– I have four questions for you at the beginning. Let me hear an “Amen” if you agree with what I say:
a. The Bible is the Word of God.
b. We believe in the Bible.
c. The Bible is literally true.
d. When I entered the church, I greeted everyone with a holy kiss.
– Where were all the shouts of “Amen” in that last one?
– Why did not you do it? Our verse for this sermon clearly states that we are to greet one another with a holy kiss! Why are you so blatantly flouting the Bible’s mandate?
– Well, luckily there’s a reason why we don’t.
TAKING IT “LITERALLY”? We are supposed to take the scripture of the Bible the way the author intended.
– We often say that we take the Bible literally. We certainly believe the Bible to be true, but we must be careful with that word literally, because it doesn’t always mean what we think it means.
– And understanding the way we should take the Bible clears up questions like whether he was supposed to have greeted everyone with a holy kiss when he entered.
– We are supposed to take the scripture of the Bible the way the author intended. To do that, there are some questions and thoughts that we need to consider. Let’s look at four of the most important.
THINGS TO REMEMBER TO READ THE WORD CORRECTLY:
1. WHAT IS THE GENRE OF THE BOOK?
– Proverbs 22:6; Ecclesiastes 1:1-11.
– The Bible is made up of several different genres: law book, history, poem, song, biography, epistle, prophecy, etc.
– The type of genre makes a difference in how you read the book and interpret the passages in that book.
– Two examples:
a. Instruct the child.
– In Proverbs 22:6 we read: “Train up a child in his way, and when he is old he will not depart from it”. This is a passage that is usually quoted in the context of someone raised in the church but who has now fallen away from the Lord. Don’t worry, his friends say, and then quote this verse.
– First, we should note that this verse is not specifically talking about turning back to God, but rather a general life direction. But let’s stick with the point that is normally made for a moment.
– So if you raised your children in the church, is this verse an absolute guarantee that they will return to the Lord? Let me put the question in a different and more powerful way: can you name someone who was raised in the church and then never came back to the Lord? You can, can’t you? Actually, more than one person. So does that mean the Bible is wrong?
– No. It is essential to understand the genre of this book. How is this book called? Proverbs. What is a proverb? A proverb is a statement that is generally true. They tell you how the world normally works. We know with a proverb that there will be exceptions. It’s a proverb! But it’s generally a good idea to follow their advice.
– That means that most people who are trained the way they should go go back to their upbringing as they get older, including back to Godhead. But not all. But that doesn’t make the claim false. It is a proverb.
b. Life has no meaning.
– Ecclesiastes 1:1-11.
– My favorite Old Testament book is Ecclesiastes. But it is a strange book.
– If you read it in one go and take it literally, you may end up wanting to hang yourself. The first two chapters can be summed up in four points: wisdom is meaningless, pleasure is meaningless, madness is meaningless, everything is meaningless! Let’s prepare 1:1-11 to test.
– So, if I take it literally, where do I end up? Completely depressed!
– The book eventually comes to a partial endorsement of living for God, but overall it’s pretty bleak stuff.
– So what about this book? Well, you need to understand the genre. This book is wisdom literature. In particular, they are the thoughts of someone trying to find meaning and purpose in the world without God. And he ends up looking around and saying, “It’s all pointless.”
– That’s why it’s my favorite book of the Old Testament. I find that to be a compelling description of what life looks like when you try to find a meaningful life apart from God. That’s so essential today when ever-increasing numbers are becoming “none” and more people are trying to live a life with nothing more than a cursory nod in the direction of whatever they classify as God. It is an indictment of that approach to life.
– But if you just take the book literally and don’t appreciate the genre and the author’s intent, you’ll end up in a horrible place.
2. IS THE LANGUAGE OBVIOUSLY FIGURATIVE?
– Isaiah 11:12; Revelation 1:16; Revelation 2:16; Revelation 19:15; Revelation 19:21.
– We say we are taking the Bible literally, but there are times when the Bible is obviously using figurative language.
– Let’s see two examples:
a. sword from his mouth.
– In Revelation there is a lot of figurative language. Let’s use just one example.
– In Revelation 1:16, 2:16, 19:15 and 19:21, it speaks of the sword of his mouth.
– Now, do you think that means that there is literally a sword of steel coming out of the mouth of Christ or do you think that is figurative for the Word of God (the “sword of the Spirit”) coming out? It is certainly the latter.
b. The four corners of the earth.
– In Isaiah 11:12 it refers to the four corners of the earth.
