Video Transcript: Reading and Living Scripture Well

We've been speaking of our responsibilities as those chosen for a special  relationship with God as God's firstborn, tasked with being his prophets, priests  and kings, we are to embrace God's priorities. And one of the first things to get  right in this regard is to learn to read and live the scriptures. Well. Let's agree at  the outset that all world religions have their sacred writings. So Christianity is not unique in that regard. However, among sacred writings, the Bible has no equal.  It was written over a period of 1600 years in three languages by over 40 authors from every walk of life. And yet, there's one thing despite the many authors 100,  hundreds of controversial topics it treats, there's a unity that binds the whole  together, all of it, from start to finish, focuses on and contributes to God's  redemption of humanity. And God's word is absolutely dependable with regard to this goal. It never deceives, it makes no mistakes. And it does the job that God  intended to do. It can do that because it is God breathed. It is inspired, literally  infused with God's breath. All these books written by so many different authors  and speaking to so many different situations have the stamp of God's approval,  even more of God's inspiration. Some of these authors wrote down line after line of laws, some wrote down collections of wise saying some wrote letters, some  stories, all use their own language, style and personality. Not one of them was  perfect, as each of them would have been quick to say. But in all of them, God  was at work, and not mechanically as with robots, but working through their  personalities, making sure that what he wanted to say got passed on in writing.  It's because of inspiration that there's such good coordination in Scripture. And  also that earlier writings were proved accurate by later events, and later writings  could justifiably point to foreshadowings in previous events. The proper  interpretation of Scripture may not always be clear, because we do not  completely understand the culture and customs of biblical times. And we even  and we know even less about the common fund of information shared by biblical writers and audiences we live in in different time and culture. But, as the Apostle  Paul claims, and as the confessions of our church make clear, even if some  things remain in doubt, what the Bible says, God says, what the Bible says, it  says, with the authority of the creator and savior of the universe, and it has the  capability of helping God's people so much. First of all, it has the capability of  bringing people to faith. And after that, of helping people to grow in faith and  serve God wholeheartedly. When you read the Bible with an open heart in mind,  God comes to you where you are, and gives you what you need. You don't  necessarily understand everything right away. But the Holy Spirit uses what you  read, to reach you and to change your life. But there seems to be a bit of a  problem with this nice picture. Are people's lives really being transformed? They  should be happening what with all the Bibles and Bible study helps around. The  Bible is not only the best selling book of all time, it's the best selling book every  single year. I suppose that's partly because there seems to be a Bible geared to  every market niche. The Maxwell leadership Bible, the archaeological study 

Bible, life in the Spirit and fruit of the Spirit study Bibles, End Times Bible  Prophecy Study Bible, Reformation Study Bible, ministers Bible, children's  ministry, resource Bible senior study Bible life recovery Bible, men and women's  study Bibles, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Bible, Precious Moments bible, just to  mention a few. And then there are other versions of the Bible designed to look  like magazines, becoming for young women and addressing the topics of men  beauty, Fitness, Food, and so on. Resolved for girls, refuel for boys. All of these  if you assume the best motives are meant to help people understand God's  word better and live as God wants us to live. Minute. There are critical voices  about this trend that customize the Bible for every niche group. biblical scholar  D.A. Carson says, I view with unmitigated horror the multiplication of Bibles with  notes designed for narrower and narrower groups. It will not surprise me if we  soon have Bibles designed for left handed athletes from Nebraska. These trends merely serve the idolatrous notion that God in His word exists primarily to serve  us in all our self focused individuality. here's the rub. Despite the popularity and  multiplication of Bibles, biblical literacy is on the decline. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist seminary in Louisville, Kentucky calls it a scandal. He cited  a survey which showed that 81% of the people who identified themselves as  Born Again Christians thought that this quote, God helps those who help  themselves was a Bible verse. A majority of adults think the Bible teaches that  the most important purpose in life is taking care of one's family. That's  something very important to be sure, but that's hardly what the Westminster  shorter catechism identifies as man's chief end, which is to glorify God and  enjoy him forever. Choose whatever statistic or survey you like the general  pattern is the same. America's Christians know less and less about the Bible.  And not only do we know less and less, the Bible seems to be losing its power  to transform our lives in our world. Part of the reason for that is that, according  to the American Bible Society, only about a quarter of Americans read their  Bibles on a regular basis. And many of these tend to reduce their reading to  what Glen Paauw calls scripturettes. Glen Paauw is the executive director of the biblical Institute for Bible reading. And when he says scripturettes, he means just a verse or two, maybe with a devotional on them. And of course, that's not bad  as part of a strategy, but bigger readings are important for us to experience the  Bible's transformative power. Glen Paauw, in his book saving the Bible from  ourselves says the Bible needs saving, not because of any defect in itself, but  because we buried it boxed it in wallpapered over it neutered, it distorted, it,  isolated, it individualized it minimized it, misread it, lied about it, debased it, and  oversold it. We've overcomplicated its form while over simplifying its content.  We've become Cavalier and even cheesy with our Bibles. All the additions and  complications are supposedly for the purpose of helping people to use the Bible. But as Paauw points out, there's actually a Bible engagement breakdown. Bible  readers have been sold the mistaken notion that the Bible is a look it up and find

