In This Issue

• AUTHORITY FROM NECESSARY INFERENCE

• “SPECIAL MUSIC”

• THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE UNASHAMED

• MORE INFORMATION...

AUTHORITY FROM NECESSARY INFERENCE

“Can necessary inference be established as a scriptural means of determining authority from the New Testament, or is it a long-standing tradition?” This question was posed by a brother who seems willing to recognize authority derived from commands and approved examples, but has difficulty seeing necessary inference as legitimate.

While I will agree that determining authority by way of necessary inference is “trickier,” and should be approached with great care, I believe it is legitimate. I believe it is more than simply long-standing tradition as I will show.

First, we need to make sure we understand the word “inference.” To “infer” is “to derive as a conclusion from facts or premises” (Meriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary). Therefore: infer = judge, conclude, perceive.

Unlike the words “command” and “example,” this word is not used in scripture, which may be why our brother is suspicious of it as a means of authority. However, “conclude,” “perceive” and “judge,” synonyms of the word, can be found in scripture.

Within the definition, the dictionary advises, “see imply.” That is because an inference can never stand alone. There must be an implication in order for there to be a necessary inference. There can be no necessary inference unless it is based on information from statements, commands, approved examples, or some combination thereof.

In order for an inference to be authoritative, it must be a NECESSARY conclusion. There are many POSSIBLE inferences we might make based on sketchy information, but unless we can determine that the Holy Spirit has implied something, we cannot draw a NECESSARY inference. When one draws a conclusion without an implication he is merely surmising.

Let me cite three approved apostolic examples of the use of necessary inference:

Notice that when the time came for the gospel to be preached to the Gentiles that God never directly told Peter that salvation was available to the uncircumcised. Instead, He gave him a vision, sent messengers to where he was staying and sent the Holy Spirit upon Cornelius and his household so that they spoke in tongues.

From these events Peter was able to PERCEIVE the truth that men of “every nation” could be accepted if they would work righteousness, (Acts 10:34-35). That was the only conclusion he could reach from what God had revealed. That’s a necessary inference.

The apostle Paul was able to CONCLUDE that God is the God of the Gentiles as well as the Jews (Rom. 3:28ff). His conclusion was based on Abraham being justified by faith apart from the Law, Rom. 4:1-3.

Perhaps the clearest example of the use of a necessary inference is provided by James during the debate over circumcision. In this situation we have the apostles recognizing the use of a STATEMENT, and EXAMPLE, and a NECESSARY INFERENCE all in one context. In establishing authority for conversion of the uncircumcised, Peter makes a STATEMENT that God “chose” that “the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe” (Acts 15:7); Paul and Barnabas then cited an EXAMPLE of God working signs, among the uncircumcised Gentiles (Acts 15:12); and finally James draws the NECESSARY INFERENCE by saying, “Therefore, I JUDGE that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God” (Acts 15:19).

So, to answer our brother’s question, Yes! Necessary inference has been established as a scriptural means of determining authority from the New Testament. It is not merely tradition.

–Al Diestelkamp, Think on These Things, Spring, 2004

“SPECIAL MUSIC”

The phrase “special music” is used to describe choirs, quartets, trios, duets, and solos in worship services. Webster says that the opposite of “special” is “ordinary.” However, it was a divine order that started what is ordinary, congregational singing. And we find no divine order modifying or supplementing congregational singing.

According to the divine order, all of the singers are also the listeners (“yourselves,” “one another”) which fact eliminates special music: “speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and plucking the strings of your heart to the Lord” (Eph. 5:19)… “teaching and admonishing one another, in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God” (Col. 3:16).

The divine order is stated again in the book of Hebrews, but it does not say:’ “By him therefore let a choir or a quartet or a trio or a duet or a soloist offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is the fruit of lips, confessing his name,” but the divine order is an exhortation to a whole congregation, or to individual Christians everywhere, omitting, not one, “us.”

“By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of the lips, confessing his name” (Heb. 13:15).

Special music changes worshipers into two classes, performers and spectators. Special music changes the auditorium into a theater. According to a professor of music in Westmont College, Dr. Gerald Bouma, special music is three things:

“1. A congregation of worshipers is changed into an audience.

“2. The music is reduced to entertainment offered to the congregation, not by it, and the singers become performers, and the audience is moved to clap their hands.

“3. The pressure to have such music is from people, not from God” (apud. Charles Hodge, Keynoter, 9/1/1994, page 3).

Special music introduces a very real danger. In a small Pennsylvania town handbills were distributed inviting people to a protracted meeting at the church of Christ. A lady telephoned the local preacher, saying she was a soloist at the Lutheran Church, and that she would be glad to sing for the “revival” at the Church of Christ. The preacher told her that only congregational singing was practiced, but that she would be welcome to be part of the audience. She never attended. Did she want to worship or to show off her beautiful voice?

From one standpoint, the divine order makes the entire congregation of worshipers a choir, a choir that includes the spiritual presence of Jesus’ singing both to His fellow choir members (“I will proclaim your name to my brothers”) and to God (“I will sing hymns of praise to you in the midst of the congregation” (Heb. 2:12).

Jesus, spiritually present in every worship service, singing both to His brothers (Rom. 8:29; Heb. 2:12) and to the Father (Heb. 2:12), conforms to the divine order given to all Christians to “speak to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” and to sing “to the Lord… plucking the strings of your heart” (Eph. 5:19), and “teaching and admonishing one another, in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God” (Col. 3:16).

Thrilling is the thought that when Christians teach “one another, in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,” that Jesus is spiritually present doing the same thing, and when Christians sing “with grace in their hearts to God,” Jesus is spiritually present doing the same thing! 

-Hugo McCord, Vigil, Vol. 33, Number 1

THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE UNASHAMED

I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The die has been cast. The decision has been made. I have stepped over the line. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, or back away.

My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I’m finished and done with low living, sight walking, and small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk with patience, live by prayer, and labor with power.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my Guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed.

I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won’t give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and spoken up, for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops me. 

And when He comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My banner is clear: I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed. 

–author unknown via Stonegate Standard

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