“Why
are the words of Christ according to the gospel records any more the words of
the Lord Jesus than those recorded in Paul’s epistles?” asks Bible scholar C.R.
Stam in his 1963 classic The Controversy.
“Christ Himself left no writings behind. Does not Paul say again and again that
his teachings are the words of Christ? . . .
“Our
opponents’ quotation of I Timothy 6:3-5 to prove that we should put greater
emphasis on the words of the Lord Jesus than on the words of Paul, act as a
boomerang, for this passage is but another proof that the words of Paul were the words of the Lord Jesus.
Referring to his own instructions to
Timothy, the apostle says:
“ ‘If
any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of
our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He
is proud, knowing nothing . . . ’
Stam
writes on the next page, “. . . So deep is the antipathy of some religious
leaders toward the Pauline message and those who proclaim it that they will
simply lie low each time their falsehoods are exposed and await an opportunity
to strike again. This is Satan’s strategy, for it is easier to believe a lie
one has heard a thousand times than to believe a truth he has never heard
before.”
*****
In
II Corinthians, Paul is put in the position of having to defend himself when
the Believers in Corinth conclude he’s a fraud and illegitimate. He argues in II
Corinthians 3:2, ‘Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of
all men.’
“The
people are saying, ‘Prove it, prove it, prove it,’ and Paul says, ‘You’re it!
You’re the letter of authenticity!’ ” explains Preacher Alex Kurz. “Verse 3:3
says, ‘Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ
ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God;
not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.’
“Paul
is the canvas but who is the author of this particular letter? Jesus Christ, as
the Author, has written something upon the canvas of Paul’s heart, which
demonstrates the Corinthians are literally the letter of authenticity!
“Do
you know when you write a letter, the author actually bears the character of
the writer? Do you understand why Paul says Christ is the one who is manifestly
declaring something? When Jesus Christ uses Paul’s heart, Christ is inscribing His
own character upon the canvas of Paul’s heart.
“You
know what Paul’s saying? ‘You read my life and my ministry and you will see the
reflection of the character of Jesus Christ. You will see born upon my life the
very thinking that Jesus Christ has toward you. That’s the letter of
authenticity.’
“The
issue isn’t the outward appearance. The issue is what Paul is doing and putting
up with and sacrificing for a group of ungrateful Believers. The stamp of
Christ’s hand, the finger prints of Christ’s ministry, the proof that Jesus
Christ is working in Paul’s ministry is stamped on Paul’s heart.
*****
“God
wrote on tablets, walls, in the ground--but did you know God also writes in the
heart? There is a fascinating parallel in Jeremiah 17:1: ‘The sin of Judah is
written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon
the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars.’
“What
does it mean for God to inscribe? The point of a diamond can cut glass, but do
you know what a pen of iron does? This is a description of God permanently
inscribing and engraving the sins of a nation on their heart.
“Verse
13 says, ‘O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed,
and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have
forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.’
“In
John 8 we cannot say with absolute certainty what the Lord Jesus is writing on
the ground, but if we look at the context in chapter 7, we know what the Lord Jesus
is trying to do. He’s constantly looking for faith in His messiahship. In
Jeremiah 17, this might be the clue that could shed light on what Jesus Christ
is writing on the ground.”
*****
Stam
writes, “Those who would join with the Modernists in following the earthly
Jesus should listen to the inspired apostle when he says: ‘Wherefore
henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ
after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.’ (II Corinthians
5:16)
“It is the message of the exalted Lord through Paul himself to
which he refers when he says: ‘Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in
all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.’
(Colossians 3:16)
(new article tomorrow)
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