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Listen to the Old Testament, Which Still Speaks

October 10, 2018 By Peter Krol

I rarely link to book reviews, especially when I haven’t yet read the book being reviewed. But Josh Philpot’s review of 6 Ways the Old Testament Speaks Today by Alec Motyer sounded like something that might interest the readers of this blog.

The late Professor Motyer was a reputable scholar with a commitment to help ordinary people learn to study the Bible. This new book is a posthumous reprint of an earlier work, A Scenic Route Through the Old Testament.

Philpot states the need for Motyer’s book:

With the exception of a select number of psalms, a few passages in Isaiah, and a general outline of famous hero stories, our grasp of the Old Testament can be quite weak. Some have even said recently that the Old Testament is dying in certain churches. Why is this so?

According to Motyer, we’ve lost the “voice” of the Old Testament.

Philpot quotes Motyer:

Instead of Columbus “discovering America,” suppose the American Indians had journeyed east to tell us about themselves and about the marvelous land to the west where they lived. The Old Testament is like that: it is not the account of human voyage of discovery, searching for God, but of God coming to tell us about himself. (121)

And Philpot concludes:

We believers need a relationship with the Old Testament. We need to slay our tendency to read only the stories and psalms that are most familiar to us. We need to dwell in the Old Testament for an extended time, struggling to understand each book. We need to wrestle with God’s message like Jacob wrestled God, even if it means we come away with a limp. The pages of the Old Testament were never intended to be left untouched like dust on an old barn floor. The Old Testament was meant to ransacked. There are hidden treasures, after all (Prov. 2:4), and only by ransacking the Bible for all its worth does one understand the fear of the Lord, and “find the knowledge of God” (Prov. 2:5).

This indeed seems worth checking out. Here is Philpot’s inspiring review. And if you’d rather go directly to the source, here is Motyer’s book.

Check it out!

Disclaimer: Amazon links are affiliate links. If you click them and buy stuff, you’ll help us continue listening to the voice of the Old Testament, at no extra cost to yourself.

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Context Matters: The Love Chapter

October 5, 2018 By Peter Krol

Perhaps you’ve heard that love is patient and kind (1 Cor 13:4). That it does not envy or boast. I’m willing to wager you’ve either seen these words on a plaque or heard them at a wedding, or both. And what mood do these words create when you hear them read? Comfort? Security? Compassion? Warmth? Mood really matters as something we ought to observe in a text. And if we take a passage like 1 Cor 13 out of context, we’re in danger of missing the mood. Which may cause us to miss the point.

Context matters. If we learn to read the Bible for what it is—and not as a collection of independently assembled proverbial sayings—we’ll discover that some of our most familiar passages don’t actually mean what we’ve always assumed.

Scripture as Art (2014), Creative Commons

Paul’s Mood

While 1 Corinthians is not Paul’s harshest letter—that honor would fall to Galatians—it comes pretty close. He has nice things to say about the Corinthians at the start (1 Cor 1:4-9), but he quickly moves into one criticism after another.

They have a reputation for quarreling and divisions (1 Cor 1:10-11).
They boast about themselves and their teachers (1 Cor 1:12).
They forget where they came from, that they were nothing special (1 Cor 1:26-29).
They have acted like unspiritual, fleshly people (1 Cor 3:1).
They are but infants in Christ (1 Cor 3:1).
They have deceived themselves (1 Cor 3:18).
They boast about their gifts (1 Cor 4:7).
They need to be admonished like children (1 Cor 4:14).
They don’t have much spiritual guidance (1 Cor 4:15).
They tolerate extreme immorality that even pagans wouldn’t tolerate (1 Cor 5:1).
They boast about their perceived maturity (1 Cor 5:6).
They are suing one another over trivial matters (1 Cor 6:7).
Their knowledge puffs them up, causing them to sin against others’ consciences (1 Cor 8:11-12).
They engage in idolatry (1 Cor 10:7).
They engage in sexual immorality (1 Cor 10:8).
They put Christ to the test (1 Cor 10:9).
They grumble (1 Cor 10:10).
They think they stand secure, but they really don’t (1 Cor 10:12).
They are contentious (1 Cor 11:16).
Their worship gatherings are not for the better but for the worse (1 Cor 11:17).
Selfish, factious people are being struck dead under the judgment of God (1 Cor 11:30).
They are impatient and don’t wait for one another (1 Cor 11:33).
They claim to be self-sufficient, not needing one another (1 Cor 12:21).

