Waiting on the Lord

Recently, I was asked (challenged?) to study the theme of waiting on/for the Lord as found in the Bible.  The context of the request was an effort to convince me that Christians should be led by "leading of the Spirit," not just from the words of scripture, as a sign of a deepening relationship with the Lord and increased maturity by relying on his direct leading.  The protagonist assured me that this line of thinking was correct because of his own experiences.  To be sure, his abundance of zeal to see his brothers and sisters in Christ grow is admirable.  Who was I to refuse?

I fired up a Bible program (Online Bible)* and found approximately 30 occurrences in the ESV of waiting on or waiting for the Lord.  The majority of passages were in Psalms and Isaiah with a smattering in Lamentations and the Minor Prophets.  Also, there are six to be found in Acts and the Pauline epistles.

In reviewing the context of each passage, the results fell into four general areas:

• 1.  Impending danger from the unrighteous has caused the person to request rescue, resting on the assurance that God is faithful to deliver.  Justice will come, but in the Lord's own time (Psa 52:9).
• 2.  The manipulations of the unrighteous are compared to the quiet assurance of the righteous.  There is no immediate threat but an acknowledgment of God's care (Psa 25:3, 5, 21; 27:14; 31:24; 37:7, 9, 34; 62:1, 5; Pro 20:22; Isa 40:31; 51:5).
• 3.  The nation or the individual is acknowledging the consequences of sin and is looking to the Lord to do what is right according to his character (Psa 38:15; 106:13; 130:5; Isa 33:2; 64:4; Jer 3:25-26; Lam 3:25-26; Hos 12:6; Mic 7:7).
• 4.  God's people are to have a long-range approach to life, always looking for the final coming of Messiah with the resulting resurrection and righteous reign (Isa 26:8; 49:23; Zeph 3:8; Rom 8:23-25; 1 Cor 1:7; Gal 5:5; 1 Thess 1:10).

One might disagree with how these are classified, however, the clear conclusion is that waiting on the Lord is a patient expectation for him to fulfill the commands, statutes, precepts, and promises he has revealed through the prophets and apostles.  These words are certain being God-breathed (2 Tim 3:16) and therefore firmly established in his high and holy name (Heb 6:13). God's word alone illuminates the heart and mind of man (Psa 119:105; John 3:19-21).

The experience of man cannot serve as a measuring rod for life.  The heart—even that of the believer—is deceitful and sick (Jer 17:9) and prone to following every wind of doctrine (Eph 4:14).  It is to keep unity in the faith (i.e., doctrine and practice) that the Lord gave gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor-teachers (Eph 4:11-13).  God wisely designed each person to feel and exhibit emotions as ways of rejoicing in are coping with the circumstances of life, but they make terrible guides.  Something more solid is needed.

Psalm 19:7-14
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
Who can discern his errors?
Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

* My preference for quick searches.  I also have Logos, but that takes longer to boot up.

Reformation Solas in the Early Church - Part 1

Just this past week I heard a broadcast in which the person interviewed said that Martin Luther was the first to articulate salvation by faith alone (and by inference all the Reformation solas).  That is simply not true.  The solas were part and parcel of the early church if one is willing to look.  Thankfully, Wil Weedon has done just that.  What I will present in four installments is his compilation of who and where the church fathers made these known.

Sola Scriptura

The holy and inspired Scriptures are fully sufficient for the proclamation of the truth.

Athanasius (Against the Heathen, I:3)

Regarding the things I say, I should supply even the proofs, so I will not seem to rely on my own opinions, but rather, prove them with Scripture, so that the matter will remain certain and steadfast.

John Chrysostom (Homily 8 On Repentance and the Church, p. 118, vol. 96 TFOTC)

Let the inspired Scriptures then be our umpire, and the vote of truth will be given to those whose dogmas are found to agree with the Divine words.

Gregory of Nyssa (On the Holy Trinity, NPNF, p. 327)

We are not entitled to such license, I mean that of affirming what we please; we make the Holy Scriptures the rule and the measure of every tenet; we necessarily fix our eyes upon that, and approve that alone which may be made to harmonize with the intention of those writings.

Gregory of Nyssa (On the Soul and the Resurrection, NPNF II, V:439)

What is the mark of a faithful soul?  To be in these dispositions of full acceptance on the authority of the words of Scripture, not venturing to reject anything nor making additions.  For, if ‘all that is not of faith is sin' as the Apostle says, and ‘faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God,' everything outside Holy Scripture, not being of faith, is sin.

Basil the Great (The Morals, p. 204, vol 9 TFOTC).

We are not content simply because this is the tradition of the Fathers.  What is important is that the Fathers followed the meaning of the Scripture.

