Through the Lutheran Reformation, God not only restored the
gospel, but also provided His church with a sound hermeneutic [system of
interpretation] as a means of defending the gospel against those who would
undermine it by twisting the words of Scripture. Because that hermeneutic
is at the very heart of Reformation theology, many of the doctrinal problems
that Evangelical Christians now face are rooted in a failure to follow
that hermeneutic. The purpose of this essay is to explain briefly what
that hermeneutic is, and show why it is important to the salvation of souls.
1- Submission: Since the Bible is the Word of God we are not to "interpret" it to agree with the ideas of Aristotle, Darwin, or any other man. Instead we are to reject and condemn any ideas which contradict the plain teaching of Scripture (Isaiah 8:20). If this rule were consistently followed we would not have pulpits where the truth of Scripture is questioned and psychobabble has replaced the gospel.
2- Honesty: Because it is dishonest to have hidden meanings in our words [so that we say one thing but mean something else] the Word of God does not have any hidden meanings. What it says is what it means (2 Corinthians 1:13 and 3:12). For that reason, the words of Scripture are to be understood in the same way they would be understood in everyday conversation. In other words, we can determine the intended meaning of the words the same way we would determine the intended meaning of any other discourse. This will involve a careful look at the context in which the words are used, the train of thought, the rules of grammar, usage, and the type of literature we are dealing with.
3- Humility: When we come to a passage that we do not understand, we must be humble enough to admit that we do not understand it. Then, instead of making up explanations or reading unscriptural ideas into the text, we are to interpret the unclear passages in the light of the clear. This means, essentially, that we are to interpret the unclear passages in a way that makes them teach the same doctrine that is taught in the clear passages. Of course, Satan wants us to do the opposite! Satan wants us to read our own ideas into the unclear passages of Scripture, while ignoring and explaining away any passages that contradict those ideas (Isaiah 8:20). However, because we are dealing with the Word of God, our doctrine must not rest on the interpretations of men, but on passages so clear they need no interpretation (1 Corinthians 2:13, Isaiah 8:20, 2 Peter 1:20, Mark 7:7).
Because the entire Bible is inspired by God, it only contains one
theology (2 Peter 1:20). And because God does not change, His standard
of righteousness has not changed (Malachi 3:6). Therefore, in all of Scripture
there is only one standard of right and wrong and one way of salvation
(Matthew 5:48, Luke 16:17, Acts 4:12). For that reason we must never interpret
different parts of the Bible to make them teach different theologies, or
different ways of salvation. On the contrary, all that the Bible says must
be understood in a way that allows it to fit together as a unified whole.
As long as these rules are followed the gospel will not be hidden. When
they are not followed it is just a matter of time until the passages which
explicitly state the gospel message are explained away in order to make
them agree with the law or with man made interpretations.
The righteousness that is ours in Christ does not consist of what
we do, but what He did for us. He took our sins upon Himself, and by doing
so secured pardon for us. Therefore, what makes us righteous is the forgiveness
that is ours through faith in His sacrifice, not works. That is what the
Bible means when it says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness… and
the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7,9).
In other words, the forgiveness we have in Christ not only removes
our guilt, by removing our guilt it also makes us righteous (Romans 3:
21-22 and 5:19). Therefore, when interpreting statements such as, "Awake
to righteousness, and sin not" we must remember the fact that forgiveness
makes us righteousness, but works do not (Romans 9:30-32, Isaiah 64:6).
Likewise we, "sin not" when we walk by faith, rather than by the law, for
it is only as we walk by faith that no sin is imputed to us (Romans 3:20
and 4:6-8).
This is a simple rule to follow, but because of the deceitfulness of the human heart few follow it. On the contrary, the natural inclination is to do the opposite. The carnal mind does not want to submit to what the Bible actually says. It would rather explain away what the Bible says, proclaim made up "principles" in place of the Word of God, and interpret God's Word to agree with its own ideas.
Those who follow the rules of interpretation that I have just summarized can say:
"Because the Bible says, ‘by grace are ye saved through faith,' we teach, ‘By grace are ye saved through faith' (Ephesians 2:8-9). Because the Bible says, ‘a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law', we teach, ‘a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law' (Romans 3:28). Because Christ said, ‘This is My body which is given for you' we teach, ‘This is Christ's body which was given for you' (Luke 22:19). And because the Bible says, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins' we teach, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins' (Acts 2:38).
The fact that the last two verses just quoted may well get some people up in arms should tell you why there is so much doctrinal division in American churches. Some people are not about to teach what the Bible says if it does not agree with their own ideas. However, the world would be much better off if, instead of explaining away such passages, they would simply relate what the Bible says while keeping their own opinions to themselves.
Passages such as Acts 2:38 [quoted above] are not really hard to
understand once we grasp the Biblical distinction between the law and the
promises (Galatians 3:14-22). The key thing to understand, is that anything
the Bible says about forgiveness in connection with baptism is a promise
of the gospel (Acts 2:38). Those who fail to understand this, often assume
that the ceremony conveys forgiveness automatically, but the Apostle Paul
clearly taught that we receive God's promises "by faith" in Christ, not
what we do (Galatians 3:22, 2 Corinthians 1:20). Therefore, the ceremony
of baptism simply presents God's promise of forgiveness to the one being
baptized in the same way that a good sermon presents God's promise of forgiveness
to the listeners. For that reason, just as someone can listen to a good
sermon without accepting God's promise of forgiveness, one who does not
trust in Christ can be baptized and yet remain unforgiven. At the same
time, those who come to baptism believing that there is forgiveness in
Christ, receive what is promised (Galatians 3:22).
If Christians consistently interpreted Scripture in this way,
there would not be any debate over the question of whether the word translated
"virgin" in our King James translation, should instead be translated "maid".
The Bible tells us that "virgin" was the intended meaning, when it records
Mary as saying, "how shall this be seeing I know not a man?" (Luke 1:34).
Likewise there would be no debate over the question of whether Isaiah 7:14
speaks of Mary or another woman, for God tells us in Matthew 1:22-23 that
Isaiah 7:14 refers to Mary. Those who refuse to allow Scripture to interpret
itself are only deceiving themselves, and because their self deception
undermines faith and destroys souls they should be shunned by God fearing
Christians (Isaiah 8:20, 1 Peter 5:8, Ezekiel 22:25, Matthew 7:15, Romans
16:17, Luke 1:51, Jeremiah 17:9, Luke 1:51).
For those who would like to learn more about the Lutheran Hermeneutic, I recommend the book, "The Theology of Post reformation Lutheranism" by Robert Preus.