There is a school of philosophy that takes God’s word as the first principle and then deduces its system. It rejects false methods of discovery such as intuition, sensation, and irrational processes and starting points. This approach is correct. In fact, it is the only correct approach. However, the followers of this philosophy often fail to truly hold God’s word as the first principle and deduce their conclusions from it. Their first principle is often their own philosophical theories about God’s word, rather than God’s word itself.
For this reason, most of them are cessationists. They would claim that knowledge comes only from God’s word, so that prophecies and revelations are ruled out, even though God’s word promises and commands us to receive prophecies and revelations. If God’s word is their starting point, their foundation, their ultimate authority, then they would heal the sick and cast out demons. But they do not. This is evidence that their first principle is not God’s word, but like their opponents, their first principle consists of their own assumptions about the world.
Another example is their denial of self-knowledge, that one can know himself. Since knowledge comes from deduction from Scripture, since the deduction cannot accept premises from outside of Scripture, and since it seems one cannot find explicit information about himself in Scripture, it follows that one cannot deduce knowledge about himself from Scripture, and therefore one cannot know himself. It is often applied even to the assurance of salvation. This is not a nuanced explanation, and members of this camp might express themselves differently, but the point is that they are skeptical of the possibility of self-knowledge.
The followers of this philosophy almost always refer to Jeremiah 17:9. It says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (KJV). This application of the verse is a devastating error. The first rule of biblical interpretation is to observe the context. God had decreed a foreign invasion against his people because of their wickedness. Instead of returning to God in repentance and obedience, they relied on their idols, their armies and weapons, and their alliances. So God said by Jeremiah, “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD” (17:5).
It is in such a context that verse 9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” The verse is more about knowing others than knowing yourself. If you trust in other people, you will be disappointed, because the human heart is deceitful and wicked. But if you trust in the Lord, you will be established (v. 7-8). Perhaps it is still possible to challenge self-knowledge with it, but this is not the intention of the verse. To overlook the proper meaning of the verse in order to use the verse to maintain a philosophy that claims to regard biblical revelation as the first principle is both ironic and hypocritical.
The usual first rule of biblical interpretation is to observe the context, but it is not my first rule. Christians often neglect to inspect the verses that they are using to prove their points, so that they are refuted even before the context is taken into account. Thus my first rule of hermeneutics is, “READ THE WORDS.” Just read the thing before you throw it at people. What does verse 9 say? “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” This cannot be a description of a Christian. This cannot be a reborn spirit. The believer has been regenerated in the image of Christ. He is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). The love of God has been poured out in his heart by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). He has been transformed and enhanced at the deepest level. Is he “deceitful above all things”? Is he “desperately wicked”? No. If he is, then he is still a non-Christian.
To apply a verse like this to everyone, including the Christian, even relative to his assurance of salvation, betrays a reprobate mindset. Except for the teachings of Jesus and the apostles, and except for some among the charismatic groups that are often criticized for teaching a gospel of faith, or self-improvement, or of health and wealth, this reprobate mindset is almost universal in church history and theology. It is a worldview that portrays Christ as having made almost no difference in the Christian. It is a religion that represents the Christian as still a sinner, beggar, weakling, sick, poor, and almost dead. It is a false humility that makes a mockery of the work of the Holy Spirit.
God said, “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33). They will not be “deceitful above all things.” God said, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws” (Ezekiel 36:26-27). They will not be “desperately wicked.”
The Bible says I am the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). The Bible says God has commanded his light to shine in my heart (2 Corinthians 4:6). The Bible says that I am the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19). The Bible says I am more than a conqueror through him who loved me and gave himself for me (Romans 8:37). The Bible says that I have overcome, because greater is he who is in me than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4). The Christian religion is a worldview of righteousness and victory. I was deceitful above all things, but now I worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24). I was desperately wicked, but now I have been born of God, and God’s seed remains in me, and I cannot go on sinning, because I have been born of God (1 John 3:9).
If the Bible is truly your first principle, then this is what you would deduce from it. Or do you pay lip service to the “Bible” as a sound or a symbol, but regard what it says as rubbish? The reprobate mindset belongs to the unbeliever. It churns out a grotesque gospel. If you think like a reprobate, then you must be an unbeliever. If you are a Christian, then you must admit that I am correct about this. Now renew your mind (Romans 12:2).
Much of evangelical preaching gives voice to Satan the accuser. It claims to emphasize repentance, contrary to a false gospel that merely affirms the unbelievers in their sin. However, if you preach repentance according to the gospel, you would also preach the results that follow from this repentance. This is not a repentance that leads to more condemnation, more self-abasement, and more groveling. One who truly repents and turns to Christ receives forgiveness, cleansing, righteousness, and the confidence to march straight to the throne of grace to obtain grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16). The Bible says that if the blood of animals had been effective, then the worshipers would have had no more consciousness of sin (Hebrews 10:2). However, much of evangelical preaching represents the Christian message as one that demands and continues the consciousness of sin. It follows that it is a false gospel that portrays the blood of Christ as no better than the blood of animals. It has no right to complain about a lenient and affirming gospel, when it only caters to another kind of itching ears — the itching ears of religious masochism. It claims to restore the gospel, but it attempts to silence the gospel.