Basil the Great (On the Holy Spirit, Chapter 7, par. 16)

For concerning the divine and holy mysteries of the Faith, not even a casual statement must be delivered without the Holy Scriptures; nor must we be drawn aside by mere plausibility and artifices of speech.  Even to me, who tell you these things, give not absolute credence, unless you receive the proof of the things which I announce from the Divine Scriptures.  For this salvation which we believe depends not on ingenious reasoning, but on demonstration of the Holy Scriptures.

Cyril of Jerusalem (Catechetical Lectures, IV:17, in NPNF, Volume VII, p. 23.)

Neither dare one agree with catholic bishops if by chance they err in anything, but the result that their opinion is against the canonical Scriptures of God.

Augustine (De unitate ecclesiae, chp. 10)

Following the Pattern of Sound Words

Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.  2 Timothy 1:13

It behooves those who preside over the churches, every day but especially on Lord’s days, to teach … words of piety and of right religion, gathering out of holy Scripture meditations and determinations of the truth, and not going beyond the limits now fixed, nor varying from the tradition of the God-bearing fathers.  And if any controversy in regard to Scripture shall have been raised, let them not interpret it otherwise than as the lights and doctors of the church in their writings have expounded it, and in those let them glory rather than in composing things out of their own heads, lest through their lack of skill they may have departed from what was fitting.  For through the doctrine of the aforesaid fathers, the people coming to the knowledge of what is good and desirable, as well as what is useless and to be rejected, will remodel their life for the better, and not be led by ignorance, but applying their minds to the doctrine, they will take heed that no evil befall them and work out their salvation in fear of impending punishment.

Canon 19, Council in Trullo, A.D. 692

Asking If Sola Scriptura Is an Oxymoron

Doug Chaplin has written a blog entry entitled "Is 'the Bible alone' an oxymoron?"  His thesis is that since the diverse, individual books of scripture were developed in a specific community context, they cannot rightfully be considered a single flow of thought and purpose apart from a "church" context.  As I was reading it and the comments, the idea struck me that Chaplin had asked the correct question but for the wrong reason.

The Westminster Confession defines Sola Scriptura this way:

The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture; unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men (Chapter 1, paragraph 6).

This assumes that God has revealed himself to mankind in a recognizable way, and we understand that to be through the accumulated writings of the apostles and prophets which are acknowledged to have been given at various times and ways over the course of centuries.

Note especially the phrase "by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture."  The divines are to be commended for adding this vital piece, because it acknowledges the formation of a body of orthodox doctrine that Tertullian referred to as "the rule of faith" (regula fidei) which he described as

that which prescribes the belief that there is one only God, and that He is none other than the Creator of the world, who produced all things out of nothing through His own Word, first of all sent forth; that this Word is called His Son, and, under the name of God, was seen “in diverse manners” by the patriarchs, heard at all times in the prophets, at last brought down by the Spirit and Power of the Father into the Virgin Mary, was made flesh in her womb, and, being born of her, went forth as Jesus Christ; thenceforth He preached the new law and the new promise of the kingdom of heaven, worked miracles; having been crucified, He rose again the third day; (then) having ascended into the heavens, He sat at the right hand of the Father; sent instead of Himself the Power of the Holy Ghost to lead such as believe; will come with glory to take the saints to the enjoyment of everlasting life and of the heavenly promises, and to condemn the wicked to everlasting fire, after the resurrection of both these classes shall have happened, together with the restoration of their flesh.  This rule, as it will be proved, was taught by Christ, and raises amongst ourselves no other questions than those which heresies introduce, and which make men heretics.

Prescription Against Heretics, cap. XIII

So to refine the WCF, I would have added that there was and is that faith once for all delivered to the saints and carried forward by godly men as they entrusted the Word of God to faithful men being able to teach others.  This was accomplished by taking what had already been revealed by God and adding to it the new revelation, whenever it came, then asking:

• How does the new instruction fit with the old?
• What, if anything, has changed from the old?
• What does the new tell about the old?
• How do we practice the new instruction?

We then come to a more full theology of a matter and live based on that.  This process stops when special revelation stops.  On a macro level, this is different from what Roman Catholics do by continuing to create canon law ex cathedra.  Protestants do not work at creating something new, but continually re-check their doctrine and practice according to the body of apostolic teaching and make necessary adjustments—semper reformanda.  This can be applied on a micro level, we faithfully pass on from one generation to the next what the apostles gave us and make adjustments where needed, not as individuals but in a multitude of counselors.

Going back to the original question then, is Sola Scriptura an oxymoron?  No, if one assumes the WCF understanding of that phrase in its limited definition; yes, if we think that one can pick up a Bible and formulate a fully-orbed, correct understanding of the doctrines contained therein without help from those older in the faith.