SECOND LONDON BAPTIST CONFESSION OF FAITH 1.7-1.8
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-Whenever there is something that we read or hear that we do not understand we sometimes use the phrase IT’S ALL GREEK TO ME. If you’re reading instructions trying to put together some piece of furniture that you have and you don’t understand what it’s trying to tell you to do, you might say IT’S ALL GREEK TO ME. (Or, I guess in that case, it’s all Chinese or Japanese.) There are things that are sometimes hard to understand.
-We have been studying our beliefs summarized in creeds and confessions, and we have spent several weeks on the topic of the Scriptures. We believe that the 66 books of the Bible are the inerrant, infallible Word of God that is authoritative and is sufficient for life and faith. The Scriptures tell us how to live by faith and tell us how to be saved by faith. But the Scriptures are so rich and so deep and so weighty that there is content within them that might be more difficult to understand. That is the beauty of Scripture, you can never exhaust learning from them. There is always something to learn. But the next paragraph in the Westminster and Baptist Confessions touches upon the fact that some Scripture takes a little more time and energy to understand what it conveys. It takes study and effort to grasp some of Scripture. This is what the confession says:
Confessing the Faith: The 1689 Baptist Confession for the 21st Century I. The Holy Scriptures
Some things in Scripture are clearer than others, and some people understand the teachings more clearly than others. However, the things that must be known, believed, and obeyed for salvation are so clearly set forth and explained in one part of Scripture or another that both the educated and uneducated may achieve a sufficient understanding of them by properly using ordinary measures.
-This paragraph recognizes that there are parts of Scripture that we can understand on the first reading. But there are also parts of Scripture that are not as clear and need a little more time to sink in. Scripture is written by several inspired authors using several different types of genres and several different styles, and sometimes parts are more immediately understandable than others. This was recognized in Scripture itself. Peter recognized that Paul’s writings were Scripture, but sometimes Paul was very deep, and false teachers would take these deep, hard-to-understand Scriptures and twist them to their own gain. Peter wrote:
15 And regard the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as also our dear brother Paul wrote to you, according to the wisdom given to him
16 speaking of these things in all his letters. Some things in these letters are hard to understand, things the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they also do to the rest of the scriptures.
-First, we see that Peter confirmed that Paul’s writing were part of Scripture. And then, next we see that Peter recognized that, with merely a cursory glance, some of Paul’s writings are hard to grasp at first. And something happened then that still happens now. These false teachers would take some obscure passages of Scripture and give them some twisted meaning that would support their false teachings and lead ignorant people astray. For an example, Paul wrote this:
29 Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, then why are they baptized for them?
-You look at that and you think: WHAT IN THE WORLD? The Mormons take that one single verse and twist it to mean that live people have to be baptized on behalf of dead people (usually dead relatives) for them to attain heaven or whatever. That’s why they are so into genealogy and stuff like that—so people can be baptized on behalf of dead relatives. There is a lot of debate among scholars as to what that verse means—but it sure doesn’t mean that. One possible explanation is this:
The most likely interpretation is that some Corinthians had undergone baptism to bear witness to the faith of fellow believers who had died without experiencing that rite themselves. Paul’s reference to the practice here is neither a recommendation nor a condemnation. He simply uses it as evidence from the lives of the Corinthians themselves to bolster his larger argument, begun in 15:12, that resurrection from the dead is a present reality in Christ and a future reality for them. Whatever they may have proclaimed, the Corinthians’ actions demonstrated that they had hope for a bodily resurrection.
-Other scholars have other explanations that they give to the meaning, but the point is that those verses or passages of Scripture that are more difficult to understand we need to tread carefully and prayerfully, and put the effort into studying the context of the passage and learn from those who have studied before us.
-But here is one thing I want us to know. It doesn’t matter if you are educated or uneducated; it doesn’t matter if your IQ is high or low; it doesn’t matter if you were good in school or not; it doesn’t matter if you think your mind works fast or slow. Whatever your particular characteristics are, you are able to understand Scripture for your life and faith.
