Radix Fidem doctrine: The key issue is personal loyalty to Christ. What you may or may not know about Him, and what you believe about the Bible and its contents, will not send you to Heaven or Hell. This is not a question of what’s in your head, but what’s in your heart.
The Holy Spirit leads and empowers; He enlightens you — not to facts, but to moral truth. Facts and mundane intellectual truth are not His language. Yes, this is a real conflict, not mere rhetoric. The whole issue of getting the facts straight, as a primary concern, arises from our fallen natures. The inherent demand of the flesh is to pull divine revelation down to a level where it can be challenged by mere human reasoning.
No, you don’t leave your reason and common sense at the door when you enter the Covenant. You take it to the Cross and nail it up. Reason and common sense must be ruled by the Spirit.
We could say that the full issue of divine revelation is summed up in feudal submission to the Creator, and to the utter necessity of committing oneself to His glory. That is the sole point of revelation. Yes, if you can get that right, the rest we can work on later. The gateway is not what you know, but whom you serve.
Satan can spew orthodoxy without conviction and make it a lie. Orthodox thoughts and ideas are within his grasp; they are part of his domain. Divine moral character is out of his reach. Salvation is a relationship with our Creator and Lord, not a matter of having correct information.
Just as a parent can be patient with their own children’s fantasies, God will lead us to a functional knowledge of Him. There is no such thing as objective propositional truth. The underlying assumption from the mists of the ancient past has always been that we humans could not consciously know ultimate truth on our level, only that we were held responsible for our personal commitment.
This is what will carry you through the tribulation. Your orthodoxy and biblical knowledge can help keep your faith on track, but they cannot give you the strength of commitment you must have to face persecution and sorrow. What’s in your head will not save you, only what’s in your heart.
