Ninety-Five Theses on Scripture by P. Lillback
and modified by Van Wyk
Source: Peter A. Lillback, October 31, 2017. "A
New Ninety-Five Theses on Scripture". Unio cum Christo/Union with Christ.
International Journal of Reformed Theology and Life. Vol. 3. No. 2/ October
2017: 7-15. Downloaded on the 2nd of January 2022 from
file:///C:/Users/user/Downloads/Vol.%203%20No.%202%20_%20Oct%202017.pdf
Adapted and Modified by Koot van Wyk on the 2nd
of January 2022.
A New Ninety-Five Theses on Scripture
PETER A. LILLBACK
October 31, 2017
1. The church is always in need of reforming
according to the Word of
God if it is to remain the Christian church. [It is a spiritual
renovation and not a new way to read the Bible].
2. A program for reforming the church requires
a reaffirmation of sola Scriptura.
3. The church’s way of reading and
understanding Scripture must be
formed by Scripture itself, with Scripture
interpreting Scripture.
4. Postmodern rejections of Scripture’s story
line propose substitute narratives based on an a priori rejection of the divine
inspiration of Scripture.
5. Postmodern methods of biblical
interpretation reject sola Scriptura and
replace it with a biblically alien system of
hermeneutics.
6. The Scriptures offer assurance and confident
hope, whereas postmodern interpretations are self-focused, resulting in relativism,
uncertainty, and narcissism.
7. The interpretation of Scripture is not
ultimately governed by the beliefs
of a community, but rather by Scripture
interpreting Scripture. Without
this standard, the message of Scripture is
relativized, resulting in ambiguity, and theological and spiritual chaos. Society laws or teaching
ideologies get’s in the way to push the biblical view aside and upholds culture
as more important than Scripture. Woman ordination of pastors and elders and
transgender issues or gay ministry are examples.
8. The rule of faith of Scripture compared with
Scripture, and Scripture
interpreting Scripture, is an objective
standard for truth claims, meaningful discourse, and theological accountability.
Gerhard Hasel stressed
this in his Understanding the Word of God many times.
9. Confessional orthodoxy is relevant interesting and must optionally can be taken into account in biblical and theological
interpretation.
10. No church confession is infallible, as this
is true of Scripture alone. However, if the phraseology is taken from Scripture and
does not contradict any other Scripture in the whole Bible, then the likelihood
that it is a strong mirror of the original Word of God increase its importance.
But, still it is not the Word of God but men’s collections of what they think
the word of God is saying.
11. Confessions should be read and subscribed
to with a heart commitment, while understanding that they are standards subordinate
to the Scriptures.
12. Confessional subscription is to be “as far
as confessions are Scriptural”
and not “because they are Scriptural,” since no
human document can claim to equal the unique inerrant and
authoritative character of the inspired Word of God. Take Confessions of Sunday
keeping and our 28 Fundamental Beliefs insistence of Sabbath keeping. Who is
more biblical? If one Confession can prove another that they are following the
Bible whereas the other is not, then the one Confession cancels the other on
that point.
13. The church must reaffirm the foundational
properties of Scripture as revealed, inspired, inerrant,
infallible, necessary, perspicuous, authoritative, unified,
self-authenticating, immutable, and canonical. SDA Fundamental Beliefs states it
very clearly: "The Holy Scriptures are the infallible revelation of
[God's] will." The Spirit who edited the Scriptures did not force Himself
or Angels to “push the hand” of the author but directed the author to good
sources and if the sources were cited by slips of the eye or ear or hand or
tongue or mind of the author, the Holy Spirit did read it to make sure it does
not create a contradiction with what is said. The formulation is human all the
way but not outside the desires and wishes of the Editor the Holy Spirit. In
that way, the verbal inspiration is more controlled than is denied by some.
