THE SOURCE OF GOD’S AUTHORITY
Authority of the Bible
(Two views of authority)
INTRODUCTION
A. A big question in religious world today is how do we know what is authorized and what is not.
B. Many view the Bible as a book of SUBJECTIVE TRUTH to be interpreted as it suits the reader.
1. According to this reasoning, you see it one way and I see it another.
C. There are those who view the bible as OBJECTIVE TRUTH, meaning the Bible has only one truth and it must be understood and obeyed.
D. We want to look at these two ways of viewing authority in religious matters by those who claim to recognize the Bible as religious authority.
I. THE SUBJECTIVE VIEW CONSIDERS THE BIBLE TO BE AUTHORITY, BUT SUBJECT TO AMMENDMENTS WHEN THE SITUATION ARISES THAT YOU DON’T AGREE WITH WHAT IT SEEMS TO SAY!
A. Some view it like the Constitution – a basic document to be praised and held on to, but one to be amended whenever situations arise which the founding fathers did not envision.
B. Hypothetically the amendments could eventually completely overshadow the nature of the stipulations of the original document.
C. We must remember that the Constitution is a great document, but is not inspired and at times needs amending.
D. The Pharisees held this view of God’s revelation.
1. The Catholics do the same today.
E. The rabbis justified their amendments by a twisted proof text from Psa. 119:126.
1. The verse is interpreted , “When it is time to act for the Lord, break the law.”
F. By the so called “Power of the key,” the Catholic church claims the power of binding and loosing.
1. This is a wrong interpretation of Matthew 16:18-29.
2. They feel that the Pope and church officials have the right to make or change laws.
3. Its rules change from generation to generation.
G. Many denominations reject the Catholic claim but hold modified forms of it for themselves.
1. The result is their holding to beliefs and engaging in practices for which there is no scripture.
2. Example of this is using sprinkling and pouring of water for baptism instead of immersion.
a. By definition the Greek word baptizo determines the act of baptism.
3. They do not feel limited by the silence of the scriptures.
4. Most religionists believe that anything not specifically forbidden is acceptable to God.
a. This is just the opposite of how authority is realized.
II. THE OBJECTIVE VIEW CONSIDERS THE BIBLE THE INSPIRED TRUTH OF GOD NOT SUBJECT TO CHANGE!
A. This view holds that the New Testament sets forth the pattern for Christian living and the church that the Lord expects his people to conform to throughout the ages.
B. Rather than the church being a Chameleon, changing its color from century to century, the church conforms to a faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 3).
1. If there were no true Christians living on the earth at any one period of time in human existence, the church would still be present because of the seed found in the New Testament.
C. The standard given needs no amendments; it thoroughly furnishes the man of God unto every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:3).
D. Like the tabernacle that was made according to the pattern shown in the mountain, so the church is to follow the pattern of scriptures. It is to:
1. Heed its commands.
2. Be limited by its prohibitions and by its silences.
E. Had the Lord listed all of the things his people could not do, our libraries could not contain all the books that would have had to be written.
F. The Lord took care of that by telling us what to do, and in doing that, he eliminated the doing of anything else.
G. The EVOLUTIONARY view of authority speaks about “the development of doctrine.”
1. In other words, all the ways, beliefs, and practices that have gone before us have been legitimate unfolding of God’s plan just as a rose unfolds from its bud.
2. There is in these circles no embarrassment that the present day church is different in belief and practice from the first century church.
3. With this in view, what the church believes and practices today may be vastly different from what it will be believing and practicing a century from now.
4. This is what is happening in the church today as the “change agents” are changing many of the age old teachings of the church to fit modern society and what people want today.
H. The opposing view considers that in keeping with the Lord’s promise, the apostles were guided into all truth (John 16:13).
