Hermeneutics: Authority

Accurate Hermeneutics: Interpreting the Bible Correctly (Part 4)

Jesus was asked, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” (Matt. 21:23), a legitimate question even if it was asked with illegitimate motives.  It’s a legitimate question because God himself tells us to have authority from Christ in everything we do and say (Col. 3:17).  Thus, the concept of biblical authority is very important to having a proper hermeneutic of Scripture.  Authority is a major foundational precept of Christianity, for without it we have no basis for anything we believe, teach, or practice in our individual lives and in the church.

Hermeneutics involves understanding authority.

Hermeneutics involves understanding authority.

Think about it.  Look at prayer, for instance.  Prayer is a basic fundamental trait of Christianity.  We all know that Christians pray…but how do we know who to pray to, or what to pray for, or even to pray in the first place?  When all is said and done, we know to pray (Col. 4:2) to God the Father (Matt. 6:9) about numerous topics (Matt. 6:9-13; 1 Tim. 2:1-2; etc.)…because God’s Word tells us to do so.  If it wasn’t for the Holy Spirit-inspired Scriptures (2 Pet. 1:19-21), we wouldn’t know how to pray or even to pray in the first place (Rom. 8:26).  Thus, we get our authority to pray from God’s Word.

In fact, every divinely pleasing thing we do as Christians is done by authority that comes from God’s Word (2 Tim. 3:16-17).  Did you notice how Paul said that Scripture equips us for “EVERY good work”?  That means that if there is a work out there which we don’t need Scripture to give us authority to do in some way, then it is not a good work…not as far as God is concerned.  Sure, wemight think it to be a good work…but God’s thoughts are not our thoughts (Is. 55:8-9; Prov. 14:12).   So again the need for biblical authority is apparent…but how do we get that authority?  A study of the Bible reveals that God’s Word gives authority in three basic ways.

The first would be through a command, a direct statement of something can or cannot be done (e.g., John 13:34; Acts 2:38; Eph. 5:18; 1 Thess. 4:3).  Sometimes biblical commands are general in nature, not limited in scope, area, or application.  For example, the command to “go” (Matt. 28:19) is general in nature and would authorize all methods of transportation in our efforts to evangelize, since God did not specify just HOW we are to “go.”  On the other hand, sometimes biblical commands are specific in nature, like when God specified gopher wood as the type of wood Noah was to use while building the ark (Gen. 6:14).  Noah would have disobeyed God by using pine wood, because God had specified gopher wood.

In like manner, a specific command may itself have a degree of general authority which would open up the use of aids not specifically mentioned in the command but which nonetheless are suitable for carrying out that which is authorized.  For example, peruse the instructions God gave to Noah about the construction of the ark, and you will see more examples of how specific God was in his requirements (Gen. 6:14-16).  However, you will find no mention of God telling Noah to use tools such as hammers, nails, saws, etc.  Yet, we know that the ark was not built miraculously in that it took over a century to build (Gen. 6:3); thus, Noah must have used construction tools to build it, tools which God did not mention in his instructions.  So did Noah go beyond what God had authorized?  Not necessarily, for when all was said and done the Bible says twice that Noah “did all that God commanded him” (Gen. 6:22; 7:5).

The second way God’s Word gives authority is through approved examples.  The divinely inspired apostle Paul taught not only through command, but also by example (Phil. 4:9).  In fact, he encouraged others to imitate him and to follow his apostolic example (1 Cor. 4:16-17; 11:1), something which the early church did with all the apostles (Acts 2:42; Phil. 3:17; 2 Thess. 3:9) and with good reason, considering that the apostles were divinely inspired (Eph. 3:3-5).  So when we have an example in Scripture that meets with apostolic approval, we know there is authority for the practice.  For example, we meet on the first day of the week to partake of communion because of the example set by the early church with the apostles’ approval (Acts 20:7; cf. 1 Cor. 10:16-17).

The third way God’s Word gives authority is through necessary implications.  These are neither explicitly stated nor specifically exemplified, but rather are necessarily implied by the clear meaning of the language the inspired writers are using, so much so that one could only logically draw a particular conclusion.  Jesus made a necessary implication in his teaching of the existence of the resurrection of the dead to the unbelieving Sadducees (Matt. 22:31).  He quoted what God said to Moses at Mount Horeb (Ex. 3:6) about currently being the God of Jewish patriarchs who at the time were centuries in their grave (“I AM the God of Abraham…Isaac, and…Jacob”) to necessarily imply that God is not “God of the dead, but of the living,”i.e., that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob still existed after their deaths.