Free to phrase as long as it is within the gutters of the Editor of the Holy
Spirit’s agenda with the writing in the first place. It is not just thought and
let go. It is thought and actively making sure it takes the right corners. Verbal
inerrancy is very important for the purpose of grammatical and semantical
discussions is just that: that it was a grammar form, albeit “wrong grammar” or
loanword that the Holy Spirit thought excellent enough to be used. Packaged by
humans, the words of the Bible was not just left uncontrolled totally to humans
to irresponsibly take their own corners the way their passions, or interests
led them. Verbal inerrancy is there after the Holy Spirit Edited it but not
free from grammatical errors or linguistic problems that does not confuse the
main Agenda or message of the Holy Spirit at all. It is not an angelic perfect
writing. Slips of the mind, hand, tongue, ear and lips can be found. When the
Holy Spirit thought the human readers’ minds will be able to “correct” these
minor slips, He was satisfied that the standard of verbal inerrancy was
achieved. The Scripture does not have errors after the Editor is finished with
it.
“Adventists generally reject higher
critical approaches to Scripture. The 1986 statement Methods of Bible Study,
urges Adventist Bible students to avoid relying on the use of the presuppositions
and the resultant deductions associated with the historical-critical method.”
(Wikipaedia)
“The Holy Scriptures are the supreme,
authoritative, and the infallible revelation of His will. They are the standard
of character, the test of experience, the definitive revealer of doctrines, and
the trustworthy record of God’s acts in history. (Ps. 119:105; Prov. 30:5, 6;
Isa. 8:20; John 17:17; 1 Thess. 2:13; 2 Tim. 3:16, 17; Heb. 4:12; 2 Peter 1:20,
21.)” Notice: it is a paradox if one claims the Holy Scripture is …infallible
but try to say it is not verbal inerrancy. There are Adventists misusing Ellen
White on the issue of pen-men of God, not His pen statement. Qualification is
needed and not superficial statements.
14. Scripture is known because God revealed
himself and intended his self-revelation to be preserved in
writing, in morphological formulation,
in syntax, in grammatical particles chosen, in semantics of words, in paragraph
layout, in chiastic structures used, in different genres chosen. Verbal
inspiration is real even verbal inerrancy for the Holy Spirit will not tolerate
errors but Absolute Human inerrancy was not possible since humans are not
angels.
15. These writings were given in the original
languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, Egyptian, Akkadian, Persian, Sumerian
loanwords or mirror phonics), which are to be used as the basis for authoritative translation
and interpretation. These languages should be studied for understanding Job for example
that is inundated with Egyptologisms for Moses wrote Hebrew loaning from
Egyptian words and Akkadian as well.
16. While the Scriptures have been and must be translated
into the vernaculars used by Christians worldwide, the study of Scripture in
the original languages must be maintained,
encouraged, and not considered superfluous for the life of the church. That is because the syntax
and semantics and morphology and phonology carries weight in establishment of
the “truth” packaged by humans received from the Holy Spirit. The formulation
style has nuances that should not be missed in the originals. Verbal
inspiration accounted for that. It is a fallacy to say Adventists do not
believe in verbal inspiration or verbal inerrancy. We do not believe in
Absolute [Angelic] Verbal Inerrancy. We do believe in slight human verbal
errancy but Holy Spirit selected and sanctioned “verbal inerrancy” in words a
teacher would say to a student “…but, Good enough”.
17. The Scriptures are not merely human
documents that become the word of God when preached or when
the Holy Spirit inspires the hearts of believers with the living
voice of the gospel. The Editor [Holy Spirit] must have started and finished
the document in approval, in overview, in support.
18. The Scriptures are human documents that are
inspired by God the Holy Spirit and preserved by his providence.
They are the living voice of God (viva vox Dei), and fallible
human preaching, [but watched over to be infallible enough] enabled by the regenerating and illuminating of the
Spirit’s unction, is the living voice of the gospel (viva vox evangelii).
19. The Scriptures in their original form (the
autographs) no longer exist, although they were given through the
inspiration of the authors by the Holy Spirit, so that the written
words are infallible and without error. Verbal inerrant but not Absolute
Humanly Verbal inerrant.
20. Copies of the originals are so numerous and
well preserved that the essential form of the originals can
be known, studied, and used authoritatively for the well-being of the church. Codex Aleppo in 1008 AD
compared with 4QDana from Qumran more than a millennium earlier, 99.9% and that
is a high degree of accuracy over such a long period. Thus, the other books of
the Old Testament as well. If it is 99.9% the same, then one can assume it goes
all the way back to Moses in similar fashion for the others books as well.