When we read the letter as a letter, and not as one independent chapter after another, we see that Paul is building a case, scaling a mountain. And chapter 13 is the peak. We rightly laud this chapter, but often in the wrong way.

Paul’s Climax

In the immediate context, Paul is addressing their questions “concerning spiritual gifts” (1 Cor 12:1). He just told them to “earnestly desire the higher gifts” (1 Cor 12:31). But there is a still more excellent way.

They can have the flashiest, most popular, and most coveted spiritual gifts. But if they don’t have love, they’re only making a cacophony (1 Cor 13:1-3).

Then Paul describes this more excellent way, the way of love. And what he says about love directly and explicitly corresponds to what these people are not.

Love is patient and kind. They are not (1 Cor 11:33).
Love doesn’t envy or boast. They do (1 Cor 1:12, 4:7, 5:6).
Love is not arrogant or rude. They are (1 Cor 10:10, 12).
Love does not insist on its own way. They do (1 Cor 6:7-8).
Love isn’t irritable or resentful. They are (1 Cor 1:10-11; 10:9, 10).
Love doesn’t rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. They tolerate much wrongdoing, ignoring the truth (1 Cor 5:1).
Love bears all things. They don’t (1 Cor 11:16).
Love believes all things. They don’t (1 Cor 12:21).
Love hopes all things. They don’t (1 Cor 11:17).
Love endures all things. They don’t (1 Cor 10:12, 11:30, 12:21).

In other words, it’s as though Paul is saying, “Love is everything you are not.”

Paul’s Assessment

Love will get them farther than the “best” spiritual gifts ever will (1 Cor 13:8-10). Then comes the kicker: Paul, too, was once a child. But he eventually had to grow up (1 Cor 13:11). That’s what it means to love; it requires us to grow up and become mature, which is something these infants (1 Cor 3:1), these children (1 Cor 4:14), have yet to do.

The next chapter tells them that spiritual gifts are not bad (especially prophecy). But they must desire them only in proportion to how much they are willing to “pursue love” (1 Cor 14:1). Chapter 14 is filled with instructions about how to exercise gifts in a way that is kind and loving to others.

Then Paul caps off the letter with a call to endure in faith (cf. “love believes all things…endures all things”) in light of the greatest expression of God’s love in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, a foretaste of our own resurrection (1 Cor 15). The thinly veiled insults of chapter 13 are not meant to crush them but drive them to draw grace from the deep well of salvation, revealed in the resurrection of Christ. Then they can become like their Lord, expressing their love and unity with the suffering brethren in Judea by contributing to their needs (1 Cor 16:1-4). Love never ends; it never fails—when it is derived from the right place.

Conclusion

1 Corinthians 13 may be one of Paul’s most eloquent chapters. Perhaps only Romans 8 or Philippians 2 can rival it. But the mood is absolutely not a warm and fuzzy one. Its character is one of sustained rebuke, not one of pleasant encouragement. To miss this mood may be to miss the point.

I’m not saying that we shouldn’t put it on plaques or read it at weddings (in fact, I’m preaching it at a wedding in a few months). But to get the message right, we must be sure to capture the tone of warning, rebuke, and satire. May it resound, as Paul intended, as our mandate to grow up and act no more like selfish little children.

I drew inspiration for this post from a talk on “Context” given by David Helm. Click to see more examples of why context matters.

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Making Sense of Prophecy

October 3, 2018 By Peter Krol

In his article “How to (Mis)Interpret Prophecy,” Michael Heiser illustrates one weakness with over-generalizing our interpretive principles. He mentions the principle: “When the plain sense makes sense, seek no other sense.” And then he examines the use of Amos 9 in Acts 15 to show one place where the principle needs more nuance.

He concludes:

Comparing these passages illustrates important lessons: Interpreting biblical prophecy cannot be distilled to a simple maxim, and not everything can be taken literally. The New Testament shows us otherwise.

His concise analysis is worth your time. Check it out!

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Context Matters: Your Body is a Temple of the Holy Spirit

September 28, 2018 By Peter Krol

Perhaps you’ve been told that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19). And perhaps this declaration came in the wake of an argument against drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, piercing a part of your body, or getting a tattoo. This go-to verse has kept countless multitudes in reverent submission to a variety of cultural expectations. At least until many of those submissive masses come of age. When many inevitably rebel against the behavioral expectations set for them, are they rebelling against the word of God?

