Private Judgment # 2

Private Judgment # 2

That which can abide the fire of the Bible - receive, hold, believe and obey. That which cannot abide the fire of the Bible - reject, refuse, repudiate, and cast away.!

This is private judgment. This is the right we are to exercise if we love our souls. We are not to believe things in religion merely because they are said by Popes or Cardinals - by Bishops or Priests - by Presbyters or Deacons - by Churches, Councils, or Synogs - by Fathers, Puritans, or Reformers. We are not to argue, "Such and such things must be true - because these men say so." We are not to do so. We are to prove all things by the Word of God.

Now, I know such doctrine sounds startling in some men's ears. But I write it down advisedly, and believe it cannot be disproved. I would be sorry to encourage any man in ignorant presumption or ignorant contempt. I pity the man who seldom reads his Bible, and yet sets himself up to pick holes in his minister's sermons. I pity the man who knows nothing but a few texts in the New Testament, and yet undertakes to settle questions in divinity which have puzzled God's wisest children. But still I hold with Bishop Thomas Bilson that "all hearers have both liberty to discern and a charge to beware of seducers - and woe to them that do it not." And I say with Bishop Davenant, "We are not to believe all who undertake to teach in the Church - but must take care and weigh with serious examination, whether their doctrine is sound or not."

"The people of God are called to try the truth, to judge between good and evil, between light and darkness. God has made them the promise of His Spirit, and has left unto them His Word. They of Berea, when they heard the preaching of Paul, searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so as he taught them, and many of them believed. So do you - give heed to instruction, and yet receive not all things without proof and trial that they are not contrary to the wholesome doctrine of the Word of God." (Bishop Jewell).

Some men I know, refuse to believe this doctrine of private judgment - but I assert confidently that it is continually taught in the Word of God.

This is the principle laid down by the prophet Isaiah, "To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn." (Isaiah 8:20). His words were written, we should remember, at a time when God was more immediately King over His Church, and had more direct communication with it than He has now. They were written at a time when there were men upon earth who had express revelations from God.

Yet what does Isaiah say? "When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter - should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn!" If this is not private judgment, what is?

This again, is the principle laid down by our Lord Jesus Christ in the Sermon on the Mount. The Head of the Church says there, "Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. You shall know them by their fruit." (Matt. 7:15). How is it possible that men shall know these false prophets, except they exercise their private judgment as to what their fruits are?

This is the practice we find commended in the Bereans, in the Acts of the Apostles. They did not take the Apostle Paul's word for granted, when he came to preach to them. We are told, that they "searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so," and "therefore" it is said, "many of them believed." (Acts 17:11-12). What was this again but private judgment?

This is the spirit of the advice given in 1 Corinthians 10:15, "I speak as unto wise men - you judge what I say." And in Colossians 2:18, "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit." And in 1 John 4:1, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God." And in 2 John verse 10, "If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him."

If these passages do not recommend the use of private judgment, I do not know what words mean. To my mind, they seem to say to every individual Christian, "Prove all things!" Whatever men may say against private judgment, we may be sure it cannot be neglected without immense danger to the soul. We may not like it - but we never know what we may come to if we refuse to use it. No man can say into what depths of false doctrine we may be drawn, if we will not do what God requires of us, and "prove all things."

~J. C. Ryle~

(continued with # 3)