We do the same thing, probably without realizing it.  For example, we cite John 3:16 as biblical proof that God gave his Son because he loves all of humanity…but the verse doesn’t actually say that.  It actually says, “For God so loved THE WORLD that he gave his only Son…”  Yet, we necessarily infer that “the world” is referring to the entire human population rather than the physical planet because of what is specifically stated in other passages (cf. 1 Tim. 2:4).  In like manner, students of the New Testament know that there is no specific commandment which states, “Thou shalt not punch thy wife in the face.”  However, none of us would state that spousal abuse is therefore permitted in the New Testament…why?  Because of the necessary implications we make from certain passages (Matt. 7:12; Eph. 5:28-29).

These principles on how to establish biblical authority may seem commonplace, dull, unimaginative, or matter-of-fact, but they have proven to be very useful in correctly applying God’s Word to our lives in a consistent and logical manner.  It is my hope that you may find them useful in your quest to interpret God’s Word correctly.

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Hermeneutics: The Right Definition

Accurate Hermeneutics: Interpreting the Bible Correctly (3)

Let’s say that you uncovered your great-grandfather’s last will and testament, written way back in the 1920’s.  As you peruse through it, you are thrilled to discover that he had set aside a vast sum of money for his great-grandchildren.  “That’s me!” you think excitedly.  “I’m the only great-grandchild he ever had!  I’m about to get a lot of money!”  Thrilled, you keep reading, only to discover that he had set some parameters in place as to whether you would actually receive the wealth.  In fact, he had set only one stipulation in his will, and it reads, “The money shall be awarded to any and all great-grandchildren I would have, given that it be proven that they live lives which are profoundly gay.”

You sit back, disappointed.  “Well, so much for me getting all that money,” you think to yourself.  “I’m NOT gay, I never have been, and I never will be.  I’m happily married, I am completely in love with my spouse of the opposite sex, I’ve never even been attracted to anyone homosexually, and I never will.”  You then wonder what in the world would have possessed your great-grandfather to make such a stipulation in his will.  “Was great-grandpa secretly gay?” you might wonder.  “Is that why he was willing to give so much money to his relatives only if it could be proven that they also were homosexual?”  Puzzled, you put his will away and forget all about it…and thus unwittingly deprive yourself of a lot of money.

Why?  Because you overlooked a very important principle of hermeneutics when it came to interpreting your great-grandfather’s will and testament.  You read the term gay and immediately applied to it the modern-day definition of that term (one who is homosexual.)  However, what you failed to remember is that you were reading a document that was written long ago, in a different culture which had different definitions to words which might still be used today.  Back in the 1920’s, the term gay had only one meaning (happy, joyful.)  It was not until recently that the homosexual movement took the term and applied it to themselves in an effort to culturally legitimize their sin.  However, that change was still years to come when your great-grandfather sat down to write his will.  So when he wrote the stipulation about being “profoundly gay,” he had in mind his wish that his great-grandchildren be “profoundly happy.”  The fact that you didn’t think of these facts is too bad for you, considering that you, his only great-grandchild, ARE in fact easily proven to be “profoundly happy” in your life.

God’s Word, the Bible, was written by Holy Spirit-inspired men a long time ago (2 Pet. 1:19-21), the last of it being written about two thousand years ago.  None of it was written in English; the Old Testament was written predominately in Hebrew with a minority in Aramaic, and the New Testament was written in Greek.  Since then it has been translated into numerous different languages, including English, and for the most part the translators have done an excellent job in conveying the intent of the inspired authors of Scripture through their translation of the original foreign words.  However, it is still easy for us to read a word in our English Bibles and assume that its original definition in the inspired Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek of long ago is the same as our modern-day definition of it in English.  Granted, in most cases we would be correct in that assumption due to the stellar work of the translators…but not in every case.  And in some of those cases, our error makes all the difference in the world in correcting interpreting the will of God for our lives and thus plays a major role in our eternal destiny (Heb. 5:9; Matt. 7:21).

Baptism is immersion, by God's definition.

Baptism is immersion, by God’s definition.

Take the biblical term baptize (Mark 16:16).  The Greek word the writers of Scripture were divinely inspired to use two thousand years ago was baptizo, which literally means “to dip repeatedly, to immerse, to submerge…”  Literally, God was telling people in Mark 16:16, “Whoever believes and is immersed will be saved…”  However, the modern-day English word baptize has more definitions than simply immersion, some of which include sprinkling or pouring water onto someone.  There are completely different Greek words which are defined and translated as sprinkling and pouring, and none of them are used in the biblical commands which mention baptism.  So if I have water sprinkled or poured over my head, have I been baptized in God’s eyes?  No, because that was not the definition of the word he specifically chose to use in his inspired command when his Word was being written.  However, if I am submerged in water I am doing nothing more or less than what the words he chose to use command me to do via their definitions.  Countless thousands of people have thought they were being saved by being sprinkled with water, when in reality they were following “the commandment of men” (Matt. 15:9).  It all could have been avoided if they had correctly interpreted the Bible by making sure they knew and obeyed the actual definitions of the words which were originally used by inspiration in the commands given to them in Scripture.

