Believing the WHOLE Bible does not mean to select a passage here or a passage there and use it to prove some theological thought or philosophy just because all of the Bible is true. When you read a book, you do not start in the middle and read a little, go to the beginning and read a little and then read something toward the end and claim to have read and understood the book. You probably missed a great deal of the story and did not get the enjoyment you would have gotten if you had read the entire book, front to back.
Granted, there are certain principles that Scripture lays down that can be seen in virtually every passage, but to pull those out and to separate them from the rest of Scripture to make a point not related to the actual text is a great mistake and usually leads to heresy. “One interpretation; many applications” is a lie conceived in the depth of Satan’s heart.
For example, many have quoted Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” They then use the verse to admonish parents to properly discipline their children. Or they use it to encourage parents to be patient; that if they have taught their children well, sooner or later they will go “straight.” Those are misapplications of the verse.
“The way he should go…” Under the Old Covenant, that may have had a disciplinary meaning, but under the New Covenant that same verse can ONLY mean to introduce the child to Christ. That IS the way he should go. There is no other way.
Cults, as well as denominations out on the “edge” use Scripture as having many applications all the time to prove that theirs is the only way to properly do what God wants done. How unfortunate it is that we “main streamers” often use the same methods. We might have drawn a good conclusion (or not), but we have not done so Biblically.
So, does that mean that we must read the whole Bible or book of the Bible to correctly understand a given passage? Actually, it means that we must HAVE read the entire Bible and must understand what it is really teaching. Then we must put any portion of Scripture in the context of the whole.
For example, the Bible has a lot to say about the value of individual life but it is not an anti-abortion book and it is not intended to be read as one. It has a lot to say about living the Christian life, but it is not a “guidebook for living.” The Bible tells a lot about the history of Israel, past, present and future, but it is not a history book and is not intended to be read as one.
From Genesis 1:1 to the last word of the Revelation, the Bible is God’s revelation of His character, His love of His creation and His plan for its redemption. If that is not the ultimate point of any exposition of a passage, the meaning of the passage has been missed.
Whether you read from Exodus, Daniel, Jeremiah, Mica, the gospels, the epistles or any other part of the Bible, the message is the same. In the Old Testament it is about the coming Messiah. In the New Testament it is about the Messiah having come and His eminent return. The Old Testament is a record of the Covenant(s) God made with Noah, Abraham, Moses and David. The New Testament is a record of the NEW Covenant made with those who accept Christ as their savior. The two absolutely CANNOT be mixed.
The New Covenant is very special. Unlike the Old Covenant, which required a set of rules to follow in order to please God, the New Covenant proclaims that His law is fulfilled in Christ and is written on our hearts. Far from being a set of rules to follow, the New Testament proclaims the birth, life, death, resurrection and soon return of Jesus, Christ (Messiah) for the remission of sins. It reveals God’s plan of salvation for all who will believe.
Under the New Covenant, we are made children of God through the shed blood of Christ at the cross of Calvary. He, Himself, proclaimed His blood to be the New Covenant.
You have no doubt heard pastors say things like, “They’re called the Ten Commandments, not the Ten Suggestions.” That sounds really slick and pious, but it has no relevance to those under the New Covenant. That doesn’t mean the commandments are wrong. In Romans, Paul makes it very clear that the Commandments are perfect. But he also tells us that we are incapable of keeping their requirements.
However, the good news is that Christ has fulfilled the Ten Commandments. We don’t have to. Does that mean we can violate them? Absolutely not! It means that if we truly have come into a relationship with God through Christ it would not occur to us to want to violate them.
It is impossible for one to be focused on Christ and to want to deliberately commit sin at the same time. That is because under the New Covenant, one’s heart is changed. It is now oriented toward Christ and His saving grace. (If one’s heart has NOT been changed, one is NOT a Christian and needs to come to Christ for salvation).
There are a lot of church goers, both laymen, leaders and pastors, who call themselves Christians who still cling to the rules and regulations of the Old Covenant. Some denominations pride themselves on following the letter of the Law. The Amish and the Seventh Day Adventists are two “mainstream” denominations that do so. To a somewhat lesser extent, denominations like Baptists and The Assemblies of God do, too.
I say it is time for the church to accept the blood of Christ as ALL sufficient, not just for salvation (although that is certainly the most important place to begin), but for living our Christian lives in the freedom exposited in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Romans, Galatians and all the of rest of the New Testament as it reveals to us the completion of the Old Covenant and the inception of the New Covenant. The New Covenant gives us freedom to follow what Christ has burned into our hearts in living, loving, giving, doing and going.
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