1. Men have always been fallible so there has never been a perfect obedience to the Lord’s instructions.
2. Jerusalem did not have it, Antioch did not, and certainly Corinth did not!
3. But the pattern was given, calling all into conformity.
4. Deviations from the pattern, no matter how popular they become, are to be considered “apostasy”, not progress.
5. Men do sin by going onward and NOT abiding in the teaching of Christ (2 John 9).
III. GOD SPEAKS TO US THROUGH JESUS CHRIST!
A. God has spoken to man in various ways throughout history.
1. Directly, as to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, etc.
2. Through prophets such as Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah, etc.
3. Today He speaks to us through His Son (Heb. 1:1).
B. In keeping with the Lord’s promise, the apostles were guided into all truth (John 14:26; 16:13).
1. The ones receiving the apostles receives Christ and God (John 13:20).
2. Their teaching is to be accepted as the word of God (1 Cor. 14:37; 1 Thess. 2:13).
C. The written word of God is considered authoritative.
D. Everything in the N.T., the historical setting of the O.T. is accepted as authentic and its religious teaching as genuine.
THE SOURCE OF GOD’S AUTHORITY
(God Expects Strict Obedience)
Lesson 2
INTRODUCTION
A. God gave a law to Israel and through Moses gave a warning about their present attitude and actions (Deut. 12:8).
B. He gave them further warnings concerning their handling of His law (Deut. 12:32).
I. BIBLICAL EXAMPLES OF THOSE WHO DID AND DID NOT KEEP GOD’S LAW!
A. Many biblical examples remind us that when God gives directions, deviations from those directions are prohibited.
B. Noah and the ark. (Gen. 6:13-18)
1. The materials, length, height, number of windows and doors of the ark are specified.
2. For Noah to obey God he had to:
a. Use only gopher wood.
b. Put in one door.
c. Put in one window.
3. Noah did not have the right to use other materials, put in just any number of doors and windows even if he thought it would improve the makeup of the ark.
4. The point of this illustration does not depend on my being able to identify gopher wood in modern wood terms.
a. The point is that Noah did what the Lord told him to do without exception.
C. The instructions on building the tabernacle carried specific materials, floor plan, length, breadth, and height, as well as specified furniture (Exodus 25:9, 40; 39:42-43; Heb. 8:5).
D. Nadab and Abihu, offering “unholy fire…such as he had not commanded them,” were burned at the altar and were buried unmourned (Lev. 10:1).
E. God gave instructions that the ark of the covenant was to be moved by being carried by the priests (Ex. 25:14; Num. 4:1-15; 7:9). (Holy things were not to be moved on carts)
1. When David first moved the ark he placed it on a new ox cart (1 Chron. 13:7)
2. Uzza touched the ark to keep it from turning over, and he (despite his acting from admirable motives) was struck dead for his action (1 Chron. 13:9-14).
3. Later David moved the ark correctly (1 Chron. 15:1-15).
F. King Uzziah is said to have grown proud to his own destruction.
1. He entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense to the Lord, but the priests withstood him (2 Chron. 26:16-21).
2. Because of his disobedience he became a leper and because of being a leper he was excluded from the house of the Lord.
II. THE SAME PRINCIPLE APPLIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT!
A The Hebrew writer makes an argument from the silence of the scriptures.
1. In discussing the priesthood of Jesus, he points out that Jesus came from the tribe of Judah rather than the tribe of Levi.
2. The O.T. in providing for the Levitical priesthood eliminated priests from any other tribe.
3. God did not need to name the other eleven tribes and say there were to be no priests from them.
4. Jesus could be a priest only with a change of the law (Hebrews 7:13-14).
5. The point of this illustration has nothing to do with Jesus’ better priesthood.
a. The point is that when the law designated Levites as priests, all others were prohibited.
B. Such an idea did not originate with the writer of the Hebrew epistle.
1. Already in the book of 1 Kings the innovations of Jeroboam are summarized (12:31).
2. It was a part of the sin with which he made Israel to sin.
C. Christians are to observe all things the Lord commanded (Matt. 28:20).
D. The measure of loyalty to the Lord in the New Testament is not whether or not one is high on Jesus, has a certain feeling in his heart, or any other like standard, but is “If you love me you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15).
