Clarifying the Clarity of Scripture

 “And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.”  2 Peter 3:15-16

I firmly believe in the clarity of Scripture (sometimes called the “perspicuity” of Scripture—something we joked about in seminary because the word “perspicuity” is not very perspicuous!).  In teaching through the book of Revelation at Grace PCA, I have realized that I need to clarify the doctrine of the clarity of Scripture.  Contrary to the common assumptions that people have, the clarity of Scripture doesn’t mean that everything in the Bible is equally clear, as the quotation from Peter’s second epistle shows: “There are some things in [Paul’s letters] that are hard to understand…”  We may ask, “What would Peter say about John’s Revelation?”  The fact that some Scriptures are hard to understand doesn’t mean that we are free to twist them to mean what we like.  Peter says that the ignorant and unstable twist them to their own destruction.  In point of fact, the danger of Scripture-twisting is greater when it comes to unclear passages.  Heretics twist unclear passages of Scripture with their own dogmatic interpretations that they have read into the text rather than out of it with the principles of sound interpretation.

Thankfully, the Westminster Confession provides an excellent statement of the clarity of Scripture.

“All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all; yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed, and observed for salvation, are so clearly propounded, and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary means, may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them” (WCF 1.7).  

Observe that the Confession flatly denies that all Scripture is equally clear.  It denies both that all Scripture is equally clear and that all Scripture is equally clear to all people.  Yet the Confession affirms that what we need to know in order to be saved is clearly revealed.  God made the essentials of salvation clear enough for all of his people to understand with the help of his Holy Spirit.  The biblical teaching of salvation, then, may be understood by both the learned and the unlearned.  In order to understand what the Bible teaches, we must make “a due use of the ordinary means.”  The ordinary means for understanding the Bible are reading, understanding language, grammar, syntax, etc.  So we don’t understand the Bible automatically.  We have to do our homework, if you will.  The clarity of Scripture should not be abused as an excuse for mental laziness and unwillingness to study using the resources available.  There are many, many invaluable resources of Bible study in the English language, and we all may make use of them in order to understand what the Bible teaches.

Here are some pointers when it comes to applying the doctrine of the clarity of Scripture to your life.

1.     Focus on what the Bible clearly and repeatedly teaches in many places.  The entire Bible is God’s Word, but some parts of the Bible are more important than others.  Jesus spoke about “the weightier matters of the law” (Matthew 23:23).  Justice, mercy, and faithfulness, are more important than tithing, though tithing is certainly important. 

2.     Do not become discouraged with the sections of the Bible that you do not understand.  Do not become discouraged when your pastor admits that he does not fully understand them (Remember what Peter admitted about Paul!).  God inspired some texts that are hard to understand.  Perhaps he did this to keep us humble and dependent on him.

3.     Beware teachers who claim to have “expert knowledge” of obscure passages of Scripture.  False teachers may claim to have special knowledge or the key to interpretation.  Generally speaking, if a teacher comes up with an interpretation that has never been given throughout the history of the Church, it is a wrong interpretation.  If you become more dependent on the teacher than you are the Bible, then there is a problem.  The mark of a cult leader is that he makes you feel like you are dependent on him in order to understand “what the Bible really means.”  The true shepherd of souls will show you how to understand the Bible with the tools of valid interpretation.

4.     Do not create division in the Church with your interpretation of unclear passages.  We need to be humble about our view of an obscure passage, and we need to be gracious with our brothers and sisters who do not see it our way.

 

5.     Always pursue a deeper understanding of God’s Word.  We shouldn’t develop a defeatist mentality when it comes to interpreting the Bible simply because there are some difficult sections.  If we understood everything in God’s Word after our first reading, then God's Word would be simplistic and shallow.  With our feet firmly planted on the clear, foundational truths of God’s Word, let us pursue a better understanding of the more challenging passages!     



Scripture Alone

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”  2 Timothy 3:16-17

This upcoming Lord’s Day is the last Sunday in October known as “Reformation Sunday.”  It commemorates the day that Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg on October 31, 1517.  Luther’s actions began the Protestant Reformation.  The theological issues motivating Luther’s actions are effectively summarized in the Five Solas of the Reformation (“sola” is Latin for “alone”):

1.  Sola Scriptura (“Scripture Alone”),

2.  Sola Gratia (“Grace Alone”),

3.  Sola Fide (“Faith Alone”),

4.  Solus Christus (“Christ Alone”), and

5.  Soli Deo Gloria (“Glory to God Alone”). 

I would like to spend the next five days leading up to Reformation Sunday meditating upon each one of these great truths.  Today I want us to reflect upon Sola Scriptura or Scripture Alone.

