Concerning the Application of Scripture

 Note: I may seem a bit harsh in this post. I only do so in order that we might understand how deeply pervasive this line of thought is and so that instead we approach the text with a spirit of humility rather than pride. After all, Scripture is a gift of revelation. It’s not like we’re so great that we deserve to know who God is.

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“That’s all well and good, but what does it mean for me? How do I apply it to my life?”

I hear this in many of the Bible studies that I take part in and, I admit, at times, I think it myself. But I’ve recently interrogated that view and I’ve found it seriously lacking. To suggest that I come to Scripture merely to learn “how to live my life” is, sadly, a woefully deficient hermeneutic. But there are a few crucial assumptions that this view reveals.

1. Scripture’s subject

The assumption that every word of Scripture should have a “concrete, practical” application in my life is an assumption that I am the true subject of Scripture and that it was written expressly for the enrichment of my life. Now, the latter is true (without the term, “expressly”) but it is true peripherally. Scripture’s subject is not me and it is not you. According to it, its subject, from Genesis to Revelation, is the person of Jesus Christ. As John 1:18 states, no one has ever seen God but the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known. We get the same idea in Colossians 1, where Paul says that in Christ, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and that He is the image of the invisible God. Not to mention the infamous scene on the road to Emmaus recorded by Luke where Jesus, “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” The overall message of this is that Jesus is a much bigger deal than you and I, mainly because he is God Himself. As such, we submit ourselves to the authority of Scripture, not mainly to learn about ourselves and what we should do, but instead to learn about HIM.

2. An exaltation of “doing”

But the problem with a primary emphasis on “how I should apply this to my life” is not only selfish, but it is also naïve. We are also told in Scripture that without faith, it is impossible to please God. We all know[1] that we are saved not by works but by grace and we know that we are justified by faith alone, but what is faith? Surely obedience is a part of it, but it is not the only part. Faith, as expressed in Scripture, is threefold: intellectual assent, obedience, and trust. And how do we gain access to this faith? By entering into the family of God. Now it is interesting that John repeatedly uses the image of being “born again” or “born from above” while Paul continually refers to us as “adopted children of God”. The important similarity between these two images is the primary agent in our family. No one facilitates his or her own birth. No one facilitates his or her own adoption. As the earthly parents facilitate these events, so also the Divine Parent facilitates the birth/adoption of His children by the Holy Spirit (John 3) and the Son gives them the authority (John 1:12). All of this is to say that the primary emphasis when we look at ourselves with the light of the Word should not be “What am I doing wrong?”, though the Lord will surely reveal that to us. The emphasis should be rather, “Who am I and what should I become?” Christianity is not a religion of behavioral modification but rather it is a religion of serving, being shaped by, and being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Obviously, a change in your personal identity will inevitably change your behavior, but there are many cases where your attitudes and your self-perception need to be held up to the light of the Holy Word and submitted to the work of the Holy Spirit.

3. Implicitly, a diminution of “being” and a diminution of the Resurrection

Now that’s harsh. You’re thinking, “Now, Malcolm, how can you accuse me of diminishing the Resurrection?  That’s a tall, insulting implication to make! I’m just trying to submit myself to Scripture to figure what I should do on a day-to-day basis. That’s a noble pursuit, is it not?” Well, then this question must be asked: which is more important? What Jesus did (in his ministry) or who Jesus was? In a sense, they are both very, very, very important. But in another sense, they’re a little different. Let me explain.

Jesus’s ethical teachings are largely derivative, as they should be. He’s expounding on the Law which His Father gave, which the Jewish people of the day were familiar with. The classification of lust as adultery and anger as murder are understandable as they can be seen as the attitudes that lead to such sin, so Jesus says that sin is not only a matter of action but also a matter of thought and will. Cool. Most people can live with that. The love ethic is also something that a lot of people can get behind and it's stated in Leviticus. But the really, really offensive part of Jesus is who he is. Read the Gospel of John and you’ll get that offense. This is a man claiming to be Creator of the Universe. This is a man claiming a relationship with God the Father that is unprecedented and claiming power that no man should have. Then he dies and (this is the best part) is RESURRECTED. This solitary event is the vindication of his message and the center of our hope, nay, the center of our very existence. Paul centers the entirety of his preaching on this simple fact. For Paul, if Christ was not resurrected, our preaching is in vain, our faith is in vain and futile, we misrepresent God, we’re still in our sins, and we are of all people most to be pitied. That sounds like a pretty big deal…because it is. The reason why we worship Jesus as the Son of God is because of his identity, not his ethical teachings. So when we try to distill his ministry to “What can this teach me about what I should do?”, we do a massive injustice to Him. When John writes his Gospel, his purpose is not “so that you might learn what is the right thing to do and live every day in absolute surety of your moral rectitude.” Rather, “these things are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His name.” This is the same will I have for myself and for you, brothers and sisters. Jesus is the only way, the only truth, and the only life and we gain access to this life by consistently seeking and depending on Him by the Holy Spirit. We are called to be different and when we rest in the fact that we are different, we will inevitably act differently. That is what holiness is. 

So what does this mean for your life? Let’s take an example: John 1:1. I’ve got a few options. I can wrack my brain for an ethical application of this verse or I can fall on my knees and thank God that he saw fit to reveal himself fully in the Person of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God. I think that second option sounds a little better. Sometimes, we won't walk away from Scripture with the thought, "Now I know specifically what do in Situation X." But we can consistently approach and leave Scripture daily with a deep sense of gratitude and worship. Rejoice at all times, pray unceasingly, and give thanks for everything, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thess. 5:16-18)

Note: I attempted to maintain the balance between faith and works in this post, but I focused more on the faith part because most of us recognize the tendency to want to “do the right thing”. But it’s not enough just to do the right thing. We must do the right thing with the right motives and attitudes. After all there will be many who “did the right thing” and even worked mighty miracles and cried out to Jesus, “Lord, Lord!” and He will turn them away and tell them that He never knew them.[2] Let us not only act in a holy manner, but let us BE holy.

[1] And by we, I mean Protestants.

[2] Matthew 6:21-23