More on Experiences

Interestingly enough, after yesterday's blog entry, I was reading a book today that touched on some similar sentiments. So, I thought I'd share a couple of quotes (this is from Keep in Step with the Spirit by J.I. Packer):

Experience is a slippery word, and experiences coming to imperfectly sanctified sinners cannot but have dross mixed with their gold. No experience just by happening can authenticate itself as sent by God to further His work of grace. The mere fact that a Christian has an experience does not make it a Christian experience.

By the way, dross means waste or impure material (and yes I admit I did have to look that one up on Dictionary.com).

Can God use experiences to teach us lessons? Sure. But, the problem comes in when I assume that every experience I have should be accepted as from God and to then base my theology on these experiences. Instead, we are to test experiences (and for that matter all else) against Scripture and allow God's revealed Word to be our ultimate measuring stick.

-JRO