-This is particularly true about the subject of salvation. The paragraph emphasizes that what must be known, believed, and obeyed for salvation are clearly set forth, and anybody and everybody is able to understand and respond. There is a clear revelation that is accessible by everybody such that when they read or hear the Word, they are able to respond. I have known people who didn’t even finish high school that are gloriously saved because they heard the message and they responded to the message. I also know people who have PhDs galore and they have not believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not a matter of education when it comes to saving faith in Jesus. Anyone can read or hear the message:
9 because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation.
-Anyone can read or hear this and know that to be saved comes from Christ. I also want to note that we recognize that people who are at different levels of spiritual maturity will have greater or lesser levels of understanding spiritual truths. When we emphasize growing in the knowledge of the Lord, we are not emphasizing merely taking in more information. We are emphasizing putting that knowledge to obedient work. There are people who have been Christians for decades and may know a lot of trivia but they are not mature and are unable to understand or put to work other passages in their lives. Then there are those who have been Christians for merely several years who read the word, apply the word, and then receive more truth from the Word. Jesus Himself said:
12 For whoever has will be given more, and will have an abundance. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.
-This is true with Scriptural understanding. But we do want to emphasize that in order to gain more knowledge and understanding, you do have to put the effort into getting into the Word. You cannot ignore the Word for large amounts of time, and then do some sort of devotional reading and then think that you are so spiritually mindful or mature. The more you are in the Word, the more you will understand. The psalmist told us:
130 Your instructions are a doorway through which light shines. They give insight to the untrained.
-You have to get into the Word for more light to shine and to gain greater insight. It does not just zap you one day without work or effort on your part. If you feel spiritually immature or ignorant, don’t just make an excuse that you will never understand these things and set the Word to the side. Stop being lazy and take up the Word and read it. The end of the paragraph talks about properly using ordinary measures to gain sufficient understanding. Getting into the Word for yourself is part of those measures. Another part of those measures is sitting at the feet of teachers who have studied the Word and learn from them. Be it during the sermon or teaching of a church, or be it a video or podcast that you watch or listen to. God has gifted the church with people who have the Spirit-empowered gift of taking the Word and helping you to understand it so that you can apply it. That’s why Paul wrote:
11 And he himself gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,
12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, that is, to build up the body of Christ,
13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God—a mature person, attaining to the measure of Christ’s full stature.
-God has given us means to learn and grow in our understanding of Him through Scripture. The next paragraph in the confessions is closely related to this one:
Confessing the Faith: The 1689 Baptist Confession for the 21st Century (I. The Holy Scriptures)
The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, the native language of the ancient people of God. The New Testament was written in Greek, which at the time it was written was most widely known to the nations. These Testaments were inspired directly by God and by His unique care and providence were kept pure down through the ages. They are therefore true and authoritative,a so that in all religious controversies the church must make their ultimate appeal to them. All God’s people have a right to and a claim on the Scriptures and are commanded in the fear of God to read and search them. Not all of God’s people know these original languages, so the Scriptures are to be translated into the common language of every nation to which they come. In this way the Word of God may dwell richly in all, so that they may worship Him in an acceptable manner and through patience and the comfort of the Scriptures may have hope.
-What this paragraph tells us is that the Old Testament and New Testament were written in languages understood at the time, and the original autographs that were written in these languages were the inspired copies of God’s Word. These autographs have been faithfully copied for thousands of years. While some of the copies have minor differences (making up much less than 1% of the Scriptures), none of the differences are of any theological significance. We have thousands of copies from which we are able to faithfully recreate the original copies.
-However, not everybody are able to read the original languages. It is both literally and metaphorically Greek to you. The Scriptures are translated into the common language of the people, and these translations are also considered validly authoritative. Through these translations we have the Word of God that can dwell in us richly and we are able to live out the faith and obey its commands and receive the hope and comfort God gives through them.
-Knowing that, you can prayerfully go to your Bible, relying on the Holy Spirit to give you illumination and understanding, and in cooperation with your effort of study you will mine the riches that are found in Scripture. May we all commit ourselves to that and grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord.