Author Archives: David Roach

David Roach

About David Roach

David Roach is a writer in Shelbyville, Kentucky, and a contributor to both BibleMesh and Kairos Journal. He holds a philosophy degree from Vanderbilt University and earned his PhD in church history at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. His writings have appeared in academic journals and various Southern Baptist denominational publications.

What Did Jesus Teach about the Bible?

| | Q&A On The Bible
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It’s relatively common to encounter professed Christians who say they love the Bible but don’t think it’s entirely true. This has occurred famously in church history, as when Karl Barth wrote that “arithmetical errors, whimsies and impossibilities may have crept in” to the Bible and that the authors of Scripture were “guilty of error in their spoken and written word.” But such dismissal of the Bible occurs among believers today too, as when someone told me at a recent church function that belief in the Bible’s complete truthfulness is not regarded as a “serious academic position” at the Christian college where he works.

In response to such claims (as American theologian Carl Henry reminded us), it’s worth taking a look at what Jesus taught about the Bible. First, He said nothing could invalidate the truth of the Old Testament. Most of the time the Greek verb luo means “to free” or “to loose.” But four times in the Gospels, Jesus used it to reference the Old Testament, giving it the more technical meaning “to invalidate.” For example, He said that “whoever relaxes (or invalidates) one of the least of these commandments and teaches other to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:19). For Jesus, no one had the right to say the Old Testament was in error.

Jesus also said Old Testament Scripture was more authoritative than any religious tradition, as when He told the Pharisees in Mark 7:9, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition.” And in the Sermon on the Mount, He elevated Scripture above Jewish traditions on matters like adultery and divorce.

But Jesus didn’t only hold up the Old Testament as truthful and authoritative; He claimed that His own teaching was as authoritative as the Old Testament. A trademark of His earthly ministry was to use the phrase “I say to you” to introduce His teaching as sure and binding (e.g., Matthew 5:22, 28, 32, 34, 39, 44). And in the conclusion to the Sermon on the Mount, He compared His teaching to a rock that could not be moved by the storms of life (Matthew 7:24-27).

Then, at the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus promised to deliver future authoritative teaching through His apostles. The Holy Spirit would “teach [them] all things and bring to [their] remembrance” all that He said (John 14:36). As promised, when the apostles wrote New Testament books, they claimed the authority of Jesus. Revelation, for instance, though written by John, calls itself “the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 1:1).

Much more could be said about the Bible’s authority and truthfulness. But in the teachings of Jesus we find a validation of the Old Testament, of His own teachings, and of the New Testament books written by His apostles. This alone is enough to remind us that something is amiss when Christ’s supposed followers claim that errors have crept into Scripture.



Should We Interpret a Bible Verse Literally or Figuratively?

| | Q&A On The Bible
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It depends on context. A person’s soul is in peril if he thinks Jesus was using poetic exaggeration when He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). On the other hand, a Bible reader might maim himself unnecessarily if he fails to recognize the hyperbole in Jesus’ statement that we should cut off our hands and gouge out our eyes to avoid sin (Matthew 5:29-30). Like all people who have ever spoken or written, biblical authors use different styles of communication at different times.

Of course, everything the Bible affirms is true, regardless of its literary genre. Still, every time we open our Bibles, we must determine what style of communication is being used and read accordingly. As a primer, here are a few of the literary styles used in Scripture and some rules for interpreting them taken from Robert Stein’s helpful book, A Basic Guide to Interpreting the Bible.

–Historical narrative recounts events and is meant to be understood literally – not as fable. In this vein, Article XIII of the Chicago Statement on Biblical Hermeneutics insists that literary techniques not be used to evade historical accounts.[i] For instance, some scholars have tried to fictionalize the story of Jonah and the Fish, but Christ treats Jonah as a real person in Matthew 12:40-42, and so should we. More than 40 percent of the Old Testament and nearly 60 percent of the New is historical narrative, including much of the material in the Gospels and Acts.

–Songs and poetry are geared toward evoking emotion rather than speaking with scientific accuracy. With biblical poetry, the reader must determine the author’s message without misconstruing symbolism as narrative description. For example, the song in Exodus 15 poetically describes Pharaoh’s army as being “thrown into the [Red] sea” (15:1) even though it actually followed the Israelites through the parted waters before God sent them crashing back down.

