A Faith Once for All Delivered to the Saints

E. Stanley Jones was a missionary, a theologian, and a prolific writer. In his devotional book titled In Christ he shows how our orthodoxy can sometimes become a trap. We need to remember that God's Word is not written in stone anymore but on the fleshly tablets of our hearts (2 Cor. 3:3):

"There is a truth in the conception that Christianity is a faith 'once for all delivered to the saints.' The Incarnation has to be 'once for all,' and for all men. It could not be repeated. Every attempt to produce another Christ has ended in failure--and disaster to those who have followed the so-called 'Christs.' After a long line of prophets and teachers He sent His Son 'last of all.' So the Incarnation is 'once for all.'

"Jesus provided for a continuing unfoldment of the meaning of that Incarnation. 'I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. . . . He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.' (John 16:12-14.) Here Jesus provided for a fixed revelation--the Holy Spirit would refer to Jesus--yet it was an unfolding revelation--the Holy Spirit would continuously unfold the meaning of Jesus. So it was fixed and yet unfolding--static and dynamic.

"The trouble with 'the faith once for all delivered to the saints' interpreters is that they contend that their interpretation is 'the faith once for all delivered to the saints.' They confound the Incarnation with their interpretation of it. They have the Incarnation neatly tied up in a package of statements about it and they contend for the package. They feel they have caught the Word in a web of their words. But Jesus may have stepped out beyond the web of their words long ago. The Word is always bigger than our words. Paul calls Jesus the 'unspeakable gift'--you can't speak Him completely. In the end you have to kneel in adoration at the Wonder of the Word.

"You commend this Word to the astonished gaze as the Word unfolds before us and will forever unfold. We will never fathom its depths or reach its heights. It has a surprise in it eternally."