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10
POINTS FOR BIBLICAL AUTHORITY
In the re-examination of Biblical authority in the light of
contemporary debate, however, the evangelical Christian is not like
a rudderless ship floating aimlessly upon a boundless sea, driven
and tossed by every passing wind. We are bound by the same hard core
of revealed facts that has determined orthodox thinking in the past.
By no means do we consider these facts to be an infringement upon
the freedom to think realistically, constructively, and honestly. A
tough-minded, even literal, adherence to every least fact provided
by the data of revelation is the only possible foundation for clear
and effective thinking about God and our relationship to God. To
rethink, therefore, is not necessarily to throw overboard the
orthodox view of Biblical authority; rather, it is to constitute it
a true and living orthodoxy (straight thinking and teaching).
In the light of the contemporary debate about revelation and
authority the Biblical position may be outlined in the following
points:
1. The ultimate object of all Biblical revelation is God as a
person.
All revelation has God for its subject. The Bible does not present
us with a set of universal truths like the propositions of Euclid in
geometry. It does not set forth in formal fashion the arguments and
counter-arguments of a theological textbook. No creedal formulations
– certainly not the fundamental doctrines of the older liberal
theology, such as the universal fatherhood of God, the universal
brotherhood of humanity, and the supremacy of love – are the focus
of Biblical revelation.
The ultimate goal of revelation is not so much to make us wise, as
it is to bring us into a direct encounter with God as a person, and
to evoke from us a response of love and obedience to God. The
Apostle Paul sets forth the goal of all revelation: "That I may be
personally acquainted with him" (Phil. 3:10).
2. Biblical revelation is by divine acts.
Biblical revelation is the unfolding of the gracious acts of God in
behalf of sinful humanity. From the skin of a slain animal with
which God sought to cover the shame of our first parents, to the
vision of the heavenly city in Revelation 22, the long course of
Biblical history is the story of what God has done for His people –
the righteous acts of Jehovah (Micah 6:5 ARV).
3. Biblical revelation culminates in Jesus Christ.
In the "fullness of time" came Jesus Christ (Gal. 4:4). "God . . .
has . . . spoken to us by His Son" (Heb. 1:1). The supreme act by
which God reveals Himself is by His incarnation. God became human,
lived as man, died for humanity, and rose again from the dead.
Indeed, the story of these events is good news – news about
something that happened in the land of Palestine during the reigns
of Augustus and Tiberius Caesar. It is news of what Christ did on
Calvary (I Cor. 15:1-4) and after. There, God performed His
mightiest act by giving Himself for the redemption of lost humanity
(Luke 20:9ff.).
The Bible preserves an important distinction between Christ as
redeemer and Christ as revealer. In both of these roles Jesus Christ
is supreme. As redeemer, however, Christ is not merely supreme over
all other modes of redemption. His uniqueness is absolute. Like
Christ, the prophets also spoke; but the prophets did not redeem. As
revealer, Christ's uniqueness lies in the completeness and finality
of His revelation. Others beside Him spoke the Word of God; but He
was, in truth, God speaking! Only God can save – therefore, the only
salvation is through Christ alone.
4. Biblical revelation is also divine interpretation of meaning.
That God reveals Himself as a person and that He does so by His acts
does not rule out the fact that God also reveals truth about
Himself. According to the Scriptures, humanity is responsible for
knowing who God is (Dent. 6:4; Matt. 16:13), and what is His will
(Lev. 20:7), and what are His plans and goals (Mark 16:15). These
truths we must know in order rightly and effectively to know the
person of God and to enter into obedient fellowship with Him. Our
Lord spoke with luminous insight into the needs of the human heart
when he declared: "the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32).
To those outside the framework of strict orthodoxy, few see this
more clearly than does Edwin Lewis who argues,
"Revelation" means that God is categorically
affirmed and that He bears a certain character and that He is
working for certain ends; and what these ends are, likewise, is
included in the revelation. God utters His Word, but the meaning of
what is uttered is still to be conveyed and this is the work of the
Holy Spirit. Revelation brings a disclosure of truth which would
otherwise have remained at best only a speculation.
