Commentary Has No Authority
In every case God establishes His authority on earth by special recognition. With Moses, it was God … pic.twitter.com/NtsO8N1AnU
— Paul M. Dohse (@PaulMDohse) May 3, 2015
In every case God establishes His authority on earth by special recognition. With Moses, it was God … pic.twitter.com/NtsO8N1AnU
— Paul M. Dohse (@PaulMDohse) May 3, 2015
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
By what authority or special recognition are antinomianists and the apostolic church charged with apostasy? (“Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”)
Serious question. I have been following your blog for some time. Is the appeal to a personal interpretation of scripture any different from an appeal to commentary? (“For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”)
You are writing/speaking/prophesying of a Great Apostasy, no? Where is a man to turn to seek for prophets speaking from God as moved upon by the Helper, the Spirit of Truth? “Lo here, lo there”?
Sorry… too many questions… not enough answers.
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Gary,
“Serious question. I have been following your blog for some time. Is the appeal to a personal interpretation of scripture any different from an appeal to commentary?”
“Personal interpretation”? Gary, I thought we are all indwelled by the Spirit and he will lead us in all truth. Let’s look at the very Scripture you cited: “And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place.” Who is being told to pay attention and to what are they told to pay attention to? Add Acts 17:11,12 etc, etc, etc. As an elder, NO Christian is obligated to listen to me. I know this is different, but it’s not complicated. The body of believers grow in understanding together under one head.
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So I am to understand that you, Paul M Dohse Sr, are not claiming special recognition to declare a general apostasy of so called “believers” away from the one head and the fully confirmed word of prophecy as attested to by the apostles. Because those false followers were never true believers in the first place? Is this the truth as revealed by the Holy Spirit? I guess I’ll take this question to the Source of prophecy rather than to any man.
I thought that it was your intent to warn the flock about false teachers, ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing. I gleaned this intent (perhaps falsely) from your teachings and conferences about the false gospel of antinomianism and the false teaching of progressive justification and a false understanding of true sanctification. Perhaps this was a thinking error on my part. If so, mea culpa.
My questions also had to do with any rational intelligent reasonable logical connection between “commentary” and “no prophecy of Scripture coming from someone’s own interpretation.” If I’m making a false equivalency logical fallacy, I’m happy to admit my error.
Thanks for responding.
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Gary,
I think what makes the discussion dicey is an overall collectivist mentality among evangelicals. Protestantism is grounded in collectivist ideology. Without authority and interpreters, chaos will ensue. Um, to tell you the truth, I have spent most of my time learning what the true gospel is in this Protestant dark age, and don’t really know where I stand on the whole “apostasy” issue. Viz, if someone falls away, what does that mean?
My questions also had to do with any rational intelligent reasonable logical connection between “commentary” and “no prophecy of Scripture coming from someone’s own interpretation.”
Peter is saying that the Scriptures were not written according to the personal whims and ideas of the authors; the Scriptures are God’s revelation to man that the Spirit uses to sanctify them (Matthew 4:4, John 17:17). The writers were guided by the Spirit; hence, the Bible is inspired by God. Our ministry does focus heavily on, “they teach this, but the Bible teaches that,” and “they say history is this, but we say it’s that.”
The model is body members represented by gifts striving for the “one voice” that comes from the “one mind” of Christ exhibited in the Scriptures. A culture grounded in collectivism will naturally push back against such a construct.
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Hi Paul. I’m just trying to discuss, not to correct. What makes the “collectivist mentality” dicey is the belief in the unity of faith in Christ … the one voice and the one mind as you wrote. So one person’s… say an evangelical’s… “collectivism” is another person’s… say a nomian’s… “unity”… which again demonstrates the necessity for discernment. And the discernment has to do, in my opinion, with a general apostasy or “falling away” from the keys to the kingdom of heaven and the testimony of Christ, which is the spirit of prophecy. Basic stuff, right? If I’m wrong, both mea culpa and I welcome correction.
