Leaving Beyond – Grounded In Scripture

Written by: April J. Buchanan

“We are to study, pray, and obey; God gives no secret knowledge to absolve our diligence.” ~ Richard Baxter

God has gifted Biblically qualified elders to proclaim His Word, but they do not have a special anointing that gives them access to secret knowledge withheld from you or me. They do not have new knowledge hidden from the church over the last two thousand years. God has gifted them to teach faithfully. He has not called them to bring new knowledge that would require us to trust whatever they say based on phrases like, “God told me” or “God gave me this word for us today.”

That God has been so gracious to gift the church with Biblically qualified elders who can teach and who are faithful to study and exposit His Word does not allow you or me to be lazy students of Scripture, nor can we leave discernment solely to others.

There are many false teachers as well. How can we know the difference? We must learn to study our Bible—faithfully, according to what the text says and means—so that we may rightly apply it to our lives. When anyone introduces a doctrine contrary to the text, we must be able to discern truth from lies, and even more so, truth from “almost truth.”

Friend, in a healthy church, there are Christians who have studied more and know more about the text than we do. If they are faithfully handling God’s Word, and it is evident in their life that they are being changed by it, we can learn from them.

But today, we don’t just learn from those in our local church. We now have access to many others who faithfully exposit God’s Word. Among them are wolves and false teachers. Again, we must be discerning—not by feelings or impressions. That is not discernment. We must be Biblically discerning.

When others are more knowledgeable of the text, we must be careful not to view them as having some “super-anointing.” Consider this: if God had given them a super-anointing with secret knowledge, how could we be held responsible for being deceived? If His Word is the sufficient and objective standard to which we are all held, then how could He hold us accountable if He had granted them secret knowledge? They don’t have it, though some love to convince the naive and gullible that they do.

We are responsible for studying our Bible so that we may not be deceived by others. We don’t get to be lazy, nor can we lay our responsibility on those who are faithful to study and exercise Biblical discernment. We can learn from them, but we cannot transfer our responsibility to them.

Open your Bible and study. If you feel like you will never grasp the text, and others seem to be talking past you, that is okay for a short time. But if, years or decades later, you remain at the same pace, could the problem not be them—but you? Have you decided you can’t understand, so you don’t try? Do you trust God to fulfill His promise to help you understand the text? If so, be faithful. He is faithful. Study! There will be a reward for your diligence. Keep studying. We cannot grow apart from the Word. You’d be surprised how many of those who seem to know the Word so well feel very inadequate themselves. The difference is they keep studying and do not allow doubts about their own ability to hinder them from obeying God.

Grace and Peace, y’all

Soli Deo Gloria

Written by: April J. Buchanan

 “The Christian is not above the law, but walks within it as one redeemed to honor God.” ~ Charles Spurgeon

The Christian thinks himself not above the law nor a victim when he is made to face consequences even for past sinful choices. That we are justified before God and being sanctified, does not lead the Christian to think that now whatever he has done prior to salvation that he can no longer be made to face the consequences. No!

Now, he understands more than ever that what he did was sinful before God and that he must face the consequences of his sinful (even criminal) acts. Now, he faces those consequences as it pleases the Lord. He submits to the law he once resisted and despised. He reveals the work of God in him by how he submits to the law and not as one in rebellion against it.

He does not pridefully act as though because he is a Christian that he is somehow above the law. No! He understands that he is not a victim of those enforcing the law, but he is guilty, and must still face the consequences of his crimes. He does not use his conversion as an excuse to evade consequences for his crimes.

Tragically, many who profess to be Christians behave with such pride that it brings reproach on the name of Christ. Though we have been justified in Christ, that does not mean we are no longer responsible for facing the consequences of criminal acts.

Sadly, some false teachers promise that if you accept Jesus in your heart that you can claim your crimes are removed. That’s a lie! While we may find Grace in the justice system, we are not guaranteed that as a result of new life in Christ.

We are not above the law—if anything, we have more reason to honor it: to glorify God and to well represent Christ. Many claim to have respect for the law and those who uphold it until they are made to submit to it.

Friend, when the Apostles wrote that we must obey the governing authorities, it was done so while under the rule of corrupt leaders. We obey such as it glorifies God unless the law leads us to disobey God and then we obey God—yet even then, we do so peacefully and to the glory of God.