–Proverbs are pithy sayings that express general truths or rules of thumb; they don’t convey ironclad guarantees. A classic example is Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” While parental training generally sets the course for a child’s life, there are exceptions. (See BibleMesh blog article, “Is Proverbs 22:6 a guarantee?”)

–Parables are fictional stories that illustrate spiritual points. Generally, a parable teaches one basic point and is not intended as an extended comparison in which every detail has spiritual significance. About a third of Jesus’ teachings are in parables, including the story of the sower and soils in Luke 8 and the lost sheep in Luke 15.

–Idioms are expressions with meanings not derived from the normal meanings of the words in them. In modern English, our idioms include “raining cats and dogs” and “kick the bucket.” In the Bible you will find idioms like “their hearts melted” to describe a loss of courage and “the apple of His eye” to describe being precious in God’s sight.

The list could go on, but you get the idea. Unless we know what style of communication a biblical author is using and how to interpret it, we may wonder if archaeologists have ever found the tombs of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son.

 

[i] Chicago Statement on Biblical Hermeneutics, with commentary by Norm Geisler http://www.bible-researcher.com/chicago2.html

 



Why Should We Celebrate Ascension?

| | The Bible + Life
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Easter is over, and many of us (especially those of us in the Free Church tradition) won’t celebrate another holiday marking a biblical event until Christmas. But this year we should not overlook Ascension Day, or Holy Thursday, which is celebrated 40 days after Easter and commemorates the day Jesus was taken up to heaven following His resurrection. This year it falls on May 9 for the Western Church. The ascension has been marked by a Christian holiday since at least the fourth century and is still an important day on the liturgical calendar for Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and Orthodox Christians.

Though both the cross and the resurrection are more prominent in Scripture, the ascension is recounted in two of the four Gospels and Acts. And the Epistles are sprinkled with references to it, as when Paul says Jesus was “taken up in glory” (1 Timothy 3:16) and when Peter says Jesus “has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God” (1 Peter 3:22). Since Scripture has so much to say about the ascension, we should pause to note why it’s important.

First, the ascension was an essential part of Christ’s work as the great high priest. In the Old Testament, Israel’s high priest would sacrifice an animal on the Day of Atonement on behalf of the people. Then he would carry the blood into the holy of holies and sprinkle it on the mercy seat. Only then did God accept the sacrifice and cover the sins of His people. According to Hebrews, what the high priest did in the earthly Temple, the great high priest did in the heavenly temple. At the ascension, Christ presented to the Father the blood of His sacrifice on the cross “to put away sin” (Hebrews 9:26). Though Jesus’ payment for sin was completed on the cross, His priestly work reached its culmination when He ascended.

Second, the ascension inaugurated Christ’s supreme rule over the universe and the Church. As the second person of the Trinity, Jesus was always omnipotent. But when He came to earth in human form, He laid aside some of His divine privilege and became a suffering servant (Philippians 2:6-8). When He ascended, the Father gave back to Him the authority to govern all of creation from His heavenly throne, especially the Church. At the ascension, the Father “seated [Christ] at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion” (Ephesians 1:20-21).

On a related note, at the ascension Christ received authority to pour out the Holy Spirit on the Church, empowering it for righteous living and gospel witness. Jesus predicted this when He told His disciples, “It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7). At Pentecost Peter announced the fulfillment of that promise: “Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he [Jesus] has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing” (Acts 2:33).

Finally, because believers are united with Christ, His ascension allows us to share in a measure of His authority. Since God regards us as “seated . . . with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6), we enjoy the authority to prevail against sin, Satan, and death. If you’ve never celebrated Ascension Day, all this is cause to consider adding another Christian holiday to your calendar this year.



Why Is Christ’s Resurrection Important?

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Too often Christians downplay the resurrection unintentionally. Our gospel presentations jump from Christ’s death to the need for faith in Him. Our Easter celebrations focus more on eggs and family meals than the risen Lord. And when was the last time Christ’s resurrection came up in your prayer life? In contrast to all this, time and again the New Testament reminds us how important the resurrection of Jesus is. Here are ten reasons to make it the focus of your Easter celebration this year.

