Volume 1,
No. 1 Maret 2023 p-ISSN XXXX |
e-ISSN XXXX Volume 3,
No. 1 January 2025 p-ISSN 3032-3037
| e-ISSN 3031-5786
THE SPIRIT OF REFORMATION: THE
FINALITY OF BIBLICAL TRUTH AS AN EDUCATOR'S CHALLENGE IN TEACHING CHRISTIAN
EDUCATION
Universitas Kristen Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia
Email: juaniva.sidharta@uki.ac.id
Abstract
The spirit of reformation reminds
us of the struggle and sacrifice of reformers in restoring the truth of the
Holy Bible, which is believed to be God's revelation to humans, and the source,
basis and standard of the highest truth, namely the finality of truth regarding
all aspects of the lives of believers. The role of educators is one of the
important figures in living out the spirit of reformation, especially in the
teachings of Sola Scriptura (the Scripture as the sole infallible source
of truth), Sola Gratia (salvation is God's grace), Sola Fide
(saved through faith alone), Solus Christus (Christ alone, emphasising
that Jesus Christ is the sole Mediator between God and man), and Soli Deo
Gloria (glory to God alone). The spirit of reformation in the purification
of the Middle Ages teachings by reformers is a serious challenge for Christian
Education (CE) today. The CE academics must return to the initial state of the
spirit of reformation in order to maintain the
faith of the church and the people in the Bible-based teachings as the source
of truth.
Keywords: Spirit of Reformation, Finality of
Biblical Truth, Christian Education
Introduction
One of the main keys to
success in life and service lies in the role of the educators; they are responsible
for maintaining the spirit in teaching and educating so that they are
consistent with the Bible as was done by reformers, such as Martin Luther, John
Calvin and others.
God’s servants are individuals
who are called by God to serve Him. God speaks continuously about the truth
from the Old Testament, New Testament, the Apostles era, the theologians in all
centuries, until today, even forever. Paul the Apostle said that God first
appointed apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, then different
functionaries and supporting ministries in the church (1 Cor. 12:28). (Peters,
2002) Similarly, he wrote to the Ephesian church: And He gave the apostles, the
prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for
the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Ep. 4:11-12). God
touches certain people, calls them out and uses them in His own work in a
specific way. They have been uniquely touched by God and set apart and given to
the church. In approximately three and a half years of Jesus Christ's ministry,
He was known as a prophet, Son of God, Lord, friend, and a good shepherd. Jesus
always brought the Gospel in promotive ways to souls who needed the truth. And
He Himself is the model for all promotion of the Gospel or truth in the context
of His ministry. Jesus is the main spirit of reformation because through Him,
His teachings, words, and actions several things were reformed in His time. This
is the case with today's servants of God who are also “reformers” who must
always possess the spirit of teaching Bible as an absolute and final truth,
because a true teaching will influence the health and growth of His servants,
the congregation, and non-believers.
Research Methods
Research
on the discussion of “The Spirit of Reformation: The Finality of Biblical Truth
as an Educator’s Challenge in Teaching Christian Education” was carried out by
collecting data or information from various sources such as books, journals,
writings from the internet, and others which were then analysed and outlined in
this article. We hope that the readers, especially God’s servants, may be able
to understand and apply the principles of life and teachings outlined in this
article. It may also be used as material or reference in their daily life and
service.
Results and Discussion
The Spirit of
Reformation
Reformation Day is celebrated every
October 31, a day that reminds Protestant Christians of the events of Dr.
Martin Luther reformed the church by posting 95 theses on the front door of the
Wittenberg church, Germany on October 31, 1517. These 95 theses contained Dr.
Luther's protest. Luther recognized the errors of practices that deviated from
the Bible carried out by the Roman Catholic church at that time. The main
points of Luther's teachings can be summarized into 4 points, namely: Sola
Scriptura (the Scripture as the sole infallible source of truth), Sola
Gratia (salvation is God's grace), Sola Fide (saved through faith
alone), and Soli Deo Gloria (glory to God alone). These four-teaching
points stem from the first point, Sola Scriptura, which can also signify
the Bible as the finality of truth.
