All Scripture is For and About the Church

All Scripture is about Christ, and so also about 

the Body of Christ, the Church. All Scripture, 

then, is written to and about the Church 

as well as for the Church.

Interpreting Through Love

“Now when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they assembled together. And one of them, an expert in religious law, asked him a question to test him: ‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’

Jesus said to him, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:34-40)

Understanding Scripture Together

We must learn to read the Scriptures with the all of the Church in all times and places. For there is only the one Holy Spirit, given to the one Body of Christ:

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. For he will not speak on his own authority, but will speak whatever he hears, and will tell you what is to come. He will glorify me, because he will receive from me what is mine and will tell it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; that is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what is mine and will tell it to you. (John 16:13-15)

Where the Meaning of Scripture Resides

“Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” (2 Corinthians 3:12-16)

The Presence We Encounter

On the Road to Emmaus

So he said to them, “You foolish people – how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Wasn’t it necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and enter into his glory?”

Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things written about himself in all the scriptures. So they approached the village where they were going. He acted as though he wanted to go farther, but they urged him, “Stay with us, because it is getting toward evening and the day is almost done.” So he went in to stay with them.

When he had taken his place at the table with them, he took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. At this point their eyes were opened and they recognized him. Then he vanished out of their sight.

They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us while he was speaking with us on the road, while he was explaining the scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:25-32)

The Reality of All Things

 

Shadow, Image and Reality

All Scripture reveals Christ,
who is the Reality
of All Things.

The Authority of Scripture and the Church

The Body of Christ, the Church, is the only body given authority to preach the gospel and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything Lord Jesus commanded. And it has been uniquely endowed with the Holy Spirit to enable it in this Great Commission.

Reading Scripture With the Church

 

A Word About Reading the Old Testament

If a literal reading of the Old Testament 

contradicts the revelation of God in Jesus Christ, 

then the literal reading must give way.

Christ the Lens and Context

Christ is the lens through which we read the Scripture,

the context by which we understand the world.

Knowing the Story from the Inside

The story the Scriptures tell looks very different from the outside than it does from the inside, where we realize we are part of it. It is only from the inside that we begin to understand it as the story of the gospel, the story of Christ ~ and truly good news.

Christ and the Authority of the Old Testament

Christ said that the Law and the Prophets are about Him.

The authority of the Old Testament, then,

is in the witness it bears to Christ.