Grace and Peace, y’all
Soli Deo Gloria

Written by: April J. Buchanan

“You cannot make anyone a Christian by your prayers or tears; only the Spirit can awaken faith.” ~ Charles Spurgeon

 “The duty of parents is to teach the Word and pray, leaving the conversion of the heart to God.” ~ Richard Baxter

“Parents may sow, but God alone gives the increase.” ~ Matthew Henry

We are not promised that our children will be saved. We cannot “claim them to the Lord”. God is not giving new revelation by which He promises that your children will be saved.

A heart that cannot accept the reality that we are commanded to raise them up in the truth and trust God with the results, will find comfort in false—even heretical—doctrines that promise what their hearts desire.

The mind is not informed by truth so that the heart delights in what pleases God and the will sanctified to the glory of God. No! The heart desires that God must promise what it wants and cannot accept the will of God if it is contrary to ones own desire. It corrupts God’s Word to promise what it desires.

Every Christian parent wants their child to be saved. Not every Christian parent trusts God with the results. Not every Christian parent goes to God’s Word seeking truth but rather seeking ‘a word’ that can be twisted to promise what they desire. Prayer becomes a means to claim what they desire. It’s not faith! It does not honor God. It perverts His Word, abuses prayer to become a means of claiming what one desires and commanding God to do what they desire. It turns one’s own ‘good works’ and ‘faithfulness’ into a means to manipulate God to do what they desire because of what they’ve done for Him.

It is painful for a Christian parent to see their adult children walk away from God. Either we trust God and we pray sincerely and passionately on behalf of our children according to the will of God, or we show ourselves enemies of God when He does not do what we believe He must do because He can.

Do we really love God or do we love Him so long as He does what we believe He must do?

Friend, if you think you can ‘claim anyone to faith’, you are deceived. You are not God! You do not have that kind of authority over someone else. If that were so, why would you not just claim everyone to faith in Christ? God ALONE is Sovereign over salvation. Either we trust Him and we find comfort in that so that our prayers are not futile or we don’t trust Him and we think we must take authority from God and do it ourselves.

Pray for your children no matter their age. God is still sovereign!

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Written by: April J. Buchanan

 “True religion is the sense of the heart’s dependence on God, and the vigorous exercise of holy affections in the pursuit of His glory.”  ~ Jonathan Edwards

Ladies, while we are not called by God to the pulpit, we are called to study our Bibles and to be discerning.

Sadly, many women have been deceived by their own hearts and led into disobedience to God by cowardly and Biblically ignorant men who have encouraged them to be pastors. In response to that error, another extreme has emerged. Some men—while seeking to “take back the pulpit”—behave like Pharisees. They would rather their wives get together to drink wine than to study God’s Word. They forbid them from gathering with other women to study God’s Word, pre-approve their reading material, and instruct them that they may only hear Scripture taught to them from their husband or pastor.

Like the very error they seek to oppose, they imitate it. They do not faithfully exposit God’s Word but read into the text their ideas and answers to real problems in the church. They become like what they hate. They use Biblical language but they pervert the meaning. They seek to answer real problems but they do not get their answers from a proper exegesis of the text. They study other materials that offer them power and give a pragmatic answer.

These men, on each extreme, are disobeying God, and misleading many women, their households, their churches and bringing reproach on the name of Christ.

Scripture makes it plain that women are NOT called to preach, no matter how strongly she feels “led” to do so. However, Scripture in no way forbids women to study our Bibles, to gather with other women to study together or only be allowed to read pre-approved material from one’s husband.

We are living among extremes. One seems to be a response to another and both are unbiblical and dangerous.

While no woman is ever Biblically qualified or called to be a pastor, we are not forbidden from faithful study of God’s Word or gathering with other women to study God’s Word. No passage of Scripture—rightly exposited—teaches or instructs this.

Men who love and care about the women in their churches and in their home and in their lives do not impose on them rules foreign to Scripture. Likewise, they do not abandon their responsibilities or encourage women to disobey God by doing what men should be.

And ladies, even if men abandon their responsibility in the pulpit this still does not give us the freedom to disobey God and step into the pulpit. We are not preachers! And that does not diminish the beauty of who God created us to be or our God-given roles that glorify Him.

The church needs men who will go into the Word of God and submit to what it says and means, leading the church and their households accordingly. The church has long been led by weak and cowardly men, who have abandoned their roles and responsibilities, encouraged women to disobey God and have so feminized the church that we now have a new problem. We have men who are taking back the pulpit but are doing so as goes beyond Scripture.