– Now, do you think the earth is flat and has four literal corners or do you think it is a figurative language that imagines north, south, east and west as the four limits of the world? It is certainly the latter.
– So there are many times in the Scriptures where the author is obviously using poetic, symbolic, or figurative language. That’s not to be taken literally, but it doesn’t diminish the accuracy of the
Bible. We all understand that this is the way we communicate.
3. WHERE IS THIS IN THE STORY OF SALVATION?
– Leviticus 19; Matthew 5:17; Acts 15:1-35; Romans 7:22-8:4.
– There is a progression in the history of salvation throughout the Bible. The simplest division that we all understand is this: the Old Testament tells the story of Israel who couldn’t live for God through the Law, then Jesus comes and makes a new way, and the New Testament tells us how we can live that new way. life.
– Only three passages that speak of that change:
a. Romans 7:22-8:4.
– The Law imprisoned me spiritually; Jesus set me free.
b. Matthew 5:17.
– Jesus came and fulfilled the Law.
c. Acts 15:1-35.
– The Council of Jerusalem.
– Understanding that, let’s look at some Old Testament examples of what I’m talking about. There are many examples, but let’s look at just one chapter: Leviticus 19.
av 19d – clothes with two types of fabric.
bv 26 – meat with blood.
cv 27 – cut the beard.
dv 28 – no tattoos.
– We are not required to keep these commandments because (a) we are not Jewish and (b) we are no longer under the Old Testament Law system. Jesus has done something new.
– Now, does that mean that Leviticus is no longer in the Bible? Of course not. It is still Scripture. But when we read it, we read it to learn how God interacted with Israel during that part of salvation history. We don’t read it and literally apply its commandments to our lives.
– A side note: AJ Jacobs wrote a book called The Year of Living Biblically where he spent a year trying to obey these dark commandments. It was a New York Times bestseller.
4. WE ARE READING ON THE SHOULDER.
– Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 11:3-16; 1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:26.
– What do I mean by “read over the shoulder”?
– The Bible was not written as a book of abstract spiritual truths. A book called “Truth”, another called “Grace”, another called “Relationships”. No, they are the stories of God’s interactions with the world.
– Take the book we started with tonight: 2 Corinthians. Why is it called that? Because it is the second letter that Paul wrote to the Corinthian church. A historical person writing a series of letters to a historical church with a very specific set of problems and possibilities. It’s not abstract at all: it’s pastoral advice to a struggling church about things they were having trouble with.
– Well, anyone who knows a lot about something realizes this, but they don’t always think about the consequences. Among the consequences is that when we read these books centuries later, we are “reading over the shoulder” to the Corinthians. Paul wrote this book as a pastoral letter to them and we are looking over his shoulder to see what advice he gave them.
– Is it Scripture? Yes! Is it the word of god? Yes! The structure that God chose for that Word was practical letters to existing churches. The gospels are historical accounts of what Jesus did as he walked. The Old Testament primarily shares stories of God working with a small nation called Israel.
– This brings us back to where we started.
– In 2 Corinthians 13:12, we see Paul urges the Corinthians to greet one another with a holy kiss. This is not the only place where he shares that instruction: Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, 1 Thessalonians 5:26.
– This raises a question: is the holy kiss an obligatory mandate for everyone? time to go to church or is it something that reflects the culture of the time?
– I should note as we begin to discuss this that the kiss Paul had in mind was a cheek-to-cheek kiss, not anything romantic or sexual.
– It is an important question and one that we should not dismiss lightly. We want to think about it before deciding that it is not binding on us today. Why? Because we don’t want to get sidetracked by doing this in the wrong passage.
– So basically there are three ways I can take this:
a. Yes, it is binding for today and you should do it today.
b. The kiss is not binding, but it gives us a principle to live by.
– The principle would be that we should warmly and affectionately greet our brothers and sisters in Christ. That was demonstrated by a kiss in Paul’s day, but it could be fulfilled by a handshake in our day. Also, it could be met with a respectful bow in certain Asian cultures.
c. No, the passage is not binding on us today.
– What is another example of this kind of thing? The veils and the length of the hair.
– In 1 Corinthians 11:3-16, Paul talks about the length of hair for men and women, as well as the veils for women and men.
– Look vv. 4-5. Paul argues that women should cover their heads and men should not. For him it is a sign of submission to authority.
– Look at vv. 14-15. Paul argues that men’s hair should be shorter and women’s hair should be longer. There is also a comment at the end of v. 15 to make you wonder if longer hair is…