Concerning the Word of God

I received a very moving email recently from a friend of mine and in it was a series of questions that made me wonder just how misunderstood I’ve possibly become. There are things I have said that probably muddle a lot of what I actually believe, and thanks to my friend I really had to step back and retrace the basics. I’m sitting up sleeplessly in the small guest bedroom of a German farm, writing, typing, reading, and feverishly flipping through pages because I feel overwhelmingly compelled to answer these simple questions: why do I write about the Bible? Why this book?

Aside from the fact that the Bible is, for me, the most tangible way that I can hear from God there are two main reasons that I continue to come back to it again and again.

Something I’ve noticed, especially recently, is how transient life can be. For instance, I’ve never been in a stable relationship, friends are here and there, the places I call home shift within months, and for me there are very few things that remain constant.

One of them is the word of God.

Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord our God stands forever.” 

Matthew 24:35, Mark 8:38, Luke 21:33 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”

Psalm 119:160 “All your words are true; all your words are eternal.”

This is why I need it, why I crave it.

I believe the word of God is worth teaching and worth reading and I give it this preference because I know it will always be there – it will never change or cease to be what it is. In the same way I believe it also retains all the characteristics that make it perfect and that it will continue in the same way throughout eternity.

For example, the Scriptures will always be these things:

-flawless Psalm 12:6 / 18:30 / Proverbs 30:5-6

-right and trustworthy Psalm 33:4 / 2 Samuel 7:28

-above all things Psalm 138:2 

Scripture always is, and is always these things.

Unfortunately, I think there may be an attitude, sometimes, in the way other people and I approach scripture and that is to treat it as an archaic, or boring text. Once it’s been over, it’s over, as soon as we’ve heard certain truths it’s not long before we treat them as unnecessary and trite.

In response to this problem:

Hebrews 4:12

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any two edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

In the sense that it is “living and active” I do not believe it changes or that it is inconsistent, I merely believe it can always be fresh. It is impossible for me to ever exhaust the scriptures of their usefulness, or to mitigate the impact they can have upon my life. Should I pick a book, say a small one like Jude, and read it for a year, making careful examinations of the language and the cultural context, dissecting the themes verse by verse, and should I also take my Bible to quiet places and meditate upon the verses for hours until God has impressed upon me every detail I think I could find from that book, I could return to Jude a year after and the book would challenge me again.

I could memorize the entire text, and this would still not exhaust its ability to affect and teach me. 

Scripture, no matter how many times it has been read, it will never lose its edge. And if I am interested in refining my character, I believe there is no better means to accomplish this than reading and studying the word. It can cut into my soul deeper than any mentor, pastor, psychologist or author; it is ALWAYS a fresh tool which can be used to improve myself.

Knowing that, how could I ever not love this book? Why would I choose any other book as the most important text to communicate to others? 

~

Before going on, there is a slight matter of opinion that I want to admit (take it or leave it).

Returning to something I mentioned earlier, there are two theological topics I want to address – I think they’re important even though they are a little arbitrary.

1) Scripture will never change, however the way we understand it can change

Example:

Acts 1:8

“… you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

I believe the span of history affects the way we understand this verse. What do you suppose a 1stcentury Jew would think when reading “the ends of the earth” – would that mean the expanse of the Roman Empire, maybe the Parthian Empire? What about Luther? He most certainly read this verse during his lifetime – would he think of Germany, or China or some place in Africa as the “end of the earth”? And what about today? As a 21st century Californian, I understand “the ends of the earth” in a manner that even Luke, the author, and other 1st century Jews could never even fathom. 

But this doesn’t mean Scripture has changed, only the way that we understand it. Which means I believe God’s Word (which is eternal) was written in such a way that it would accommodate any period of history. 

On another little side note, I do believe that the further our history separates us from the original audience, the more we lose the ‘nuance’ of Scripture – we lose its idioms and wit, its poetry and puns. That’s why it is necessary to study the original audience and language as best as we can.

