Some time ago I was browsing through an old religious reference work. At the end of one of the biographical sketches I noticed an interesting statement regarding an evangelical minister of the nineteenth century. The subject had as "his constant and con trolling aim" in preaching "to bring men to, and build them up in, the saving knowledge of the truth."
The saving knowledge of truth. There was something appealing and intriguing about the phrase which caused it to stick in my mind. As I came to think about it more, I realized that the writer of this old article was on to something important. He had an insight into the nature of the evangelical message which deserves serious consideration from Christians today.
What did I find so special about this concept? It is this: in preaching or in other ways proclaiming the good news to people, we need to keep in mind that we are presenting them with a system of truth, a body of divinely revealed knowledge which delineates the way of life God has established for us. More over, this knowledge is, at its core, "saving knowledge," for when it is acted upon by the listener it will result in the salvation of his or her soul. Preaching the saving knowledge of the truth, then, involves the presentation of gospel truth in such a way that its hearers will be prompted to make a personal commitment to that truth.
This concept of the gospel message as comprising the presentation of truth is as old as the Christian church itself. Jesus Himself declared that a person's knowledge of the truth would set him or her free. The apostle Paul wrote his scintillating letter to the beguiled church at Galatia to reemphasize the liberating truths of the gospel, which that church was deceived into discarding. The Protestant Reformation consisted very largely of the promulgation of Christian teachings or truths which the institutional church had too long neglected. Whenever these truths of the gospel have been thus delineated and pro claimed (together, of course, with the accompanying work of the Holy Spirit), there have been abiding spiritual results. Conversely, when this emphasis has been lacking, the teaching and preaching mission of the church—not to mention its spiritual life—has suffered.
I believe that the churches in our country today, despite what certain statistics might indicate, are giving evidence of such a deficiency in the mes sages they preach. The present emphasis from our pulpits deals not so much with gospel truth as with gospel experience. We talk much about being born again, of experiencing Christ, of coming into a personal relationship with Christ, et cetera. This emphasis is, of course, good and absolutely necessary in its correct Biblical context. By itself, however, this is not enough, because it is not the whole counsel of God. Rather, listeners should be provided with a thorough knowledge of those saving truths which furnish the groundwork for such spiritual experience.
Let me illustrate what I have in mind. Suppose I could not swim and, wanting to learn, decided to take some swimming lessons. If I was to be properly taught, I would expect my instructor to teach me the basic principles of moving myself through the water. If she were teaching me the front crawl, for example, she might say, in so many words, that by kicking my legs I would help keep my body up in the water; that by stroking the water with my arms I would give myself forward propulsion; that by turning my head back and forth I would be able to breathe systematically and thereby sustain my motion through the water. My instructor would, in effect, be providing me with a "saving knowledge" of swimming, the knowledge of this form of exercise that would enable me to save my self under normal conditions if I was in water above my head. Her instruction would thus furnish me with a sound, proper basis for my own experience and enjoyment of swimming.
Suppose, however, rather than providing me with such sound instruction, she gave me lessons that had a strong experiential content to them, consisting, for example, of reminiscences about her or others' swimming experiences or about the pleasures to be derived from swimming. The instructor's lessons might prove inspirational and interesting, but they probably would not achieve their intended purpose: to teach me how to swim properly and safely. The instructor, in fact, might well be considered criminally negligent in regard to her responsibilities.
In a similar way, we Evangelicals often fail listeners in our presentation of the gospel. By neglecting the teaching of sound spiritual truth and by concentrating on the realm of personal experience, we have not provided people with the necessary elements for proper Christian experience and nurture. This has resulted in a shallow spirituality, a spiritual ignorance, among many professing Christians that has left them vulnerable to the influence of false and misleading teachings.
This failure in spiritual instruction can in part be explained by a lack of emphasis on the fundamental teachings of the faith. More basically, however, our failure seems to rest on an inadequate understanding or consideration of man's constituted nature. We modern Evangelicals have forgotten to a large extent what our counterparts of a century ago more clearly recognized: that the Lord God made us with mental and emotional capacities; we were made to think as well as to feel. God gave us our minds and He revealed to us scriptural truths whereby our minds could be satisfied.
The preaching of saving truth will not only provide listeners with the basis for proper spiritual experience and growth, it will, furthermore, provide them with a deeper basis for individual spiritual motivation. Proclaiming to hearers the sure promises of God will help them realize that they have firm grounds on which they can make a commitment to Jesus Christ, that they are not just responding to an appeal based on some emotional frenzy. For example, when urging listeners to put their trust in the Lord, it would be quite helpful if they were told that this appeal rested on the doctrine of a sovereign God, who looks after and controls the affairs of His children. Similarly, when we entreat people to be saved, it would be conducive to explain to them the many glorious things entailed in being a new creation in Christ Jesus. Or, when we tell them that Christ died for sinners and implore them to accept Him as their personal Saviour, we should take the trouble to let them know the profound significance of the redemptive work of Christ and their personal spiritual standing that has resulted from this. Explaining such deep, abiding truths engenders orthodox Christian thought and living.
Whatever extra effort it may require to present the spiritual truths in this way would prove fruitful; our goal in pro claiming the gospel is, after all, to produce not mere spiritual ecstasy, but spiritual and moral excellence. We must seek to have every believer, as a temple of the Holy Spirit, build an individual spiritual edifice for himself or herself of lasting beauty, not mere stunning outward appeal. To do this calls for a wisdom or prudence such as that possessed by the wise man in Jesus' parable of the two builders. This would demand, of course, the use of the right building materials, the sturdy blocks of spiritual truth that are possessed of the sureness and enduring strength of the sovereign God who revealed them.
This article has been reprinted from the spring 1980 edition of VOICES, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 2045 Half Day Road, Deerfield, Illinois 60015. Used by permission.
