THE STANDARD OF FAITH

A Study By
Gary Ray Branscome

 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. (Isaiah 8:20)


    The fact that many think the Bible can be interpreted to say anything only proves that interpretations are worthless. Therefore, why not stop trying to interpret Scripture, and instead concentrate on what the words actually say. If you really want to know what the Bible says, you need to begin with truths so clearly stated in Scripture that there is no debate as to the fact that they are in the Bible. I am not saying that everyone will accept them, just that no one will be able to dispute the fact that they are in the Bible. For example: While some reject what the Bible says about a six-day creation, no one can deny the fact that the Bible says, “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is” (Exodus 20:11). Likewise, no one can deny the fact that the words “evening” and “morning” are used in connection with each one of the creation days (Genesis 1:5,8,13,19,23,31). Those truths are beyond dispute because they can be verified by anyone willing to look up the references.

    To put it briefly, we need to ground our faith on the plain grammatical meaning of the words, not interpretations (2Corinthians 1:13 and 3:12). Because God’s doctrine consists of what God actually says in His Word, not what men interpret it to mean, those truths that are explicitly stated in Scripture are the word of God, while all interpretations are the word of man.   

THE FOUNDATION OF OUR FAITH


    If my faith rested on nothing more that interpretations, I would continually be haunted by a fear that those interpretations were wrong. However, no one can dispute the fact that the Bible tells us that, “Christ died for our sins” and that “Whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (1Corinthians 15:3, John 3:16). Those two statements of Scripture are of greater comfort to me than a thousand interpretations could ever be. Therefore, I thank God for such statements, and for the fact that my faith that rests on the solid rock of His Word, rather than on the shifting sands of human opinion (2Peter 1:19).

    Furthermore, knowing that Satan would try to cast doubt on statements such as the two I just quoted, God has provided us with other statements that enlarge upon what they say. For example: the phrase, “Christ died for our sins” is explained by the words, “we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7, 1Corinthians 15:3). Because such passages clarify what the Bible says about Christ's death on the cross, we do not need any extra-Biblical words to explain His death, what the Bible says is sufficient.

    The point I am trying to make is that we can be certain of what the Bible says, if we will just allow the actual words of scripture to be our doctrine. Instead of interpreting what the Bible says, we need to allow the plain grammatical meaning of the words to stand as it reads, while accepting the doctrine that God has revealed in His Word, “line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little” (Isaiah 28:10).

THE TRUE DOCTRINE


    Once we understand that the true doctrine consists of what the Bible actually says, not an explanation of what it says, we can see that the entire body of doctrine consists of the sum total of all the clear passages of Scripture that explicitly state doctrinal truths. That doctrine is the standard to which all teaching must conform (Isaiah 8:20, Romans 12:6, 1 Peter 4:11, 2 Corinthians 10:5, 2Peter 1:20, Romans 3:4).

    Furthermore, once you start to think of doctrine as truths so clearly stated in Scripture that they need no interpretation, the Bible ceases to be a dark book. It is all perfectly clear. For example: the fact that the Bible says of Christ, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” is beyond dispute (Acts 4:12). It is simply what the Bible says, and because it is what the Bible says it is fact not opinion. Therefore, anyone who contradicts it is wrong, no matter how many degrees he has or how many arguments he can muster (Romans 3:4).

    What I am saying, is that because the statements of Scripture are the Word of God, they have the authority of God behind them. Once God has spoken, the matter is settled. If God says that we are, “justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (Romans 3:28), then the evidence that we are justified by faith without the deeds of the law is conclusive. There is no more room for debate. Nevertheless, Satan does all he can to convince people that the opposite is true, and to that end creates controversy after controversy. Some of those controversies are caused by people who are unwilling to accept what the Bible says, and the rest consist of disputes over questions that the Bible has left unanswered.

THE SPIRIT OF REBELLION


    Those who think of doctrine as an explanation of Scripture (rather than the actual words of Scripture) often deal with passages that they do not understand by making up plausible-sounding explanations. They then explain away any statements of Scripture that contradict their made-up explanations. In the first case they are adding to the Word of God, and in the second they are taking from what it says. In addition, if two statements of Scripture appear contradictory to their finite minds, they affirm one and explain away the other instead of accepting both as true. They make up doctrines, and often read unscriptural ideas into the text. Yet, when their irresponsible use of Scripture leads to controversy, they want to blame the controversy on others. [Jeremiah 23:31, Ezekiel 13:2, Romans 16:17, Proverbs 30:6, Revelation 21:8.]

    For example, Although the Book of Revelation speaks of “souls” reigning “with Christ,” the Bible nowhere says that they will physically reign on this earth (Revelation 20:4). In fact, we know that they will not physically reign with Christ on this earth because Christ said “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). Nevertheless, there are many Christians who assume that He will reign on this earth, and explain away His words “My kingdom is not of this world,” because those words do not agree with their own assumption.

    What they do not realize is that because the idea that Christ will physically reign on this world is not in the Bible, it is tradition. Therefore, when they explain away the words “My kingdom is not of this world,” they are making the Word of God “of none effect” by their tradition (Matthew 15:3,6, Mark 7:9,13). Furthermore, by explaining away Christ's words, they are rebelling against God, and the fact that they will not hear the Word of God indicates that they have a spirit of error (Psalm 107:11, 1Samuel 15:23, 1John 4:1&6, Isaiah 8:20).

THE BARE WORDS OF SCRIPTURE


    Our doctrine must rest on the bare words of Scripture! God wants us to teach the doctrine that He has plainly stated in His Word, not our own made-up explanations or interpretations (2Corinthians 1:13 and 3:12). We need to accept everything that the Bible says, while allowing Scripture to interpret itself. And, I previously gave you an example of how Scripture interprets itself, when I pointed out that the words, “Christ died for our sins” are explained by the words, “we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7, 1Corinthians 15:3).

    Because the true doctrine consists of what the Bible actually says, when a student would ask Dr. Francis Pieper for an explanation of a particular verse, he would simply quote the verse from memory in the original Hebrew or Greek, and say, “that is it.” However, if an explanation is needed, the best way of explaining a passage is by pointing out that it is saying the same thing as another passage. For example: I might explain Romans 12:6, “let us prophesy according to the proportion [i.e. standard] of faith”, by pointing out that it is saying the same thing as Isaiah 8:20, “To the law and to the testimony: If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Those passages are both saying the same thing, because they are both telling us what we should speak “according to.” Likewise, I might explain Romans 2:13, “For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified,” by pointing out that it is saying the same thing as Galatians 5:3, “I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.” Those passages are both saying the same thing, because both tell us that those who would be justified by the law must do all that the law requires.

CONCLUSION


    Because the words of Scripture are not hard to understand, the difficulty that men have stems from the darkness of the human heart, not the word of God. On the contrary, the Bible tells us that its writers used “great plainness of speech,” and that what they wrote is nothing other than what we “read” (2Corinthians 1:13 and 3:12). Therefore, if you want to be certain of what the Bible says, start out by learning those truths that are set forth so clearly in the words of Scripture that no one can dispute that they are in the Bible. Then let the clear passages of Scripture cast light on anything that is unclear.