CAN SCRIPTURE EVER BECOME OBSOLETE?

Yes, but ONLY in those specific instances where Scripture itself says so. I know that sounds really controversial, but let me explain (it’s not really all that scary)

Christ made a “New Covenant”

Hebrews 8:13

“By calling this covenant ‘new,’ he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.”

Hebrews 10:1-2,10

“The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming – not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship… [In the New Covenant] we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus once for all.”

In that sense, the Old Covenant is satisfied by elements of the New and therefore we are not required to follow what was written in the Old. It becomes obsolete in those very specific instances which are outlined in the New Testament. Therefore, Scripture will tell us when other portions of Scripture become obsolete.

Animal Sacrifice: Leviticus 1-5 and Hebrews 10:1-10

Circumcision: Genesis 17:10 and Galatians 5

Sabbath: Exodus 20:8 and Colossians 2:16-17 / Hebrews Ch. 3-4

Unclean food: Leviticus 11 and Acts 10:9-15 

Regardless of our changing understanding, and regardless of these instances where the New Covenant “satisfies” elements of the older Covenant, Scripture does not change, it does not alter. It is steady, and all scripture, whether it has been fulfilled and satisfied by the person of Christ or not, is always necessary and purposeful. 

Romans 15:4

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

Even if it is the Old Testament, or a bit of material that has been called “obsolete,” Scripture still gives hope. It still reveals the heart and desires of God, and because of this, I am interested. No matter what Scriptures we are reading, we can always learn more about Him, and the words give us direct access to the God who has created us, loves us, and saved us.

~

There is another “reason”, aside from the stability of Scripture that I write about it, and that is the effect of Scripture. It is because of what Scripture does to me that I am passionately seduced by it.

There are two passages on the point that I’d like to share (well, three actually, but for the sake of space I’ll just give the reference to the third) and then I’ll give you a load of bullet points if you want to look up some others.

Hebrews 5:12-14

“In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”

I believe that if I lack discernment or if I am confused in how I should act, or if I am even completely ignorant of a flaw in my character, the constant study into the depth of God’s word will train me to see what is right and wrong. It will give me a clearer mind and heart when I don’t know what should be done.

2 Timothy 2:16-17

“All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

I crave what comes from God’s mouth just as a man would crave every word and sentence written in a letter from the woman he loves. It is God-breathed; it is not stirred up by the interpretation or dreams of the writers, and for that reason I’m in love with it. Its uses are clearly marked and they all intrigue me; Scripture will flesh out my character and prepare me to live the life that Christ lived. If I read it, it will inspire me to be kind where I have been rude, to give where I have often drawn back my hand, to comfort when I was previously indifferent, and to repent from sins that have entangled me in sadness for too long.

I guess I’ll just type out the third… it’s really good.

Psalm 19:7-11

  “The law of the Lord is perfect,

       reviving the soul.

   The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,

        making wise the simple.

   The precepts of the Lord are right,

        giving joy to the heart.

   The commands of the Lord are radiant,

       giving light to the eyes.

   The fear of the Lord is pure,

          enduring forever.

   The ordinances of the Lord are sure

        and altogether righteous.

   They are more precious than gold;

      than much pure gold.

   They are sweeter than honey,

       than honey from the comb.

   By them your servant is warned;

       In keeping them there is great reward.

