|
Dr. Walter Thomas - Lecture Outline 4/04
II Timothy 3:16;
II Peter 1:20; Acts 17:11; I Timothy 4:13
- Biblical interpretation can be rewarding or scary, depending upon how one goes about that process.
- We always interpret everything we experience. When
we experience Scripture, we interpret Scripture. Our interpretation is what is
true for us—even if what we believe resulting from that interpretation is, in fact, false. Interpretation is what man does to what God says. Spiritual
wisdom (wisdom given by the Spirit) is essential to make sound interpretation. Belief is one’s existential proposition of what one interprets from existential
experience. What we believe is what we have faith in. True faithfulness is obedience
to what God says.
- All reality, all existence, rests in God. Wisdom
is what God is and knows. Truth is what ever God says (revelation). The Bible is true because it is what God says—God’s word.
Revealed truth is Holy Spirit inspired Words through the thoughts and writing of man. The Holy Spirit moves men to
speak truth revelation. We interpret it, with or without the help of the Holy Spirit.
Error usually occurs without spiritual wisdom.
- Doctrines, standards, principles and practices can be biblical, non-biblical or
unbiblical.
A doctrine,
standard or practice that accurately reflects what the Bible says is biblical truth.
A doctrine, standard, principle and practice that is not present and is not discussed in the Bible is non-biblical
(membership standards other than testimony of salvation or tongues is an essential evidence of the baptism of the HS or
you have to go to church at least twice a week or you can’t wear jewelry and be saved).
It may be OK as long as it is not in opposition to what the Bible says and teaches.
A doctrine, standard, principle and practice that is contrary (is in opposition) to what the Bible says is unbiblical
(If you drink wine you will lose your salvation or handling snakes is an
evidence of spirituality or penance is necessary for forgiveness of sins or you can pray to deceased saints or my deceased
loved one is now an angel who guides me).
- These would result in “sound doctrine”, “unsound doctrine” and “false
doctrine”, respectively. A false doctrine (doctrine of demons) is one
that obviously opposes what God says in His Word. A false doctrine is the stuff
of which false prophets and false teachers preach, and it is the stuff of which cults are made. False doctrine is of the world and is, by definition, pagan and demonic.
(Example: Luther taught that any practice that was not contrary to the Scripture could be accepted. So the authority of the pope was OK, but papal abuses were not. Sound,
unsound, or false doctrine/practice?)
- A biblicist (or literalist) is one who believes everything in the Bible is equally valid
as a pattern and directive for life and church. I don’t think anyone is
a biblicist all the time, but people frequently do pick and choose among the commands and incidents of Scripture. Something that is Biblical and something that is biblicist has to do with what is
ESSENTIAL and NONESSENTIAL, respectively. (Example: Zwingli accepted only
the practices explicitly specified in the Scripture. No pope! This is OK, but it is also where the problem of the biblicist begin.
Grebel said the Lord’s supper can only be observed in the evening and is to be observed with ordinary bread. Zwingli, on the other hand, said: the sort of bread is not clearly answered in the
Bible. So every congregation may have their own opinion and the time of day is
not mandatory and one does not have to wear the clothes of Christ to do so.) We
have to guard against the tendency to become a biblicist.
- Being Biblical means to accept from Scripture as binding these ESSENTIAL things:
A. The gospel of Jesus Christ (The Gospel is the proclamation and
record of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ - I Corinthians 15:1-3),
B. Those Basic Biblical doctrines that arise out of the teachings
of Jesus and His Apostles,
C. Those commands and patterns for personal living that arise out
of the teachings of Jesus and His apostles, and
D. Those commands and patterns for the church that arise out of the
teachings of Jesus and His Apostles.
A biblicist,
on the other hand, is one who holds all statements of the Bible are equally binding on all believers today. The practices within scripture which reflect or contain the gospel are mandatory for the believer’s
practices today. A biblicist, on the other hand, means seeing all the Scripture
as being equal—including the incidental.
- The distinction between biblical and biblicist can be better understood by distinguishing Biblical
ESSENTIALS and Biblical INCIDENTALS. For example, “Greet one another with
a holy kiss” is incidental (and probably cultural) as a pattern behavior, but “Love one another” is essential
rather than incidental as a pattern behavior. “Do not let your left hand
know what your right hand does” is not as essential as “Repent and be saved!” “A woman’s head must be covered in church” is not as essential as “a woman
should submit to her husband’s leadership”—or is it?