E. One purifies his soul through his obedience to the truth (1 Peter 1:22).
F. Other scriptures which bear out the importance of obeying the Lord to the best of our ability (Matt. 7:21-23; 2 John 6, 9).
CONCLUSION
A. The Bible is our rule and guide that tells us how we can obey the Lord and make Heaven our home.
B. Disobedience will bring about our eternal damnation.
THE SOURCE OF GOD’S AUTHORITY
(Binding and Loosing)
INTRODUCTION
A. Man has no right to bind or loose anything that God has not bound or loosed.
1. To bind means to give commands where God has given no commands.
2. Loose means to give permission where God has not given permission.
B. When Jewish Christians attempted to bind circumcision and law keeping on the Gentiles, Paul refused to submit to them (Gal. 2:3).
1. Peter said this made trial of God putting a yoke upon disciples that the Lord never intended for them to bear (Acts 15:10).
2. The apostles as a group and other Christian brethren in Jerusalem rejected this effort (Acts 15:24).
C. Across history there have been attempts to bind rules of self - denial upon the church that the Lord never commanded (1 Timothy 4:1-3; Gal. 4:10-11).
D. We must study scriptures to consider the matters where God had bounded or loosed and not impose things upon our fellow man that God has not imposed.
A. As previously mentioned, under the so-called “power of the keys,” the Catholic Church claims the right to bind and loose, regulations changing from generation to generation.
B. The Protestant religious world takes equal privilege in interpreting the bible to suit their agenda.
1. Many claim direct communication with the Lord as in the days of the apostles.
a. This would be a matter of loosing as the scriptures clearly teach that gifts of the Holy Spirit would cease when the “perfect” had come (1 Cor. 13: 8ff).
2. Mormons claim a revelation substituting water for “fruit of the vine” in communion.
a. This is a clear case of loosing where the Lord has bound (Matt. 26:26-29).
3. Those who teach Sabbath keeping are binding where God has not bound.
C. In a conversation with Brother Jack Lewis, a Catholic man attempted to justify his church’s regulations by saying, “Does not a club have a right to make its regulations of membership?”
1. The answer to his question is “yes”.
2. However, the church is not a club.
3. A club has the right to set up its own rules and regulations for membership, but the church belongs to the Lord and no one has the right to change his rules and regulations.
D. Some denominations set rules concerning dress, makeup for women, modes of transportation, things to be done in the home, etc. for their people that God never set.
E. Religious boards, synods, governing bodies, conventions, etc. do not have the right to be law making bodies in matters of man’s relationship with God.
II. IT IS POSSIBLE FOR THE LORD’S CHURCH TO BE GUILTY OF BINDING AND LOOSING!
A. Elders in the Lord’s church do not set as law making bodies, but shepherds who are to look after the souls of Lord’s people.
1. Any time elders begin to make rules and regulations that cannot be found in the New Testament, they have ceased to serve their purpose.
2. Elders have no right binding things upon a congregation that the Lord has not bound nor give permission where the Lord has forbidden.
B. Areas where elders have bound where God has not bound:
1. Elders have decided that only one translation of the bible can be used in the pulpit and classrooms.
2. When women’s pants suits first came out, some elderships said women could not wear them to worship as they would be wearing men’s clothing which the bible forbids.
a. Brother Guy N. Woods said women’s pants suits were clothing for women, not for men and a man would look silly wearing such clothing.
3. Congregations have decided the fruit of the vine can only be served in one container as Jesus “took the cup” when he instituted the Lord’s Supper and it would be sinful to divide the grape juice into many containers.
a. “The cup” spoken of by Jesus on this occasion was referring to what the container (cup) held, not to the container (cup) itself (Matt. 26:26-29).
4. Elderships decide it is sinful to eat in the building where bible study and worship to God is conducted (1 Cor. 11:20-22, 33-34).
a. Paul could not have been concerned about eating in church buildings as they had no church buildings in those days.
b. His concern had to be about the worship service as they met in people’s homes and those who lived in that house certainly ate in that house.
c. Some have made the building in which the church meets a sacred place, putting the emphasis on the building and not the body of people who worship in the building.