Belief is optional here of course but the likelihood is increased anyway. Belief
cannot do harm here.
21. Through the gospel and biblical teaching,
the Scriptures created the church, which by providence and the
Spirit’s guidance has been enabled to recognize the canonical
Scriptures that have blessed it for nearly two millennia.
22. The canon is not a construct the church has
foisted on human documents, but it was inherent in the giving of the inspired
divine Word from Old Testament times, continuing
into the New Testament era. As Moses finished his five Books plus Job and Psalm 90 by
his death in 1410 BC, they all were canonized and preserved and used as such.
23. The so-called gnostic gospels and
pseudepigraphic writings were never part of the church’s canon. They
appeared as a challenge to the church through an amalgam of Greek mystery
religions and philosophy. Gnosticism has a late 3rd century-fourth
century date and one find it in the Nag Hammadi Codices. It is an amalgamation
of what one can see in Buddhism, pagan religions and here and there reaching
into the Scriptures to cloth it with.
24. The canon reflects the mind of God focused
on the person and work of Christ (=Messiah), promised in the old covenant and fulfilled
in the new. It was delivered either by divinely chosen, inspired,
and providentially enabled prophets and apostles or by those
under their oversight, and so the inspired canonical documents were
inscripturated. The Canon grew as the books were completed in writing.
25. The Scriptures cannot fail or cease to
exist, as they are infallible, and as the inspired Word of God, they
cannot deceive. As they reflect the eternal mind of God in revealed form, they
possess a property of eternality.
26. The Scriptures cannot err in what they
intend to teach in their original inspired form. The nature of God’s
truthfulness, omniscience, eternality, immutability, and saving goodness
are inherent in the Scriptures in the human words superintended by God the
Holy Spirit. The doctrines are also
interspersed throughout Scripture and that is why Systematic Theology has the
task of picking up the scattered pieces and try to structure them into
construct that is easy to see and recognize.
27. Because God’s incommunicable attributes
include eternity, infinity, and immutable perfection, the
deposit of Scriptural truth carries with it the nature of a predestined text
that is eternal and cannot pass away.
It thus teaches, in this world and the next,
the truths of God’s nature and the work in Christ for his
chosen people, united to Christ. That includes the Sanctuary doctrine and process of
atonement through all its phases. The believer follows Christ through all this.
28. Disagreements in biblical interpretation
exist, as we do not have all the historical, theological, and
scientific data needed to fully understand what Scripture affirms.
Nevertheless, the church’s commitment to inerrancy is an expression of faith
in what the Scriptures, as the revealed word of God, declare about God and
themselves. The inerrancy claim has to
do with the purpose of indepth research and studies and explanations around
words in context, in syntax, in meaning, with or without linguistic particles
that steer the way of truth either left or right or up or down or in or out or
any other way. It blocks other dimensions because of that position in the verbal
form and syntactical format.
29. The Scriptures are inspired as a revelation
of God’s saving will and are necessary for the church’s life and
gospel ministry and also its ethic of love for God and neighbor. It is also important to
navigate the Christian through deep waters, and stormy times and shaking trying
times and prophetic outlines in each period. The Scripture is not superficial
in its impact in our lives.
30. The Scriptures are vast in scope,
meaning, and mystery, and cannot be
fathomed by mortal minds.
The Scriptures can and should be
understood with the help and assistance of the Holy Spirit as Christ has
promised us. He will teach you the truth. However, as the essential truth of God’s nature,
mankind’s sin, redemption, and faith and life in Christ, they are
perspicuous in what they intend to teach. The scripture is very accurate and effective to touch
every dimension of sin and it’s solution for any nations, language or culture.
31. Because the Scriptures are true, inspired,
necessary, and essentially clear, all people should have them
in their own languages and be taught to read, study, and apply them for
their salvation and practical benefit.
32. The establishment of an elite body of
interpreters takes away the right of believers to read and study the
Scriptures and constitutes a restriction and denial of the perspicuity of
Scripture. The Scriptures are for
everyone, no matter where they find themselves. No one is excluded.
