Tag Archives: Westminster Confession of Faith

Our Hermeneutical Lens

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One of the key principles of my ministry, I hope, is my desire to see God’s people growing in their knowledge and love of God through the regular, prayerful, and faithful reading of God’s Word.  This special revelation of grace that God has given, wherein we come know God, ourselves, and His perfect plans of salvation in Jesus Christ – there is not greater treasure given to man.  “Tolle lege” (take up and read) was the cry that Augustine heard, leading him to take up the Bible and come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ.

As we continue to take up and read, however, it is important to stop and consider how we actually see the Bible. The way we think about what we read, how we interpret and understand what’s being said is absolutely important.

In academic parlance, this is called Biblical Hermeneutics. Hermeneutics comes from a Greek word that simply means “interpret,” and Biblical Hermeneutics, then, are the principles and  means employed to interpret the original meaning of a text which was given in a language, time and culture much different than ours.  

Those who practice bad hermeneutics usually rip a text out of its context, making it mean something that was never intended. Disregarding how the author intended the passage to be read or understood, isolating the text from the rest of Scripture, and forcing 1st century writing into a 21st century mindset, the text can be made to say anything you want it to.

Case in point: in Jn 14:14, Jesus says, “If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” Now if you read that in the larger context, you will see that Jesus promises this to those whom He has called to be His disciples, to those who have been called to love Him by keeping His commands in faith (14:15), and all so that the Father would be glorified in the Son (14:13).

But if you isolate the passage from it’s context… well then it isn’t too hard to imagine how a pastor can ask for a $40 million jet, or a $15 million home. Instead of submitting as disciples to a sovereign Lord, and looking for the incomparable worth of His coming kingdom, we turn Jesus into a cosmic Santa and televangelists feel justified in asking for just about anything. 

So then, what are some basic hermetical principles? Well, there are a great many books written on this, but I will offer just a few essential principles here to get you started in the right direction.

  1. All Scripture is breathed out by God (2 Tim. 3:16). The Bible has many writers, but one Author. When we pick up and read the Bible, we must be reminded that it is God’s word.
    1. God’s word is uniform, coherent, without contradiction, and without error. I, on the other hand, am not always consistent, coherent, I am often full of contradiction and error. Any discrepancy I may think I find in Scripture is actually first found in me and my understanding. I bring the shortcoming to the text, and I must learn from the word and grow accordingly.  Our Confession reminds us, “The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself; and therefore, when there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture, it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly.”
    2. God employs a wide variety of genres and literary styles in His Word: there is poetry, history, proverbial writing, and letters. We must read each with the proper understanding.
    3. As the Westminster Confession teaches: 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 to a sufficient understanding of them.
  2. All Scripture is useful for our training in godliness (2 Tim 3:17). The Scriptures were given so that we may know what we are to believe about God, and what duty God has given to us (WSC 3). We may learn some things about history, the science of the world around us, and even principles of economics. But this is not the chief end of Scripture. God’s Word is given that we may know God beyond what is revealed in Creation, knowing that God is the wise, holy, and sovereign ruler over all things, who has called His creation into covenant relation with Him, and will judge all according to His perfect righteousness. In His Word learn of our creation, our fall, and God’s redeeming work in Jesus Christ.
  3. All Scripture points us to Christ. Jesus taught that all of the Old Testament is about him (Luke 24:27, 44; John 5:39-46). The entirety of the New Testament is about Jesus. Christ is on every page of the Bible. The story of David and Goliath is not about me conquering the giants in my life, but Jesus being the Warrior-King who saves a helpless people. The call to be strengthened in faith is not so that we will learn to stand on our own two feet, but that we would have the strength to trust in Him whose strength is made perfect in our weakness.

As you continue to read through God’s Word, stop and check which lenses you’re wearing. How you see and interpret the Word is essential to your growth and maturity in Christ.

Tolle lege…

SDG

A Knowledge that Puffs Up

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“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,  to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
(Eph 3:20–21)

Recently I’ve been doing some “brushing up” on my studies of Reformed Theology.  I came to the realization that it had been 14 years since Seminary;14 years since I had seriously sat down and written out my understanding of key theological doctrines, with Biblical and Confessional references.  Over that time in ministry, I have picked up various habits and views along the way, some Biblical, some simply pragmatic.