5. James commands Christians to “visit” neglected children and widows (1:27).
a. The word visit, means, “inspect, visit with help.”
b. Some congregations determine visitation of “neglected children” can only be done in an individual way, not as a group such as in a children’s home.
c. They contend the command of the Lord through James is to individual Christians and to care for them as a group would be using a method not approved of by the Lord.
C. Areas where congregations loose where God did not loose:
1. Approve of marriage, divorce, remarriage relationships which the Lord strictly forbids (Matt. 19:9; 1 Cor. 7:10-11).
2. Allowing women to take leadership roles that the Lord has not approved (1 Tim. 2:12; 1 Cor. 14:34-35).
3. Some congregations are now having Saturday evening worship services and observing the Lord’s Supper (Acts 20:7).
a. Others are taking the Lord Supper on any day of the week they choose, especially on Thursday as they believe this was the day Christ instituted the Lord’s Supper.
4. Many are bringing instruments into the worship saying it is not really matter of faith, but a matter of opinion (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16).
a. It is a historical fact the early church did not use instruments of music in worship to God.
D. Many more examples of binding and loosing could be explored, but these serve the purpose.
A. God has commanded man to not change his word (Deut. 4:2; Rev. 22:18-19).
B. Only things we can bind and loose are the things already bound and loosed in heaven (Matt. 16:19).
THE SOURCE OF GOD’S AUTHORITY
(Determining What Applies to Mankind Today)
A. The question of what constitutes biblical authority is the most important single issue facing bible scholars.
B. Various religious groups use different methods to determine their faith and practices.
1. Some say the church has a say in determining the doctrine of their group.
2. Others believe if it is taught in the bible it is still in affect today – miracles, speaking in tongues, instruments of music in worship, handling serpents, etc.
3. Others have books, creeds, etc. in addition to the bible.
C. Most feel each group has the right to interpret the teachings of the bible for themselves and everyone else has the same privilege.
D. Religionists debate the question to what extent faith and practice are prescribed in the New Testament.
A. What must be determined is the meaning of scripture at the time it was given and what application can be made to us today.
B. “Exegesis” is from the Greek word meaning to lead out and refers principally to the process and procedure of carefully studying the original text of the bible to determine what the original author meant to say to his original audience.
1. “Exegesis” is the use of textual criticism, study of the original languages, of literary form, of the setting of the statements, and other relevant disciplines.
2. After learning what was said to the original reader, the question comes as to whether it has meaning to those of the 21st century.
C. The method used to determine present day application is called “hermeneutics”.
1. The word “hermeneutic” comes from the Greek word that literally means, “the process of understanding the original meaning of the biblical message and then explaining and making application of it to a contemporary audience.”
2. Hermeneutics simply means the same as interpretation or understanding.
3. Children practice exegesis and hermeneutics every day as they listen to their parents and interpret the wishes of the parents for the child’s life. (A wrong interpretation can get one into a lot of trouble)
D. All scripture must be studied in “context”.
1. To determine context certain questions must be asked – who is speaking, to whom is it being spoken, what is the message, what is the proper response to the message?
2. Through context it can be determined if the message applies to us today.
a. We are not told to build an ark as was Noah.
b. We are not to build a tabernacle as was Moses.
c. We are not commanded to offer animal sacrifices as were the Israelites.
d. We are to teach and practice baptism for the remission of sins as were those taught in the first century.
e. Christians today are to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” as those of the first century were commanded.
3. By taking scripture out of context one can prove just about anything by the bible.
a. Those who believe in handling snakes use Mark 16:17ff as their proof text. (context)
b. Tongue speakers contend those scriptures referring to that practice in New Testament times are still in force today. (context)
A. DIRECT COMMAND – when the Lord gives a direct command there is no question as to whether man is to obey.
1. Christ’s command to the apostles to preach the gospel to every creature is to be carried out by Christians throughout time.
2. Repentance and baptism are commands for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38; 10:48).
3. To lay by in store as God has prospered is a command (1 Cor. 16:1-2).
4. To love your brother is a command that must be obeyed (1 John 4:20).
5. To obey the Lord’s commands is a command (John 14:15).
B. APPROVED EXAMPLE – the New Testament endorses the principle that example can bear the force of authority.
1. In Acts 11, when Peter, before the brothers in Jerusalem, argued the case for accepting Gentiles into the church, he cited the example of the Spirit’s operation upon the household of Cornelius as proof that these people were entitled to Christian status (Acts 11:15-17).
2. When a question arose as to whether Gentiles would be required to practice circumcision to be saved both Paul and Barnabas, as well as Peter, demonstrated, by the citation of examples, that the Lord has miraculously worked through them among the Gentiles granting salvation without submission to the law of Moses (Acts 15:6-12).
3. Paul commanded Timothy to hold fast the pattern (example) he had received (2 Tim. 1:13).
4. We know the day to partake of the Lord’s Supper by example (Acts 20:7).
a. Biblical information on the same subject elsewhere in the New Testament establishes a spiritual connection between the Lord’s Supper and the first day of the week.
b. The components of bread and fruit of the vine are reflective of the Savior’s death (Matt. 26:26-28), and the first day of the week commemorates His resurrection (John 20:1ff).
c. Obviously, therefore, Sunday becomes a binding example for the time of the Lord’s Supper.
d. All things described in observing the Lord’s Supper are not binding, such as place of observance or time of day.
C. NECESSARY INFERENCE – things necessarily inferred to carry out those things commanded and approved by example.
1. Christians are commanded to go into all the world and preach the gospel; therefore, some mode of transportation is inferred by which to go.
2. Christians are to “sing and make melody in your hearts to the Lord”(Eph. 5:19); therefore, a source of words and music to be sung are necessary thus authorizing song books.
3. Christians are commanded to assemble to worship God (Heb. 10:25) necessitating a place to assemble that could be fulfilled by renting or buying a facility.
4. Necessary inference does not include doing things that would contradict the command or example, i.e. using instruments of music in the worship, as this would constitute addition to and not assistance in carrying out the command or example.
A. Determining biblical authority is learned by:
1. Direct command from the Lord.
2. Approved apostolic example.
3. The practice is necessarily inferred by the command or/and example.
4. Context of scripture must always be taken into consideration.
THE SOURCE OF GOD’S AUTHORITY
THE NEW HERMENEUTIC: WHAT IS IT?
CHANGING TIMES, CHANGING ISSUES!
A. On the news today we see items about – Gay rights, abortion, surrogate motherhood, fetal harvesting for Alzheimer’s disease, legalization of drugs, etc., etc.
1. These are just a few of the social issues that face the 21st century.
B. Telecommunication has shrunk the world so much that we are on the battlefronts of wars as they are fought today.
C. Islam is no longer a mysterious middle-east religion that constitutes another chapter in our history books.
1. It is recognized for it terrorism, controlling oil supplies and one of the fastest growing religions in the world today.
D. In our country we have the New Age Movement that gives a different outlook on our real being and what happens at death.
1. God is now “God Force”, as in “May the force be with you.”
2. Soul and spirit (even the Holy Spirit) are now energy.
3. Atonement is now at-one-ment, which is said to come with the realization that you and I are God.
4. Christ has become Christ-consciousness, something all of us can have when we connect with our “higher selves.”
E. This brings us to a different set of questions than the ones we formerly faced:
1. Infant baptism.
2. Instrumental music
3. Kitchens in the church building
4. Should women wear hats in church.
F. Can “command, example, and necessary inference” help us answer these new questions as it did the others?
1. We are facing a totally different group today than we formerly faced.
2. Many today are not interested in hearing what the bible says.
3. But, should we throw away the hammer just because we have some screws that need attention?
4. No, when we have nails to be driven, we need the hammer.
G. If there are questions that the Lord and divine writers did not directly address, we still must give heed to those they did address.