Other effects and characteristics:

-They can generate spiritual longing in the listener/reader – Luke 24:32

-The Scriptures produce faith – Romans 15:4

-Ignorance of the scriptures causes error – Matthew 22:29 (Mark 12:24)

-The Scriptures can cause salvation – 2 Timothy 3:15

-By listening we can learn to fear God – Deuteronomy 31:12

-We have the word very close to us, it’s not distant or inaccessible – Deuteronomy 30:14

-Scriptures are not the idle, impotent words we often make them out to be, they are our life – Deuteronomy 32:47

-They teach us to revere God when we don’t – Deuteronomy 4:10

-The gospel comes with power, the Holy Spirit, and deep conviction – 1 Thessalonians 1:5

-When we obey it, the love of God is completed in us – 1 John 2:5

-It gives freedom – James 1:24-25

-His word sustains all things – Hebrews 1:3

-It should dwell in us richly if we are to teach or admonish others – Colossians 3:16

-It can cleanse us – Ephesians 5:26

-It is how we keep our way pure Psalm 119:9

-It will keep us from sin Psalm 119:11

-… actually, I recommend reading all of Psalm 119 for 176 verses worth of insights into the value of God’s word.

So why do I continue to write of it to people? Why do I continue to read it myself?

Because it gives direct access to the person and character of God and its effect upon those who listen is endless and powerful, something that I desperately need and desire.

Concerning those who teach the Word

(And this is where things become more difficult for me, like, I constantly feel unworthily, like I should shut up my mouth and not talk about these things further)

John 1:1,14

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”

The Word is likened to God – is likened to Christ, and I believe it ought to be approached in the same manner one approaches God. He is a friend and king, a refiner and savior, a lover and father. We should treat his words the same way that we would treat letters sent to us from such people… well, except it’s God, not just a mesh of human characters.

I want to read it with respect, but with passion as well. I want to teach it with sensitivity and accuracy. I believe it is a matter of God’s heart that his word be dealt with in exactness. (Deuteronomy 28:58-59, Exodus 19:7, 24:3-8, Deuteronomy 8:8+3, 17:18-19, 29:29, 32:45-47, Example of exactness: Galatians 3:16)

To be honest, there have been times where I have play too fast and far too loose with the word of God and I think this is dangerous and hasty.

2 Timothy 2:2

“And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.”

Why is this so necessary? Because screwy people can distort the word of God; look at this:

1 Timothy 6:3-5

“If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree with the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.”

I sometimes wonder if this is all I am. Do I just seek controversy? I will admit that there were times in my life when I did. But I am also being honest when I say that I NOW want to teach the Word, and when the Word no longer lines up with what I’ve learned in traditional theologies, then yes, there will be controversy. But still, it haunts me, worries me, and I will admit that I am very afraid. I often doubt my own thinking, and speak too soon only to regret the words I have said. Or I’ve worded studies with convoluted language, or with poor structure and then my message is quickly misunderstood and taken for something false.

I don’t want to stir up things like envy, or strife, or evil suspicions – I don’t want to waste anyone’s time with anger and sour emotions – but I do think there is a point when the word must be honestly told to the people and if there is a gaping disconnect between the practice of Christian traditions and the teachings of scripture, then there will be friction.

If you want to know the passages of scripture that haunt me most then read 2 Peter 1:12-21 and 2:1-22

In these passages it is made explicitly clear that Scripture does not come about by the author’s own interpretation. It is not from man, it is from God, and therefore, those who teach it should not bend it and twist it in order to fit their own opinions or interpretations. I should not take something that is only MY OPINION and then say “This is the Biblical standard” and flower it with a few verses here and there just to make it seem legit.

So I’m burdened by questions that arise from these passages in 2 Peter.

Have I introduced destructive heresies?

Have I disputed whether truth is truth?

Do I make up stories to deceive people into my opinions?

Do I despise authority and run headlong into corrupt desires?

Am I too bold? Am I arrogant?

Do I revel in excessive pleasure?

Are my eyes full of adultery?

Do I seduce unstable women?

Do I promise freedom when in truth I am setting traps for those who have only just escaped error?

Have I turned from the basic message of the Gospel?

Am I caught up in secret and shameful ways? (2 Corinthians 4:2)

Do I use deception and distortion?

These questions often come to my mind and sometimes I feel I have slipped too much in horrible ways. If these are the characteristics of a false teacher, I want nothing to do with them. I want to be a man of God. I want to be a faithful one to whom doctrines can be entrusted.