Scripture Alone means that the Bible alone is the only infallible rule of faith and practice for the Christian Church.  Scripture Alone does not mean that the Bible is the only standard of truth.  We certainly have other standards like the historic creeds and confessions of the Church, but these standards are not infallible and are subordinate to the Bible.  Scripture Alone, then, does not mean that the Bible is the only standard; it means that the Bible is the only infallible standard.  "Infallible" means that the Bible is incapable of error.  It is completely true in everything it teaches.  All Scripture is “God-breathed.”  This speaks of the divine source of the Bible.  The words of the Bible were breathed out by God the Holy Spirit through the agency of human authors.  “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21).  Since the Bible is breathed out by God, it is sufficient.  It makes us “competent, equipped for every good work.”  There are no necessary beliefs or good works contained outside the Bible; for the Bible is enough.  We are "equipped for every good work."  The word “every” is essential because it underlines the sufficiency of the Bible.  If we have the Bible, then we have all the good works that God requires of us.  No one can lawfully impose additional doctrines and commandments upon our conscience.  At the Diet of Worms Luther gave his famous “Here I Stand” speech and boldly proclaimed that the Church must support all its doctrines and commandments from the Holy Scriptures.  Church councils, creeds, and traditions must be subordinated to the teaching of the Holy Spirit in the God-breathed Scriptures.  Human traditions are good but not infallible.  The Church is good but not infallible.  The Bible alone is infallible.  Thus the Bible alone is the only infallible rule of faith and practice for the Church.  This means that all the Church’s doctrines and duties are contained either explicitly in the Scriptures or they may be inferred by good and necessary consequence.  In addition to Sola Scriptura, we should also be sure to consider Tota Scriptura or the totality of Scripture.  Since “all Scripture is breathed out by God,” it is imperative that we study "the whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27) and interpret Scripture with Scripture.  The Reformers stressed that the only infallible interpreter of Scripture is the Scripture.  The pope, the Church, and the creeds are all capable of erring, but the Scripture is inerrant.  The principles of Sola Scriptura and Tota Scriptura explain why the Reformers translated the Bible into the language of the people and also provided cross references to aid in interpretation.  The Reformers believed in the priesthood of the believer.  This means that every Christian can and should read the Bible with the due use of ordinary means.  This truth liberates us from ecclesiastical tyranny.  Living in a church context where believers are not encouraged to read and study the Bible for themselves is a recipe for disaster.  In such conditions the clergy take advantage of the laity and enslave their conscience with the doctrines and commandments of men.  Our Lord's yoke is easy, and his burden is light (Matthew 11:29), but the Pharisees place heavy burdens on the backs of those who are ignorant of the sufficiency of Scripture (Matthew 23:4).  So we must always keep in mind that the principle of Scripture alone is good for us.  It is liberating.  It is also a great responsibility.  We must read and study the Bible for ourselves.  Luther fought for us to have a Bible in our own language.  He fought for us to be able to know what God actually had said.  Later, men like William Tyndale would burn at the stake so that we might have a Bible in the English language.  Let us thank God for giving such men to his Church!  Is there any better way to thank our God than by reading the Bible carefully and prayerfully?  Let us hold our Bibles to our hearts and sing Burton’s words, “Holy Bible, book divine, precious treasure, you are mine; mine to tell me whence I came; mine to teach me what I am; mine to chide me when I rove; mine to show a Savior’s love; mine you are to guide and guard; mine to punish or reward.  Mine to comfort in distress, suffering in this wilderness; mine to show by living faith, man can triumph over death; mine to tell of joys to come, and the rebel sinner’s doom; Holy Bible, book divine, precious treasure, you are mine.”         

A Joy and a Delight

“Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.”  Jeremiah 15:16

God commanded Jeremiah to eat his words so that he might speak them to Israel.  God desires his people, and especially his preachers, to consume his Word.  When we read, study, and meditate on God’s Word, his Word becomes our joy and delight.  The meal is not delicious as it sits on the table.  It satisfies our appetites only when we begin to feast on it.  Even so the Bible will never be a joy and a delight to us as it sits on a shelf; it must be taken down from the shelf and consumed.  Too many Christians settle for a superficial reading of the Scriptures, but this is like taking a bite of a delicious meal only to spit it out.  Others may chew the meat of the Scripture for a time, but if it takes too much chewing, they will soon spit it out.  The Word will only delight the soul that consumes it fully.  This speaks of reading, studying, and meditating.  This requires time, prayer, concentration, and use of good resources.  We must seek and find God’s words, and when we find them, we must consume them.  Then and only then will his words become the joy and delight of our hearts.  The Bible is an acquired taste; rarely do people immediately and instinctively find reading it to be a joy.  But when the Spirit of God breathes life into our dead hearts, we receive the spiritual taste buds to enjoy the fine flavor of God’s eternal truth.  Jeremiah was not able to enjoy God’s Word in his natural condition.  He needed to be called by his sovereign God.  He took delight in God’s Word because he was called by God’s name.  The Lord of hosts effectively summoned him out of his dead condition in sin and into a living condition of communion with the living God.  We will never hear the voice of Jesus unless we are his sheep.  We will never come to him unless he first calls to us.  We are completely dependent on the sovereign and effective call of God in order to find his Word to be a delight.  Let us not, however, conclude that we are waiting for God to zap us with a love for his Word.  Our God is a sovereign God who is free to work without means if he chooses to do so, but he is pleased to work ordinarily through means.  We should read his Word and pray for this delight in it.  He will use the means of grace, prayer and the reading of his Word, to awaken within us a desire for and delight in his truth.  Perhaps most important of all is to sit under the pure preaching of God’s Word.  God’s ministers are best suited to preach life into dead hearts.  God loves to stir our affections through those shepherds who feed his people with wisdom and knowledge.  Preachers will work with you for you joy so that you might take delight in God and his Word.  So then let us feast on the Word of God today.  Let us not think that it is a bitter pill.  But let us come expecting to be nourished, strengthened, and satisfied.  Jesus is the joy of man’s desiring, and he walks the pages of the God-breathed book.