1. However, there is not a question that can be asked but what the bible gives the answer at least in principle.
2. There are no spiritual questions that can be raised that the answer cannot be found in the bible.
3. Simply because we may have no specific pattern regarding certain matters gives us no license to ignore divine mandates in other areas where we have clear biblical teaching.
H. In considering certain questions of our day, we may have to shift our attention away from worship, organization, etc.
1. This does not mean we ignore them, but no need to talk about organization and worship to people who do not even believe in God or the church.
2. Most modern Americans are not interested in worshipping God.
3. They have no concept of a soul to save.
4. With no soul to save or conscientiousness of sin they have no quilt and no need of a Savior.
I. In Acts 17:22-32, Paul did not appeal to scripture to convince the people of Athens of the “Unknown God.”
1. He appealed to their own poets.
2. He appealed to nature to tell them of this God they did not know.
J. The “old hermeneutic” certainly has a place in answering the questions of our day.
1. This goes back to the statement about those of the “new hermeneutic” becoming soft on the teaching on moral issues.
K. Hermeneutics, biblical authority, and church doctrine are more important to our society today than ever before.
1. It is not about who can pass communion trays or lead a prayer.
2. It is about God’s order, social structure, and righteousness exalting a nation.
3. The pattern of the New Testament was not designed solely for determining “church kinds of questions,” but for producing Christian character.
MANY FEEL BECAUSE TIMES HAVE CHANGED, WE MUST CHANGE!
A. Our society does not feel it can “impose one’s morality on anyone else.”
1. Tolerance has become the highest virtue.
2. A class in law school was asked if Hitler was wrong in killing Jews during WWII. The class, including some Jewish people, agreed that if Hitler thought that was the thing to do there was nothing morally wrong with so doing.
3. If nothing is right and nothing is wrong (in the eyes of the beholder) then tolerance is our only option. (this is the new morality)
4. Our period is like that of Israel’s judges in which “everyone did as he saw fit” (Judges 21:25).
B. Our day demands “political correctness.”
1. We are expected to toe the liberal line on issues like abortion, gay rights, radical feminism, or else be reported to the sensitivity police for being intolerant.
2. Tolerance today means, “having to accept all values, truths, and beliefs (no matter how spiritually or morally bankrupt) as equally valid.
C. Any hermeneutic which insists on the authoritativeness of Scripture is by definition “politically incorrect.”
1. “Command, example and necessary inference” are hopelessly outdated when it comes to being politically correct.
a. What could be more politically incorrect than “maintaining the biblical patter of male spiritual leadership?”
2. Being politically correct is a big part of the “new hermeneutic.”
D. Elements of the new hermeneutic have not been identified, but when it is, one possibility is “Utilitarian morality” which simply asks, “what works?”
1. Two examples of “utilitarian hermeneutic”:
a. One plea for instrumental music in worship is, “How are to keep the young people interested if we do not liven up our worship with instruments?”
b. “If we don’t allow women a greater participation in leadership roles, we will lose them, especially the younger, to other churches.
E. The problem that always plagues any utilitarian approach is the question of just how truly practical the idea happens to be. (This is not considering whether it is scriptural or not)
1. Is it instrumental music that is causing the problem with the young people, or is it the basic knowledge of what God has to say about the church and its worship?
a. What about the older folks who would be lost when instruments are brought in?
2. Will the reading of scripture and passing trays really settle the problem of women’s role in the church?
a. What about both men and women who can’t conscientiously join in such worship?
F. The main trouble with the utilitarian hermeneutic is it doesn’t stop to ask what God thinks about these matters.
G. “If you don’t like the message, shot the messenger.”
1. Under new hermeneutics the perfect issue is the women’s issue.
2. This is a perfect catalyst, because it combines utilitarian practicality, current notions of political correctness, and an obvious case for tolerance, all in one neat package.
3. However, we must accept that “male leadership” was ordained by God, not man.
a. Created Adam, then Eve.
b. Gave Abraham a covenant sign – circumcision
c. Kings of Israel were men.
d. Christ chose twelve men for apostles.
e. All inspired writers of the bible were men.
f. Elders and Deacons selected from men.
