Why We Do What We Do

March 9, 2026 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. 

Charles Spurgeon said, “The resurrection of Christ is the cornerstone of the glorious temple of truth, the keystone of the arch of revelation.” 

What we believe about the resurrection gives meaning and purpose to everything else. The resurrection is the defining Truth. In 2 Timothy 2:19 we read two important truths about this foundation: (1) God knows those who truly know Him, and (2) Those who really know Him must unabashedly stand for the Truth. 

(Check out all of the Scriptures in this post by clicking here.) 

Words are powerful, they are creative. At the very beginning of Time, God said, “Light” and light existed (Genesis 1:1-3). God’s Word is still creating today (Hebrews 4:12). There are words we need to let go, and there is the Word for which we must stand without wavering or backing down. 

In 1 Timothy 1:3-7, Paul essentially says we have two choices: Do we want to promote controversy or do we want to promote God’s work? We have to learn to distinguish what is biblical and what is not. 

  • Biblical things—God’s Word clearly tells us “Yes” (2 Timothy 3:14-17) 
  • Unbiblical things—God’s Word clearly tells us “No” (like: do not murder, do not commit adultery, etc.)  

These two are fairly straightforward. As Dr. Donald Stamps wrote, “The Church has the responsibility to safeguard the true and original apostolic doctrines found in Scripture and commit it to others without compromise or corruption.” 

What is harder to sort out is:

  • Extra-biblical things—something in addition to or outside of God’s Word 
  • Non-biblical things—something not specifically addressed in God’s Word 

Passages like 1 Timothy 4:1-7 and 2 Timothy 2:14-19 help us sort out biblical and non-biblical things. 

Are extra-biblical things wrong? Not necessarily. Paul quoted poets, and even uses an extra-biblical example of Jannes and Jambres [who] opposed Moses (3:8). 

Are non-biblical things wrong? Not necessarily. But both extra-biblical and non-biblical things can become wrong when we give these things biblical status (Mark 7:9). 

“Church” and “Christian” can completely lose their biblical meaning if we allow unbiblical, extra-biblical, or non-biblical ideas to define them. We must stand firm on God’s Word to give biblical meaning to everything we say and do. 

Jesus said, “I will build MY Church.” He’s going to build it His way, not our way. We don’t want to fight the Architect, but neither do we want to fight the erring saint or the scoffing skeptic (2 Timothy 2:22-26). 

Let me give you four applications for this: 

  1. Do get into God’s Word everyday. 
  2. Don’t define the words but let God define His own words. 
  3. Do gently challenge those saints who are getting caught up in non-biblical or extra-biblical things. 
  4. Don’t quarrel with those who are living an unbiblical lifestyle (Colossians 4:5; Jude 1:22). 

You can find all of the other messages in this series called “I will build My Church” by clicking here. 

You may also be interested in these posts and videos: 

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Revelation Or Speculation

April 23, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

In answering questions that have been submitted for The Q Series, I noticed a recurring trend: How much of our “conventional thought” in church circles is not revelation, but speculation.

Yesterday I had some tough questions on Heaven, Hell, suicide, our resurrected bodies, the after-life, and so on. In answering these questions, I used many passages from the Bible, but I also quoted from Charles Spurgeon, Charles Dickens, and C.S. Lewis. There’s nothing wrong, per se, with quoting from extra-biblical sources, but we have to be very careful what we do with those.

I once heard renowned evangelist C.M. Ward say something like this:

“The Word of God is completely good; you can devour all of it. But reading anything else is like eating chicken. There is some meat that’s good, and there are some bones, and gristle, and fat that you should spit out. Be very careful of what you take in, unless it is the pure Word of God.”

The Bible reveals so much for our lives, and we put ourselves in a place God can bless us when we are obedient to the revelation of His Word. But we put ourselves on shaky ground when we live by speculation of what we think may be truth.

The Apostle Peter said it this way:

For no prophecy ever originated because some man willed it [to do so — it never came by human impulse], but men spoke from God who were borne along (moved and impelled) by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21 AMP)

So whether you are looking for an answer yourself—or you are asking someone for an answer—make sure you are getting revelation from God’s Word, and not the speculation of man’s opinion.

Check out other questions in our Q Series by clicking here.

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