HOW THE BIBLE TEACHES

Hugo McCord

“Man is the measure of all things” (Protagorus). Therefore, “we must save ourselves” (HUMANIST MANIFESTO II, p. 16). But “a man’s way is not in himself” (Jeremiah 10:23). To “direct his steps” man is dependent on help from above:

Your word is a lamp for my feet, and a light for my path. ... The opening of your words sheds light, giving understanding to the simple” (Psalm 119:105, 130).

Thank God, “as you read, you will understand”, and so one is “foolish” if he does not “understand the will of the Lord” (Ephesians 3:4; 5:17).

The will of the Lord comes to mankind in three ways:

DIRECT COMMANDS

In ages past the Lord gave commandments to Adam, to Noah, to Abram, to Moses, and to the prophets, but “in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son (Genesis 2:16-17; 6:14; 12:1-3; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Hebrews 1:1-2). His Son

received from God the Father honor and glory, when such a voice came to him from the Magnificent Splendor: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” We heard this voice, which came from heaven, while we were with him in the sacred mountain (2 Peter 1:17-18).

That voice issued a command: “Hear him” (Matthew 17:5). That Son followed the example set by his Father in issuing orders: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15).

Now that Son is no longer on the earth, but gives his commandments through his apostles:

Indeed, I assure you, that in the time when people are being born of water and Spirit, when the Son of man sits on the throne of his glory, you also will sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of [spiritual] Israel (Matthew 19:28).

“All authority” is in the hands of King Jesus, but he has transferred that authority to his ambassadors, empowering them with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:20). What the authoritative apostles have left for us in the New Testament books was set before it was on their lips, and before they put it in books:

Indeed, I assure you, that whatever you bind on the earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven (Matthew 18:18; 2 Timothy 3:16).

The king did not simply promise to be with his ambassadors until they died: “Behold”, he said, “I will be with you always, even to the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20). It is clear, therefore, that whatever they wrote are the “commandments of the Lord” to “every creature” to “the end of the world” (Mark 16:16; 1 Corinthians 14:37). Therefore, one is not surprised that the first Christians “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine” (Acts 2:42).

APPROVED EXAMPLES

Despite the fact that examples approved by the apostles had already been approved in heaven, a gospel preacher asks, “When is an example binding?”, and he answers, “Never!” However, an apostle wrote, “Imitate me, brothers, and observe those who walk in this manner, even as you have us for an example” (Philippians 3:17).

An apostle was present then the Christians at Troas “on the first day of the week” assembled “to break the loaf” (Acts 20:7). The apostle not only approved, but he took part in the services.

An apostle instigated the appointment of elders in Lystra, Iconium, Derbe, and Antioch (Acts 14:20-23). But a gospel preacher ridicules people today for patterning themselves after the first century churches: “you mean we should have open fornication and abuses of the Lord’s Supper like Corinth?” However, it is easy to ascertain what practices at Corinth that the apostles approved and what they condemned (1 Corinthians 5:13; 11:20-21; 2 Corinthians 7:11-16). The fact remains that in Jesus’ eyes to receive an approved apostolic example is to receive the Son and the Father, and to reject such an example is to reject the Son and the Father (Matthew 10:40; Luke 10:16).

NECESSARY INFERENES

Another gospel preacher scorns “our doctrine of necessary inferences”, asserting that it is “tragic”, resulting in “splits and factions”, and that it is “clumsy” and “dangerous”. Unfortunately, he, like others with faulty advanced scholastic degrees,

have strayed after empty talk, wanting to be teachers of the law, but understanding neither what they are saying, nor the things about which they are so sure (1 Timothy 1:6-7).

But “God, the only being truly wise”, says, “Come now, let us reason together” (Isaiah 1:18; Romans 16:27). When people reason together, inescapable truths, not expressly stated in the text, show themselves.

1. The Existence and Eternity of God. Paul thought that pagan idolaters should necessarily infer from “rain and fruitful seasons” that there is “a living God who made heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them” (Acts 14:17). To Paul, God’s “eternal power and divine nature” are necessarily inferred (“clearly seen”, kathoratai), “being understood” (nooumena, a mental act, an inference) “by the things that are made” (Romans 1:20).

Since the existence of God has to be real, the necessary inference follows that he has always existed, for “out of nothing, nothing comes” (ex nihil, nihil fit, a proverb coming down from ancient times).

2. The Deity of Jesus. Augustine inferred, Si Christus non deus, non bonus, “If Christ is not God, he is not good.” Long before Augustine the contemporaries of Jesus inferred that a good man could not deceive, and so would not claim deity if he were not God (John 7:12; 9:35-37). Since all people acquainted with the life of Jesus through two thousand years have agreed that Jesus was a good man, the necessary inference is that he was Immanuel, “God with us” (Matthew 1:23).

