To arrive together at an agreed place and time, it is first required that one groundwork of definitions be agreed upon.
It is for this reason that I begin with some definitions to get us started on the right foot for later discussions, so that you will know the meanings and the differences and distinctions for a few of the terms signified by me from this point forward, so that we can lay a basis for Biblical conclusions.
Before beginning with this it is important to me to note, from my previous two posts, that the design of this blog is to facilitate further study for those with a believing approach to God’s word. This is written with the intent to supplement. But if by reading these posts a reader may come to the conviction of belief in these things, you are welcome to become a believer.
I see no reason why not to start with the words of Paul the apostle in
2 Timothy 3:16-17—
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
Our first anchor of understanding to draw here is the fact that we believe not just that scripture, but that all scripture is given by inspiration of God. This is the same one author and finisher of our faith and we may make frequent use of this fact, while taking in mind context, when drawing conclusions.
It is clear that by declaring this word as our final authority, we bind all of our value judgements to this Holy Bible, and without it, we make no additional value judgements or doctrine. Accordingly, it is always best to have a Biblical basis for our actions. It is always best to be able to tell someone from where such Biblical conclusions have been made. But how do we distinguish between our conduct, and the basis (or the justification) on which it relies on?
The vital distinction we make at this point is to distinguish between verbatim Biblical quote first, Biblical exegesis second, and interpretation (or conclusion or implications) third. The first category is for now relegated to later posts, to suffice it to say for the moment that we are using the King James Bible and the original language sources whereupon it is based, the specifics of which will be proved sufficiently well soon.
The fine mechanics of how exegesis differs from ‘interpretation’ is a distinction that I bring out now so as to anticipate any later divergence which may occur and belabor us over the exact difference. If you want to know that I know the difference, this paragraph is where I am going to refer you to again. The strict exegesis of a passage of Scripture only takes out of that passage exactly the meaning of the words put into it. In it, there are no speculations, no analogies outside of what the writer wrote, no relations to things in our life outside of what’s written on the page. In exegesis, we are to carefully avoid the practice known as eisegesis, meaning, to draw out meanings that we have placed where the words for these things do not exist; and to say that they are there when not there. However, it is also true that from the exegesis of one or more passages, one may draw natural conclusions from these statements. At this point however one is going beyond exegesis and into the third category. And, as long as this is recognized and treated accordingly, then there is no fault. Conversely, to misplace one’s derivative conclusions for exegesis, or exegesis for Scripture, is a highly noticeable and incriminating offense, as we shall later see. Ideally, our concepts have been spelled out well enough here and no revisit will be necessary.
A second anchor point of understanding comes from our passage in Timothy12 Timothy 3:16-17
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” upon reading further, that all scripture is profitable for doctrine and of all things related to this. A very practical point may be drawn from this: that every word found here is with signification. And conversely, we see that things left unstated are also left unstated for a reason, for had there been a doctrinal reason for the Lord to include it, then it must have been included! This is reflected in the passage 2 Timothy 2:23—
But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.
For this reason we are at our best to avoid contentions of value judgements about any matters not related to Scripture. For had they been required, they would have had their representation in the doctrines of the word of God. This then explains the stated purpose of all scripture, as seen in 2 Timothy 3:17, namely, “That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” As we will see in a later post on this subject, the grammar of this verse is that of the “final clause,” also known as the “purposive clause.” This same purpose, is also needed to truthfully uphold the word spoken by Paul:
Acts 20:32—
And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.
These Biblical statements2i.e. 2 Timothy 3:16-17, especially verse 17; and Acts 20:32 amount to nothing less than a complete doctrinal sufficiency for all scripture. We know this because the purpose for which scripture has been given must be fulfilled, because of the nature of the one who is giving it.
Isaiah 55:11—
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Moreover, it is stated in both John 20:313“But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” — John 20:31 and 1 John 5:134“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” — 1 John 5:13 that the purpose of these things is that you might believe, and to believe, and know. We now have shown the purpose of the word given, as towards making the man of God perfect. And we have seen the infallibility of its giver. All these reasons drawn from scripture justify the standard for a Biblical basis for all value judgements, for all doctrine, and they show us of the way to get to such Biblical reasoning through their statements of necessity and sufficiency. This is far-reaching. It tells us about every passage. Moreover, from within Scripture we have assurances of the reliability of the word itself, as it is further written of in Hebrews 6:16-19—
For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.
Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast,
Also Titus 1:2—
In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
One notes from this that God cannot lie and that his oath itself is immutable (unchanging). It is, lastly, therefore worth mentioning the Biblical basis for preservation specifically. Jesus himself in the Gospels said that his words shall not pass away,5“Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.” — Mark 13:31 and that the scripture cannot be broken.6“Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?”
— John 10:34-36 Moreover, the incorruptibility of the same word is characterized in 1 Peter 1:23-25—
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
We can hold the following self-evident truth on this basis: the word of God does not fail, nor change. The second of these (preservation) will be dealt with in more detail in a future post.
We have an unbreakable Biblical foundation for why everything we do should have a Biblical basis in the first place, and the concepts (necessity, sufficiency, preservation) that make such goals possible. In the next post, I provide some Biblical support, for the need or requirement to draw Biblical conclusions. From there I will draw many more Biblical conclusions. We should be able to see how such conclusions are reached by reading the Scripture first hand.