The church needs women who once again see the beauty in who God has created us to be for His glory and to honor Him in it. We do not need to be men or to assume the God-given role of men to be of value. We need to be women. And we need to submit to the Word of God according to its proper exegesis. We need other women who know their Bible, so that we may encourage one another in the truth of what it means to be a woman who loves God and honors Him.

The church must be careful of extremes. Only God’s Word—rightly exposited—will keep us from extremes and walking in the truth.

Grace and Peace, y’all
Soli Deo Gloria

Written by: April J. Buchanan

“God does not need our tongues to slay the wickedness of men; He needs our hearts to yield to His Word.” ~ Richard Baxter

We abuse Scriptures of threatening and warning when we violently thrust them into the heart of a man, rather than faithfully proclaim them and trust the Holy Spirit to work in his heart.

Restrain our hearts before we foolishly unleash our tongues to speak with unbridled passion, using God’s Word to inflict wounds for our own honor. Oh, what a sinful heart beats wild within.

The heart rests not until it finds satisfaction in justice. Wait upon the Lord—the saint wrestles against this wicked heart. Wait! Wait upon the Lord! That wicked traitor fights hard but oh what grace of God to the saint that he may overcome his own sinful heart. The truth can be a weapon wielded violently against another or it can be a weapon to destroy the wicked desire within.

Command our hearts according to God’s Word!

Grace and Peace, y’all
Soli Deo Gloria

Written by: April J. Buchanan

“A lie is never harmless; the smallest error is the seed of death for the soul and dishonor to God.” ~ Charles Spurgeon

“False doctrine creeps in subtly and may look like truth, but it robs God of His glory and enslaves men to delusion.” ~ Jonathan Edwards

Tackling error isn’t always as challenging as we think, but other times once you begin digging to expose error you find heresy hidden beneath and the threat is greater than you realized. It has so woven itself and entangled itself in every other area of doctrine that even what appears sound has been corrupted.

False doctrine gets as close to the truth as possible and holds many of the same theological tenants as Historical Christianity. It seeks to have its roots in the past though when we look more closely we can see where those before us recognized the evil and slayed these giants in their own age.

Lazy men have fell asleep during the battle and have ignored the warnings of those in our age warning that these giants have arisen once again—they are not new. They are the same old heresies just repackaged.

They take root in Genesis and develop their theology through the end of Revelation. They seek to rob God of His glory on every page and in every age.

Men boast of their courage, their faith, their humility, while they allow false doctrines to enter in without correction, rebuke or tearing down lies that threaten the sheep.

Not all false doctrines are built off isolated verses; many begin in Genesis and aim to rob God of His glory from the beginning to the end. Their theology runs counter to God, deifying man and demoting God.

It is no lazy man’s work to exhaust the pages of Scripture and test one’s own beloved beliefs. Those who care about the truth cannot be lazy but diligent to study the Word, be changed by it and test all things according to what the text says and means.

Grace and Peace, y’all
Soli Deo Gloria

Written by: April J. Buchanan

“True joy is not found in the satisfaction of our desires, but in the enjoyment of God Himself, who alone is our exceeding delight.” ~ Jonathan Edwards

“To look to ourselves for comfort is idolatry; to look to God is the cure for despair.” ~ R. C. Sproul

 “The soul that trusts in God finds joy in His sovereignty, peace in His providence, and hope that is never confounded.” ~ Richard Baxter

Some seek to unburden their hearts by sharing what they are going through with others but they find no hope, no joy—just those ready to tell them how great they are and how amazing they are. It gives no real comfort; it only adds to the burden. The truth is, we’re not the heroes in our own story, and while we may feel empowered from such conversations, they simply don’t last long til we realize how “not great” and “not amazing” we really are. These may be trying to help, but they just made us our own hero and god in our lives. We just don’t need that! We are not God!

Others run to “Christians” who comfort them much the same but now doing it in God’s name. They tell them to “remember who you are,” “you are made for more,” “you have authority over this,” “your words are powerful, so use your words to come against what is after you and bind satan and rebuke what is attacking you and speak life into your situation.” I mean, who needs God when they just gave them equal authority with God and they can speak and do what they so desire? They are now “like God”.

But then there are those Christians who listen, come alongside, and who remind you who God is. They don’t promise what they cannot promise to try to make you feel better—health, wealth, job promotion, family reconciliation, or whatever you desire. They remind you who God is: He is sovereign, and He is working all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. You don’t know how He is working it out but you know that while what you look at hurts and is not as you would like it to be—and though it appears out of control and hopeless— He is God and He is sovereign. To that Christian, that is enough, because He is enough. No matter what happens, He is enough, and we know that He is in control.

