August 1, 2004, Vol.4, No.15.
Two new articles every two weeks.
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us.
THIS ISSUE: "How
the Lord Expresses His Will" (see
below)
and "How to Tell What
the Lord Requires"
How the Lord Expresses
His Will
by Keith Sharp
The New Testament plainly teaches we need authority from the
Lord, as expressed in the New Testament, for all we believe,
teach, and practice (Colossians 3:17; 2 Timothy 1:13; 2 John
9). But how does Christ express His authority in His Word? How
can we tell what pleases Him?
For many years brethren have contended that the New Testament
expresses the will of God in three ways. Many brethren call for
a "new hermeneutic," a new methodology to understand
the Bible. They claim the old methods are merely human wisdom
rooted in the philosophy of the "Age of Enlightenment."
I believe God communicated His will to us in the same way
we humans normally express our own wills to others. God made
us the way we are, with minds and freedom of will. He employed
words in the ways people usually use words. This is not mysterious,
and it was not first discovered by eighteenth century philosophers.
Please examine the Scriptures with me and see if you do not agree.
It is the aim of this lesson to turn to the New Testament
itself and see if the Scriptures themselves reveal how the Lord
expresses His will for us. Thus, we inquire, How can we determine
what pleases the Lord?
As Paul reminded the Ephesian elders of his work among them,
he claimed, "For I have not shunned to declare to you the
whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27). The apostle declared,
or proclaimed (cf. 1 John 1:5) the divine counsel to them.
The inspired writers declare the Lord's will in two general
ways. First, they simply state it as fact. "This is the
message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that
God is light and in Him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5).
The proper response to such a statement of fact is to believe
it.
But often the divine will demands that we act. In this case
the writers declare the Lord's commands. "And he commanded
them to be baptized in the name of the Lord" (Acts 10:48).
Our response must be obedience.
But the New Testament also records many examples. In fact,
the historical portions of the gospel, Matthew through Acts,
primarily consist of narratives of action, i.e., examples. Those
examples that are approved of the Lord also express the will
of God. We are to imitate the manner of life of Jesus (Luke 6:40;
1 Peter 2:21-22), the apostles (1 Corinthians 4:16; 11:1; Philippians
3:17; 4:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:7,9), and the New Testament examples
of disciples who were directed by the apostles (Philippians 3:17).
Often the Lord simply implies His will and leaves it to us
to infer His desire for us. One way He does this is by the use
of rhetorical questions, questions in which the answer is implied.
For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by
those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among
you. Now I say this, that each of you says, "I am of Paul,"
or "I am of Apollos," or "I am of Cephas,"
or "I am of Christ." Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified
for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? (1 Corinthians
1:11-13)
Do you get the idea Paul didn't want them to wear his name? But
he didn't command them not to or state they shouldn't. But the
rhetorical questions powerfully imply his disapproval.
Our very belief that Jesus is the Christ is based on the implication
of Scripture. The Old Testament Scriptures never state that Jesus
of Nazareth is the Christ. But Paul demonstrated they imply He
is (Acts 17:2-3), and he and the Lord expect us to use our minds
to infer the implication of Scripture. The Lord gave you a mind,
and he expects to use it in the study and application of His
will (2 Timothy 2:7).
But just because men infer something from Scripture doesn't
necessarily mean the Lord has implied it. Those who believe in
sprinkling babies claim the baptism of Lydia's house (Acts 16:14-15)
is an implicit example of infant baptism. If they can prove she
was married, had children, had infant children, and had infant
children with her on her business trip, then they will have demonstrated
the Scriptures imply infant baptism. After thirty-nine years
of preaching, I still await such proof.
It is of more than casual importance that Jesus Himself used
these very methods of discerning the divine will when Satan tempted
Him (Matthew 4:1-11). He appealed to scriptural example (Matthew
4:4; Deuteronomy 8:3), implication (Matthew 4:7; Deuteronomy
6:16), and declaration (Matthew 4:10; Deuteronomy 6:13-15).
When the apostles and elders of the church in Jerusalem were
confronted with the issue of circumcision and keeping the law
of Moses (Acts 15:5-6), they did not need to receive any new
revelation from God to settle the question. Peter, Paul, and
Barnabas combined approved examples with implication to draw
the correct conclusion (Acts 15:6-12), and James inferred the
same conclusion from the implication of a divine declaration
(Acts 15:13-19; cf. Amos 9:11-12).
The application of this simple hermeneutic should be obvious.
Consider the subject of baptism. It's necessity is declared,
both by command (Acts 2:38) and statement (1 Peter 3:21). The
proper subjects of baptism are demonstrated by approved example
(Acts 18:8). It's proper element, water, is implied (Acts 10:47-48).
The same methods apply to the Lord's Supper. The Lord has
declared that Christians must partake of it (1 Corinthians 11:23-25),
He has shown the day of the week on which we do so, the first
day, by example (Acts 20:7), and He has implied, since no particular
first day is specified, that we should partake each first day
of the week (Acts 20:7).
And aren't these the very ways godly parents express their
authority to their children? Do we not declare our will to them
(Genesis 18:17-19), live a proper example before them, and imply,
often by rhetorical question, our will? What parent has not asked
his child, "Who told you you could do that?" Did you
not strongly imply your disapproval?
We don't need a new hermeneutic. We need a faithful application
of the very one the Lord and His apostles used. In this way we
will be one with God and each other (1 John 1:3,7).
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