Bible Basics #1

      II Timothy 3:16-17 says the Scriptures equip us for every good work. God did not provide us with a book that tells us all the things we are not supposed to be doing. Rather, He gave us Scripture that authorizes what we are allowed to do.

      Too many people today believe churches and Christians are allowed to do whatever they want as long as we cannot find a specific “thou shalt not” condemning the action. But that is not the way the Bible works.

      Unless we can find Scripture that equips or authorizes us to perform some action, we must refrain. We need, as the old preachers used to tell us, book, chapter and verse for what we do.

      How does the scripture authorize? I do not wish to oversimplify things, but the Scripture authorizes in three common sense ways: Direct Statement, Approved Example and Necessary Implication.

      By Direct Statement I mean when the Scripture directly states that we can do something, then we can. Within this heading we include commands as well as statements. For instance, the Bible commands us to be baptized for the remission of our sins (Acts 2:38). However, the Bible does not command individual Christians to be married, but says we can be in I Corinthians 7.

      By approved example I mean we can do anything the Scripture shows the early Christians and early churches doing with God’s approval. For instance, in Acts 20:7 the early church gathered together to break bread (cf. I Corinthians 10:16—the Lord’s Supper) on the first day of the week. Obviously, we can do the same. Notice this is approved examples. The Corinthian church made the Lord’s Supper into a common meal, but Paul taught that example was not approved in I Corinthians 11:17-34.

      By Necessary Implication I mean in the statements and examples we study, God did not necessarily spell everything out. Some actions are necessarily required to accomplish what was stated or exemplified. For example, if I told you to buy some ice cream at Wal-Mart, I did not say anything about getting to Wal-Mart. However, to accomplish the command, you have to get to Wal-Mart somehow. By necessary implication you know that getting to Wal-Mart is authorized as well as buying ice cream at Wal-Mart. A Bible example would be that God has commanded us to worship Him and teach each other through singing in Ephesians 5:19. He did not say anything about writing songs, how to learn songs, or having songbooks. However, in order to sing, we have to have something to sing. Therefore all of these issues are authorized.

      More Bible Basics next week. For now, we need to remember that we must seek God’s authority through Scripture for all that we do.

Edwin L. Crozier