THE BIBLICAL VIEWPOINT OF A CHRISTIAN THEOLOGIAN

By Gary Ray Branscome

“God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life,” and God so loved the world that He gave us the Bible to testify to that fact (John 3:16 and 5:39). As it is written, “All the prophets testify of Him, that through His name whoever believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins” (Acts 10:43). Moreover, because God wants us to have confidence in what the Bible says, the Bible in all of its parts is the Word of God. And, the only valid purpose of theology is to faithfully organize and present what God has said, without adding to or taking from the plain meaning of the words.

However, because, “There is no other name under heaven given among men, [other than that of Jesus Christ] by which we must be saved,” Satan has “blinded” those who do not believe to the truth of the gospel, and confuses them, to keep them from coming to faith in Christ (Acts 4:12, 2Corinthians 4:4). Because of that blindness, many do not read the Bible because they think that what it says is all a matter of opinion. Others read their own ideas into the text while explaining away any passages that contradict their opinions. In contrast, a truly Biblical theology will accept the words of Scripture as they read, allowing the plain grammatical meaning of the words [the same meaning that you are putting on my words as you read this] to stand. And, will make the doctrine that God has clearly and explicitly stated in the text the doctrine it sets forth.

Christ’s words, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free,” tell us that we are not really Christ’s disciples if we do not continue in His Word, but instead look outside of Scripture for doctrine, or read unscriptural ideas into the text (John 8:31-32). The words, “No truth of scripture comes from any private explanation,” tell us that no God-given truth comes from man-made explanations of the text (2Peter 1:20). I am not talking about the plain meaning of the words, but made up explanations such as the “gap theory”. That kind of explanation is the word of man not the Word of God! And, the words, “If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them,” tell us that any opinion that contradicts what the Bible plainly says is false [not light] (Isaiah 8:20). The three verses just quoted tell us: 1-that the doctrine God wants us to get from His Word consists of what the words say, 2-excluding all man-made explanations, and 3-understood in a way that agrees with everything else that the Bible says.

Furthermore, because God has caused every truth necessary for our salvation to be plainly stated Scripture, those truths that are clearly and explicitly stated in Scripture are to be the standard by which all of the more obscure passages of Scripture are interpreted. No obscure passage of Scripture should ever be interpreted to teach any doctrine not taught in the clear passages of Scripture. Those who interpret unclear passages to contradict what is taught in the clear passages obscure what is taught in the clear passages thus hindering the work of salvation.

Jesus condemned the Pharisees for, “Teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:7). Those man-made commandments [traditions] were an addition to God’s Word, and thus contrary to the words, “Do not add to His words, lest He reprove you, and you are found to be a liar” (Proverbs 30:6). At the same time, the words, “You completely invalidate the commandment of God, in order to keep your tradition… Making the word of God of no effect,” tell us that when traditions are aimed at getting around what the Bible says, they take away from Scripture (Mark 7:9-13). And, that is condemned by the words, “If any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life” (Revelation 22:19).

In contrast to the legalism of the Pharisees, the Sadducees were rationalists. However, by claiming, “That there is no resurrection, and that there are no angels, or spirits,” they were also taking away from Scripture (Acts 23:8). And, Jesus rebuked them by saying, “Are you not deceiving yourselves, because you do not know the scriptures, or the power of God?… In regard to the dead, and the fact that they rise: haven’t you read in the book of Moses, how God spoke to him from the bush, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: therefore you are badly mistaken” (Mark 12:24-27).

Today, things have not changed. We still have legalists [like the Pharisees] who place great importance on obedience to men and man-made rules, while explaining away some passages of Scripture. And, we still have rationalists [like the Sadducees] who reject what the Bible says whenever it does not agree with their ideas. Both legalists and rationalists have been deceived by a heart that is “deceitful above all things” (Jeremiah 17:9). And, Christ’s words, “O fools, and slow of heart to believe everything the prophets have said,” warn us not to follow their example (Luke 24:25).