But this “culture” is the world and believers have been called out of this world and to overcome the world. Again, basic stuff. Who is (falsely?) believing that the “collectivist construct” is evidence of “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”? The evangelicals who are stuck in the Protestant Dark Ages? If so, that’s a quite heavy duty judgement, no? But it could also simply be evidence of “by their fruits you shall know them.” How much more then the categorical imperative to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit.
Again, the problem is how collectivism and unity are discerned… or perhaps this is not our problem at all but is the Father’s business. How the society of believers are organized and the judgment of believers from non-believers from un-believers are not our business either… for who knows the hearts of men apart from “from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” If this is our lot… to discern… then our imperative, it seems to me, is to control the tongue. “For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.” Maybe one’s business is best summarized thusly “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” and “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” and “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these (emphasis mine) put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” Basic stuff.
It doesn’t really address “special recognition” though, does it?
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Hi Sean,
I didn’t realize I was. It was not my intent. My intent was to receive clarification… so I asked about “special recognition” in the event of a general apostasy within Christianity. Paul seems to believe and teach (although I might be mistaken) that a general apostasy has occurred with respect to true and central gospel principles, specifically law keeping and justification and sanctification. My question had to do with “special recognition” God would hypothetically give to a living and mighty prophet to declare this apostasy… much like the “special recognition” given to John the Baptist who warned his generation of apostasy. I presume that this specific post about “special recognition” is germane to the larger issues of (1) departure from gospel principles and (2)asking if this departure would be confirmed by the gift of prophecy rather than “commentary” or “interpretation of scripture” and (3) the (questionable?) discernment that if judgement is at hand wrt both false teachings and general apostasy would this righteous judgement be accompanied by the type of recognition God gives to establish authority… like a prophet like unto Moses. On the other hand, these might not be germane questions whatsoever. I don’t know… that’s why I ask.
It seems to me the real meaning of this post by Paul was not about scripture and not about commentary on scripture and not about interpreting scripture. The real meaning was about God (hypothetically) establishing authority on earth by recognizing a mighty prophet in our day. Again, if I’m mistaking the meaning, mea culpa… it was not meant as a challenge to Paul’s teaching. If I was out of bounds, my comments must go through moderation. Although Paul “is claiming nothing for himself”… it’s still his blog and he can censor me or censure me if I’m out of bounds. I welcome correction.
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All,
Ok, here is my position on metaphysics and epistemology. In my mind, it’s pretty straight forward. Basically, it’s Deuteronomy 29:29, and that being documented in the Bible. The Bible is God’s direct revelation to the individual; it is His full-orbed statement on metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and politics.
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Does rhema, as the revealed word of God, as an utterance from God to the heart of the receiver via the Holy Spirit, as in John 14:26, imply that the canon of scripture is closed… or is this belief in the principle of sola scriptura (both pro and con) human sophistry?
Sometimes it comes across that “it is written…” is more honored or considered sacred than “…but I say to you…” and “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” FWIW
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…and is written from the perspective of a grammatical historical interpretation of reality.
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If not antithetical, I would at least attempt a synthesis with this interpretation
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We ought to be open to exhortation and correction and discipline. 2Tim3:16 is a great cross reference to what Paul just posted about Deut29:29. So let’s reinforce this good work. 🙂
How we are organized as a body is obviously the work of Christ, as the head. I suppose our first realization ought to be that this is an ongoing work through the Spirit of Truth. Christ said He would not leave us comfort-less, but He would come to be with us. For me, this has profound, sacred, sublime truth about relationships and why we are created with a social nature. A second realization, for which Paul (the owner of the blog) deserves credit, is that our social nature in Christ (in communion with fellow citizens in the household of God who have overcome the world… and this IS our victory even our faith [emphasis mine]) is best brought to fruition in home fellowships. I also believe that we can show that our hearts are knit together in love by how we behave in open, honest communication online. 😉
It’s obvious that scripturally, philosophically, and common sense tells us that it’s our ethos… our behavior… our stewardship… keeping the commandments… is the judgement standard for sanctification in this life and reward in the next. To me, metaphysics, epistemics, logic, and aesthetics all play second fiddle to ethics. But, of course, our ethics are informed by aesthetics, etc. The irony and paradox isn’t lost on us is it?
