For many, the Bible is a cornerstone of faith, a guide for life, and a source of timeless wisdom. Yet, how often do we truly grapple with its complexities, its historical context, and its original intent? Too often, we're taught to cherry-pick verses, to apply ancient laws to modern situations without considering the vast cultural and temporal gaps that separate us from the original audience. We are sometimes even taught “this used to be sin, but it’s not sin any more, God changed His mind” Leading to our modern mixed morality in Church, a distorted concept of the character of God, and even a works driven religion, instead of relationship with HIM.
Beyond "Old" and "New": Understanding the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures
A common misconception, perpetuated by the traditional division of the Bible into the Old and New Testaments, is that the former is somehow outdated or irrelevant.
This division, though convenient, can lead to a devaluation of the Hebrew Scriptures, relegating them to the realm of "old stuff for dead Jews," as some might flippantly say. But these scriptures, written in Hebrew and Aramaic, form the bedrock of our faith. The terms "Old Covenant" and "New Covenant," as discussed in the book of Hebrews, refer to the way sin is dealt with, not to separate or disconnected books from each other.
To tell a Jewish friend that they believe in the Old Testament while Christians believe in the New is as dismissive as a Muslim friend saying Christians only believe in the Old and New Testaments, while they (Muslims) believe in the final testament. We should instead understand that there are Hebrew Scriptures and Christian Scriptures, each with its unique context and purpose. It's less about what's "old" or "new" and more about understanding who God was speaking to at a particular time.
You Are Not a Corinthian: The Importance of Context
Consider this: you are not a Corinthian, nor a Jew in the desert. When we read Paul's letters to the Corinthians, we must remember that he was addressing specific issues within their community, issues that arose from their unique cultural and legal context. Take, for example, the complexities of marriage in Corinth. Roman law allowed for various forms of marriage, some of which are foreign to our modern sensibilities. A wealthy man could take a woman as a "pleasurable service woman" to settle a debt, or a slave owner could arrange "contubernium" marriages between slaves to produce more offspring. These practices, though legal at the time, raise profound questions about marriage, consent, and human dignity. When Paul addresses marriage, divorce, and sexual purity in 1 Corinthians, he does so within this specific context. As 21st-century readers, we must recognize that we are not the direct recipients of his instructions. We are reading someone else's mail.
So, what is the Bible if it's not directly written to us? It is written for us. It is for our benefit, providing timeless principles that guide us in our relationship with a changeless God. This is what is sometimes called the "principle approach" to Scripture. It means recognizing that the writers of the Bible were addressing specific people in specific situations, but within those situations lie universal truths about God's character and His will for humanity. For example, when God commanded the Israelites to sacrifice animals, he wasn't simply prescribing a ritualistic act. He was teaching them about atonement, sacrifice, and the cost of sin.
While we are not required to kill a goat to please God, we can still learn about the principles of sacrifice and atonement through this ancient practice.
Avoiding the "Roman Jew" Error: Consistency and Application
A common mistake is to spiritualize every text and insert ourselves into the narrative, creating a patchwork of quasi-do's and don'ts. This leads to inconsistencies, where we selectively apply certain laws while ignoring others. Remember the story of the man at the youth meeting who forbade his son from getting a tattoo, citing Leviticus, while simultaneously eating a ham sandwich, conveniently forgetting the dietary laws in the same book? This inconsistency highlights the problem with a shallow, decontextualized reading of Scripture. A changeless, timeless God is consistent. Right is still right, and wrong is still wrong. God's character doesn't change halfway through the book. Therefore, we can't simply dismiss commands or principles that don't align with our modern sensibilities.
Finding Timeless Truths: A Call to Deeper Engagement
You are not a Corinthian, an Ephesian, a Roman, Timothy, Titus, Philemon, or Onesimus. You are a person for whom God used model problems throughout time and in different places to show you who He is exactly and how to follow Him. Therefore, we must approach Scripture with humility, recognizing our distance from the original audience while seeking to understand the timeless truths that resonate across cultures and centuries.
By doing so, we can avoid the pitfalls of cherry-picking verses and trying to apply ancient laws in a vacuum. We can embrace a deeper, more consistent understanding of God's will for our lives. We can understand the differences between civil law, constitutional law, (versions of both are still included in our National laws today to some extent) & atonement law – how to atone for sin through the sacrificial system. We can understand that the Apostle Paul says you can’t pay for your sins through both the Atonement Laws and Jesus’ death on the Cross, pick where you place your hope. – ( Book of Galatians).
We get to understand God’s covenant commitment to the Jewish people, despite their failings, the same way He is true to the church, despite our failings throughout History. We discover God is both righteous and loving and merciful in the Old and New Covenant scriptures. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is not going to flood the world now, because we have a new covenant/testament; no His covenant with Noah still stands. The same is true for His covenants with Abraham and Moses and David and YOU. He is a trustworthy, covenant keeping God, who has given us a ‘better covenant’ – Jer 31:31 – 33 & Heb 7 & 8.
It's time to move beyond a superficial reading of Scripture and embrace a principle-based approach. Let us seek to understand the context, the original intent, and the timeless truths that reveal the character of a changeless God. Let us read scripture prayerfully, being guided by the Holy Spirit, as we worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.
adapted from One Hour. One Book. and GCBI
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