Tags
Apologetics, arguments, Bible, Christ, Christianity, debate, God, issues, Jesus, secondary, word
"It is written, "’Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’" – Matthew 4:4
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. – 2 Timothy 3:16, 17
He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. – Revelation 19:13
A worldling once said to a Puritan, “When so many great men make rents in their consciences, cannot you make just a little nick in yours, for peace sake?” “No,” he said, “I must follow Christ fully.”
“Ah, well,” you say, “these things are non-essential.”
Nothing is non-essential to complete obedience! It may be non-essential to salvation, but it is selfishness to say, “I will do no more than I know to be absolutely necessary to my salvation.”
It is essential to a good servant to obey his master in all things—and it is essential for the healthiness of a Christian’s soul that he should walk very carefully and prayerfully before the Lord—otherwise he will miss the blessing of them of whom it is said, “These are they which follow the Lamb where ever He goes.
- C.H. Spurgeon, Sermon #1219
Say it with scripture.
Love it.
C.H. Spurgeon~ Sermon #1219
“A worldling once said to a Puritan, “When so many great men make rents in their consciences, cannot you make just a little nick in yours, for peace sake?” “No,” he said, “I must follow Christ fully.” “Ah, well,” you say, “these things are non-essential.” Nothing is non-essential to complete obedience! It may be non-essential to salvation, but it is selfishness to
say, “I will do no more than I know to be absolutely necessary to my salvation.” It is essential to a good servant to obey his master in all things—and it is essential for the healthiness of a Christian’s soul that he should walk very carefully and prayerfully before the Lord—otherwise he will miss the blessing of them of whom it is said, “These are they which follow the Lamb where ever He goes.”
Excellent.
I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak. Mt. 12:36
Other translations say idle word. Careless is a little careless. Ilde is good, but maybe we should go all the way. The word is argon, not-work. Argon is not non-toxic in Scripture however, it is deadly poisnous: “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Some justify their doctrine as secondary, or tertiary to excuse themselves from accountability. But Scripture allows no such freedom. If the word doesn’t work it is not the Word. To claim that everyone has a right to their opinion, or misuse Augutine’s freedom, to create doctrines non-essential is found no where in Scripture. What is essential to the faith is Truth. To say we can have non-essential truths is like saying we can have a non-essential Christ. To the law and the testimony fails to impress those who concoct doctrines “non-essential.” But from the beginning we are instructed that when our children ask what are these, we are given a clear response to give to them. How bizarre it would have been if God had said to Mose that when they ask you may answer, “Well I think it means…” Or in NT parlance, “Be ready… to give every man your opinion…” Instead we are to prove all things and hold to what is true, and if we follow Paul’s instructions to Timothy, to forbid the telling of old wives tales and myths that cannot work in the edification of anyone.
Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, and did I say Amen?
Spurgeon is right on. However, I’m afraid the conclusion you may be drawing is questionable, depending on your definition of “secondary issues”. There are clearly some doctrines that we should be willing to die for while there are others that shouldn’t break our fellowship in the gospel (see Romans 14). Should Spurgeon have called Calvin a distorter of gospel truth because he endorsed paedobaptism? Should Edwards have questioned whether Luther was a genuine Christian because Luther believed in sacramental union or wasn’t an iconoclast? I grant you that someone is right and someone is wrong on all of these issues, and we should correct others when needed. However, extrememly Godly men have come down on both sides of many issues that many would consider “secondary”, so we need to be careful not to be so prideful to think we are infallable or that we need to tear down others who don’t agree with us on some issues.
You’ve completely missed the obvious point of the post. Because Scripture is God-breathed, nothing in it is less important, or ‘secondary’ to specifically salvific doctrine. If you want to play divider, make sure your ducks are in a row.