Knowing the person instead of the work

by Mark McCulley

Before you know a person,
there is a person to be known

and that person did a work
before you know about that work

and before you know if that work was for you,
you must know and agree with the doctrine
of what He did

the knowing does not precede the person.
nor the work the person who did the work,
but if you don't know what the person did,
you know neither the person nor if that person
did anything for you

commitment to the imperative
to know the person
cannot come before we know the indicative

what is because of what He did
and surely we need never
be doing or knowing
OTHER than by what He did
to tell us who He is

or to tell us who we are
and if we are the children of Abraham

Abraham knew what Christ had to do
knew that Christ and not Abraham
had to obtain a righteousness
Abraham's faith was unto the righteousness
his faith was not unto his own knowing and doing

the evidence of election
is submission to the doctrine of righteousness
obtained by Christ and imputed

the test of the exodus out of the camp
is not our testimony that
"we know the person"

because we do not know the same person
Arminians know

we are not called to a tragic imperative
"to know the person" without knowing which person
not called to de--
emphasize doctrinal identity

the glory of God in history
means that the sheep don't follow the wrong
person taught in the wrong doctrine

i still want to know,
how did a nice man like Jesus
get himself killed
without causing offense
if it wasn't his doctrine?

he seemed so nice in every other way
so why can't we just talk about Him
in our hearts now
why do we have to talk so much
that terrible death?

yes, it's fact He died
but there are many possible explanations
of that fact,
doctrines to bring us down and divide

so let's just not talk now
about the politics of
those who hated His doctrine
so much they wanted Him dead

that was a long time ago
and now the person is in all our hearts

and now there is so much immorality
let's just worry about
Jesus being king of our morality
before we get so worried about
Him being king of our doctrine
what is the difference between
emotions and reasons?
between knowing and doctrine?

right doctrine is not sufficient
for right practice
but without right doctrine
there can be no right practice
(yes I know what Romans 2 says:
if they did some things right,
did that save them?)

faith in the person of Christ
knows the doctrine of Christ
WHICH KNOWLEDGE CAUSES US TO REPENT
of worshipping the god
we used to worship
with the assembly
we used to belonged to

we repent of doctrine
and then of the false assembly

but you say you merely assemble
around a person
love a person
you don't have doctrines

and that other un-named man
is just being intellectual,
doctrinally picky
on the other hand, you
give reasons
why your doctrines are not doctrines
why your practices are alive
and why you thank god you are not
like that doctrine person

with great emotions
AND great reasons
Jesus the person in Gethsemane
faced the Father's silence
with great tears

not just who I am
not just I was born
I came for a reason
to satisfy Our demand
for righteousness

tears agony
based on
Christ's doctrine
that there will be no justifying
which is not just

Aloysha, at the end of Brothers Karamazov:
"Certainly we shall all rise again,
and see each other and tell
each other with gladness
all that has happened."

to examine the reasons for joy
is to think about the doctrines
to praise God that God's
justice and law entitles
the elect
and causes them to
judge by doctrine:
Christ and Him crucified