Luther's spirit for reforming the
church was not the spirit of dividing the church or establishing a new church,
but he had the desire for God's church to return to the Bible as the only
source of truth. This spirit was carried on by Dr. John Calvin, Huldrych
Zwingli, Dr. Theodore Beza, etc. until now. Unfortunately, the original spirit
of Reformation has faded and cannot be continued consistently, because God's
servants, who are supposed to be influenced by Reformed theology, no longer
uphold the authority of the Bible, but rather turn to humanism, atheism,
liberalism, secularism, and others. It is not surprising, in this era of
postmodernism or the digital era, God's servants have begun to compromise their
Christian faith by teaching that apart from the Lord Jesus Christ there is
still salvation and falling into an attitude of pluralism (in every religion
there is a salvable truth). This is characterised by the proliferation of
inter-religious dialogues (without a basis in truth) to seek common ground among
all religions by ignoring the finality of religious truth or the Bible in order
to achieve false agreement and peace. In fact, especially for the sake of
popularity and reputation, certain God’s servants become “artists” or
“entertainers”, with the motivation to make their sermons or teachings
entertaining, pleasant to listen to, funny, without caring about the basics of
Biblical teachings. For example, the characteristics of sermons that are
entertaining or without a Biblical basis today are:
1.
Sermons only contain illustrations and life experiences, but no longer
God’s Words.
2.
Sermons are tailored to the necessity of the congregation, but not God's
necessity, or in accordance with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
3.
Sermons only contain recent popular issues.
4.
Sermons are held using academical language without paying attention to
the ability of the congregation's understanding.
5.
Sermons are solely preached with the servants’ knowledge and areas of
expertise, without discussing God's Words.
6.
Sermons on prosperity theology, matters that highlight physical
blessings.
At the moment, interfaith teachings
and discussions are so easily accessible, accepted, and absorbed by all groups.
This is a very serious danger to the life and teachings of God's servants,
therefore they need to really pay attention to their Calling, theology,
teachings and life at this time, because what they do could be the “poison”
that will kill the faith of the believers. Moreover, now it is supported by
advances in the era of postmodernism and Information and Communication
Technology (Lumintang,
2010). The term “ICT” emerged
after the combination of computer and communications technology in the mid-20th
century. The combination of these two technologies developed rapidly beyond
other technological fields until the beginning of the 21st century.
The sophistication of communication
and technological facilities have certainly become an unstoppable means of
conveying information among the public, and what dangerous is information in
the form of teachings that are not based on God’s Words. Therefore, God's
servants must be observant and sensitive to the current situation, because His
servants not only inherit the Reformed tradition, but must also understand and
live the spirit of the Reformation, which returns to the Bible as absolute
truth. God's servants must return to studying and embodying the Reformed spirit
and teachings, namely returning to the finality of Biblical truth. The Bible as
the final truth has power because it is the Word of God. The Bible is
infallible and absolute. There is no power that can improve the Bible (Soedarma,
1996). Therefore, the Holy
Bible must become a norm for God's servants, in terms of direct normative
nature and indirect normative nature. Only the Bible itself, not the church, is the highest norm of faith and
teachings (Vanhoozer,
2005).
Belief in the finality of Biblical
truth must become the highest “power” and become the standard norm of life for
believers. Irving L. Jensen quotes Wilbur M. Smith's words that “the Bible must
have a primary and regular place in our lives every day because we realise that
we absolutely need it, so whatever disturbance we experience or whatever
reaction to Bible study, we will persist in doing it because we know that we
need it.” Other powers such as the church and even humans are not allowed as
standards of truth, but only the finality of Biblical truth. The finality of
Biblical truth is the only thing that must be the benchmark for the entire life
and calling of God’s servants, so that they are able to continue to walk in the
original spirit of reformation that the reformers have fought for.
