FEB 16

Revelation 20:1-6
Memorise 1 Corinthians 14:29
“…prove all things, hold fast that which is good…”

There can be some confusion over whether true Bible-Presbyterian (B-P) churches hold to the Premillennial or Amillennial position. This is because, in general, the Premillennial position is normally held by the Dispensationalists which the B-P church is not. As we recall, the B-P church holds to Covenant Theology. Yet the B-P church believes in the Premillennial position. In short, the B-P church’s stand seems inconsistent. Most who hold to Covenant theology believe in the Amillennial position. John Calvin himself was an Amillennialist. However, it is interesting to note that Calvin did not write a commentary on the Book of Revelation. His inability to do so was most likely because he could not reconcile his Amillennial beliefs with the plain word of God in that book. His correct method of interpreting the Bible must have made him doubt the Amillennial stand, but unfortunately, he did not correct this position before his death.

So is the B-P stand inconsistent? It is not. In establishing the stand of any church, the founding fathers must remember that these systems of doctrines are ultimately written by man and as such are always subject to the possibility of error. The B-P fathers did not follow Calvin blindly. They evaluated his doctrines carefully and where they agreed they adopted, where they disagreed they rejected, all with God’s Word as their basis. The true B-P churches take the stand of being Covenantal yet Premillennial.

This is putting into practice 1 John 4:1 where we are commanded to “… believe not every spirit, but try the spirits…”. In our study of doctrines, we must remember one important thing, man’s doctrines are not to be taken as equivalent or equal to God’s Word. God’s Word is infallible but man’s doctrines are not. However, the study of doctrines is still important and beneficial because there are many doctrines written by man that remain correct and therefore very helpful for us. Often, God’s Word contains many difficult to understand ideas. What these men have done is to make these hard to understand ideas easier to understand. Good doctrines help us understand God’s Word and God better. Continue to study doctrines, but always check and test them against God’s Word.

Thought: God has chosen some men to write doctrines for our benefit.
Prayer: Lord, help me always to treat Your Word with the highest regard.