“TETELESTAI” (A REVIEW)
The book
with the above name has been passed out on the campus of the
This type of
thinking leads to subjectivism;
people begin to imagine that the Holy Spirit is telling them all sorts of
things. These “instructions” may involve
what daily decisions to make, to whom to speak about Jesus, or life-altering
matters—such as where to live, whom to marry, what career to pursue, etc.
The author, Dr.
Joe White, lives in
For the fortunate ones who…completed
their debt to the court, a guard would inscribe the word “tetelestai” (paid in
full) across this certificate of debt. As the person was set free the clay
tablet would hang around his neck and accompany him wherever he would travel as
proof of his freedom (13).
The point, of
course, is that Jesus paid in full our debt on the
cross. The author, however, does not
specify how people today can take advantage of that sacrifice—until much later
in the book as part of a devotional section titled “Understanding God’s Salvation.” In these pages there is not one word about repentance
or baptism, which is an interesting omission, considering the author’s
familiarity with the day of Pentecost. The
book of Acts is filled with stories of con-version, but Dr. White does not
mention them.
Ironically, he teaches people to pray by
first ex-pressing adoration, then by confessing their sins to Him,
followed by voicing their thanksgiving for the good
things they receive, and capped off by a time of supplication—making
requests of God. For these items he uses
the acronym of ACTS. How strange, then,
that he does not use a single verse from Acts when discussing salvation! Although Acts contains several accounts of
conversion in the New Testament, he referenced none of them; they are
conspicuous by their absence.
So what are
college students who read this book going to be taught? He presents what he calls the “Old Testament
Viewpoint” and cites Genesis 15:1-6, in which God promises Abraham he shall
have an heir from his own body. God has
him count the stars in the heavens and says that Abraham’s descendants would be
just as numerous. “Then he believed in
the LORD, and He reckoned it to him as righteousness” (86).
The problem is
that the quotation of this text implies that Abraham just believed and he was
saved, although the text has nothing to do with salvation whatsoever—the word
not even being mentioned. Abraham already
had a relationship with God. God had
called him out of
New Testament Viewpoint
As this
“Understanding God’s Salvation” section moves to the New Testament, Dr. White
quotes from Ephesians 2:8-9 and Romans 10:9-11, 17. The first of these emphasizes God’s grace in
the process of salvation. The second
centers on the importance of believing and confessing Christ. That is as far as the lesson in salvation
goes: grace, faith, and confession.
The questions
that follow these texts begin with: “1) How does one obtain salvation (eternal
life) ac-cording to God’s Word?” Dr.
White has not provided enough information to answer that question. He has not said a word here about
repentance. Jesus said: “…unless you
repent you shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3). Repentance is an essential in order to be
saved. Nor has he mentioned
baptism. Jesus said: “He who believes
and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned”
(Mark
So why are these
not mentioned? On the day of Pentecost
Peter preached for the first time publicly after the death, burial,
resurrection, and ascension of Christ into heaven. Having presented powerful evidence that
proved that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, he was asked by the crowd what
they should do (Acts
Peter told them:
“Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for
the remission of sins….” (Acts
A person must
wonder, “Have people like Dr. White never read the book of Acts?” Surely such an alternative is
unthinkable. When he quotes from so many
parts of the Bible, he surely must have at some time read Acts. Then why does he fail to cite even one
instance of conversion? The only other
answer is that he knows what it says, but he has rejected the part that
repentance and baptism have in salvation.
If they are involved, then it is impossible to preach “faith only.” Dr. White writes: “Our salvation comes when
we give our total heart to Jesus and His Spirit comes into and takes control of
our life” (87). No one in the entire
book of Acts ever became a Christian in such a manner. And he knows it!
The Holy Spirit
Since Dr. White
enjoys discussing the Holy Spirit, let us consider briefly his theology. He quotes John 14:16 but does not provide the
context. In fact, all of the verses he
cites from the New Testament are from the conversation Jesus had with His 11
faithful apostles on the night He was betrayed and taken prisoner. Much of what He said applied only to the
apostles and not to all of us. Consider
two of these verses:
“And I will pray the Father, and He
will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you for-ever—the Spirit of
truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows
Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you” (John
14:16-17).
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring
to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26).
“However, when He the Spirit of
truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak of His
own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things
to come” (John 16:13).
Jesus had helped
the twelve; now there would be another Helper—the Holy Spirit. Jesus is not in this verse promising the Holy
Spirit to all believers; other passages do that: Here He is promising help to
His apostles to carry out their work.
The Holy Spirit will remind them of what Jesus said to them. He will guide them into all truth. Obviously, these do not apply to all but only
to the eleven present with Him. We did
not hear Jesus speak for three years.
How can the Holy Spirit remind us of things we never heard?
The only way to
apply these Scriptures to us is to say that, when we read the Word of God, the
Holy Spirit will remind us of those things when we need them. In that case, we should only have to read the
Words of Jesus once. After that, we
ought never have to look up a passage of Scripture to see what it says. Yet who would affirm such? If we cannot do so, then it is wrong to apply
the Lord’s words in this way.
Likewise, does
the Holy Spirit guide us into all truth? Or did He not rather guide the apostles
into all truth (2 Peter 1:3)? If Jesus
means us (the way Dr. White thinks), then truth becomes
subjective—what we feel—rather than objective, what the Bible says. Question number 4 asks: “When have you
experienced His ‘com-fort’?” (84). Dr.
White makes religion experiential.
How unfortunate
it is that many of the efforts being put forth to teach young people involve
subjective experience rather than objective truth! How sad that “faith only” is probably the
message to which they will find the most exposure! Do we not owe it to them, brethren, to find a
way to get the truth into their hands and minds?
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