If I resemble one of these twisted men, then I am a cancer and plague to the church. I cause the opposite effect of what is caused by true teachers.

Ephesians 4:11-15

“It was [Christ] who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

THEN WE WILL NO LONGER BE INFANTS, TOSSED BACK AND FORTH BY THE WAVES, AND BLOWN HERE AND THERE BY EVERY WIND OF TEACHING and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.”

This idea has convicted me recently.

These people are gifted to give good teachings to the church and thus prepare the church. As a member of the Church, I am also in need of such teachings, I am someone who needs to LISTEN because they are intended for me as well.

There is a need for stable truths that Christians can cling to, and sometimes I wonder if I am just a rogue, pulling out rotten doctrines because of my own ignorance, and my own wind blown inconsistency. It is the task of a teacher to prepare people for good works, to equip them, and to provide them with sound teaching… and what if I am just a renegade? What if I am tossed back and forth by the waves and I don’t even know it? What if I’m dragging others out to sea?

Recently I’ve had to admit how necessary it is for me to be taught by others, to pool knowledge, and to seek wise council. The word of God is too important to be entrusted to one thinker. I should learn from those who have been gifted by God with more intelligence, more Spirit, more eloquence, more knowledge and more education. They teach the Church, and being a member of the Church, I need their teaching.

Listening to the insights, corrections, rebukes and wisdom of the wise is possibly the most consistent theme of Proverbs. (10:8, 10:14, 10:17, 11:14, 12:1, 12:15, 13:1, 13:13, 13:18, 13:20, 15:5, 15:12, 15:14, 16:20, 17:10, 18:2, 18:15, 19:8, 19:16, 19:27, 20:18, 20:30, 22:17-21, 23:9, 23:12, 24:5-6, 27:5, 27:6, 27:17, 29:1, 29:15, 29:18-19)

 

27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

19:20 Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise.

However, though we need wise council, we must always side with the word of God. We cannot break from it, not even for the sake of what we believe to be wise council or stable traditions. Paul wrote in the utmost extreme order in his exhortation to Timothy:

“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom I give you this charge: Preach the word”

Simple, direct, unconfused, and given in a tone so grave I dare not question the need to “Preach the Word.”

So, yes, I must seek wise council, I must listen to gifted teachers – I am learning this – BUT only insofar as they communicate ideas that do not disagree with God’s word. As with the Bereans in Acts 17, when “they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” Test teachers, test advice, compare them to the Scriptures.

Also, in his 1^st letter, John wrote that we should “not believe every spirit,” but that we should “test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

How do we know what is right?

Galatians 1:7-9

“… Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: if anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned.”

1 John 4:2-3,6

“This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist… We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of Truth and the spirit of falsehood.”

So, measure everyone against what has been written.

To whom should I listen to more? To those who have written the words of God, or to those who teach the word of God? I should listen to BOTH, but the former always trumps the latter.

Also, there is another point concerning false teachers that might be more terrifying than any I have thus far addressed.

In Acts 20, as Paul is giving his last farewell message to Ephesus. He warns: “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard…” (20:29-31)

All this talk about false teachers and here is what scares me most:

What is a false teacher? Lets define them as this: “A nonbeliever or extremely twisted believer teaching doctrines that distort the truth and draw people away from God.”

Practically speaking, this means a nonbeliever can walk into one of our churches, he can learn our Christian language and behaviors and can thus emulate all our traditions. He can do this to such perfect simulation that he can even rise through the ranks (though he is a nonbeliever “wolf”) to the position of pastor. If he has properly maneuvered through a theological factory (a seminary or a collection of Theological books and commentaries) and is told exactly what he is to say, this nonbeliever can even become the seemingly legitimate teacher of a church. This is why Scripture has addressed false teachers, because they can happen, they do happen, and how are we to know better if we are not taught concerning them?