Rejection of the
Finality of Biblical Truth
In the world of theology, we know
the term “Dark Ages”. In these Ages, Roman Scholastic theology came to power,
humanism and anthropology theology has dominated the European world and reduced
human values and potential. These were the Ages where human thoughts and
abilities were “suppressed”, therefore there was no significant progress in
human civilisation. In that era, the church, and the pastors stood as the determiner
of truth, not the Bible. Their truth was a humanistic truth because the truth
was determined based on human thought, not based on the finality of Biblical
truth. Indulgences became a very popular issue at that time because
the papacy ordered believers to buy "penance letters" in order for
their sins would be forgiven. This is a teaching that had “ridiculed” the
authority and finality of the Bible. Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross was
considered a human figment, a fairy story, and a human invention which was then
replaced by the power and authority of the Roman Catholic clergies.
Apart from the era of Roman Scholastic theology, the
influence of Liberalism was also faced by the world of Christianity. Liberal
theologians are “theologians” who no longer believe the Bible to be God’s
Words, instead they built their truth based on human thoughts.
Rudolf Bultmann, a Liberal
theologian, was born in 1884 in Wiefelstede near Oldenburg in West Germany. He
studied theology at the universities of Tubingen, Berlin and Marburg, Bereslau
and Geesen, but the greater part of his academic career was spent as professor
of New Testament at Marburg. Bultmann was more of a New Testament scholar than
a theologian. In essence he was perhaps the greatest New Testament scholar of
the 20th century. He was certainly the most influential. His earliest superior
work is History of the Synoptic Tradition (1921). There, in studying the Bible,
he used a literary form research or form criticism approach (Lane,
1986).
Bultmann's use of form criticism
and demythologising has influenced the history of Christian thought regarding
the finality of Biblical truth. Due to his thinking, people doubt the Bible as
the final truth. The pre-supposition of form criticism is that the Bible cannot
be accepted as a reliable record of the life and teachings of Christ and his
apostles. In the language of contemporary critics who adhere to form criticism,
“the work of form criticism aims to show that the news about Jesus given to us
in the Synoptics is, for the most part, not authentic, but has been created by
the faith of early Christian society on various levels.” For Bultmann, the
Bible is not the revealed word of God.
Bultmann viewed the Bible as a
human invention or fairy story created by the disciples of Jesus Christ, or the
early church. The Bible was not seen as the inspired word of God, or in other
words, "the Holy Spirit worked in the minds of the people who wrote the
Bible so that their minds were opened, and they could write down God's truths
accurately" (Hannah).
Apart from Liberal theologians, the
Bible also faced attacks from Neo-Orthodox views, and one of these figures was
Karl Bart. He stated that the Bible contains the God’s Words but not all of
them. Then, the Bible only contains the testimony of Christ, but the Bible is
not truly the words of Christ. He believed that God speaks to a person
mystically when that person reads His Words. According to his understanding,
the Bible can only become God's Words for its readers (Crampton,
2000).
This was the state of theology in
the 18th century, where theologians emphasized the immanence of God so much
that they ignored God's infinite nature, for example, as Stevri I Lumintang
said:
“Secular theology is increasingly
having a greater influence on Christianity, increasingly sharpening the
struggle between rationalism and religion, including science and faith. Secular
theology requires the church to serve and give primary attention to the secular
world based on the concept of an immanent God and
rejects the concept of a transcendental God. This is the same as the view that
permeates phantom theologians, who see the world as a god.” (Pentury
& Lumintang, 2022).
Why does secular theology only
focus on an immanent God? Because secular theologians no longer teach the word
of God or teach the concept of God based on the finality of Biblical truth. God
in the Bible is beyond human reason and thought. He is a God who cannot be
understood by human logic, but because of His love, He is willing to incarnate
as a human so that he can be known by limited, sinful humans. This is what is
called the immanence of God. God who is transcendent and immanent is in the
words of King Solomon “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven
and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have
built!” (1 Kings 8:27). Even the heavens above the heavens cannot contain Him,
yet He is willing to dwell in the temple that Solomon built on earth, among
men. This is the finality of Biblical truth, God who is unlimited but who
limits Himself so that humans can know it.