Also, one sees a man who attended no rabbinical school knowing “letters” (John 7:15), and by his teaching astounding his hearers: “What is the source of this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son?” (Matthew 13:54-55). The knowledge and teaching ability of the unschooled carpenter lead to the necessary inference that he was supernatural.

3. The God-breathed Scriptures. By a direct statement the Bible affirms that the Scriptures were divinely inspired (2 Timothy 3:16), but how do we know that it is telling the truth? We know it by a necessary inference: since only the possessor of divine knowledge can predict the future, and since the Bible (alone among all books) unerringly foretold hundreds of years in advance details about the coming Messiah (Genesis 49:10; Psalm 2:6; Isaiah 7:14; 9:6-7; 53:1-12; Daniel 9:26; Micah 5:2; Zechariah 9:9), it follows that the Scriptures were God-breathed.

4. An Animal Sacrifice. To say that Cain’s sacrifice was rejected because it was not costly is an inference, but not a necessary one. To say that God gave a command both to Cain and Abel to bring an animal sacrifice, though not specifically mentioned in the Scriptures, is a necessary inference from Hebrews 11:4 and Romans 10:17: Abel’s sacrifice was by faith, and faith comes from God’s word.

5. Inherited Sin. No where does the Bible say that children are born pure and sinless, but since heaven is sinless, and the kingdom of heaven is composed of children, a necessary inference is that they are born free of sin (Matthew 19:14; John 8:21; Revelation 21:27).

6. Believer’s baptism. The Bible does not explicitly say that one must be old enough to believe before being baptized, but since teaching must precede baptism, it is a necessary inference that infants are not scriptural subjects of baptism (Matthew 28:18; Mark 16:16).

7. Immersion. Since baptism requires a burial, an unavoidable implication is that immersion is required (Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12).

8. Preaching Jesus includes preaching baptism. The Bible does not say that preaching Jesus includes preaching baptism, but since a man who had never heard of baptism asked for it after he had only heard a sermon on “Jesus”, one infers necessarily that Jesus cannot be fully preached without baptism being preached (Acts 8:35-36).

9. In and out of grace. The Bible does not say that one fallen from grace has been in grace, but since one cannot fall out of something unless he has been in that something, it follows that the Galatian Christians who fell out (ek) of grace had been in grace (Galatians 5:4).

10. No women preachers. Not because men are more important than women, but because the God of all wisdom planned for men to be leaders and women to be helpers of the men, women preachers are out of place (Genesis 2:18). “Adam was first formed, and then Eve” (1 Timothy 2:13). The “man was not created for the woman, but the woman for the man” (1 Corinthians 11:9). The necessary inference is that a woman is not to “teach or to have authority over a man” (1 Timothy 2:12).

11. No women elders. Since every elder must be “the husband of one wife”, the necessary inference is that a woman cannot qualify (1 Timothy 3:2).

12. No women deacons. Since every deacon must be “the husband of one wife”, the necessary inference is that a woman cannot qualify (1 Timothy 3:12).

13. No nicotine or other non-prescription drugs. God has not given a direct command forbidding tobacco and other non-prescription drugs, but since a Christian’s body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, a necessary inference follows that body abuse is sinful (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

14. Gambling. The Bible does not forbid Christians buying lottery tickets and putting money in slot machines, but since it commands them to “maintain good works”, the necessary inference follows that Christians will abstain (Titus 3:14; Ephesians 4:28).

15. Dancing. The Bible does not forbid Christian boys and girls intertwining themselves in dancing, but since such behavior, among red-blooded young people, easily leads to mental and physical fornication, the necessary inference is that dedicated Christians will refrain (Matthew 5:27-30).

16. Goodness and salvation. The Bible does not say that a good man unbaptized will be lost. However, since Cornelius was a good man but unsaved until after his baptism in water, one has to infer that goodness alone will not save a person (Acts 10:1-2, 47-48; 11:14).

17. Conscience and salvation. The Bible does not say that a good conscience is insufficient to save a sincere person. However, since Paul with a good conscience was the chief of sinners, one has to infer that something besides a good conscience is required for salvation (Acts 23:1; 1 Timothy 1:15).

18. Marriage and divorce. When a divorce occurs because of fornication, the necessary inference from Jesus’ words is that only the innocent spouse may remarry (Matthew 19:9).

19. The finality of the New Testament. Since the faith was committed “once for all” time to the saints in the first century, and since the saints have received “all things that pertain to life and godliness”, the necessary inference is that no revelation or communication has come from God since the last word of the New Testament was written (Jude 3; 2 Peter 1:3; Revelation 22:18-19).

20. The resurrection. Jesus himself drew an inference from the tense of the verb in Exodus 3:6, “I am”, not “I was”, to prove that the dead will be raised (Matthew 22:32).