- All statements of Scripture have to be interpreted with Spiritual wisdom. God gives wisdom to those who are humble before Him and to those who ask God for wisdom. The Holy Spirit will guide individuals with necessary wisdom. Wisdom
embraces the “whole counsel of God” and not just an isolated incident, sentence or narrative.
- Application:
A. Consider the following practices in many churches today: pulpits, pulpit
preaching every service, special music, use of sound tracks prepared worldly musicians, pews, passively sitting in rows, voting
pastors in and out, church buildings, Sunday school, youth ministries, microphones and sound systems, choirs, orders of service,
hymnals, worship teams, bands, democratic voting, church boards, organs, bingo, hallelujah houses, stained glass and use of
religious art forms. Are these essential or incidental? Are they biblical, non-biblical or unbiblical? Do they come
from sound, unsound or false doctrine? Are they biblical or pagan?
B. Consider the following practices in many churches today: baptism, the
Lord’s meal, proclamation of the gospel (evangelism) to the lost, fellowship, worship celebration, teaching Biblical
doctrine, correcting unsound doctrine, dialoguing about the things of God, exhorting one another, discipleship, equipping
saints for ministry, Bible study and Scripture memorization, confrontation/correction of sin in the church and in the community,
elder-led assemblies, prophetic ministry, signs and wonders, teaching and admonishing one another, caring for one another,
and helping the poor. Are these essential or incidental? Are they biblical, non-biblical or unbiblical? Do they come
from sound, unsound or false doctrine? Are they biblical or pagan?
C. Consider the following practices in many churches today: church debt,
personal debt, immodest dress, failure to confront personal sin in the church, omitting repentance from the gospel message,
movie star pastors, worldly entertainment models in church music, CEO leadership, laity/clergy distinction, voting on the
pastor, accommodating worldly models and practices in the church and in individual living, idolatry of things/possessions,
passive presence in meetings of the assembly, unsanctified mercy, etc. Are
these essential or incidental? Are the Biblical, non-Biblical or unbiblical? Do they come from sound, unsound or false doctrine?
Are they Biblical or pagan?
- Biblical interpretation of practices in the church today have to be viewed as essential or nonessential,
of the kingdom of the world or kingdom of God, and whether they are Biblical, non-Biblical or unbiblical. Cultural relevance can also be cultural accommodation, syncretism and compromise.
- Inconsistent biblical interpretation include the following:
a. I will pick and choose what Scripture I will believe as a pattern for me.
b. I am a Baptist (or Nazarene, Catholic, Wesleyan, Pentecostal, etc.) and I will believe what
they tell me is a pattern for my life and church.
c. Each person is free to decide what is right or wrong in
the privacy of their own heart and there are no set biblical patterns to worry about.
d. There are many equally valid interpretations of the Bible and none of them are completely
right.
e. God loves me unconditionally even if I don’t pattern my life after specific biblical
teachings so I don’t worry about it.
f. I let others fight over what to believe so I will believe what I want
to believe.
g. I believe I am free to do anything the Bible does not specifically prohibit.(the Bible doesn’t
say our church can’t have huge building complexes, so we will build our own mega church)
h. God wants us to be culturally relevant, so we always have to interpret the Bible in the
light of our own cultural setting.
Note: This is a study outline for a three-session teaching occurring
in April 2004. 
THE MAIN THING
(A continuation of the study of interpretation of the Scriptures pertaining
to the church) - Dr. Walter Thomas
Mark 7:6-8) “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.”
John 12:32, Jesus said, “And I, when I have been lifted up, I will
draw all men unto me.”
(See also John 3:14, 8:28)
Hebrews 12:2, “Let us fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector
of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down on the right hand of the
throne of God.”
Someone has aptly quipped, “The main thing is to be sure the main thing
is the main thing.” The main sin of the church today, is the centrality
of the inconsequential, the non-Biblical and unbiblical practices of the pagan synagogues of Satan. We have made the less than important and the non-central to be the main thing.
The main thing for the assembly of Jesus Christ is to be Christ, to exalt Christ,
to obey Christ and to confess Christ. The Assembly is to be the living Christ,
His very body with Himself as the Head.
I think it should be with us as it was with John as he was taken through
the Revelations. He speaks of the greatness of this and the beauty of that, until
he sees the Lamb. From that time forward, He never took his writings or eyes
off of the Lamb, the Christ. The rest of the book is focused on the Exalted One,
high and lifted up.