4. Women’s movements have characterized Paul as a frustrated unmarried man who did not like women.
5. Others contend the culture of New Testament times was vastly different from culture today and because culture has changed bible teaching changes because bible teaching was cultural.
a. They take Gal. 3:28 as their text for equality for women in all things.
b. In this passage they content that Paul equates slavery and subjugation of women and both have been abolished.
c. They fail to recognize that slavery was never commanded, while spiritual leadership of the male was God given.
d. They fail to take the scripture in context that says nothing about equality of male and female, but is referring to the salvation of every person who is baptized into Christ.
e. It does not matter if one is male, female, slave, free, all become Christians the same way and all are saved equally in the sight of God.
H. The contention is that holding to old understandings of the bible will hinder evangelism.
1. If the spread of the gospel is hindered by condemning homosexuality, should we simply abandon the scriptural teaching against it in favor of some greater “missionary principle?”
A. Today we are facing the very real prospect of abandoning altogether our commitment to biblical authority.
B. This can, will, and has already led to major divisions in the body of Christ.
C. The largest congregation of the church of Christ in the world is presently going through this very process.
D. It all comes down to the question of “how we understand scripture.”
1. Has the process of understanding scripture changed?
E. It is a test of our respect for biblical authority.
THE SOURCE OF GOD’S AUTHORITY
CULTURE, COMMAND, APPLICATION
IMPOSING OUR CULTURE ON THE BIBLE!
A. Two real problems concerning culture do face us.
1. Man imposing culture on the bible and transforming the bible to fit man rather than transforming man to fit the bible (Rom. 12:1-2).
2. Properly and correctly recognizing cultural elements in the bible as such and separating them from the eternal principles that are contained in the bible.
B. Culture overrides the bible when cultural pressure is allowed to override obvious teachings in the bible and things are practiced that the bible obviously forbids.
1. The role and standing of homosexuals in society and the church.
a. No question that God condemned homosexuality and characterized it as an abomination (Lev. 18:22; 20:13; Romans 1:23-32).
b. Some have tried to say that God was talking about promiscuous and not being faithful to one person.
c. With society’s pressure to be politically correct, many denominations are giving in and appointing homosexuals to their pulpits and other positions of leadership.
d. There have been incidents of homosexuals interrupting the worship services of churches that will not give in to their way of thinking.
2. People who co-habit without the benefit of marriage are readily accepted in society and in some churches, yet God calls this adultery (Heb. 13:4).
a. What would you do if you were teaching a couple who are living together but not married and they both want to be saved?
3. The role of the church building being the visible symbol of the church and thinking of the church as a physical building rather than a spiritual building of living people.
a. When the building becomes more important than the true church, problems arise.
b. We need to understand that the term “church”, or “ekklessia” are referring to the “called out of God”, people who have been called out of sin into God’s Kingdom.
c. New Testament Elders were shepherds of the flock, not the keepers of the building.
d. The building of a church building falls completely in the realm of incidentals or expedients.
C. We must work hard not to read and exegete the bible through 21st century glasses.
1. We need to study the culture of biblical times and sit where they sat.
2. If we understand where they were coming from, we will be better able to make application today.
A. The problem many cite as a criticism of standard restoration hermeneutics and as a weakness of the use of command, example and necessary inference for interpretation of scripture concerns determining the eternal principles in the bible as opposed to cultural matters in which these principles were revealed.
B. Some contend that the holy kiss and women wearing coverings are equal to baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
1. The holy kiss was a matter of greeting in that culture and had nothing to do with spiritual matters. (Unless you greeted a brother or sister with an unholy kiss)
2. Women covering their head was a cultural matter which Christian women of that day should practice for to not do so would put them in an unfavorable light as to their moral character.
a. If it were a custom for women in America to wear a covering in public or be thought of as being immoral women, Christian women should wear a covering.
b. Paul indicates this was a cultural matter in 1 Corinthians 11:16.