Postmodernist theologians also have
teachings that deviate far from the teachings of the Bible as the finality of
truth. Jacques Derrida was one of the influential figures in the era of
postmodernism. In the science of Biblical interpretation, his thinking was
strongly influenced by the methodology of deconstruction philosophy.
Deconstruction is referred by Derrida to shake, overturn, and tear apart the
grammar of a sentence in order to find a new meaning for the corresponding
sentence (Lumintang,
2010).
Derrida taught that the truth of
the Bible must be in accordance with human thought and exploration, and even
dismissed all the original texts of the Bible, and built new truths based on
human discoveries and expertise. This means that extracting and translating the
Bible is no longer based on the guidance and help of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, it is very possible to issue misleading and deviating
interpretations that were far from the finality of the truth of the Bible
itself. If the interpretation of the Bible was based on human thoughts, then
what being taught clearly would not be the truth of the Bible.
Even though the thoughts of the
Roman Catholic Church and modernist theologians of their time doubted the
finality of Biblical truth, Christian history is proud of God's love and grace
which has determined, chosen, and ordained His servants for His glory. Although
he had studied and struggled with the world of the Augustinian monks of Erfurt,
held a Doctorate in theology and a Bible professor in Wittenberg, Martin
Luther’s heart remained unsettled because he could not find an answer to his
increasing struggle whether it was possible to reconcile the demands of God's
law with sinful human incompetence. In accordance with His will, the reformer
Luther encountered the true Gospel in the study of Romans (Romans 1:16-17).
Using the Bible as a foundation for his theology and teaching, is what enabled
Luther to remain faithful to God.
When tried repeatedly by the top
officials of the Roman papal church, who branded him a heretic and worthy of
the death penalty, and forced him to renounce his doctrines and books, Luther
did not flinch and said, “I am bound by the Bible” (Foxe,
n.d.).
Martin Luther's belief in the finality of Biblical truth
made him stand and adhere to the Bible. His faith, commitment, and attitude
should be an example for the teachings of God’s servants today.
Finality of Biblical
Truth
The Bible was written over a very long period of time,
covering approximately 1500 years. The Bible was written by approximately 40
authors from different backgrounds and times, including: Moses - an
Egyptian-trained legal expert; Ezra – a scholar of the Scriptures; Amos – a
farmer, Jeremiah – a descendant of priests; Matthew – a tax collector; Luke – a
doctor; John and Peter – fishermen; Paul – a scribe and a Pharisee. However,
the Bible remains united because its writers were inspired by God Himself. Therefore,
the Bible is the God’s own Words (Purnomo, David, Lie, 2003). The Bible must first be linked to the concept of God's
revelation. Revelation means an opening or disclosure of something hidden so
that it can be seen and recognised. The Bible is inspired by God. Inspiration
comes from Latin, namely inspiro and inspiratio. The technical term for the
Bible is: revelation, inspiration, or inspired by God. The Bible is the revelation that God revealed to His
people, and this truth about Jesus Christ can only be known through the
testimony of the Bible. The incarnate Word is known only through the written
Word. Jesus Christ Himself said, “it is they (the Scriptures) that bear witness
about me” (John 5:39-40). Therefore, the Bible is a record of God's revelation
to humans, which specifically brings humans to salvation in Jesus Christ (2
Tim. 3:15). The main function of the Bible is to bear
witness to Christ (Stott,
1982).
The Bible may only be called the finality of truth if the
books in the Bible are able to meet the following requirements for Biblical
canonization (Manafe):
1.
Apostolic nature. The book had to be written by an Apostle or someone
close to an Apostle.
2. Spiritual nature. The
book must be of the highest spiritual and moral nature, and focus on the Person
and work of Christ.
3. Universal nature. The
book must be accepted by the church as a whole.
4. Inspiration. The book
must provide clear evidence that it was inspired by the Holy Spirit.
5.