We have joy in our circumstances—good and bad—because we have God. It is not a pursuit of God to have what we desire so we may have joy. No! He is enough. No matter how things work out, He is our joy; He is enough.

We do not abandon prayer; rather, we are all the more encouraged to pray because He is sovereign, and we have certainty in the midst of what looks uncertain. God is Sovereign, and we can trust Him.

Grace and Peace, y’all
Soli Deo Gloria

Written by: April J. Buchanan

 “A wife’s submission is not her weakness, but her strength under the mighty hand of God.” ~ Charles Spurgeon

Rather than seeking to usurp her husband’s role and responsibilities, a godly wife submits to God in her role and prays for her husband, understanding that he will give an account to God for how he led—or didn’t lead—his household.

A man leaned over and jokingly teased the husband and wife saying, “Oh, I forgot; she’s the boss isn’t she?” She smiled and gently said, “Oh, no sir. God has made him to lead and I understand the weight of that responsibility. I don’t seek it; I support him in it.” The older gentleman smiled and agreed.

A godly wife knows she is different from culture and she is pressured to conform. But she knows the beauty of God’s order and she knows the sinfulness of her own heart. Her desires are being sanctified by the truth and the more she studies her Bible the more she sees the beauty and glory of God in all He has created and in His order.

The world speaks to her sinful heart and tells her she is oppressed and lumps her in with those who have taken the truth beyond its beauty and corrupted it by adding to it—Legalism.

She wants God’s will in her home. The more she studies the more her mind and heart are changed. She begins to love what she once hated and desire what she once disdained. Rather than desiring her husbands role and responsibility, she recognizes how she can be of support to him or by her pursuing what is not her role, she can make his burden heavier when he stands before the Lord to give an account.

Did he lead well? Did she make that easier for him or harder? Did she walk alongside him and help and encourage him to obey the Lord as she obeys the Lord? Did she adopt the lies of the present evil age and place stumbling blocks before him?

If he’s not saved, did she pray for him? While her role was harder, did she trust God and continue to obey Him or did she stand in the way of her own prayers by her woeful and willful disobedience? Did she trust God who is sovereign or did she brazenly seek to take authority even from God and try to save her husband herself with her words, her declarations, her perceived power?

It’s not easy being a godly woman in a culture that hates God and Biblical womanhood. But, it is easy when we are led by the Lord and trust Him, understanding that the culture is led by satan and his lies and sadly, many in the church as well.

Grace and Peace, y’all.
Soli Deo Gloria

Written by: April J. Buchanan

 “We are never so sure of our salvation as when we see the corruption of our own hearts and the need of Christ.” ~ Richard Baxter

It is not humility to say, “I wonder if I’m saved, look at what I’ve done.” Neither is it humility to say, “Today I am assured more than yesterday of my salvation because I’m doing pretty well.”

There’s a fatal flaw here. We are not saved by our good works and we do not lose our salvation because we have a “bad day”.

You may say, “But does the Scripture not say to examine ourselves? Does that not require then that we look at our lives and test to see if we are saved? How can we do that and not be discouraged one day and hopeful the next? What are we examining then, if not works?”

Great question!

You would perhaps agree that we are not saved by works. Right? How then do we examine ourselves and see if we are in the faith, apart from works? Where is there any encouragement in that? Won’t we find ourselves unworthy sinners and once again “need salvation”?

We examine ourselves to see if we are truly saved by evidence of the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in us. We are looking for fruit. We are testing to see if we have believed the truth or embraced a counterfeit. We are testing to see if we have adopted one of many forms of works-based righteousness or if we have truly been born again.

No truly born-again Christian ever examines himself and finds himself worthy of salvation. He never achieves such success. Upon examination, he may find what assaults his conscience and threatens his assurance but he is once again driven to Christ. He remembers Christ and he grieves how he has sinned against God. He repents and finds no hope in his good works but in Christ alone.

The Christian knows he is saved by grace alone and not that he has ever merited such Grace. We are not looking to see if we have paid off Grace. We are not looking to see if we have now earned our salvation. We are looking to see if we have truly been born again by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone. We are looking to see if there’s evidence of new life in us that assures us that God has saved us and He is working in us making us more like Him.

When we examine ourselves, we may be discouraged to see how we are not growing or maturing as quickly as we thought we would, or we may see remaining sin dwelling in us. The Christian does not see such an examination as a failure to maintain their own salvation, but sees the sacrifice of Christ on their behalf and repents of their sins.