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Hi Sean,
I enjoy rhetorical questions as much as the other guy (and employ them with zeal), but I can’t help but believe that the dialectic has more inherent value (even spiritually) than either rhetoric or debate. Just a minor quibble.
My original purpose in asking for clarification was the interrelated-ness of Paul’s post about “special recognition” from God, the more sure word of prophecy and the private interpretation of scripture (2Peter1:18-20), the gift of prophecy (1Cor12:4-11) and if the Spirit of Truth would reveal a general apostasy from true and correct gospel principles. I wonder if the presence of the Spirit of Truth is evidence that a general apostasy has not occurred. Regardless of a general apostasy or not, we know of “the more excellent way” as referenced in 1Cor13.
You wrote: “… the words of men (commentary) have no authority over other men…” What then of the words of prophecy as a spiritual gift or rhema, “the revealed word of God, as an utterance from God to the heart of the receiver via the Holy Spirit, as in John 14:26”? Would you say that both the words of prophecy revealed as a gift from the Holy Spirit and rhema are only for the edification of the recipient and carry no authority over fellow saints… so as to avoid assumed authority and/or spiritual tyranny and/or unrighteous discipline? Or do you believe that the living words of prophecy (the testimony of Christ) and rhema carry authority… just not the authority which is outwardly recognized by God publicly?
Once receiving truth from the source, not assuming that the commentary of men has any authority, are you accountable before God if you keep this truth to yourself… to not share the good news? 1 Peter 1:25 “But the word (rhema) of the Lord remains for ever. And this word (rhema) is the good news that has been brought to you.” There’s plenty of false doctrine, I agree; this is more about the authority of true doctrine as revealed by rhema… in my mere opinion. Your perspective?
Gary
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“Once receiving truth from the source, not assuming that the commentary of men has any authority, are you accountable before God if you keep this truth to yourself… to not share the good news? 1 Peter 1:25 “But the word (rhema) of the Lord remains for ever. And this word (rhema) is the good news that has been brought to you.” There’s plenty of false doctrine, I agree; this is more about the authority of true doctrine as revealed by rhema… in my mere opinion. Your perspective?”
2 Corinthians 11:12-15
2 But what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting. 13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.
Maybe this verse will answer your question. Many can give their teachings and doctrines; many have come and gone- but there is only one Gospel. When men have written extra, like Calvin (with his Institutes), Augustine (with his Confessions), and TULIP, all the myriads of books authored today and pass them off as an extension of the Gospel you have got a real problem. Not only that but have demanded men to follow it as such- you are walking on dangerous ground. It is a very precious and humble profession to teach; and also a serious one. Too many today do not take care with what is being taught or dispersed as truth. There are plenty of verses that Paul warns about false teachers more then he does about following the good ones.
Galations 1:6- 9
6 I am astounded that you are so quick to remove yourselves from me, the one who called you by the Messiah’s grace, and turn to some other supposedly “Good News,” 7 which is not good news at all! What is really happening is that certain people are pestering you and trying to pervert the genuine Good News of the Messiah. 8 But even if we — or, for that matter, an angel from heaven! — were to announce to you some so-called “Good News” contrary to the Good News we did announce to you, let him be under a curse forever! 9 We said it before, and I say it again: if anyone announces “Good News” contrary to what you received, let him be under a curse forever!
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All the more reason to exhort one another daily (Heb3:13) with this word (rhema) of good news (1Peter1:25)… lots of garbage out there.
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Gary you have got that right! 🙂
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Hi Sean, meditating on the law and the word (rhema)… the good news… is a good use of time. Happy thinking! Gary
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