Paul also writes about this in 2 Corinthians 11 and we begin to realize that these are not outwardly sleazy men or thinly veiled wolves. They are not the types you can so easily identify, but rather, Paul recognizes them as “super-apostles”, men who “masquerade as apostles of Christ.” These are the types of whom we would probably say “If ANYONE was a Christian, it is this pastor right here!!!”     (2 Corinthians 11:3-6,13-15)

This is the reason why I do not merely want to be the product of a theological factory. I do not want to learn traditions only to regurgitate them to the people. A nonbeliever can do such things and can then be given the name “Super-Apostle”.

I want to teach what God has said.

Furthermore, if I just soak up and spit out the traditions that have been canonized into the Western mind of theology, have I actually sought the word of God? Do I teach Calvinism, or the Bible? What about Piper, Hinn, Mac, Shedd, Erasamus, Jakes, Kierkegaard, Maimonides, Spurgeon, Edwards, Augustine, Bonhoeffer, Luther, or should I teach Peter and Paul? I believe that if we are so terrified of “new interpretations” concerning Scripture that we most readily cling to historical doctrines, then we can sometimes accidentally nullify the word of God. Just because something has always been taught doesn’t mean we can stop examining whether or not it is true.

Mark 7:6-13

He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:

      ‘These people honor me with their lips,

         but their hearts are far from me.

      They worship me in vain;

        Their teachings are but rules taught by men.’

You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.”

And he said to them: “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban’ (that is, a gift devoted to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”

How many traditions have been passed along for so long that we unwittingly set aside the commands of God to hang on to them as is they are the truths?

You think the Rabbis weren’t experts in the Scriptures? Did they not have them completely memorized? Didn‘t they pour over them day and night, and discuss them as they walked on their way? So what’s the problem? Oral Taditions and the Oral Law (what has now been recorded in the Mishnah and Gemara) had proliferated to such an extent, that it could blind scholars from what was actually being said in the Scriptures. Were these Oral Laws always bad? I wouldn’t say so. We have examples of Christ quoting them and teaching similar ideas and I believe the Talmud is loaded with wise council if one intends to properly understand the Jewish Old Testament, however, the Talmud, as with all traditions, should never overwhelm the Scriptures so much it nullifies them.

Here in Mark, we have an instance of a tradition which SOUNDS SPIRITUAL replacing a Biblical behavior. The tradition has the appearance of piety but it lacks any real value – “Sorry mom and dad, I may have given you this money to help you in your old age, but I am going to give it to God instead” – this, in fact, destroys what is Biblical.

How many of our current beliefs and practices are only traditions? We will never know until we start to seek the word of God.

I do not want to be so impressed with doctrines that “have always been there” that I blindly trust them. It also happened that when I began searching the Scriptures on my own that I lost faith in various traditions such as cessationism, dispensationalism, and other teachings concerning “bad company”, boundaries, sexuality and Christian holiness. I find that many “truths” I accepted simply because everyone accepted them ended up missing a critical element; they either lacked Biblical support or they relied more on fancy arguments strung together from fragments of previous traditions.

I’m still open to correction on every point, I just want to see clear scriptures on each matter.

Historical doctrines and theologies exist as a kind of wise council, and for this they are very useful and I would go so far as to say it is good to seek them out. However, wise council can never contradict scripture, the moment it does, it ceases to be wise and becomes deception. Furthermore, a ‘traditional view’ should never be so admired that it is taken as Biblical and put on the same plane as scripture.

No one was ever called to preach the traditions, on the contrary, Timothy was called to Preach the Word.

To summarize:

We need the word. It is our most tangible access to the voice of God, the last most trustworthy thing in existence, and its impact upon our lives is unmatched. This is why we must study it, this is why pastors must teach it, and why it should become the standard by which we compare all advice and preaching. I believe that anyone reading this should also be questioning me, asking “Is this actually what God has said?” and if you find a contrary answer, please tell me so I will stop making so many mistakes!