Think, for a moment, of the former lesson that puts doctrine and practices
into three classes: Biblically taught and commanded, non-Biblical because the Bible doesn’t speak for
or against same, and unbiblical because they are contrary to Biblical teachings.
Now consider many of the doctrines and practices of today’s church in the light of these three categories.
Consider the following practices that have become the main thing in most American
churches:
1. The Building
2. The Organization
3. The programs
4. The pulpit, the pulpit preacher, the sermon, the
microphone, the elevated platform and pulpit
5. “The” pastor, “senior pastor”,
the CEO pastor, the movie star pastor, the American idol pastor, where pastor is front stage and center.
6. The corporate model, the top-down organizational
structure, the board model
7. The clergy/laity distinction (a caste system), professional-paid
ministers vs. laymembers.
8. The pagan music styles that features the musician,
the band, the star, the music, the noise, where musicians are front stage and central, following an entertainment model.
Most of these are pagan and unbiblical in their origin. If not pagan, they are at least non-Biblical. They have worldly pride and worldly
values that motivate their advocates and participants. The result is a non-participatory
laity that do not minister, do not prophesy, do not witness, do not teach, do not witness, do not worship and do almost nothing
that is New Testament ministry.. They passively expect the professionals and
the entertainers to do the ministry. They give money to promote the kingdoms
and traditions of men.
Even the strong emphasis that some churches make on the
Word (Bible), Spirit, spiritual gifts, healing, prophecy, holiness, personal prosperity, preaching, teaching, evangelism,
music, and social gospel are in potential error because they are making the secondary, or incidental thing, into the main
thing. They are probably good and possibly important, but not the main thing.
Our sins, as a church today, can be summarized in two ways:
A. Making non-essential, or even the pagan thing, into the
main thing.
B. Making the main thing a lesser thing, or nonexistent thing.
Paul warns the Gentile church in Colossians 2:8, “See
to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic
principles of this world rather than on Christ.”
The larger church in the world today is basically divided
into two huge camps: (a) those who want to change the society through affecting
the infrastructure with Christian influence (sort of a social gospel of salvation, solve the social ills, etc.) and (b) those
who want to save only souls (an individual gospel of salvation). The former has
been variously referred to as modernism or mainstream Christianity and the latter as evangelicalism and sectarian Chritianity. The evangelical (or conservative) camp has been divided into two other groups: the
word churches and the spirit churches. Jesus said the Father is looking for TRUE
worshippers who worship Him in Spirit and Truth, not either/or. The
Spirit churches (Pentecostal, charismatic, Spirit-filled, Baptized in the Holy Ghost, some holiness groups, etc.) emphasize
the gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy, tongues, demonstrative worship, signs and wonders. They emphasize the emotional and experiential aspects of religion which are said to be Spiritually driven
and spiritually experienced. The Word churches (Bible churches, Bible Baptist,
Baptists, Presbyterian, reformed, Christian, Churches of Christ, etc.), on the
other hand, emphasize the Bible, the Word, lifting it even higher than the Spirit or the Son or the Father, at times. Everything is measured against the Bible. The
Bible is preached, taught and even used to hit people over the head. Of course,
this word emphasis is good, until it becomes an idol, becoming the main thing. Each
group privately and publically calls the other wrong…and sometimes of the Devil.
The divisions and hatred between the liberals and the conservatives, the evangelicals and the mainstreamers, and between
the word churches and the spirit churches is a testimony to everything Christ and His Spirit stand against.
It is time for the brothers and sisters who have fought each other for so many long, to make up and to love each other
as family. They need to repent of their sins and humbly seek reconciliation with
each other. Then they need to turn to Christ, and Christ alone.
What is needed in the end-time church is the same as in the church of the first two centuries: A CONFESSING CHURCH,
a church that demonstrates, exalts, becomes, proclaims the living and risen Christ Jesus, that presents a living body of Christ
with Christ Jesus, Himself, as her head. A church without spot or wrinkle, without
spite or wrangling, one that is holy, blood washed and obedient. A confessing
church that exalts and lifts up Christ, and He will draw all men to Himself and will change the world into His Kingdom rule,
on earth as it is in heaven. A confessing church in which the glory and the power
of God dwells to such degree that no man will be left behind and no man would dare oppose.
The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. That main thing
is to confess the risen Christ, high and lifted up and His glory, power and truth rules every member of His church.
|
 |
|
 |
|