While I am not saying that one has to be fluent in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek in order to be saved, I AM encouraging us all to take our study of the Bible seriously and, when needed, investigate further to know for sure what is required of us by our Lord and Savior.  There are countless tools available online and elsewhere which give us the original meanings of every word in the Bible, and they are easy to find and use.  (Here are two examples.)  Remember, every word of God is “tested”(Prov. 30:5), and every word will judge us in the end (John 12:48).  Let’s make sure we correctly interpret the Bible by knowing and obeying what he had actually commanded us when the Holy Scriptures were inspired all those many years ago.

(Come back tomorrow, Lord willing, for a continuation of this study on how to correctly interpret the Bible.)

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Hermeneutics: Handling Scripture

Accurate Hermeneutics: Interpreting The Bible Correctly (Part 2)

Folks look at scripture in many ways.

Folks look at scripture in many ways.

I was asked recently about how to correctly interpret the Bible.  This is a legitimate question which has repercussions on one’s salvation, when one thinks about it.  If one does not correctly interpret God’s Word, then one will end up disobeying God on a host of different matters.  Disobeying the laws of God is the biblical definition of sin (1 John 3:4), and the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23), specifically the spiritual, eternal death of hell (Rev. 21:8).  Our Lord does not want any of us to experience that (2 Pet. 3:9), which is why Christians are commanded to accurately handle God’s Word (2 Tim. 2:15), a command which implies by its very existence that it is possible that one could inaccurately handle God’s Word.  Thus, correct interpretation of the Bible is a necessity.

One way to inaccurately handle the word of truth – having a post-modernistic, relative view of truth rather than recognizing that truth is absolute – was discussed in the previous article.  Yet, even if one recognizes that truth is absolute and looks at the Bible with that mindset, it is still possible to misinterpret Scripture.  For example, one could look at parts of the Bible to be absolutely true while failing to realize that the entirety of Scripture is truth (Ps. 119:160).  This fallacy of thought has led sincere people to dismiss some parts of the Bible as myth and other parts of the Bible as not applicable to us today.  However, the Bible says that every word of God is “tested” (Prov. 30:5).  This means not only that every word in Scripture has proven to be true (John 17:17), but that every word also has a reason to be in Scripture…namely, to provide us with the way to eternal life and godliness and the means to be involved in every work that God deems to be good (2 Pet. 1:3; 2 Tim. 3:16-17).

Therefore, one is well on their way to correctly interpreting the Bible when they recognize that first that every word from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22 is factually, doctrinally, and historically true, and also that every word from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22 is there to help them in some way grow closer to God and eternal life.  Thus, they will accept the biblical account of creation and the biblical record of miracles of God performed by men to be historical fact.  They will accept the commands and principles of God found in Scripture to be applicable to them and to all men of all cultures and times.  If they conclude that there is a law or principle found in Scripture that does not apply to them personally, it will be only because God’s Word specifically said so (cf. Heb. 8:7-13; 1 Cor. 11:13-16).  If they believe that a certain part of Scripture is figurative rather than literal in its language, it will be solely due to evidence found in Scripture rather than their own musings and theories (cf. Rev. 1:1‘s “signified”).  Finally, if they read that a certain verse commands them to do a certain thing in order to be saved while other verses command additional things in order to be saved, they will accept the fact that they need to obey all of those passages rather than just one or a few of them (Ps. 119:160; cf. John 3:16; Mark 16:16; 2 Cor. 7:9-10; Rom. 10:9-10; 1 Pet. 3:21).

Lord willing, future articles will give specific examples to illustrate how the hermeneutical principles expounded in today’s post are true.

 

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Hermeneutics: Interpret Accurately

Accurate Hermeneutics Interpreting the Bible Part 1

Can man properly interpret scripture?

Can man properly interpret scripture?

I received an excellent question in the comments for last week’s article, Can We Understand the Bible Alike?  The commenter asked, “What is your solution to properly interpreting the Bible? Do you take a literal interpretation, or a more intricate one, etc.?”  This is a very important inquiry, because how one interprets the Bible – more specifically, whether one does so correctly – determines whether one is going to actually obey the commands and principles laid out in the Bible.  That, in turn, has a direct bearing on whether one will be saved (Matt. 7:21-23; Heb. 5:9).  Therefore, if God permits me I would like to take the next few posts on my blog to show both from scripture and from logic how to correctly interpret the Bible.

