Deuteronomy 13-15

Mark 12:28-44

“And the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times.” 
—Psalm 12:6

The Bible is a book that has a narrative which runs all the way through. It tells the story of creation, of God’s separation from humanity, humanity’s reconciliation to God and of life beyond this age as we know it. To borrow the words of the English poet, John Milton, it is about “paradise lost and paradise regained.” From beginning to end, the Bible centers on Jesus Christ.

One of the tasks of Christian scholars throughout the years has been to produce systems of theology. This is called “systematic theology,” which takes all the statements about God from Genesis to Revelation, and try to fit them into a big cohesive picture of God. This may be helpful in obtaining a comprehensive picture of the specific issue being examined, but its weakness lies in reducing God to a logical, predictable structure, which God is unable to fit.

To illustrate, the constellations that we see in the night sky are given names: The Big Dipper, Orion, The Plough, but what we actually see are lights in different parts of the sky. Imaginary lines are drawn between them to create a shape, which gives them their names. This is more or less what systematic theology does. It draws lines to link together statements about God in order to create a logical, coherent picture. The problem is that all the lines between the stars do not exist in reality, but are given the same authority as the stars themselves. This is the danger of systematic theology—drawing imaginary lines between Scripture passages about God. It is guesswork.

Instead of trying to put everything into one neat package, we need to allow Scripture, in its context, to speak for itself. Always give biblical theology priority over systematic theology. If Matthew’s Gospel seems to say something different to John’s Gospel, then hold them both with authority, even though some things may be held in tension. If three or four people were to write an honest account of the same events they witnessed, there would be variations in their accounts, yet all would be right and true. The Bible is the Spirit of God speaking through human authors.

But if we treat the Bible merely from a human perspective, we will render it powerless. One of the impediments to spiritual growth is that through seminars, conferences, theological training and schooling, the Bible becomes a textbook. If we use this book in isolation from the Holy Spirit, it becomes lifeless. It is essential we come to a point of accepting the Bible as the Word of God, and read it in dependency upon the Holy Spirit. Then it lives and breathes, and it is powerful!

Dear Lord, I ask for a work of Your Holy Spirit in helping me to understand Your Word as You would have me understand it. Thank You, Lord.