Some public recognition of sound doctrine was already presupposed in the church prior to 65 AD. That maturity and ability is also set forth as a pre-requisite for Elders (1 Tim. 3:9). Officers of Christ’s church cannot fulfill this mandate if doctrine is not fixed, set, and recognized.

David Hall, ed., The Practice of Confessional Subscription, Loc. 124.

Many of us learn the hard way that the most damning laws and standards are those unwritten ones. The Pharisees, ancient and modern, are masters of using the unwritten standards to club the uninitiated into a coma. An explicit, biblical confession, on the other hand, does not subject the believing community to these secret laws; instead, it liberates us from self-standards and also makes the church open to all under the same standards. Thus a solid confession cleanses from disease and bolsters the immune system with a salutary unity.

David Hall, ed., The Practice of Confessional Subscription, Loc. 112.

[T]he believers were also devoted “to prayer” (Acts 2:24). . . . Prayer signified the community’s dependence upon God for maintaining their life together in truth and love.

Thomas R. Schreiner, Handbook on Acts and Paul’s Letters, 16.

Mercifully, the resurrection of Jesus wasn’t followed by immediate judgment for those who condemned him, but forgiveness was offered to those who turned from evil (Acts 3:26).

Thomas R. Schreiner, Handbook on Acts and Paul’s Letters, 14.

Two words stand out for the growth of the church: increase (auxano) and multiply (plethyno) . . . [Acts 6:7; 12:24; 19:29]. We see these two words, increase and multiply, in the LXX creation account where God says to the human race: “Be fruitful [auxanesthe] and multiply [plethynesthe]” (Gen. 1:28 ESV). The creation mandate is being fulfilled in a distinctive manner in the gospel. Human beings were created to rule the world for God, and the rule over the world is restored through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Thomas R. Schreiner, Handbook on Acts and Paul’s Letters, 5-6.

Calvinistic philosophy views the created order as an extra-mental reality that man encounters in the pursuit of knowledge. This objective referent for knowledge is revelatory in character and gets both its being and its meaning from its place in the plan of God. God created man’s mind as a fit instrument to gain knowledge of the created order. Thus, the mind enables man to come into fruitful contact with God, himself, others, and the world. Man is a revelatory being who lives in a revelatory environment to learn revelatory truth.

Living for God’s Glory, Loc. 2076.

The great Scottish preacher Ebenezer Erskine (1680-1754) once visited a woman on her deathbed and lovingly tested her readiness for heaven. When she assured him that she was ready to depart to be with Christ because she was in that hand from which no one could pluck her, Erskine asked, “But are you not afraid that you will slip through His fingers in the end?”

“That is impossible because of what you have always told us,” she said.

“And what is that?” he asked.

“That we are united to Him, and so we are part of His body. I cannot slip through His fingers because I am one of His fingers. Besides, Christ has paid too high of a price for my redemption to leave me in Satan’s hand. If I were to be lost, He would lose more than I; I would lose my salvation, but He would lose His glory, because one of His sheep would be lost.”

Joel R. Beeke, Living for God’s Glory, Loc. 1597.

But we also wait with expectancy for the coming of the Lord (“until he comes,” 1 Cor 11:26), for the awaking of the great dawn when the fullness of God’s glory will be so manifest on the earth that “all flesh shall see it together” (Isa 40:5) and acknowledge that “every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:10–11, RSV; cf. also 1 Pet 5:8). Let us join with ancient suppliants in praying that God will rise up in glory over the heavens and the earth. As with the speaker in Ps 57, we can hardly wait to start the celebration. Indeed, we are already singing.

MARVIN TATE, PSALMS 51-100, VOLUME 20 (WORD BIBLICAL COMMENTARY), 81.

The formulaic expression “heavens and earth” seems to carry both the idea of the bipolar nature of creation and its oneness. The interaction of these two fundamentally different realms of creation is reflected in Ps 57. Earth is the living space for human beings, and heaven is the living space for God, the locus of his heavenly temple and throne (see Pss 11:4; 18:7) and of his cosmic dominion. However, God moves into the realm of earth and manifests his glorious presence, especially through his acts of salvation. His temple or sanctuary on earth is an extension of the heavenly realm. God’s presence and will on earth are contested and distorted, especially through those human actions which are reflected so vividly in the psalms of lament. But in the heavenly realm, his will is supreme (see Ps 82; Matt 2:6; 3:2). God’s created order may be threatened, especially by the wicked and violent actions of human beings (see Jer 4:19–22). Therefore it was appropriate for the Israelite worshiper to pray that the glory of God be “over all the earth”; i.e., that he would actualize his will and authority throughout the living space of humanity: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

MARVIN TATE, PSALMS 51-100, VOLUME 20 (WORD BIBLICAL COMMENTARY), 81.

A rather legalistic Christian once criticized another Christian’s testimony, saying: “I appreciated all you said about what God did for you. But you didn’t mention anything about your part in it.”

“Oh yes,” the other Christian said. “I apologize for that. I really should have said that my part was running away, and His part was running after me until He caught me.”

Joel R. Beeke, Living for God’s Glory, Loc. 1508.