To begin with, it must be asked whether it is actually possible to correctly interpret the Bible.  After all, some believe that truth is relative rather than absolute.  This notion is easily proven to be very much mistaken when one thinks about it with an open and honest mind (cf. Luke 8:15).  To the person who confidently asserts, “There is no absolute truth,” responding with the simple inquiry, “Are you absolutely sure about that?” shows the inconsistency and error of such a proposition.  Nevertheless, many still believe this foolish notion.  A popular rock band from my youth wrote a song which opined, “This is not a black and white world/To be alive, I say that the colors must swirl/And I believe that maybe today/We will all get to appreciate/The beauty of gray.”  This post-modernistic idea – the beauty of gray, there are no black and whites, there is no absolute truth – is very popular in our society, and for good reason.  After all, if there is no such thing as absolute truth then there is no such thing as an absolute standard of what is right and what is wrong.  (If not, why not?)  Therefore, who are you to tell me that I am wrong for doing whatever it is I want to do?

Hypothetically, I could commit adultery with your spouse, murder your child, steal your money, and burn down your house, and you probably would have a problem with that.  Fine, that’s YOUR definition of truth.  MY definition of truth is that it’s okay for me to do those things.  Since truth is relative, that means we’re both right.  And since I am right, I will continue to commit adultery with your spouse, murder your children, steal your money, and harm your property…and who are you to tell me I’m wrong to do so?  Such a mindset is not only ludicrous on its face but also extremely dangerous, because following this line of thought to its logical end would result in chaos (cf. Judg. 21:25).

Additionally, having this post-modernistic mindset would make it impossible for one to correctly interpret the Bible, because to a post-modernistic mind every word in the Bible would be subjective, open to multiple interpretations of which all would be valid.  For example, you believe that John 3:16 teaches that God gave his Son because he loved the world?  Fine, that’s YOUR interpretation.  MY interpretation of John 3:16 is that God gave his Son because he did NOT love the world.  Since truth is relative, we’re both right and who are you to tell me that I’m wrong?  Again, a simple reading of the passage under consideration shows very clearly…to the person who already knows about and accepts the existence of absolute truth…that the above, post-modernistic way of thinking is absurd on its face.  The passage very clearly states, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…”  Believe that statement to be absolutely true, and you will clearly see the error of anyone who would interpret it in any other way.

Therefore, the existence of the post-modernistic mindset does not mean that it is impossible for anyone to correctly interpret the Bible.  On the contrary, those who recognize the existence of absolute truth in this world will find it easier to correctly interpret God’s Word, because God’s Word IS truth (John 17:17).  When one who already knows and accepts the fact that absolute truth exists and then comes to know and accept the fact that God’s Word is truth, then one has achieved the first step towards correctly interpreting the Bible.

 

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Strength and Courage

Be Strong and of Good Courage

Have you cultivated courage?

Have you cultivated courage?

As Moses neared the end of his life, he told the children of Israel, “Be strong and of good courage, because God is with you.” Then he said the same thing to Joshua, who would be his successor as the leader of God’s people. “Be strong and of good courage, because God is with you.”

When God spoke to Joshua after Moses’ death, the Almighty repeated the same thought three times to his new mouthpiece: “Be strong and of good courage.” God made a promise to Joshua and to the children of Israel, that if they were strong and courageous, He would take care of them and they would prosper.

Certainly, it took a great deal of strength and courage to accomplish what the Lord commanded, but knowing that God was on their side, Israel took possession of the land that was promised to them. At the end of his life, Joshua again encouraged the people to continue with these attitudes of strength and courage in the Lord.

Sadly, Israel turned from God several times. Throughout the book of Judges we read of several occasions that the people disobeyed God and needed to be restored. God would raise up a leader to bring them back, and they would be faithful for a while before failing away again. The cycle repeats over and over, not only in the book of Judges, but throughout the Old Testament.

This still happens today in the church. There are some people that will disappear for weeks or months, then will come back for a little while, then leave again. What can we do when we notice this happening? Have you called your missing brethren to encourage them to return? Have you asked what you can do to help them? Sometimes, showing that you are concerned is encouragement in itself.

We must develop strength and courage in order to lead others to Christ, and to bring others back to God. The words that were spoken to Joshua still apply to us today: “Be strong and of good courage.”

As Christians, where do we find our strength? The apostle Paul says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). Peter writes, “But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you” (1 Peter 5:10). Our strength comes not from ourselves, but from God the Father and Christ Jesus.

And what of the courage? It is in Christ that “we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him” (Ephesians 3:12). Just as He promised to be with the children of Israel in their battles against the nations around them, He will be with us as well. That knowledge should motivate us not only be courageous, but content with our portion in life as well. “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” (Hebrews 13:5).

Are you strong and of good courage?

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