Heart2 (2011), Creative Commons

The Verse

It appears rather straightforward. I’ll even go as far as to quote two verses:

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Cor 6:19-20)

Easy, right? If you profess to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, your body has become a temple for his Spirit. Therefore, it is not appropriate for you to put harmful substances (alcohol, tobacco) into it, or to mutilate your body with excessive piercings. Glorifying God in your body requires you to abstain from such harmful behaviors.

Consistency

Let’s just make sure to follow that line of thinking all the way into the station. If this verse prohibits alcohol, tobacco, or piercings, then how much more does it also prohibit caffeine, chocolate cake, bacon grease, late nights, failure to bathe, steel factory employment, vasectomies, and drivers’ licenses? Each of these things either 1) introduces harmful substances to the body, 2) puts the body at significant risk of harm, or 3) makes permanent bodily changes for reasons other than preserving health.

Charles Spurgeon understood the absurdity of this logic. The story is told¹ of the time he met Dwight L. Moody. Upon being greeted by the Prince of Preachers chomping on a flaming stogie, Moody exclaims, “How could you, a man of God, smoke that cigar?” Spurgeon advances on Moody with pointing finger aimed at the latter’s seriously overweight gut: “The same way that you, a man of God, can be that fat.”

The Context

But we need not rely on witticisms or sophistry to make the point. The context is more than adequate to the task.

The main idea of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians is that the church of God, set apart in Christ Jesus, must live in harmony and not with factional infighting (1 Cor 1:2, 10-11). He first addresses how factional thinking betrays the world’s wisdom and is contrary to Christ’s wisdom (1 Cor 1-4). Then he turns to matters of sexual conduct.

In 1 Cor 5, Paul addresses a serious matter with serious words. The Corinthians must not tolerate sexual sin, especially not sin that even pagans would refuse to tolerate (1 Cor 5:1). This leads Paul to clarify what sort of people they ought to dissociate from: not all sinners, but those who walk proudly in sin while bearing the name of Christ (1 Cor 5:9-11). The church has a responsibility to judge those inside her community (1 Cor 5:12-13).

This topic of sitting in judgment on offenders leads Paul into a tangential discussion of lawsuits (1 Cor 6:1). His point is that we should be able to trust the church to be competent in rendering justice, as we will one day judge the world (1 Cor 6:2). The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom (the authority to judge the world), but the righteous will (1 Cor 6:9-10). Some of you were in the former group, but now you are in the latter (1 Cor 6:11).

In 1 Cor 6:12, Paul is back on his main topic of sexual misconduct. He deals with what must have been a common saying among Corinthian Christians: “All things are lawful for me” (1 Cor 6:12). But he clarifies that things are lawful only insofar as they are helpful and not enslaving. He questions another saying they have about food (1 Cor 6:13) before homing in on his main point in this part of the argument: “The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body” (1 Cor 6:13).

At this point, he moves into his metaphor of the body as a “member” of Christ (a part of Christ’s own body). He applies this to the sin of prostitution (1 Cor 6:15). One who joins with a prostitute becomes one flesh with the prostitute (1 Cor 6:16), when that person ought to be one spirit with the Lord (1 Cor 6:17).

His application? “Flee from sexual immorality” (1 Cor 6:18). To support this application, he uses the metaphor of temple to describe the body. Your body is the Holy Spirit’s temple; therefore, do not offer that temple in union with an illicit sexual partner (something well-accepted in Corinthian culture at the local pagan temple, considered an act of worship).

After prohibiting ungodly sexual ethics in 1 Cor 5-6, Paul moves on in chapter 7 to promote a godly sexual ethic. This rounds out the discussion of sexual ethics, and connects it back to the main theme of living in harmony for the good of the community.

The Linchpin

Tucked right between the application (1 Cor 6:18a) and the temple metaphor (1 Cor 6:19) is a crucial clarifying statement: “Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body” (1 Cor 6:18b). Paul explicitly excludes every other sin from his temple metaphor. Therefore, we are not authorized by the Lord—in fact, we abuse his word—if we use it to address any other sin besides sexual immorality.

Conclusion

Please note: In this post, I am not arguing for drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, getting a tattoo, or piercing your body. Those topics are complex and require more discussion than I’ve offered here. I am simply throwing 1 Cor 6:19 out of the discussion. When discussing anything besides sexual immorality, “your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit” is out of bounds. Part of your training for making wise ethical judgments is coming to understand this fact (1 Cor 6:2).

Context matters.

¹I say “the story is told” because I have not been able to track down an original source for this story, so it may be spurious.