33. Because the Scriptures are revealed by
God and given through inspiration,
Because God explains in many ways and
under many circumstances covering all types of people, that they are to be
obedient to his precepts and laws after choosing to connect to the Holy Spirit
for renewal, for regeneration, for baptism, for lifestyle changes, therefore, they are the sole authority for
believers’ salvation, life, and practice of faith.
34. Attempts to diminish the authority of
Scripture through philosophy, science, worldviews, higher or lower
criticisms, human ideologies, papal encyclicals, councils and synods of
churches, human erudition, or mystical intuitions are to be
rejected as a denial of the foundational principle of sola Scriptura and the truths it contains.
God’s truths are simple, easy to understand, easy to keep, a joy to live with
and makes people happy. Anything else distracts.
35. While the church’s interpretation of the
history of redemption has been characterized by various types of
hermeneutics, no system of interpretation that rejects the unified character
of God’s plan of salvation in the person and work of Christ can be
accepted as biblical or Christian. same salvation method of
both the Old and New Testaments in the person of Jesus Christ as Lamb of God in
types and as fulfilled in the New Testament when He came near the end of 490
years as predicted in Daniel 9:24-27, can be accepted as biblical or proper
Christian.
36. The unity of the Bible’s saving message in
Christ prioritizes Scripture’s references to covenant and to the
saving declaration of God, “I will be your God and you will be my people,”
which runs through the canon of Scripture from Genesis to
Revelation. The identical eternal
covenant was in mind from Genesis to Revelation, as was proclaimed by the
Reformers Oecolampadius in 1526-1527 and Pelikkan, and Bullinger, and Zwingli
as well as Calvin. They all said there were not two ways of salvation and that
the Old Testament people are saved different than the New Testament ones.
37. As a written document, the Scriptures can
be studied and compared with
other documents for discussion and learning.
However, understanding
the Scriptures is ultimately possible because
of their self-authenticating
character, since the Holy Spirit, who inspired
the text and its authors,
also illumines the minds of readers and hearers. Proper understanding of
the Scriptures necessitates the role of the Holy Spirit and agnostics and
atheists cannot tell true Christians what the prophets or writers of the
Scripture intended to say.
38. The Scriptures as written are intended not
only to be read personally, but also to be read corporately and
aloud because of the differing ways the Spirit blesses his people
through visual and oral learning.
39. Heaven and earth will pass away, but the
Scriptures as God’s Word are eternal, and the people of God will
learn their truths throughout eternity as they increase in their
understanding of the grace of God in Christ. Ellen White said this already before
her death in 1915.
40. God’s written Word developed over time with
the history of redemption and as its canonical stature grew.
However, having reached canonical fullness in the New Testament, the
earthly expression of the Scriptures is complete. The completion came when
Jesus conveyed to John messages in Revelation with indicators for centuries to
come before events happen, events that would happen in the corridors of time
over a millennium after John in 97 AD.
41. The reading and understanding of the true
sense of the Scriptures is
beyond the unregenerate reader [the nihilist, the
agnostic, the atheist and the skeptic], since God’s truths are spiritually discerned and illumined only by the
inner regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. Gerhard Hasel pointed
this out in his work Understanding the Word of God.
42. Collective reading and interpreting of the
Scriptures is a profitable task, as no prophecy is given for
private interpretation, and the wisdom of the Spirit is not imparted to
only one generation of the church. Also the prophecies packed in the Scripture is dealing
with events all the way to eternity to come. Linking these events in history to
the biblical text is a tedious task that need many interpreters to easily see
the connections with very little objections and disputes.
43. Commentaries written through the ages are
useful for interpreting Scripture and for students of the
written Word, in subordination to the Scriptures themselves. Sunday observers who wrote
commentaries on the Scriptures and those whose lifestyles are not in line with
the Scriptures cannot properly interpret the Scriptures as the Scriptures wants
to be interpreted.
44. There is no infallible hierarchy in church
or academy for the development of the Scriptures’ meaning or biblical doctrine.