The book must be authoritative, whether it can be determined that its
origin comes from the hand of God or not.
Principles of the Bible
a.
Absolute. It means that the Bible is infinite, complete, unconditional, beyond doubt,
and real (Sugono,
2017). The Bible relies on itself to be
trustworthy in itself (autopistos), and it is the main norm for the church and
theologians.
b.
Objective. The Bible as God's Words must be objective. Objective is an
actual situation without being influenced by personal opinions or views (Salim,
1996). The Bible is the
truth, and its truth is objective because the Bible testifies about itself.
c.
Theocentric. “Theos” means God and “centric” means centre. Theology must be
theocentric. “The central theme of theology is not about the creation of God,
humans, angels, the church, salvation, even about heaven but about the Triune
God who is sovereign over all of His creation.” (Lumintang, 2006)
d.
Supranatural. Religions are closely related to supernatural things, including
Christianity. Supernatural means “unseen; miraculous (cannot be explained by
common sense).” (Moeliono,
1993)
e.
Only by Faith. Faith is the basis of everything we hope for and the
evidence of everything we do not see (Heb. 11:1). There are several things in
the Bible that are supernatural, beyond human capacity for reasons, so
unbelievers often place the Bible as their “enemy”. Unfortunately, even
Christians often doubt the Bible. Nevertheless, it is believed to be God’s
Words, which can only be accepted by faith.
Characteristics of the
Bible
a.
The Bible
is infallible, meaning it has no potential or possibility of being
wrong. The Bible is infallible because it comes from an infallible God, a
perfect God.
b.
The Bible is an absolute necessity. It is absolute and perfect.
The Bible is the source of all books and all words that provide knowledge about
God and His will.
c.
The Bible is a powerful Authority. The authority of the Bible
certainly continues from the previous nature of the Bible, namely absolute.
Just as the absoluteness of the Bible comes from God who speaks, so the
authority of the Bible lies in the highest and final source of authority, namely
God.
d.
The Bible is self-sufficient. The self-sufficient Holy Spirit
always illuminates the Bible to the congregation in
order for them not to look for revelation outside the Bible (Soedarma).
e.
The Bible is clear and easy to understand (Perspicuous). But that
does not mean that everything written in the Holy Scriptures is clear in
itself.
f.
The Bible is able to produce the intended purpose (Efficacious).
The nature of the Bible to achieve its intended purpose is also contained in
theopneusti, because the Holy Bible was revealed by God, so it certainly
achieves its purpose.
g.
The Bible is United. It is a unity of the Old Testament and the
New Testament written by God the Holy Spirit through the authors of the books.
Arguments for the
Finality of Biblical Truth
Having confidence in the finality
of Biblical truth is an extraordinary gift, which is entrusted by God to His
believers, because the Bible is God's wealth entrusted to humans. Moreover, the
Bible has unlimited power; It has a self-dependent authority, but its believers
should always be prepared to be held accountable for their belief in the
finality of the Bible's truth.
a.
Philosophical Argument. The authority of the Bible depends
on and originates from the authority of God. There is no Bible without God; no
human can read the Bible without the existence of God who preceded everything
that was created (the aspect of God's eternity)
b.
Bibliological Argument. The bibliological presupposition
is that God's existence precedes the Bible. Belief in the existence of God
precedes belief in the Bible, without it people would not read the Bible.
Belief in the Bible leads people to the true God and confirm their belief in
Him.
c.
Biblical Argument. One of the most important doctrines
of the Bible is that the Bible itself is the God’s Words. Statements such as
“God said,” and “The Word of God,” occur hundreds, if not thousands, of times
in the Bible.
d.
Theological Argument. The Bible is God's final revelation
to humans, with God's own intention, namely introducing Himself to humans and
with the aim of having fellowship with humans, specifically the path of
salvation that has been provided by God in His Son, Jesus Christ.
e.
Historical Argument. The true Bible must consist of
historical (archaeological) remains that are in accordance with what is stated
in the Bible. These remains strongly support the believers' beliefs in the
truth of the Bible. Many writings contain historical reports in proving the
Bible's truth, such as archaeological findings that confirm the reliability and
accountability of the Bible's contents.