This is the gospel of Jesus Christ: “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:19-22). This is what I have. I have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place. I draw near to God with a sincere heart. I have full assurance of faith. I have been cleansed from a guilty conscience. I am a son of God (John 1:12). I am a co-heir with Christ (Romans 8:17). I am a royal priest of the Most High (Revelation 1:6). I am not deceitful above all things. I am not desperately wicked. The Prodigal Son received the father’s embrace and welcome. He received the best robe, a ring, and sandals on his feet (Luke 15:20, 22). This is but a faint hint of what I have received through Jesus Christ. The Father embraced and welcomed me. The Father washed and clothed me. I have received God’s abundant provision of grace and gift of righteousness. Now I reign in life by that one man, Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17).
This is the basic gospel. How come evangelicals do not speak like this more, or ever? How come those self-righteous theologians and nitpicking philosophers do not teach like this? The Bible speaks like this. If the Bible is our first principle, then we would think like this, preach like this, talk like this, all the time. But even when Christians are forced to deal with these things when they come across them in Scripture, they go right back to talking like reprobates a minute later. Then they blast people for preaching a gospel that acknowledges the promises of God and the effects of the gospel. Why? A reprobate mindset. A reprobate gospel. A reprobate theology. Desperately wicked, indeed.
To make deductions about yourself, you will need premises about yourself. The Bible also covers this. Paul wrote, “For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:11). We derive two points from this. First, this means that a man can know his own thoughts. Thus he can supply premises into biblical deductions about himself. At this point, it is sufficient to note that this is possible. How one evaluates his own thoughts is a separate issue. Second, a man knows only his own thoughts, and not other people’s thoughts. The followers of this philosophy that denies self-knowledge tripped up themselves because they failed to make this simple distinction between private and public knowledge.
They are usually debating believers about theories in philosophy and methods in apologetics, and occasionally debating unbelievers about the Christian faith, which is what these theories and methods should be used for in the first place. Almost all of this entails arguments about the correct public worldview, regardless of what a person knows or thinks in his own mind. We have a public first principle, and to others we make public deductions with public conclusions. But when we make deductions about ourselves on the basis of this same first principle, we supply premises that are private, that we cannot show to the public or prove to the public, even if we know that they are true. But this is irrelevant in most debates, since most debates concern public issues.
That is, in a debate about atheism, I would care about whether you can prove to me that atheism is correct, but I would not care if you can prove to me that you are an atheist. Do you know that you are an atheist? Maybe, maybe not, but that is not the crux of the debate. The same is true in Christian ministry. I can publicly argue for the Christian faith and preach the gospel. I can publicly defeat anyone who opposes the faith. On the other hand, there is no need to prove that I am a Christian to the public in the same way that I declare that the Christian faith is true to the public. When I preach the gospel, I am not preaching that I am a Christian, but I am preaching that you should be a Christian. Of course, I can still make some arguments to show that I am a Christian using public premises stated in Scripture, but other people will not know me as I know myself.
The Bible says that I know my own thoughts, and this would be especially true because I am a Christian. What I know about myself is not public, and therefore it is not used as a basis to prove something in a public debate. A private premise is not shared or examined, but I can use it as a premise in my own reasoning, in making deductions about myself. If someone denies self-knowledge to himself, he cannot deny it to me, since the Bible says I have it. If one declares God’s word as his first principle but cannot accommodate what this first principle declares, then he is a liar. He has some other first principle, and this first principle cannot accommodate God’s word. He has allowed his personal agenda to supplant the gospel agenda. He purports to defend the gospel, but his very defense is an attack on the gospel, a rejection of the gospel. His pet agenda twists his mind, so that he almost gloats that he cannot obtain self-knowledge. This is insanity. It is bad philosophy, and worse theology.
The most important kind of self-knowledge is guaranteed in Christ. You can know yourself, and know yourself as a child of God. The Bible says, “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” (Romans 8:15-16).
Our usual epistemological challenges against man’s attempts to derive knowledge do not apply. The text addresses the issue from the standpoint of metaphysics, not epistemology, and it says this is something that God does. It is not something that man discovers, but something that God performs. It is not only something that God communicates, but something that God causes, and something that God causes you to do, and something that God causes you to BE. The text says nothing about any attempt or method by man to discover that he is a child of God. There is no issue with epistemology. You get a Spirit of sonship. You call him “Father” by the Spirit. It does not say you learn it. It says you do it. Then it says that the Spirit does something — he testifies with your spirit that you are a child of God. He testifies. It does not say that you request to know. It does not say you attempt to find out. It does not even say that you listen or receive. It says he testifies. He does it.
God addresses this on the level of metaphysics, and bulldozes over every problem in epistemology. There is no categorical error, as if we pose an issue in one category and receive an answer from another category. Every theory of epistemology must have a theory of metaphysics to go along with it in the first place, and this text satisfies both categories at the same time. It says that God does something so that we would be something, get something, or know something. There is no process or method of discovery. In another place, the Bible says, “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father'” (Galatians 4:6). This is even more clear in a way. God sent his Spirit into our hearts. The Spirit calls out, ”Father.” I know as a matter of being, not by a process of learning. I know that I am a child of God by an act of God’s metaphysical power. It bypasses every problem in epistemology, because there is no room for it. This self-knowledge, this assurance of salvation, is not only guaranteed, but it is unavoidable.
If you have believed in Jesus Christ, then this knowledge belongs to you. If you do not have this assurance, then by all means work out the problem with the word of God. The worst thing that you can do is to deny that it is possible, or to adjust the gospel doctrine to accommodate your philosophy. Shake off the reprobate mindset that enslaves almost all Christians. Look! If we have confidence before God, then we will perform exploits in his name. “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us” (1 John 3:21-24). What does it say? “And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”