The Sanctuary doctrine was
understood by Adventists as Christians as a new understanding of applicability
of the book of Hebrews which other churches missed. Since they do not work with
the 2300 years but only with the 490 years, and not with the 1260 years of
persecution or the 1335 years of Daniel and partly Revelation, they missed the
truths of the Sanctuary Message in Hebrews. This is still a contribution that
Adventists made to Christianity that all other denominations failed to see in
the past. Calvin was the worst as one who put the pen down in Hebrews and said,
since the author did not explain much, do not read too much into the text with
too much imagination about the furniture in the Tabernacle and other things. His
followers all put their pens down as well. Research failed.
45. The Scriptures were not given as a
systematic theology, but are a dramatic expression of salvation history that
can best be unified in a Christcentered reading, in light of the unfolding of
God’s covenant of grace. Edward Heppenstall said it better in his book Christ
our High Priest, chapter 12 paragraph 33, “Doctrines are the formalized
aspects of the faith”. There is an interrelatedness between doctrines and
exegesis so that New Testament scholars with exegesis should not write
differently than Dogmatic Theologians who systematize truths of the Bible.
Hermann Diem said that it seems to him that they are working with two Bibles. The
reason is, in my opinion, issues like Sunday-keeping conclusions traditionally
superimposed upon a non-existent text in Scripture.
46. The interpretation of Scripture should be
conducted with careful consideration of historical setting and authorial
intent, with attention to the author’s words, grammar, syntax,
and immediate and broader contexts, and in light of the
fullness of the canon, with an eye for how all these point to the Messiah and
his redemptive work both before the cross and after the cross, even now in the Heavenly
Sanctuary.
47. Multiple translations of the Scriptures are
helpful and should be read
in comparison with each other. There are networks these
days that try to camouflage the obvious truths that the KJV and Reformers
boldly proclaimed by changing the nuances with other softening synonyms.
48. No historical setting of the written
Scriptures (such as Second Temple Judaism, ancient Near Eastern
religion, or primitive Catholicism) can have authority in interpreting the
Scriptures over against the teaching of the Scriptures themselves.
49. Interpreters, councils, creeds, and
magisterial announcements and pronouncements can be considered
binding only in light of the written Word of God. The vote of the majority
said Ellen White and Edward Heppenstall, cannot establish truth. Only the Word
of God can. Even if those lobbiests succeeded to get woman ordination as
pastors or elders or both accepted, it will not be an establishment of truth
but gaining an upper hand in the administration of the church because three
councils already rejected it and woman elder ordination was never subjected to
General Conference Vote.
50. Difficult passages of Scripture must be
interpreted in light of the clearer passages, with due humility,
recognizing that some problems of interpretation will not be resolved in this
earthly stage of the church’s ministry. One cannot go too deep in discussions
of the Trinity but that the Trinity exists in the Scripture is undeniable.
51. Alleged contradictions or inconsistencies
of Scripture are recognized as allegations, and efforts should be
made to resolve tensions. If these are not resolvable, the church and
interpreters are to assume an attitude of trusting faith, awaiting further
evidence and greater light provided by the Holy Spirit’s ministry to the
church in the present or to the people of God in the coming age. This does not include
issues of doctrine like adult baptism against infant baptism that is clearly
demonstrated by Jesus and John in Scripture and other examples by the Apostles
like Phillip. People should not wait for another coming age to understand what
is going on about clear matters of doctrine.
52. Scripture should be mastered, memorized,
meditated upon, applied, and consulted as the circumstances
of each believer enable.
53. The meaning of Scripture is generally
singular, although it may have both an immediate sense and a
long-term christological sense, as well as a variety of applications for the
people of God throughout the ages of the church. It may have a meaning way beyond any
present event to the Hell event at the end of the millennium.
54. The history of revelation was given in
prescientific and non notarial form, so it is not intended to be
read as a text of science, a juridical record, or a scholarly statement of human
history. There is, nevertheless, in
Scripture’s teaching, scientific truth, accurate reporting, and true history. Science and the Bible
should not stand in opposition but should be together in truth. If science is
opposite to the truth of the Bible, something is wrong with the epistemological
claims of the data surrounding science, like Evolution.
55. A facet of the genius of divine revelation
is that as the Word of God written, Scripture reflects a
timeless message for all people in all civilizations and times, and it will
ever be true, wise, useful, and saving, regardless of progress in finite
human knowledge.
