“Conservative” Evangelicalism: Threading a Frame Work for Discussion, Part 3
Dear Guests of IDOTG:
If you have not had an opportunity to read the previous submissions I encourage you to do so by returning to Part 1 and then Part 2 to get the full details from this helpful discussion. I want extend my appreciation to Pastor Will Dudding for our discussion at the RAM blog and then the comment he submitted here under Threading a Frame Work, Part 2. And now more of the thread commentary with Brother Will. Be sure to continue through the editor’s notes that follow.
Brother Will:
I’ll wind down our discussion with sermon excerpts from Dr. Mark Minnick who the RAM blog article had to do with. I’ll draw your attention to Rom. 16:17-20.
Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
“What is this paragraph [Rom. 16:17-20] talking about? If you would look at verse 17 you will see that it is a paragraph dealing with people who are teaching contrary doctrine. . . . These are people who are teaching as truth doctrine that actually is alongside orthodoxy. They are teaching what is a contradiction to, what is the opposite of, what is antithetical to, the doctrines that are taught in the Scripture.... But when some man is the prime instigator, promoter, and advocate of an unbiblical position, we must expose that man as we denounce the sin he is promoting.”
“If you take those terms [v. 17] and you ponder them for just a moment, what becomes apparent is this: our response in the first place is mandated. We have no subjective decision to make. The decision has already been made and the mandate is objective; it is in print! It has been in print for centuries! I exhort you, ‘mark’ them and ‘avoid’ them. . . . The response that we are given is a mandated response.
We are obligated to obey what is here!”
In the near future I am going to post additional articles at my blog on the theme we’ve discussed. I’d enjoy discussing this more thoroughly, with you, Don Johnson and any others who are willing to do so.
LM
No comments:
Post a Comment