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Thanks to Matthew Bair for the idea for this post. Click to see more examples of why context matters.

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We May Need to Stop Talking About the Bible

September 26, 2018 By Peter Krol

This thoughtful article by Cole Brown challenges our small groups to stop talking about the Bible so the Bible might talk to us. He writes:

There can be a strong force in these groups that pulls the discussion away from what the text clearly and most centrally says in order to focus on various tangential parts that are much less clear.

I believe this strong pull stems from two things: first, our own fleshly desire to hide ourselves and protect our sin; and second, spiritual forces that desire to keep God’s people at a distance from the lasting transformation of God’s Word.

As group participants, we instinctively know that if we focus on what the text most clearly and most centrally says, then we will have to talk about how it confronts us personally. But if we can avoid talking about what is clearly stated in the text, then we’re able to talk about the Bible for hours—without ever actually being confronted personally by its content. This is false piety at its pinnacle.

It’s common for entire conversations to focus on questions the text does not even attempt to answer. Theory, theology, and hypothetical questions are debated and discussed. So are ways other Christians (or non-Christians) fail to honor the text.

All of this gives group members the impression of having interacted with the Bible, when in reality they’ve avoided its penetrating light. No wonder this approach is more likely to produce Pharisees than mature disciples.

As long as those who attend the groups in our churches are talking about the Bible, the Bible cannot talk to them. Intentionally or not, human nature will lull us into using Scripture to keep us from being seen for who we really are, and from being transformed into who we ought to be.

Brown goes on to suggest asking more response questions than discussion questions to help group members submit to the clear and central meaning of the text. This is well worth considering.

Check it out!

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Basic Bible Study Skills Booklet – Now Available for Kindle

September 21, 2018 By Peter Krol

I am pleased to announce that the digital booklet of Basic Bible Study Skills is now available in Kindle format! We now join the prophets of old in communicating our message at many times and in many ways (Heb 1:1).

What is the difference between the various resources we have to help you learn OIA Bible study?

If you’re new to OIA Bible study, or you want to teach it to a group, see my book Knowable Word.
If you don’t mind clicking through dozens of webpages, see my blog series on how to study the Bible.
If you just need a refresher, or you’d like a handy reference, download the free booklet (available on the Resources page):
- PDF for printing and passing out.
- Epub for digital reading.
- New! Kindle version for digital reading.

When we first released the free booklet, a number of folks asked for a Kindle version. And now we have it!

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How to Fight Boredom With the Bible

September 19, 2018 By Peter Krol

Jon Bloom believes the Bible is anything but boring. And he wants to help you understand what a remarkable book it is that you can hold in your hands. This book is unequaled, audacious, and unrivaled.

Are we bored with it? Oh, boredom! That plague of our finite, fallen, self-oriented flesh that so easily loses appreciation for the most precious treasures simply when they become familiar! Forgive us, Father, and hasten the day when we lose our amazing capacity for boredom and gain an amazing capacity for sustained amazement!

Check it out!

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ESV Journaling Bible: Great for Journalers

September 17, 2018 By Ryan Higginbottom

Christian publishers are providing a wealth of choices for Bible readers these days. If you’re in the market for a new Bible, you can find just about anything you could describe.

The recent trend of journaling Bibles began some years ago, and the ESV Journaling Bible was early on the scene. Crossway publishes different versions of this Bible, with various covers and page layouts. The volume I received is handsome and hardy, well-suited for those who write as they read God’s word. (Thanks to Crossway for providing me with this Bible in exchange for an honest review.)

Description

This review concerns the ESV Journaling Bible with the bonded leather cover (mocha threshold design) and the text displayed in two columns per page. You can find a sample page from this Bible here.

From the outside, this looks like a fine journal indeed. The Bible is pleasant to hold, and it stays open easily. A ribbon marker is available for securing the page, and the ESV text is attractively printed on cream-colored paper. The Bible text resembles what you would find in a pew Bible or a thinline Bible.

The text is printed with generous, two-inch margins for journaling. There are faint, dotted lines printed in the margins which can be used or ignored at the reader’s preference. With these wide margins on every page, I could see this getting heavy use as a daily journal. It’s the perfect size for recording prayers, thoughts, questions, and applications that flow from devotional Bible reading.

It’s worth noting a few other details. The paper of this Bible is thin but not too thin. A gel pen will bleed through to the back of the page, but a ballpoint pen or a pencil will work nicely for journaling. Finally, paragraph-length introductions to each book of the Bible along with a yearly Bible reading plan occupy the final twenty pages of this volume.

