Stewarding the Word – Uses of the Law: To Promote Sound Doctrine (2)

Stewarding the Word

Uses of the Law: To Promote Sound Doctrine (2)

As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. 1 Timothy. 1:3, 4

We need to enlarge on the subject broached yesterday, namely, that of understanding, teaching, and practicing sound doctrine according to the teaching of the Apostles. Paul told the elders at Ephesus that he had been careful among them to teach them everything that was useful, all the counsel of God in Scripture and its bearing on the task of seeking the Kingdom of God (Acts 20:20, 25, 26). In these brief comments lies a wealth of guidance in the practice of Biblical interpretation.

The cornerstone of Scripture is the Law of God. That is, the shape of the Law—its content, purpose, themes, thrusts, and principles of interpretation—provide the shape of all the rest of Scripture. Trying to understand Scripture apart from a clear understanding of the law of God is like trying to build a house without setting a solid and reliable cornerstone in place.

What kind of interpretive guidance does the Law provide? It tells us many things concerning how we must understand the rest of Scripture and its doctrines. Primarily, as we have seen, the Law reveals God and His will. All of Scripture is about God, His will, and how we may glorify Him by knowing Him and obeying His will. Anything that swerves from this is not sound doctrine.

Second, the Law teaches our need for grace. We are sinners, as we have seen, and we are unable to please God apart from His gracious, redeeming work on our behalf. We do not look to ourselves for salvation and righteousness, but to God only, and to His Law.

Third, the Law points to the saving work of Jesus Christ and of the coming of His Kingdom. From the beginning of the Law, in the book of Genesis, through all its detailed outworking, in the laws concerning religious practices and those guiding us in how to love our neighbors, the character of Christ is revealed and the work of Christ is foreshadowed. All the Law, as all the Scriptures, point to Jesus, and must be read in this light (John 5:39).

Finally, the Law establishes the path of good works—as we will see in a subsequent series. Without the Law, those “before ordained works of God,” we cannot fulfill the purpose of our redemption, for we will not be able to discern which works are truly good.

So we are being good stewards of the Word of God, and thus, less likely to swerve into unsound teaching, when, grounded in the Law of God, we allow its themes and content to guide us in understanding all the rest of the Scripture as the Apostles did, and as God intends.

For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the life of faith, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Bookstore, then Church Issues.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.