle at a sitting, and observe
its drift and aim. "If," says he, "the first reading gave some light,
the second gave me more; and so I persisted on reading constantly the
whole epistle over at once, till I came to have a general view of the
writer's purpose, the chief branches of his discourse, the arguments
he used, and the disposition of the whole. This, I confess, is not to
be obtained by one or two hasty readings; it must be repeated again
and again, with a close attention to the tenor of the discourse, and
a perfect neglect of the divisions into chapters and verses." If this
plan be adopted, and the books of the Bible be read with a humble,
prayerful heart, a heart in unison with the authors that wrote, the
true meaning of the word will be grasped.
And the clearer this true meaning becomes, the more it will appear
that nothing short of continued communication with God can satisfy the
heart. For it is the very purpose of the written word of God to lead
men to seek this communication with God, to guide, in other words, the
straying child to its loving father.