56. The creation accounts present the truth of
God’s role in all things, focusing on the who and why of creation, rather
than the how or the when. It was in six days and He spoke and it was. The how and
the when is clearly stated.
57. Mystery is present in all of Scripture
so that many questions asked of Scripture will remain unanswered,
awaiting God’s fuller revelation in the coming ages. The Scripture is not a mysterious
book. God reveals in plain human language clear messages and for 98% of it
there should be no problem in understanding. Marginal questions will remain but
God made it plain to His prophets, the text says.
58. Reason is a ministerial tool in
interpreting the Scriptures. God is a God of order and truth who calls on his
people to reason with him, as the Scriptures employ logical
constructions of all sorts. Nevertheless, reason alone is an inadequate tool
to address the full message of the Scriptures, which is spiritually
discerned. Reason washed with the
Spirit of God can understand much. Self cannot come in the way of understanding
or communicating of the understanding. One has to move forward on the knees.
59. The Spirit’s movement in the thought, word
choices, and personalities of the authors of Scripture was not by
mere dictation; the inspired written word of God retains the distinctive
style and personality of the authors. Ellen White said they were His penmen and not His pens.
That does not mean they were given free reign to just chat. The Shepherd with
His staff made sure the sheep writers did not get lost.
60. The distinctive theological foci of the
biblical authors are not an expression of pluralism, but rather complementary
emphases inspired by one and the same Spirit.
61. The spoken words of Jesus recorded in the
Gospels are not attempts of the early church to create a Jesus
of faith as a substitute for the Jesus of history. They are the verbally
inspired and providentially preserved oral accounts of the gospel ministry
of Jesus, sovereignly recorded by divine superintendence for the
spiritual health of the church.
62. The distinctive themes of the Synoptic
Gospels and the Fourth Gospel are complementary, not
contradictory, reflecting the unique purposes of the authors and their
perspectives, looking forward to or looking back from Pentecost. But not only from Pentecost
but from later days as well since John wrote from Patmos in 97 AD.
63. The juridical themes of Paul concerning
justification by faith are not contradictory to but covenantally
consistent with Paul’s experiential doctrine of union with Christ.
64. While Second Temple Judaism may be summarized as covenantal nomism, the Old Testament doctrine
of the law in the covenant can never be separated from God’s
gracious work in divine election and mercy in forgiving grace. Yes, this is what
Oecolampadius, the Reformer in 1526-1527 [published post-humously in 1534] said
in his commentary on Hebrews: ---"Further, it is not called ‘new’ for the
reason that the thing itself is a new and different covenant in substance from
what is prior, which truly was always the same, but it is enacted by a certain
new way and method..." Then he explains that one nation is now made many
nations and a complex system of ceremonies are replaced to almost nothing. Heb
89a. Also the Reformer Bullinger. Bullinger said the covenant "is not new,
as if the ancients did not have Christ, grace, and the forgiveness of sins, but
[it is] new by comparison to the old, and that the body abolishes the shadow
itself with its arrival". Bullinger 84a. "Non ideo novum, quasi
veteres Christum, gratiam & peccatorum remissionem non habuerint: sed novum
collatione veteris & quod ipsum corpus accessu suo aboleverit umbram".
About the law Oecolampadius said: “The law itself was not to blame, but rather
the people for they were obstinate. ---God does not blame the law, for it is
holy". Commentary to Hebrews 89a.
65. Messianic revelation in the Old Testament
is mysterious and progressive but not contradictory to or inconsistent with its
culmination in New Testament revelation. Jesus unpacked what He and the Holy
Spirit packed in the Old. The evolutionary view of W. Eichrodt in his two
volumes are operating with the methodological flaw that when there are little
data the proponents of that age knew little but when there are much, they knew
much. It is just the other way around. Much need to be explained when the
people do not know.
66. The interpretation of the history of salvation in the
Scriptures is best expressed as organic Christ-centered revelation
moving toward Christ as its goal, and outward from Christ as
salvation is accomplished in him. Calvin stated: "the qualities that are in Christ are
of such excellence that they reduce all the shadows of the Law [ceremonial law
of the Tabernacle] to nothing" COE II, 19:140.19-24; CNTC 12, 120. Bullinger
said the covenant "is not new, as if the ancients did not have Christ,
grace, and the forgiveness of sins, but [it is] new by comparison to the old,
and that the body abolishes the shadow itself with its arrival". Bullinger
84a. Bullinger and Zwingli said that the Law was not given without a purpose
but served as an introduction and a pedagogue that pointed to Christ as the
"the way, the truth, and the life by which we approach God".