  1. The resurrection makes salvation possible. First Peter 1:3 says that God “caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” We are given new spiritual life because God treats those who believe in Christ as united to Him in His resurrection—we share in His life.
  2. Belief in the resurrection is required for salvation (Romans 10:9). It’s not just an afterthought to the cross.
  3. The resurrection confirms the reliability of the New Testament. If it didn’t happen, the apostles are unreliable and the entire New Testament should be questioned (1 Corinthians 15:14-15). Why should we believe the moral or religious teachings of a book if its authors were either lying or mistaken about one of their central claims? But the empty tomb and the risen Christ give us confidence that everything else written by the apostles in Scripture is true as well.
  4. The resurrection gives us hope of eternal life (1 Corinthians 15:21-23). Like Adam’s sin caused all humans united with him to become sinners, Jesus’ resurrection caused all humans united with Him to gain eternal life. Because of the resurrection, death isn’t the last word for believers.
  5. The resurrection of Jesus previews what our heavenly bodies will be like (1 Corinthians 15:49). When Paul referred to Christ as the “firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20), he used a farming metaphor. Like the first taste of the ripening harvest indicates what the rest of the harvest will taste like, Jesus’ resurrection body indicates what the bodies of His followers will be like in the new heavens and new earth.
  6. The resurrection demonstrates that God the Father accepted Christ’s suffering as a full payment for sin (Romans 4:25). He didn’t remain dead because no more payment for sin was necessary. On the cross, Jesus satisfied fully the wrath of God toward the sins of His people.
  7. The resurrection displays the magnitude of power available to Christians in their struggle against sin (Romans 8:11). We have in us the same Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead, and He offers His power to help us “put to death the deeds of the body” (Romans 8:13).
  8. The resurrection motivates us to turn away from sin (Colossians 3:1). Because God regards Christians as united with Christ in His resurrection, we should act like people who are spiritually alive and “put to death therefore what is earthly in [us]: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness” (Colossians 3:5).
  9. The resurrection proves the reliability of Old Testament prophecy. As Peter said after quoting a prophecy of David, “He foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ” (Acts 2:31).
  10. The resurrection confirms that Jesus was the Son of God (Romans 1:4). Who else could have risen from the dead, never to die again?

This Easter, don’t overlook the resurrection. It makes all the difference in your life. He arose! He arose! Hallelujah, Christ arose!



Another Reason to Learn the Bible’s Overarching Story

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It’s a common scenario. Someone objects to the Bible’s teaching on a point of ethics or morality (often homosexuality, promiscuity, or divorce), so he cites a couple of Old Testament commandments and says something like, “Well, the Bible also says not to wear a garment made of wool and linen mixed together (Deuteronomy 22:11) and not to eat pork products or shrimp (Leviticus 11:7-12).” The implication is either that the person upholding biblical standards of sexuality is a hypocrite because he’s wearing a linen/wool blend sport coat and ate a hotdog for lunch, or that the Bible’s commandments are inconsistent and therefore not credible. And it’s not just a hypothetical scenario. A recent New York Times op-ed article argued against a biblical position on homosexuality by suggesting that the Bible shouldn’t be taken literally because it also says to “refrain from planting multiple kinds of seed in one field” and not to charge “interest to the poor.”

Such arguments seem convincing at first. But their problem is a failure to recognize the Bible’s overarching storyline. They assume that Scripture is largely a list of doctrines and rules. Since some of the rules seem outdated or impractical, the critics reason, all of them should be taken with a grain of salt. The problem with such reasoning is that the Bible isn’t merely a list of rules and doctrines. It’s a story about how God relates to the world He created. And with a little study it becomes obvious that God gives slightly different instructions to His people in different parts of the story.

In the Old Testament the Jews were God’s chosen people. He gave certain ritual and judicial laws to set them apart from the pagan, Gentile nations around them. The commands mentioned in the Times op-ed are perfect examples. Leviticus 19:19 told the Israelites not to sow a field with two different kinds of seed. The idea was to set Israelite fields apart from Gentile fields, marking the Jews as God’s set-apart people. Similarly, Deuteronomy 23:19-20 forbade Jews from charging interest on loans to their countrymen, particularly the poor, though they were free to charge interest on loans to foreigners. Again, the command was intended to set Israelites apart from all other nations as God’s chosen people—with whom He had made a covenant and on whom He had set His love. Similar explanations apply to the commandments not to mix wool and linen and to refrain from eating certain types of meat.