The Bible is the finality of truth
because it has principles, characteristics, and theological arguments that
cannot be doubted or denied. The Bible is the truly living Word of God.
Christian Education (CE)
and the Purity of the Teachings of God's Servants
According to Warner C. Graedorf, CE
is “a Bible-based, Christ-centred, Holy Spirit-dependent teaching and learning
process that guides individuals at all levels of growth through contemporary
teaching toward the knowledge and experience of God's plan and will, through
Christ, in every aspect of life, and equipping them for effective ministry,
centred on Christ the Great Teacher Himself (Peters,
1981). CE means a teaching and learning process that is
centred only on the Bible, Christ, and depends on the Holy Spirit. It can be
inferred that if a servant's teaching or sermon has begun to deviate from the
finality of Biblical truth, then it has shifted from the purest CE goals.
Pastors or servants of God in all
their Callings and ministries are implementers of CE. Therefore, it is
necessary for them to pay attention that their CE or teachings should adhere to
the following things:
Teaching the Bible as
God's Words
CE is about teaching God’s Words in
order for the believers to have guidance in their lives and in the end, they
may experience changes in their life (2 Tim. 3:16). In 2 Timothy 3:10, Paul used the Greek word
“didaskalia” (did-as-kal-ee'-ah), which is translated into English as
"teaching". The word "teaching" comes from the word
"didaskalos" which means "teacher", while in the new
translation, this word means "to teach." The teaching of God's
servants in the process of CE must solely come from the Bible and faith in
Jesus Christ, which is also the basis of the teachings laid down by Paul.
People can experience a
personal encounter with Christ
The highest goal of CE is to bring
people to experience Christ. Through the teachings of God's servants, people
encounter God and ultimately experience a transformed life because of hearing
God's Words (Romans 10:17). This can happen if someone hears the preaching of
the Word from a servant of God who truly experienced a personal encounter with
God. It may also happen through books or articles written by God's servants. If
a person has a sufficient understanding from the preached sermons and books
written by true servants of God, then they may personally discover the truth
from reading the Bible more abundantly. A personal encounter with Christ causes
the restoration of relationships between humans and God, as well as between
humans.
John Calvin saw the goal of
Christian Education as educating all congregation so that they would be
involved in intelligent Bible Studies as guided by the Holy Spirit, taught to
take part in worship services and equipped to realise their devotion to Jesus
Christ in their daily lives, and live responsibly under God's sovereignty, for
the glory of His name as a symbol of thanksgiving for those who are chosen in
Jesus Christ. People who have experienced an encounter with Christ should be
able to dedicate their lives to Christ, live a life full of responsibility and
always be grateful. Teachings that emphasise Christ and bring people to a
personal experience with Him must be the attention of God's servants. Teachings
that centre on the truth of the Bible and Christ as the ultimate finality of
truth.
Guiding Christians to
live under the leadership of the Holy Spirit
A servant of God must teach
Christians how to live under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, who is the third
Person of the Triune God in the Bible. According to Calvin, Christian education
is the process of fertilising the minds of believers with God’s Words under the
guidance of the Holy Spirit through several learning experiences carried out by
the church, so that sustainable spiritual growth may be deeply ingrained and
lived through self-devotion to Jesus Christ, in the form of affection towards
one another. These are the following guidance on how live under the leadership
of the Holy Spirit:
1.
Possess the desire to be led by the Holy Spirit. The desire in question
is a very deep feeling of hunger and thirst to be led by the Holy Spirit.
2.
Be willing and ready to do what God says.
3.
Look up to God's Word.
4.
Ask the Holy Spirit to be the only guide in life.
5.
Listen to God's response or answer.
6.
Have a gentle heart to always be guided by the Holy Spirit.
Teaching Christians to
Evangelise for Christ.
