Download Hermeneutics: All/Harmony/Scripture

Hermeneutics - All/Harmony/Scripture
Do you have a burning desire to know the truth? If so, you will want to practice good
hermeneutics in studying the Bible. You will remember that every passage has but one meaning.
The simple, obvious meaning is usually correct. Allow the author's or speaker's own
explanation to stand. Understand idioms and other figures of speech. Know the context of
each passage and the environment of the author. As we discussed last time, it is essential to
understand the three dispensations of the Bible, the Patriarchal, Mosaic and Christian Ages.
There are three more rules of hermeneutics which we should consider. All passages on a
subject must be studied. Each passage must be in harmony with all others. And we must
explain Scripture with Scripture. Obviously, these are actually three parts of the same rule.
The point is that we must go to the Bible to understand the Bible. And we should not go to the
Bible expecting to find conflicting information.
All passages on a subject must be studied. Let's say we are interested in one of the most
important topics of all...salvation.
Someone turns to Ephesians 2:4-5.
"But God," they read, "being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He
loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by
grace you have been saved)."
They decide that we are saved by grace.
Someone else, though, prefers to start a few verses later.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith;" they find, "and that not of yourselves,
{it is} the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast."
So they conclude that we are saved by grace through faith.
But another person starts with chapter one of the same letter.
"In Him we have redemption through His blood," they discover in Ephesians 1:7, "the
forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace."
This person decides that, through God's rich grace, we are saved by the blood of Jesus.
But others turn to other passages.
"And there is salvation in no one else;" Acts 4:12 states, "for there is no other name under
heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved."
So we are saved by the name of Jesus.
"And having been made perfect," we find in Hebrews 5:9, "He became to all those who
obey Him the source of eternal salvation."
We are saved by obedience.
"So then, my beloved," Paul urges in Philippians 2:12, "just as you have always obeyed,
not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with
fear and trembling."
We are saved by working out our salvation.
"Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been
baptized into His death?" Paul notes in Romans 6:3-6. "Therefore we have been buried with
Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the
glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with
{Him} in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also {in the likeness} of His
resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with {Him,} that our body of sin might
be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin."
We are saved by the death of Christ through baptism.
"But what does it say?" Paul asks in Romans 10:8-10. 'The word is near you, in your
mouth and in your heart' that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess
with your mouth Jesus {as} Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead,
you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the
mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."
We are saved by confessing Jesus.
"Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved," Romans 10:13 claims.
We are saved by calling on the name of the Lord.
"He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved;" Jesus instructs in Mark
16:16, "but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned."
We are saved by believing and being baptized.
"Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness
of your sins;" Peter preaches in Acts 2:38, "and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
We are saved by repenting and being baptized.
"For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have
been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh," Hebrews 9:13-14 explains, "how much
more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to
God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"
We are saved by having a clean conscience through the blood of Jesus.
"And corresponding to that," 1 Peter 3:21 teaches, "baptism now saves you-- not the
removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience-- through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ."
We are saved by baptism when we appeal for a clean conscience through the resurrection
of Jesus.
"For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not {come to} know
God," Paul states in 1 Corinthians 1:21, "God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the
message preached to save those who believe."
We are saved by the message of God.
"Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you," Paul says in 1
Corinthians 15:1-2, "which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are
saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain."
We are saved by the Gospel.
So, which is it? Are we saved by the Gospel, grace, working out our salvation, calling
on the name of the Lord, believing, repenting, confessing or being baptized? The answer is,
"Yes." It is not hard to see why good hermeneutics requires that we consider all passages on a
subject.
All passages on a subject must be studied. And each passage must be in harmony with
all others.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith;" Paul claims in Ephesians 2:8-9, "and
that not of yourselves, {it is} the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast."
"You see that a man is justified by works," James 2:24-26 professes, "and not by faith
alone. And in the same way was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works, when she
received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For just as the body without {the}
spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead."
What can we do with these two passages? The solution taken by many...a solution
which, by the way, is outrageous in terms of good hermeneutics...is to pit one passage against
another and eventually decide to accept one and reject the other. The final decision is based on
the personal preference of the person doing the study. Actually, James and Paul are in complete
agreement. And those who believe otherwise will arrive at incorrect interpretations of the Bible.
Each passage must be in harmony with all others. Along this same line, we often make a
fatal mistake in our effort to understand difficult passages. We know that each passage has but
one meaning, but there appear to be various explanations concerning a given Scripture. Our
first step should be to list the possible interpretations. Then we should eliminate all which are
contrary to other passages. What we often do, though, is latch on to those very interpretations.
"Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead?" Paul asks in 1
Corinthians 15:29. "If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them?"
There are various explanations for Paul's statement. Only one of these, that people can
be baptized in the place of the dead, is in direct contradiction to clear biblical teaching. But
guess which one is followed by some people? One of our first steps should be to eliminate
explanations which do not harmonize with other passages.
This is sometimes stated, "The inconclusive passage must not be allowed to alter the
plain meaning of the clearer passage or passages."
This leads to the final rule of hermeneutics, that we should explain Scripture with
Scripture. One thing we must keep in mind when using Scripture to explain Scripture is that
the New Testament letters are just that...letters. Paul assumes that someone who is reading the
part we know as chapter 10 has already read chapter six, for example. So he is not going to give
every point on every subject in every chapter.
But what is involved in explaining Scripture with Scripture? Let's demonstrate this with
an example. We have read from Romans 10:13 that "those who call upon the name of the Lord"
will be saved. This is a popular phrase in religious circles, and there are those who think they
know what it means. But what do we find when we explain Scripture with Scripture?
This phrase occurs in two other New Testament passages.
"And it shall be, that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved," Acts
2:21 quotes from Joel 2:32.
Peter has already made this statement when, in verse 37, the people ask what they must
do. They have just been told that they must call upon the name of the Lord. Peter can either
say, "Weren't you listening; I already told you!" or he can state the answer in another way. But,
whatever he says, it must be parallel with "calling on the name of the Lord."
"Repent," Peter replies in verse 38, "and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus
Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
"And now why do you delay?" Paul recalls the words of Ananias in Acts 22:16. "Arise,
and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name."
This seems to indicate the same thing, doesn't it? And it is certainly no surprise since we
recognize that the biblical idiom, "calling on the name of (someone)" means to rely upon the
power or authority of that person. Even today we hear, "Stop in the name of the law!"
As we consider these rules of hermeneutics, we realize that they simply embody common
sense guidelines. Think about it. Every passage has but one meaning. The simple, obvious
meaning is usually correct. Allow the author's or speaker's own explanation to stand.
Understand idioms and other figures of speech. Know the context of the passage and the
environment of the author. Understand Bible dispensations. All passages on a subject must be
studied. Each passage must be in harmony with all others. And explain Scripture with
Scripture. Isn't it wonderful to have such a common-sense approach to understanding the truth?
This makes it a lot easier to know and practice the truth, so the truth can set us free.
Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R),
(C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977.
Used by permission."