67. A christocentric hermeneutic reflects the
direct teachings of Jesus and is supported by the New Testament
use of the Old Testament. Jesus did not transform text applied to David to Himself
but packed in David’s Psalms references to Himself that He just unpacked in His
own time on earth later. They were never meant to be applied to David at all. The
Ridderbos view stands under review here.
68. The Old Testament messianic revelation
is christomorphic, not explicitly messianic, reflecting the shape of redemption
in Christ as part of God’s plan of salvation. The Old Testament messianic revelation
was packed in the Old Testament with care and consideration by the Holy Spirit
and Christ with specific reference to Himself and served as markers and
indicators of Whom to expect in future. They were not just happenstance data
that surprisingly compare to Christ. It is not just text that look as if it can
be Christ but is not actually. To the contrary, they are Christ texts
identified to Christ alone.
69. Efforts to demythologize the Scriptures are
an overt rejection of biblical revelation and a patent declaration that they
are not the written Word of God.
70. The Scriptures may be interpreted by
contrasting law and gospel when the saving call of the gospel is in
view. The Reformers did not agree here with
this statement by Lullback. Bullinger said the covenant "is not new, as if
the ancients did not have Christ, grace, and the forgiveness of sins, but [it
is] new by comparison to the old, and that the body abolishes the shadow itself
with its arrival". Bullinger 84a. "Non ideo novum, quasi veteres
Christum, gratiam & peccatorum remissionem non habuerint: sed novum
collatione veteris & quod ipsum corpus accessu suo aboleverit umbram".
However, when the Christian life is under consideration, law and
gospel are best understood as the double grace of justification and
sanctification (the duplex gratiae) in the new covenant, sometimes
described as law in grace. A better way to understand it is a triple grace, justification,
sanctification and glorification.
71. When the law is written on the heart of the
believer in the new covenant, the inner law is a reflection of the revealed law
of God in the Scriptures, summarized in the moral
law of the Ten Commandments and Jesus’s two Great Commandments. It includes the command to
Saturday worship as Sabbath keeping. Not Sunday keeping.
72. The doctrine of sola Scriptura
re-establishes the great summary mottoes
of the Protestant Reformation.
73. Sola Scriptura as a doctrine and method of
hermeneutics leads to sola
gratia, solus Christus, sola fide, soli Deo
gloria, and the priesthood of
believers.
74. The Scriptures celebrate and inculcate
salvation by God’s grace alone,
denying any human merit and rejecting the
semi-Pelagian covenantal
nomism suggested by some versions of the New
Perspective on Paul.
75. The Scriptures hold forth the unique saving
work of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, by the types of
the Old Testament, by the explicit work of redemption accomplished by
Christ, and by the apostolic affirmations of Christ as the
exclusive redemptive way to God, of the sole saving name of Christ, and of
the Lord’s final and unique mediatorial role. Calvin said "the qualities that
are in Christ are of such excellence that they reduce all the shadows of the
Law to nothing" COE II, 19:140.19-24; CNTC 12, 120.
76. While the Scriptures call for obedience to
God and highlight the necessity of keeping the law of God, the sinner’s hope of
salvation is found in the instrument of faith alone for
justification. A faith that does not work is no faith James said. If you love me,
keep my commandments, Jesus said. A person who does not render obedience after
salvation loses it immediately. The two cannot be separated.
77. The message of salvation in the Scriptures
shows that justification is by faith alone, but that the faith that
justifies is never alone and is always accompanied by God’s saving graces
contained in the covenant and experienced by union with Christ. Total consecration to God
and living according to His commandments and expectations in healthy pursuit
will keep the faith alive.