the answer handy guide to life. They've been encouraged to treat the scriptures  as if they were a collection of doctrinal, devotional and moralistic statements that can be accessed and chosen at will. This superficial use of the scriptures is  actually destructive because those who practice it operate under the illusion that they're engaging the Bible. When they're not. They're rarely even aware of what  they're missing. Paauw writes about a Sunday school teacher who asked his  question, a multiple choice question Which of the following the bible is most  like? Is it A, Bartlett's familiar quotations B, the Reader's Digest Guide to Home  Repairs, or C, the collected papers of the American anti slavery society? Which  is the Bible most like? Well, many people treat the Bible like A, Bartlett's familiar  quotations. And what I mean is they like to mine scripture for those verses that  seemed to capture a lot of truths in one brief statement. Others in many of the  niche Bibles, do this. Treat it like B, a how to book. Here's how to be truly  beautiful. Here's how to raise your children. Here's how to conquer your  addictions and so on. Well, neither A nor B is entirely inappropriate, of course,  but the Bible is really more like C, the collected papers of The American anti  slavery society. It's a collection of books of different styles, and by different  authors, whose messages by the power of the Holy Spirit come together to form  a single story that changes our lives. What Carson and Paauw say really  resonates with me. Our lives are not going to be changed by sampling scripture  in neat little devotionals or by using the Bible to quickly look up answers for the  immediate problems we face. You see through scripture, God's himself wants to  come into our lives to remake us in the image of His Son, not according to our  limited preconceived notions and questions, but as he wants. Listen to the  scriptures, what they say about what God intends his word to do. Isaiah 55:11,  my word that goes out from my mouth will not return to me empty, but will  accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Jeremiah  23:29, is not my word like fire declares the Lord, and like a hammer, that breaks  a rock in pieces. John 6:63. This is what part of what Jesus says to His  disciples. He says, The words I've spoken to you, they are full of the spirit and  life. And then Hebrews 4:12, the word of God is alive and active, sharper than  any double edged sword it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit joints and  marrow, it judges thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Just a few scriptures here,  but do you see that what God intends is usually far more and often much  different than we can imagine? It's certainly true. This study Bibles and other  tools can help us with the details. But we can't get lost in the details and lose the big picture. And although it's good when we find specifics in Scripture to help  meet various challenges in our lives, we must not skip the context in the stories  in which those specifics are found. You see, God has things to teach us that we  never even thought of asking about. There are no shortcuts, as if we can  achieve the goal either by undervaluing Jesus Christ, who is the Word made  flesh, or by racing through the scriptures and getting right to the details of how to

live application is good, of course, even vital . But the hard part of the life God  wants for us is coming to understand the message of Scripture, in the easy part  is application. Well, it's easy to know how it applies at least whether or not we do it is another matter. To be sure, Scripture is concerned about application. The 10 commandments, for example, are pretty clear directives on how to live. But the  idea that Scripture is all about application results too often in moralism, such as  Jacob was a deceiver. Don't you be a deceiver, Daniel stood up for his faith.  Dare to be a Daniel. Esther was both beautiful and responsible be like Esther.  that's moralism moralism has less egregious forms to but the tendency remains.  Such an approach has little regard for the historical unfolding of God's  redemption. This focus on application has prompted different kinds of sermons,  how to or how not to lists. I have no inherent objection to those kinds of lists.  Scripture does give clear guidance on how to have a good marriage and the  sorts of things parents need to do with and for their children and so on. But a  premature or exclusive focus on application does not have enough respect for  all that God wants to teach us in His Word. Some preachers and churches  emphasize biblical rules for behavior as if the Bible is a little more than a  handbook for morality. Others use the Bible to try to reproduce the feelings  associated with spirituality, perhaps with the aid of context less and even  random scripture verses on which people can concentrate each day. There are  even churches that use scripture just as one of several tools to help us learn the practical lessons of personal and communal life. Lessons that some think are  really better taught by modern advances in psychology, sociology,  environmentalism, and so on together with a strong dose of community  responsibility. Now I'm not saying that scripture has nothing to say about such  things. But that is important as the application of Scripture is. It's more about  God's self revelation than what to do about it. It's more about who God is and  what he does and why he does it, and how persistent he is, and faithful and  merciful. And just, and then secondarily, it's about what people to whom God  has revealed himself, and his purposes, did and do with that revelation. And  that's why I'm coming to think we'll do better when we read Scripture. Just to  forget about application at first not forget about it entirely, of course, but at first,  so that our own questions and problems will not hinder us from hearing what  God wants us to hear. How did Jesus treat God's self revelation in the Scriptures available to him the Old Testament, I contend that he didn't use it first of all, as  his guideline for conduct, which he needed despite being God's son, but  primarily to help him know God's character and plans and purposes. Only then  could he bring his own conduct and plans into alignment with God's. In other  words, Jesus allowed scripture to tell them what God was like. And knowing that grow him into the person God wanted him to be. Indeed, life with God is always  more about who you are, than about what you do. Of course, what you do  reflects or betrays who you are, but the fix is not to concentrate on what you do, 