According to the teaching of Scripture, therefore, God reveals to us
truths or propositions about Himself and His will, about us and our
needs, and about His provision and care and promise of New Hope Homeschool. Thus
in 1 Corinthians 2:9-12 and 16 we read:
However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no
ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for
those who love him" - but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For
who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit
within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God
except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the
world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what
God has freely given us…. "For who has known the mind of the Lord
that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
The flow of Paul's thought is inescapable. God
has certain plans for those who love Him. These plans are, of
course, quite unknown and undiscoverable by humanity. Just as we can
know what is in our own minds, however, so the Spirit of God knows
fully the truth lying within the divine mind, and out of love chooses to convey this otherwise inaccessible truth to the
minds of humanity. The process whereby this communication of divine
truth takes place is specifically labeled as revelation.
Other New Testament passages bear out the same idea. Matthew 11:22
gives us revealed truth regarding God's future judgment. Unto the
Jews, declares the Apostle Paul, "have been entrusted with the very
words of God." (Rom. 3:2). In the third chapter of Ephesians the
same apostle refers to the revealed truth that Jews and Gentiles are
to be one body. In Matthew 16:17 the revealed truth is that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God, and in Luke 2:26 the revelation brings to
Simeon truth as to his own destiny.
In the Old Testament we find a similar pattern of thought. In the
third chapter of First Samuel the writer ascribes to God a
revelation of the truth about Samuel's call. The Old Testament
prophets often claimed that God had revealed to them secrets (Amos
3:7 and Dan. 2). Special propositions from God are frequently
labeled as revealed truths (Isa. 22:14, Dan. 2:29, 30, 2 Sam. 7:27).
The God of the Bible is the God who acts! He is also the God who
speaks to His servants. "The Biblical writers," so C. H. Dodd
reminds us, "were not philosophers constructing a speculative theory
from their observation of events. What they said was 'Thus says the
Lord’; and they firmly believed that God spoke to humanity. The
interpretation of history that they offered was not invented by
process of thought; it was the meaning which they experienced in the
events when their minds were open to God as well as open to the
impact of outward facts. Thus the prophetic interpretation of
history and the impetus and direction which that gave to subsequent
history were alike the Word of God to humanity."
An inductive study of the Scriptures, therefore, leads to the
conclusion that Biblical revelation includes divine revelation of
truth. The view of contemporary theologians that Biblical revelation
is personal and through acts, but never by speaking, simply will not
bear the test of exegesis. It is true that God reveals Himself as a
person; and it is true that He does so through acts. But it is also
true that God gives specific revelation of truth to His prophets and
apostles. He is a living, acting, speaking person who enters into
social intercourse and fellowship with us and who gives to us a
revelation, His own divine interpretation of the meaning of things.
5. This revelation is brought to us by the Bible.
The redemptive acts of God together with the divine interpretation
of these mighty acts were recorded in the writings of the apostles
and prophets. The Bible thus becomes the means through which
revelations given directly to prophets in Old Testament history and
to apostles in New Testament history are made available for the
needy sinner of every generation that comes after. In this sense is
to be found the element of truth contained in the oft-repeated
phrase, "The Bible contains the Word of God."
The central message of both Testaments is, of course, Jesus Christ.
In the Old Testament is to be found the preparatory revelation. Our
Lord Himself declared that the Scriptures testify of Him (John
5:39). He rebuked those who did not find Him in the Old Testament
for their failure to understand the sacred text (Luke 24:25).
In perfect harmony with the claims of Christ as to the central
message of the Old Testament, the apostle John revealed the purpose
of his gospel. "These are written so you may believe that Jesus is
the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, you may have life
through his name" (John 20:31).
The primary purpose of the whole Bible, therefore, is that humanity
may come to know Jesus Christ, the living Word of God. It is a book
which tells about Him and which brings to people of every age the
revelation that God has given about the meaning of Jesus Christ for
lost sinners.
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Free Response:
In many home Bible studies, the two most-often heard studying techniques
are deductive and inductive studies. Consider the points brought up by
the author in today's lesson and explain how these two techniques might
modify, change, or influence one's conclusion or knowledge about
biblical revelation.
Are
deductive and inductive studies accurate or appropriate in studying and
understanding Scripture? Why? Or, why not? What might be some better
ways to understand God's Word? |
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