After the coming of Christ, however, there was no longer a spiritual divide between Jews and Gentiles. All who placed their faith in Jesus could become God’s people, regardless of their nationality (Ephesians 2:11-22). Accordingly, God abolished the ritual and judicial laws that set Jews apart from non-Jews (Acts 10:9-48; Hebrews 8:13-9:28)—laws like those about sowing seed and charging interest. At the same time, God kept in force moral standards that promote holiness and general well-being, as in the Sermon on the Mount and Paul’s teaching on marriage and sexuality. That’s why Christians are neither hypocritical nor inconsistent when, for example, they insist on keeping sex within monogamous, heterosexual marriage but do not keep Old Testament ceremonial laws.

When believers understand this storyline, they gain a powerful weapon in the battle to uphold biblical morality. Most importantly, of course, knowing the overarching story of Scripture helps us to know Christ and see a hint of the gospel in every passage. That alone is reason enough to study the narrative of Scripture. But in addition, knowledge of biblical theology makes us less vulnerable in those all-too-common circumstances when a critic begins, “Well, the Bible also says . . .”



“Refuge” in the Psalms

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While reading through the Psalms recently, one word caught my attention: refuge. In the ESV its noun and verb forms occur again and again—more than 40 times in all, as in “take refuge in him,” “the LORD is his refuge,” “he is the saving refuge of his anointed,” “be a rock of refuge for me,” etc. (If you use another translation, the verb form might be rendered “put trust in” or “find protection in,” and the noun could also be translated “protection” or “stronghold.”) Since it seemed like an important word, I looked up its Hebrew root (hasah) in a lexicon. What I found reminded me that in the Bible individual words are important. In this case God loaded a single word with life-changing value.

“Refuge” calls our attention first of all to sin and the wreckage it causes. When the Old Testament speaks of refuge, it is always in the context of a threat, something wrong or dangerous in the world. Sometimes the threat is physical, as in seeking refuge from a rain storm (Job 24:8; Isaiah 4:6), shade from hot sun (Judges 9:15), or protection from adversaries (Psalm 61:3). In other instances, the threat is spiritual or emotional, as in a refuge from shame (Psalm 31:1; 71:1) or loneliness (Psalm 142:4). But in all these cases, the Bible’s use of “refuge” reminds us that we live in a world wrecked by sin—a world of dangers around us and brokenness inside us. We cannot avoid these realities, only seek shelter from them.

Yet the word “refuge” also calls our attention to God’s power to save us from sin and its consequences. Many times, it references His ability to protect us from the dangers just described. He provides shelter in a storm, vindication in the face of shame, and friendship in times of loneliness. Even more significantly, the Lord is our refuge in the Day of Judgment. Though He will bring a day of reckoning for sin, He grants His people forgiveness and gives them refuge from His wrath (Nahum 1:7; Deuteronomy 32:37). Indeed, the greatest need of all men and women is shelter from the horrible consequences of sin, and this word in Scripture reminds us that God offers such shelter.

Not everyone receives this shelter though. The Hebrew verb “to seek refuge” implies placing one’s trust in the source of shelter in order to receive its benefits. Job 24:8 speaks of people clinging to rocks in a rain storm to find refuge, and in Psalm 104:18 badgers find protection from danger by seeking refuge under rocks. Most of the time, however, the trusting implied by this word is spiritual in nature, especially in the Psalms. Those who seek protection from ruin and judgment by trusting idols are foolish (Deuteronomy 32:37). Those who seek shelter from the consequences of their sin by lying about it will be destroyed (Isaiah 28:15-17). Those who depend on their riches for deliverance from sin’s curse likewise will be ruined (Psalm 52:7). Only those who seek refuge from judgment by trusting God and following Him will be sheltered from eternal ruin. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).

The Old Testament’s use of “refuge” is, in a sense, an old covenant rendering of John 3:16, calling to mind the fact that clinging to Jesus as our Lord and Savior is the only way to find shelter from God’s judgment—“. . . whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Of course, every instance of “refuge” doesn’t imply all of this meaning. Sometimes badgers are simply seeking protection under a rock. The specific meaning is determined by context. Still, the depth of meaning in this one Hebrew word reminds us that every single word in Scripture is inspired by God, powerful to change our lives, and worthy of careful study. Just try paying attention to “refuge” next time you read through the Psalms.