And so I started reading and writing.  I wanted to keep my studies limited to a particular branch of Reformed Theology, and so I committed to just reading the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms.  I’ve been exploring doctrines such as the Authority of the Word of God, Covenantal Theology, Election and Free Will, Justification and Saving Faith, the Sacraments, and the End Times (millennialism).  I’ve been pouring over several resources that, I’ll have to admit, have sat on my shelf gathering dust this past decade and a half: Charles Hodges’ Systematic Theology, G.I. Williamson’s Westminster Confession of Faith Study Guide, and some even found some great online resources at www.reformation21.org.

Through this course of study, I realized some pretty telling things.  First, going to a “prestigious” seminary doesn’t ensure a “prestigious” education.  I will readily admit that the quality of and educational experience is just as much the responsibility of the student, and I am thankful for the time I spent at Princeton Theological Seminary. It was a great experience that taught me to think theologically.  My only frustration is this: Has Princeton forgotten its past, or is it trying to deny it?  Just looking at the reading lists for my theology courses (yes, I still have them): great theologians from Princeton such as Hodge and Alexander are never once assigned.  The only reading from Jonathon Edwards, yes The Jonathon Edwards, was a chapter on “Natural Theology.”  The Puritans were completely ignored, Owens, Baxter, Flavel, Sibbes.  I am grateful for my experience there, but also grateful that I have had reading groups over the years that have helped point me in the right direction for my growth in Reformed Theology.

Ok – sorry – I hadn’t intended this to become a rant – on to other things.

The other thing I realized is that, for me anyway, the study of theology oftentimes awakens in me an idolatrous desire for approval.  Let me unpack that.  As a Pastor, I am called to defend the faith and preach the gospel.  I must be led by and lead others to the truth of God as revealed in Scripture. To teach something other than God’s revealed truth is to be “the blind leading the blind,” or worse, a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and I know I will be held accountable for every word.

What I realized, in the midst of all my studies and writing, I was writing to please men, to please myself, rather than to bring glory to God. I find that there is in me a craving to be seen as “orthodox.” I long for the approval of others, to be sought out, for it to be said of me, He was a good teacher who really knew his stuff.” In these moments I am seeking a knowledge that puffs up (1 Cor 8:1).

This is not what the study of theology ought to do.  I shared a couple of months ago that all theology must be doxological – that is, it should lead to the praise and glory of God – or else it is of no use whatsoever. All knowledge of God, right knowledge of Him, will lead us to praise.  When we study God’s work of Creation we are led to praise Him for His power, wisdom, providence, and sovereign reign over all things seen and unseen.  When we study the Covenants, we are led to praise God that He would make a way for us to know Him. When we study God’s eternal decrees of salvation in Jesus Christ and our security in Him, we are led to give all praise and glory to God all that He has done for us.  When we study the Sacraments, we come to praise God for His promises signified and sealed and for His Spirit that makes those promises real in our lives.

From an earlier post –

All theology should produce a humble and gracious response of love.  If you study this Golden Chain, or the 5 Points of Calvinism, or any other theology for that matter, and come away with an air of superiority and self-righteousness, you have completely missed the point.  If your theology leads you to sit in judgment of others who are lost in sin rather than compelling you to demonstrate for all to see the very grace, mercy, and love of God that delivered you from sin and death, then your theology is of no use to you, to the world, and does not bring God glory. The theology of the church does not exist to puff up the pride of man, but to exalt and glorify God.

If ever your studies about God lead you to think how great you are, or diminish the glory of God, you’ve got it wrong and need to start over at the beginning.

So let me give you this encouragement.  Keep studying.  You may not be moved to pour into the depths of the Reformed Faith, but we are all called to be students of the word, to continue to know and love God more. Keep reading.  Keep learning.  Keep growing.  But do not study, read, learn and grow just so you can saw to everyone else, “Look how much I know!”  Let your studies, your reading, your learning, your growth lead you to a fuller and richer love of God and a greater understanding of His glory and a desire to worship and praise Him in all you do.

Sola Deo Gloria!