Scripture: Our Only Protection
I just read a post by Mark Lauterbach at his excellent blog, GospelDrivenLife. Having heard a sermon mentioning a verse he knew well but had not read in years, he was forced to rethink his position that it is Scripture and not systematic theology that is protecting him from error. Once we "exegete a passage" we are not done with it, so we can move on. No, we are simply better able to understand it in its context the next time around. I must guard myself from the temptation to make my conclusions about Scripture the infallible truth by which I live instead of Scripture itself. One might then argue, "How can you know what Scripture says apart from your exegesis of it." I can't. I must read it (observation), I must seek to understand it, then I must make conclusions about it (or conclude that I cannot make any conclusion - interpretation), and finally I must live according to what I have been taught by the Spirit (application). However, my tendency is then to take my interpretation, and like Lauterbach says, and "read it back into Scripture." I spent two years working through the book of Galatians. My tendency, therefore, is to use my understanding of the book of Galatians to help interpret the rest of the Bible and I find application from the book in literally every facet of life. That's good. The bad is that my tendency is also to not return from the book, having been informed by new understanding of God and His Word, to further refine or even challenge my understanding of that epistle. If that happens with a New Testament book which I find myself reading often for pleasure (and because it's short), how much more for an Old Testament book that does not get near as much coverage and is harder to understand! Almost two years ago, my new pastor, Scott Maxwell, challenged the entire church to begin reading through the Bible at least once a year. I was hesitant to follow his urging. I began half-heartedly attempting it, only to regularly find myself falling miserably behind. I complained, "I can't understand so much Scripture at once." To spend time reading through the whole of Scripture was taking away from my time of delving deep into the magnificent truth found with a participial phrase within a verse within a chapter within the book of the Bible that I was devoting that year to studying. Going deep is good. But when I am not informed by the whole of Scripture in my conclusions, my chances of making false conclusions and being lead astray increase greatly. Likewise, reading much Scripture has the downside which was so obvious to me when I began: There's a lot more there than one can hope to take in in one sitting. But what a glorious thing I discovered! I can never be lulled into a false sense of mastery of God's Word when I am constantly exposed to His whole counsel. My finiteness can trick me into thinking that I thoroughly understand everything about a single verse, but as soon as I try to take in 6 chapters in a row, my limits and God's greatness is immediately revealed.A whole world to which I was blind before, only seeing bits and pieces was opened up as I made my first lap through God's Word. Reading much of God's Word and reading it regularly, I now believe is necessary for a proper and full understanding of Scripture. Neither should exegesis and deep study be foresaken. At first, much of what I read was a blur. Now, connections are starting to be made. Each day as I come to Scripture I declare to God that the goal of my coming is not increase in knowledge or even strictly an act of obedience; I come to God's Word to see, meet with, savor, enjoy, fear, and love the God of the Word. Without the whole counsel of Scripture, I am likely to serve a small God; I am likely to assume that I know Him; I am likely to fail to see His glory for which he is sovereignly shaping all of history.
I have found some practical tools to help me in my quest to discover God in all of Scripture. Probably the most helpful has been the Audio ESV by Max McLean. As an act of consideration for my wife, I do not read in bed at night - She can't sleep with the light on. Now with my iPod
I can listen to an entire book of the Bible or more as I finish my
day. Also, have you ever considered how much wasted time a commute is?
What an opportunity I waste. Listening to the Bible in the car makes
great use of the day, sets my mind on God and His grace to me as I deal
with one of the biggest tempations to anger during my day, and is a
great opportunity for my wife and I (we only have one car and always
drive together) to have God-centered interaction with each other. What
an alternative to music and talk radio! A pocket-sized bible is helpful
as well. I love ESV's new thinline Bibles. Finding myself faced with many waits
during the day, how often do I find myself reading any random newspaper
article, magazine article, or even mindlessly reading the ingredient
lists on everything within my reach. I guess these a just a bunch of my random thoughts, praise God for giving me a desire for His Word. I beg Him to increase that hunger, to protect me from distorting His Word, and to increase my faith to live appropriately in response to the grace I've been given.
