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The Lostness of Mankind (Part 1)
The
Source of Our Knowledge of Mankind's Lostness
Our knowledge
of people’s lostness if they are outside of Christ is derived exclusively
from the Bible. Philosophy does not help us. This knowledge cannot
be learned by reasoning or by research. It cannot be established
inductively or deductively. God Himself reveals the fact in His
Word. It is an article of faith. We perceive it only by divine enlightenment.
People’s lostness
is Spirit-taught truth that those untuned to the Spirit cannot
receive (1 Corinthians 1—14). Their darkened understanding is not
capable of this awareness by their own reasoning powers (Ephesians
4:18). This knowledge comes only through revelation. indeed, everything
of a spiritual nature depends upon the Supreme Revelator, Jesus
Christ. What we believe about Him, who He is and what He teaches
will ultimately determine how we regard our fellow beings who do
not share in our knowledge of Jesus.
Who, then,
is Jesus Christ? The apostle John writes:
The Word
became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory,
the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of
grace and truth. John 1: 14
Grace and
truth came through Jesus Christ.John 1:17b
Jesus Himself
declared:
I am the
way and the truth and the life. John 14:6a
From these
three texts we learn that Jesus Christ is the truth, that He is
full of truth and that He brings truth to us.
The King of
Truth, Jesus Christ, taught the Bible’s divine inspiration, its
impregnable truth and its complete authority. He declared of the
Old Testament Law, “Until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest
letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear
from the Law” (Matthew 5:18). Later He rebuked two of His followers
for not believing “all that the prophets [had] spoken” (Luke 24:25).
In a confrontation with some of His fellow Jews, Jesus emphasized
that “the Scripture cannot be broken” John 10:35).
Kenneth B.
Kantzer, former editor of Christianity Today, writing in The Church’s
Worldwide Mission, has said of those statements: This testimony
of Jesus Christ validates directly the Old Testament, but indirectly
it includes the New Testament as well. Our Lord constituted His
disciples as His witnesses who should follow Him. He promised to
guide them into all truth John 16:13). He assured them of confirming
signs of their apostolic authority in predictive prophecy and miracles.
After His death and resurrection, His apostles claimed to represent
their Lord and to have the right to speak with authority in the
Church of Christ (Galatians 1–2). Their claims were confirmed by
diverse miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 2:4). 1
Since the question
of people’s lostness outside of Christ is an article of biblical
faith, we go back to the basic question: “What do we think about
Christ?” Do we accept Him as the King of Truth? Do we accept His
position on the inspiration and authority of Scripture?
If we do accept
Jesus as Truth, to be consistent we must accept and submit to His
teachings and those of the fully attested Word on this so-important
subject of mankind’s lostness If we acknowledge Jesus Christ as
Savior, Lord and Truth, we must accept the Scriptures He enjoined
upon us. They are the means we have of learning the Lord’s will.
Furthermore, His teachings have complete, final and binding authority
over us as His disciples.
Conversly,
to ostensibly accept Christ as sovereign Lord and Supreme Teacher
and at the same time reject what He says about the Bible and mankind’s
lost condition is grossly inconsistent.
Indeeed to
quote William G.T. Shed:
We must accept,
therefore, the Bible’s presentation of man’s condition
without reservation. We must require no other validation. On the
basis that Jesus is Lord and Truth, we must accept the Bible as
our only but completely authoritative and trustworthy source of
knowledge about people's spiritual condition. |