DOCTRINE AND LIFE
‘I know Whom I have believed.’
In these words I find indicated the necessity, in the life of faith, of doctrinal clearness and decision, and the necessity, if that clearness and decision are not to be purely abortive, cause without effect, means without end, of a living acquaintance with a Divine Person and a living manifestation of that acquaintance, in action and suffering.
I. A solemn suggestion of the necessity of doctrinal clearness and decision.—It may seem, for the moment, that this inference from these particular words is not obvious. Are thoughts of dogmatic firmness, of the precision of creeds, articles, and definitions, really in place here? Is it not the first and most obvious fact of the passage, as Christians have so often remarked, that the writer does not say, ‘I know what I have believed,’ but ‘I know Whom’? It might be said with even a sort of indignation that the passage positively excludes the idea of ‘the dry bones of doctrine’ in favour of a warm intercourse of the soul with Jesus, in which cold and complicated statements shall be forgotten in the felt pulses of His heart. Such a protest would have undoubtedly thus much of truth in it—that most sacred lessons are conveyed by the presence of the word ‘Whom’ and the absence of ‘what.’ The dying Apostle does indeed go, direct and by a spiritual necessity, to his Lord’s Person, to his personal Lord, to the close embrace of his Eternal Friend, the lover of his soul. Nothing else will do in view of his extremity and desolations, all men forsaking him, and eternity about to close over him.
II. Let us look a little further into the words and into the thing.—When I speak, or think, of going direct to my Lord and Saviour, of finding rest in His love and faithfulness, of safety in His arms and on His breast, how am I sure of the reality and solidity of the terms, so warm and tender, which I thus employ? I may perhaps reply that my certainty is by the Holy Spirit, Who teaches, Who illuminates, Who sheds abroad Divine love in my heart and glorifies Christ to my inner man. But the reply again is obvious, that, in the first place, the special works, and the very being, of the Blessed Spirit are matters of pure revelation, of revealed doctrine; and that, in the second place, His holy work of enlightenment and sanctification, most certainly as to its overwhelming rule, presupposes always some definite doctrine, some positive Divine information, about the Saviour’s work and person. Whether directly from the Holy Scriptures, or by sure conclusions from them, whether in doctrinal words read or doctrinal words spoken, somehow or other, information about Him the man must have, if the Spirit is to unfold before the soul His glory. There must be some, and, in the very simplest stages of enlightened and living faith, that some is not little in its significance. No sooner have I pronounced the words Saviour, Redeemer, Son of God, Lamb of God, Priest, King, Brother, no sooner have I thought with comfort of the precious blood-shedding, or dwelt with bright anticipation on the prospect of my presence with my eternal Friend at death and in eternity, than I am in the very midst of the doctrine of Christ; for every one of these ideas is due to Divine instruction about Him. In this, through this, the Holy Spirit works on me and in me. Through the doctrine He shows me Christ, and the way to Him, and my part and lot in Him, and my treasures in Him, and my coming heaven with Him.
Bishop H. C. G. Moule.
Illustration
‘Observe how the soul of St. Paul, full of the Holy Ghost, and now about to enter eternity, turns with an extraordinary emphasis to the fact of the Divine inspiration and Divine authority of “every Scripture” (2 Timothy 3:16). Hear him as he appeals to the sensitive heart of the younger disciple to “continue in the things he has learned, and has been assured of,” on grounds not merely of subjective impression but of objective authority. Hear him as he repudiates the rationalism, which doubtless claimed to be spiritual and mystic, but was rationalism none the less, of those who said “that the resurrection was past already” (2 Timothy 2:18). Remark his solemn summing up of the reason why Timothy should “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus,” a reason which in its brevity combines the threefold cord of supernatural prophecy, supernatural event, and supernatural teaching—“Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead, according to my Gospel” (2 Timothy 2:8). And then see how for himself, on the verge of that supreme experience of our mortal life, the act of dying, collecting himself for the last submission and the last victory, the Apostle grasps for his own peace no mere generalities of belief, but the deepest and highest truths of the whole revelation—“He hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began; but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, Who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel” (2 Timothy 1:9-10). All this powerfully illustrates the principle that there is a connection of the strongest and most vital kind between Christian life, whether in action or suffering, and Christian doctrine—the certainties of revealed truth and their right expression.’
(SECOND OUTLINE)
FAITH AND KNOWLEDGE
Some persons’ professed knowledge of Christ amounts to little more than knowledge of His name. But—
I. St. Paul knew Christ as the one Being Whose influence had surpassed all other influences in his life.—Christ had changed his character and the course of his life.
II. He knew Christ as the patient, tender, helpful Friend through many years past of that new life and career. In trouble and weakness and fear and ‘perils’ St. Paul had not sought the relief of subterfuges, but had sought and found the relief of Jesus.
III. St. Paul knew Christ very practically as his Master.—Christ was a Master Who had given him very much to do, very much to bear (see 2 Corinthians 11:16-31), but had always given him the needful help and strength, and His own co-operation and company. Practical service wonderfully drives home theoretical knowledge, and without the former the latter is little worth.
IV. St. Paul knew Christ as the only one ground of hope for the immortal self, for the eternal future.—This aspect of Christ was the more remarkable to St. Paul, as he had been brought up to believe in self, in merit, in a righteousness of his own works. But now, not does an infant more implicitly and unconsciously rely on its mother than St. Paul relied consciously, gratefully, exclusively on Christ for salvation and the safety of the all untried, dimly known future.
(THIRD OUTLINE)
FAITH AND ITS OBJECT
In analysing these words we find they contain three ideas:—
I. The faith of St. Paul, expressed in these words: ‘I have believed.’
II. The object of his faith, which he recalls when he says: ‘In Whom I have believed.’
III. The certainty of his faith, indicated with so much force and serenity by this expression: ‘I know.’
Such is the natural division of the subject.