I wonder what categories you use when you think of Scripture. Our minds tend to want to filter information into different categories, so when we think about the Bible, it is natural that we divide it into different categories. I have been noticing recently that many people talk about the Bible according to the categories of doctrine or practice. They say that everything in Scripture is either doctrinal or practical; every passage contains either something we should believe or something we should do. In our culture of the pragmatic-driven church, the natural tendency is then to value the practical over the doctrinal. People need to be told what to do, not what to believe, apparently. In light of this, it was apparently quite an epiphany for a certain well known pastor when, after careful study, he discovered that the Book of Romans, often regarded as a very doctrinal book, was actually evenly split between doctrinal and practical matters. Reflecting his preference for dividing Scripture this way, this pastor recently said
“I’m looking for a second reformation. The first reformation of the church 500 years ago was about beliefs. This one is going to be about behavior. The first one was about creeds. This one is going to be about deeds. It is not going to be about what does the church believe, but about what is the church doing.”
I want to call this entire distinction into question. The distinction between practice and belief is a distinction that is foreign to Scripture. That’s not to say that we can’t point to some passages as being doctrinal and others as being practical; it is to say, rather, that dividing scripture into doctrine and practice is an artificial division. To say otherwise is to say that what one believes does not affect how one behaves. Some of the most profound doctrinal passages in the Bible, however, are occasioned by practical concerns. Psalm 139’s discussion of divine omnipresence, the humiliation of Christ discussed in Philippians 2, and the vicarious sacrifice of Christ addressed in 2 Corinthians 8 are all occasioned by what are primarily practical concerns. Quite often in his epistles Paul commends a particular way of living to his readers (practice), and then motivates them to obey it by pointing to the greatness of the gospel (doctrine). If we try to divide Scripture along the lines of doctrine and practice, we are cutting against the grain of the Bible.
What categories, then, are legitimate ones by which to understand Scripture? The answer is pretty simple, and therefore may seem pretty dull at first: the Law and the Gospel. The terms “Law” and “Gospel” are familiar to Christians. But many Christians have never considered the themes of Law and Gospel as categories through which to understand the Bible. We tend to think of the Law as the ‘dos and don’ts’ of the Bible—the moral standards—which are summed up in the Ten Commandments, and occasionally pop up elsewhere in the Old Testament. We generally think of the Gospel as the message we use when speaking with non-Christians—the basics of Christianity that, if believed, secures our salvation. But this narrow view of the Law and the Gospel leaves us with a narrow view of the Bible and Christianity as a whole, because the whole of the Bible is either Law or Gospel.
In its fullness, the Law of God is nothing short of God’s holy standard to which all people are held accountable. The Law tells us what God requires of us, and condemns us for failing to obey it. The law threatens us and burdens us and makes no promise of leniency. The intention of the many ‘Law’ passages of the Bible is to expose human need. By showing what is required of us, the Law holds before us a mirror in which we see how far we fall short of God’s holy standard. The Law comes to those who feel confident in their own effort and shows them just how much they are lacking. The Law causes us to despair of our sinfulness and drive us to Christ.
Once the Law has driven the Bible reader to Christ, the Gospel can truly set him free from sin. The Gospel is the message of God’s gracious provision in Jesus Christ. The Gospel comforts the afflicted and brings rest to the weary. It removes the curse that has been placed on us by the Law. The Gospel is the message that God who, having found human beings woefully deficient in regards to the Law, sent his Son Jesus Christ to pay for their sin. In his death Jesus paid for the sin—the failure to keep the Law—of God’s people. Through his death Jesus bears the curse of the Law and then gives us his perfect record of righteousness. The Law of God condemns us and points us to Christ, and the Gospel of God saves us from God’s wrath and preserves us throughout the whole of the Christian life. By understanding the Bible according to the categories of Law and Gospel we cannot help but see how every passage of Scripture points us to Jesus Christ.
For more on this, check out Michael Horton’s article on Knowing What You’re Looking for in the Bible
I could use some new music. I think I’ve listened to my entire iTunes collection several times in the last 2 weeks. I’m looking forward to the new