exclusively or so much as seeing who God is, and what he wants. And then  invite the Holy Spirit to change who you are to conform to what God has shown  you. Notice how Jesus treated that preeminent list of biblical what to dos, the 10  commandments, Jesus consistently showed that these are really impossible to  obey. Impossible That is, unless people are radically changed inside and out by  an encounter with God. Only as we come to love God more than anything, can  we even come close to loving our neighbors as ourselves? That's why Jesus  always focused more on being than then on doing and on process more than  results. And the first step in the process is to know God. He'll take care of the  rest. By His Holy Spirit, He will accomplish what he wants to accomplish through us. Admittedly, the New Testament epistles focus more on application than the  Gospels or the Old Testament, the Epistles or applicatory sermons on what the  writers had learned about God and what He wants. But when you read the  Scripture, the Old Testament, the Gospels and New Testament narratives, in  particular, look for what it tells you about God, about his character, his initiatives, his goals, his plans, his purposes. If you see these and have a heart for God,  how can you do anything but fall on your face in astonishment and reverence?  And afterwards, let what you've seen transform your life? Like Jacob, who met  God at what he later named Bethel, saying, how awesome is this place? This is  none other than the house of God. This is the gate of heaven. Like the people of Israel on several occasions during the leadership of Moses, when the glory of  the Lord was revealed to them, like King David, who, upon hearing God's  promise of a dynasty said in astonishment, who am I sovereign Lord? And what  is my family that you have brought me this far? Like Solomon and the people of  Israel at the dedication of the temple, who witnessed so much glory, that the  priests could not even enter the temple to carry out their service. Like Isaiah, on  the occasion of his commission, as Isaiah states, who is at first terrified by the  glory of the Lord and afterwards emboldened to enter God's service. Like Peter,  James and John, at Jesus Transfiguration, like Jesus who through so many  times alone with a father was confirmed in his service in enlightened about the  next steps to take, like Paul at his conversion, like John, in his glimpses of God's glory in the heavens, written down in Revelation with all these people and many  others, it was only after seeing the awesome and glorious majesty of God and  the perfect marriage. Between his justice and mercy, that they could understand  what the Lord required of them. Except for Jesus, these people were often  inconsistent in their obedience. And still what all the heroes of the faith, were  able to accomplish in their lives, was made possible by their attention to the  character and desires of God, as a basis for understanding what God required  of them. And that's how God gets his work done for each of us as well. We can't  participate in God's reformation of the world, unless and until God reforms us.  And that begins by meeting him and the Holy Spirit in live into pages of  scripture. And after this, we can ask and we will ask what does God require of 

me? And equally importantly, what does God require of us. For God has always  been after more than the snatching of individual souls from hell. As important as  each individual is in his eyes. God is building a kingdom, he's building a  community in whom he dwells and over whom the rules and through whom,  because of the witness of their lives, he blesses their world and also draws more people into that community. And so we need to get serious about engaging the  Bible with big readings, in order that we may better understand the big story that God has been proclaiming throughout, and through which the Holy Spirit works  to transform our lives in our world. In fact, that's really what I hope this book  longing for a better country will reinforce in you remember that book is in no way meant to be a substitute for engaging in Scripture itself, but rather, is a tool to  help you and those who lead to do that. And also to help you better understand  the connections between the Old and the New Testaments, and also to reinforce in your mind a better sense of the continuity of God's whole story of redemption.