Logical inferences are not fool proof, but loyalty to Jesus Christ is.

But Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God (Mat 22:29).

In a document titled "means of grace" which is linked to at the top of this blog, I said: "The fact that the phrase “means of grace” is not found in scripture makes any doctrine of “means of grace” one very important step removed from being well founded, or at least from being well tested, as a biblical category of thought."

This conservative idea of grasping biblical thought primarily in the words and phrases of scripture shapes what I think is an important doctrinal philosophy. Students of Christianity too often rob verses from their context, stick them in a "logic machine", which then,in their mind, spits out "necessary inferences", which are then confidently asserted as authoritative doctrine.

It's one thing to distort Jesus' teaching to the point that we only recognize a caricature of the true Messiah. It's another thing to augment Jesus' words with inference and speculative presumption to the point that Jesus is no longer the object of our loyalty. What happens then is that the craft-of-men or human-institutions become the objects of our loyalty. And this is a most dishonorable exchange.

In Matthew 22:23-32 we see how the Sadducees found themselves in a cul-de-sac of error.

On that day some Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to Jesus and questioned Him, asking, "Teacher, Moses said, 'IF A MAN DIES HAVING NO CHILDREN, HIS BROTHER AS NEXT OF KIN SHALL MARRY HIS WIFE, AND RAISE UP CHILDREN FOR HIS BROTHER.' "Now there were seven brothers with us; and the first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother; so also the second, and the third, down to the seventh. "Last of all, the woman died. "In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her." But Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God. "For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. "But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God: 'I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB'? He is not the God of the dead but of the living."

When the Sadducees plugged a scripture into their logic machine...specifically, "IF A MAN DIES HAVING NO CHILDREN, HIS BROTHER AS NEXT OF KIN SHALL MARRY HIS WIFE, AND RAISE UP CHILDREN FOR HIS BROTHER." It spit out the logical inference: "there can not be a resurrection". But Jesus said they didn't "see" or "know" or "understand" the scriptures or the power of God. Yes, their logical inference led them down the wrong path on the question of resurrection but what about the other guys? Were the Pharisees who "say" there is a resurrection going to be any better off? No, they really were not any better off. While it is true that the Sadducees mistakenly argue for the "no-resurrection" position, thinking it was a logical and scriptural necessity; their main problem was they missed where God was leading Israel-specifically, to Jesus. What people on opposing sides of many debates actually need is to submit to Jesus. All authority has been given to Him.

Jesus was the one with an authoritative word to take the debaters where they really needed to be. If the Sadducees would just be loyal to Jesus they would be in the right place and the importance of their debate with the Pharisees would fade. Interestingly, the Pharisees needed to do exactly the same thing. being on the right side of the resurrection debate would not make anyone legitimate before God. The most foolish of men can be right with God through loyalty to Jesus. The wisest of Men prove themselves foolish in God's sight when they refuse loyal acknowledgment of Jesus. Loyalty to Jesus is fool-proof.