If Christians live according to the
correct teachings, experience a personal encounter with Christ, and live under
the guidance of the Holy Spirit, then their spirituality will greatly influence
their lifestyle, that is, they will evangelise about Christ to others. Christians
must have a lifestyle that is different from this world, namely a lifestyle
that is in accordance with Biblical standards as the finality of truth, among
them is a lifestyle that evangelise about Christ. A person's personal encounter
with God restored their life and encouraged them to evangelise about it for
others, with the aim of others experiencing the same thing and they may know
who God really is, which cause them to also evangelise about Him. Apart from
being CE educators, God's servants must also teach Christians to live as
witnesses for Christ. This is the greatest mission of Jesus, who came to our
world so that everyone knows and believes that He, as the highest and the final
truth, is the only way to salvation that sanctifies all sinful humans who want
to believe in Him (John 14:6).
Becoming a Good Servant
of God.
“Servant of God” means a servant of
Christ, and a servant of His must be loyal to Him and heed His teachings and be
faithful until the end. G. Sudarmanto wrote 10 principles regarding the
faithful servants in the “Parable of the Talents” (Indonesian: Perumpamaan Talenta) (Dami,
Purwanto, Sudarmanto, & Wulandari, 2020), as follows:
1.
A servant belongs to their master; therefore, the master has the right
to call upon their servant (verse 14). This ownership confirms the full
authority of the master over their servant and the status of the servant who is
legally owned and under the full authority of the master. There is no reason
for a servant to be disloyal to their master.
2.
A Servant is given trust by their masters (verse 14). Only those with a
“servant” status are given trust. This is the proof of a master's appreciation
for their servant. Therefore, a servant is valuable in the eyes of their
master.
3.
A servant is trusted to receive their master's assets/responsibilities
(verse 14). Assets are something valuable. The master's assets are very
valuable and deserve their utmost care.
4.
A servant accepts responsibility according to their ability (verse 15).
A wise master gives responsibility according to his servant's abilities.
5.
A servant is given the opportunity by his master (verse 15). This means
that there is an opportunity for the servant to maintain their master's assets.
6.
A servant must be creative with their master's assets (verses 16-18).
This belief requires an active and positive creativity from the servant in order to effectively maintain the assets.
7.
A servant must be accountable for their master's trust (verses 19-20,
and 24-25). Sooner or later the master will come back and demand accountability
from their servant. This will determine the servant’s fate.
8.
A servant is judged by their master (verses 21, 23, and 26). Their
accountability will be assessed by their master.
9.
A good and faithful servant receives gifts from their master (verses 21
and 23).
10. An evil and lazy servant
receives punishment from their master (verses 24-25).
Conclusion
Based on the discussion
of “The Spirit of Reformation: The Finality of Biblical Truth as an Educator’s
Challenge in Teaching Christian Education”, it can be concluded that the duties
and responsibilities of a servant of God as part of implementing CE are very
tough. Therefore, God's servants must try to self-reflect in their life of
service and teachings, because God's servants are those who were Called and
chosen by God with all the great gifts and responsibilities, namely teaching
the truth to the world to other humans, especially Christians. Ironically, the
Bible, as the sole source of truth and teachings, has experienced oppression by
institutions, people who call themselves “believers”, namely the Roman clergies
and atheistic, humanist theologians of the dark ages and modern times. Even
today, there are still several “theologians" who doubt and do not believe
in the finality of the truth of the Bible.
May the servants of God
appreciate the struggle of the reformers and always be self-reflective in their
teachings so that they do not get caught up in teachings and ways of life that
demean the Bible, which is the truth. His servants fulfil the noble task of
being faithful to the Lord (Jesus, the Great Master) and to the teachings based
and sourced from the Bible so that people's lives always glorify God.
Therefore, it shall be the fruit of the labours of His faithful and obedient
servants.
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[and] Wrytinges Certificatorie, as Wel of the Parties Them Selues that
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56–60. Atlantis Press.
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Church Growth. Zondervan.
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Copyright holder: Juaniva Sidharta (2025) |
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First publication right: Advances in Social Humanities Research |
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