Not a Great Markup Bible

Regular readers of this blog may remember that I’m always on the lookout for a good markup Bible. This Bible doesn’t exactly fit that description, but that is no mark against it! Crossway has produced a great journaling Bible.

The two-column text and small font size are barriers to using this Bible as a markup Bible. While you can highlight, underline, and mark up the text, the layout prevents you from writing notes next to the words or phrases in question. Recording questions or interpretations in the margins provided means that one must either draw lines connecting the writing to the text or live with the ambiguity of having one’s notes near several verses. In short, there is a lot of space in the margins, but not a lot of space elsewhere, and that’s something I look for in a markup Bible.

Context Matters: The Living and Active Word

September 14, 2018 By Peter Krol

This is a guest post by Josh Alley. Josh is a graduate student in political science at Texas A&M University and a member of Declaration Church.

Perhaps you’ve heard that the Bible is “living and active.” This phrase comes from Hebrews 4:12, which says that “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

We rightly cite this verse as evidence of the power of God’s word. But do we grasp the scope of this power or the intention God has in wielding it? In particular, God employs his powerful word both to expose sin and to offer mercy. By answering these questions, the context increases our joy in God and his gospel. The living and active word that removes any hope of earning salvation through works simultaneously offers mercy.

Exposure

The first way God wields his powerful word is to expose us.

Heb 4:12 starts with “for,” so we must connect it to the previous verse. Heb 4:11 exhorts readers to enter God’s rest and Heb 4:10 says that “whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.”

What does it mean to enter God’s rest? In short, it means to believe (Heb 4:3). Those entering God’s rest are those who have placed all their faith and trust in God.

Pauly (2013), Creative Commons

The author exhorts his readers to enter God’s rest “so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience” (Heb. 4:11). Here, disobedience refers to how Israel heard God’s voice and still rebelled against it (Heb 3:16-19). In response to their rebellion, God swore that a generation of Israelites would not enter his rest in the Promised Land. That promise is repeated throughout these chapters (Heb 3:11, 18; 4:3, 5). God punishes those who hear the word and fail to follow it.

Heb 4:11 implies that without entering God’s rest, disobedience is inevitable. People either enter God’s rest or fall. So the power of the word is, in part, a power that either enables people to rest or illuminates their disobedience.

In “discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart,” the word exposes all disobedience. It pierces every denial and obfuscation, and it exposes all the sin in the human heart. Heb 4:13 reinforces this point, as “all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him [God] to whom we must give account.” Anyone who fails to keep one part of God’s law has violated the whole law (James 2:10), and the scriptures uncover every sin.

Being cut open by God’s living and active word is painful, as I know from personal experience. When I arrived at college, I thought I was a good kid. But as friends read the Bible with me, I saw that the law demands perfection. My striving was inadequate. Having this sin exposed is uncomfortable, but subsequently resting through faith is far sweeter.

Mercy

But that’s not all. The second way God wields his powerful word is to grant mercy. If all the word shows is the hopelessness of obeying God, the power of the Scriptures will terrify. But God made another way—we can rest from our works through faith (Heb. 4:3). Jesus intercedes before God as a “great high priest,” so when we place our faith in his perfect works and in his payment on the cross for our sin, we no longer need to strive. Through faith, believers are justified in God’s sight because Jesus’s perfect righteousness covers our disobedience.

Thus, after warning about the consequences of disobedience, the author of Hebrews encourages his readers to draw near with confidence to the throne of grace (Heb. 4:16). This is astounding. Though God’s word exposes all our sin, he offers us mercy and grace.

Due to the power of the Scriptures to expose sin, we can please God only by faith. God calls us to rest from our works through faith, and when we do, we find not condemnation but mercy. So God’s word is powerful enough to cause us to delight in salvation through faith in Jesus.

Context matters.

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Let’s Develop Bible Reflexes to Hot-Button Topics

September 12, 2018 By Peter Krol

Erik Raymond wants Christlike, Bible reflexes. Do you?

Jesus directs them to the authority on the matter. Amid the swirling debate about divorce in the community around them, Jesus cuts through the fog and points to the Word of God. Jesus pointed people to the Bible, not because the cultural voices did not exist but because they were inferior. Jesus understands the authority of the Scriptures to settle matters of debate. He doesn’t salute the wisdom of the age; he dusts off the wisdom of God.

Check it out!

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