78. The continuing sale of indulgences by the
Roman Catholic Church confirms its continued commitment to
merit, even though there has been a declaration of a common
commitment with Lutherans in sola gratia. On the mass Calvin
said: "The papists make the
rejoinder that this is not something new or different from the sacrifice of
Christ but the same thing. The apostle on the other hand maintains that the
same sacrifice should not be repeated and he says that the sacrifice of Christ
was not only unique but offered once for all" COE II, 19:161.22; CNTC 12,
139-140.
79. While ecumenical dialogue has its place
and offers some practical social benefits, all efforts at the
ecumenical integration of Christian churches must be rejected if they do not
first proceed from a clear commitment to sola Scriptura. Ecumenical “dialogue” is basically a
kissing of the hand of papists and nothing short of that. It cannot benefit at
all.
80. The Scriptures insist on the theocentric
doxological purpose of the church and prohibit all efforts to
elevate any mere human into a place of worship, whether it be Mary,
saints, apostles, popes, or martyrs.
81. The Scriptures do not give the church the
ability to set the day, the time, the hour or the season of the
second advent of Christ, and efforts to overcome this godly
eschatological agnosticism are theological hubris and spiritual and ministerial
folly. The nearness of the coming
will be known because Christ and the Apostles preached that.
82. The interpretation of biblical eschatology
must not overlook its realized expression in the person and work of
Christ, especially in his death, resurrection, ascension, continuing work of
Atonement in the Heavenly Sanctuary and sending of the Holy Spirit.
83. The eschatology of Scripture must not be
interpreted as exhaustively fulfilled in Christ’s first advent.
It is well described by the “already but not yet” character of the coming of
the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. The term is somewhat generalized since prophetic periods
are stretched out over millennia since 457 BC in Daniel and 1260 years in
Daniel and Revelation between 538-1798 by both books.
84. The Scriptures teach that the Second Adam
was from heaven and
became a life-giving Spirit, whereas the First
Adam from the earth was
a man of dust with the spirit of life divinely
imparted to him.
85. The Scriptures maintain that the First Adam
failed and through covenant breaking brought the curse of sin and death upon
humanity; the
Last Adam has brought the blessings of
forgiveness and life for God’s
people through keeping the covenant of grace.
There shall never be
any other after him, neither any false messiah,
nor Muhammad, nor
any other teacher proposed by human religions.
86. The Scriptures teach that the Last Adam is
also the Second Adam,
meaning that he fulfills the duties that Adam
failed to do and that
there is no other between the First and the
Last Adam who was able to
do what Christ alone did, neither Moses, nor
David, nor the prophets.
87. The Scriptures provide a structure for
interpreting the history of salvation presented in the Bible through the
contrast between the First and
the Last or Second Adam.
88. Contemporary efforts of the emergent church
movement to focus on
feelings, social justice, and teachings
acceptable to culture, at the
expense of the authority, necessity, and
clarity of Scripture, offer a
false gospel and make idols of cultural
immediacy, denying the eternal
validity of the faith once delivered to the
saints in the Scriptures.
89. The public and corporate nature of the
church is taught by Scripture,
but to interpret the New Testament as seeking
only to create a new
corporate community of Jews and Gentiles denies
the personal necessity of faith and repentance taught by the Scriptures.
90. The quest to integrate various fields of
human knowledge with the
Scriptures is a legitimate task, but the
insights of Scripture and Scripture’s authoritative role in the development of
disciplines such as law,
history, psychology, science, philosophy, and
sociology must not be
overlooked, diminished, or denied.
91. The Christian’s world and life view is to
be developed from Scripture
and demonstrated to be compatible with biblical
teaching.
92. The Bible’s affirmations of the
supernatural and the miraculous power
of God are an integral part of an authentic
Christian perspective on
reality. Denial of miracle destroys the fabric
of revealed truth.
93. The unique role of the charismatic gifts
and the miraculous events of
Scripture are best interpreted in what has been
called the periodicity
of miracles.
94. Some current expressions of what some claim
to be charismatic gifts
are inconsistent with the Scriptures’
description and diminish the
significance of the completion of the canon of
Scripture that made
revelatory gifts no longer essential for the
church.
95. The abuse of such gifts implies that the
authority of gifts has been placed
over the authority of the Scriptures and
creates an autonomous source
of alleged revelation that either overlooks or
denies biblical authority.