We cannot earn, keep, or lose our salvation—it is a gift of God. We don’t earn it. We can’t keep it by our works. We can’t lose it because salvation is of God. We test ourselves to see if we are truly born again.

The man who looks at his works—good or bad—and says I am saved because I do good works or I am lost because I have sinned, is trusting in his works for salvation. The Christian examines himself to see if his faith is in Christ alone and when he sees in himself remaining sin, he cries out against his own heart, repents of his sin and trusts in Christ alone. He runs to Christ! The man with religion and a works-based righteousness will ever be in despair or pride.

The Christian’s trust is in Christ alone—Who He is and what He has done. We praise God for His grace that is sufficient. We weep over our sins that remain in us and we long for that future glorification when there will be no more sin, especially our own.

The moment we begin to look at our works and think we are good with God because of our works or we may lose our salvation because of our works, we are in danger and we MUST hear and remember the Gospel again!

It is not humility that says, “I think I am saved because I’m doing good,” or “I think I may lose my salvation because I’m not doing well.” That is to call God a liar and to say that what Jesus did on the Cross wasn’t enough.

The Christian hates his own sin more than any other sin. Examining oneself is painful. We see our sin for how putrid and wretched it is. We understand the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf. We boast not in our works. We remember Christ! We remember the Gospel. We repent of our sins and we trust in Christ alone. We are motivated to live godly lives and we are enabled to do so because of what Christ has done and by His ongoing work of grace in us by the Holy Spirit.

Our salvation is the result of the Triune God and for His glory alone.

Grace and Peace, y’all
Soli Deo Gloria

Written by: April J. Buchanan

“It is a fearful thing to ascribe to man that which belongs to God alone. Let the saints tremble at such blasphemy.” ~ John Owen

What if she was wrong?

She loved you. She spoke with such tenderness, and her very presence radiated with such peace and light that you just believed that what she said must be true.

When you were discouraged, her words were water that refreshed your thirsty soul. She spoke with such confidence that it stirred in you a confidence that you wanted to believe could be true even for you, though as much as she believed it, and as much as she believed it for you, you still struggled to believe it for yourself. You wanted it to be true, even if not for you, for her.

You began to survive off her words. She spoke “life” into you when you felt only death. She spoke hope in you when you felt only despair. You began to lean in to hear her speak words into you.

She seemed to have a direct line to God and heard Him speak to her with such regularity as no prophet in Scripture ever heard God. She spoke on behalf of God with such regularity that you’re convinced she prophesied even in her sleep.

She prophesied over you. She spoke life into you. She spoke declarations with such authority that you were convinced all of hell trembled at her words. She spoke with such authority that her words did not return void but went out to achieve and accomplish all they were sent to do. She was anointed such as she was extraordinary. She was no regular Christian. She was anointed with an anointing ordinary Christians stand in awe of. They flock to her and sit at her feet to hear from her and receive from her what they cannot get apart from her. She teaches them her ways so that they too can carry such an anointing, such power, such authority.

Friend, my heart is ravished within writing these words. There are so many who are so deceived by such evil teachings of Word-Faith, Prosperity Gospel and NAR that you and I “know her”! She’s the prayer group leader, the pastor’s wife, the Women’s Ministry director, the Sunday School teacher, the Bible Study teacher, the small group leader. She’s your aunt, mother, grandmother. She’s your neighbor, local business owner, missions trip organizer. Maybe, she’s you.

When she’s spoken of, she is placed at such prominence as only belongs to Jesus. When you hear of her, it is as you expect those words to be attributed to God alone, but they are spoken of her. The Holy Spirit, who it is said guides us in truth and does not speak of Himself but of Christ, is spoken of very much in regard to her and is always pointing to her—her words, her authority, her anointing.

Oh, does it grieve your heart to hear God so blasphemed? Attributes belonging only to God being ascribed to man.

How do we not tremble when those who are mere men are venerated as if they are in the place of Christ? How do we have no fear when mere man dares speak words on behalf of God that He has not spoken?

We have one Lord, one Savior. We need no other. No need to apply.

As influential as she is, if she is deceived, then you are in danger. Follow not her ways. Call her to repent. If she does not, do not be led astray by what has deceived her.

Seek truth. Desire truth. Test all things according to sound doctrine. Stand firm.

Grace and Peace, y’all
Soli Deo Gloria