3. Baptism for the remission of sins involves man’s relationship to God and would continue to be in affect until the end of time (Acts 2:38).
4. The Lord’s Supper was an act of worship instituted by the Lord himself and his disciples were to maintain this practice until he comes again (1 Corinthians 11:26).
A. Jesus stated the two greatest commands (Matt. 22:34-40).
1. Nothing cultural or limited to a culture in these commands.
B. The matter of worshipping graven images was not a matter of culture, but are eliminated because of God’s command to not have any graven images.
1. This reinforced in the New Testament as Paul taught God is not made with hands nor is he worshipped with man’s hands (Acts 17:22ff).
2. Demetrius and other silversmiths lost their business, but God demanded the people of Ephesus to leave their idols (Acts 19:23-41).
C. Teaching of Christ in the Sermon on the mount not limited to any culture.
D. Baptism for the remission of sins not limited to any culture.
E. The organization of the church is not limited by cultural, political or economic structure.
F. The priesthood of the believers is applicable and easily practiced throughout the world (1 Peter 2:1-10).
G. The worship of the church is universally applicable, easily practiced and has no cultural limitations.
H. The instruction to sing is not limited to any specific style of word or music.
1. Missionaries may go to any culture and teach Christians to sing praises to God with proper words and whatever style music they sing.
I. Giving as you have been prospered is not limited to culture.
1. This giving can take many forms – money, vegetables from the garden, animals, etc.
J. The Lord’s Supper can be observed in any culture because of the simplicity of the elements used.
A. Human nature is the same in bible culture, today’s culture and every culture.
1. Man is flesh and his fleshly nature inclines toward the lust of the flesh.
2. The bible encourages people in every society to practice self-control.
B. Biblical illustrations and parables may be culturally flavored, but they have equivalence in every culture.
1. In Luke 15 Jesus used the lost boy, lost coin and lost sheep – what culture could not relate to the lessons taught by these?
2. Jesus used farming as illustrations and we know enough about these things to understand his teaching. (Jesus explained them anyway)
C. God does not require what is physically impossible but allowed adjustments.
1. When the Jews were scattered from Jerusalem, he allowed them to institute the Synagogue because they could not get to the temple.
2. Jesus went to the Synagogue while on the earth.
3. God understands when we are “providentially hindered” today.
A. The Corinthian church had a problem with the eating of meat which had been offered to an idol (1 Cor. Chs 8 & 10).
1. The strong brother was to consider the weak brother in this matter.
2. Though we do not have the problem of meat offered to idols, we have an eternal principle here.
3. We must never act in a way that would offend the conscience of the weak and cause them to sin by doing something that is against their conscience and beyond their knowledge.
B. In 1 Cor. 12-14 Paul corrects problems brought on by the gift of the Holy Spirit.
1. There are principles in these chapters that are eternal.
a. Chapter 12 stresses principles that every Christian, every member of the body is important and needed by the rest of the body.
b. Chapter 13 stresses no matter what we do, if it is not motivated by love (agape) it is worthless.
c. Chapter 14 stresses several eternal principles:
(1) An essential principle of the assembly in every century and culture is exhortation, edification, teaching, understanding communication that will build up the child of God and the household of God.
(2) Nothing is to be done in the assembly that is not intelligible and understandable and will not result in edification.
(3) Order in the assembly must prevail because disorder only confuses and does not result in instruction and edification.
C. The entire section about the public assembly (1 Cor. 11:18-16:4) is instructive that every Sunday or first day of the week assembly of the church at Corinth included the Lord’s Supper, preaching or edification, singing, prayer and giving or contribution.
D. All these principles are clearly eternal because they agree in every way with other clear commands in the New Testament and other approved examples in the New Testament.
A. There are no serious problems involved in understanding the bible written in biblical culture in the 21st century.
B. We have a far greater problem of reading our 21st century culture into the bible than we do of misunderstanding and applying eternal principles in the bible.
C. The biblical principles are essentially free and clear of entanglements with biblical culture and easily transferable and practiced in every culture of the world.