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NASB | Ephesians 4:3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ephesians 4:3 Make every effort to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the bond of peace [each individual working together to make the whole successful]. |
Subject: denominations. |
Bible Note: Hi, Angel... I'm afraid my ability to adequately word-smith a given concept leaves something to be desired. Thank you for asking me to clarify. Lord willing, my explanations will improve. I did not mean that the epistles only have application to those to whom they were addressed. I do not mean that at all. You use the word "application." Before one can find a way to apply the truths of Scripture, one must discover their relevance today. Before one can discover the relevance of Scriptural truths to today, one must understand their relevance to the people to whom they were originally written. Proper hermeneutics begins with solid exegesis. Many hermeneutical errors are made because they are not controlled by good exegesis. People frequently start with the "here and now," and read meanings into the texts that were never intended. The correct approach is to begin with the "there and then," and understand what was intended by the texts at the time they were penned. Any given text can never mean what it never meant. Solid exegesis always seeks the original meaning of the text. After the original intent of a passage of Scripture is understood, then it is possible to understand its relevance to us today. Therefore, when we read an epistle we ask "who" wrote it and to "whom" was it written, "when" it was written, "why" it was written, and "what" does it say. After -- and only after -- we understand the answers to these questions as well as possible, we can begin to find relevance to us today. The primary relevance always begins within the same context. This is the point I am making. Let me repeat, for emphasis: The primary relevance always begins within the same context. (Note that I did not say it is the only relevance, or that there were no other ways that it is relevant.) After the relevance is found, then application can be appropriately derived. Therefore, look, for example, at the first epistle of Paul to the church in Corinth. We know it was Paul (v1:1) and we know it was to a single church (v1:2). Let us look at an early admonition in this epistle: Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. (1 Corinthians 1:10) Paul wrote this with a specific congregation in mind, with a specific set of problems in mind. Thus, the *primary* relevance to us should be in how this pleading request of Paul's applies to us in our own congregation. That is where it has the most pertinence. Now, that does not mean that we *cannot* extend this to circles beyond our own congregation, only that as we extend it beyond its original scope, the applicability becomes much less reasonable. I simply take issue with the fact that people apply these sorts of passages to denominations, which is entirely unwarranted. Paul had never seen a denomination, nor had the concept entered his mind. The epistles to the Corinthians are first and foremost relevant to local church life! On the high church side, there is at least a concerted effort to be "joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." That is because people are required to affirm a specific catechism. On the low church side, there are statements of faith that people must -- more or less -- affirm. (However, the less you control this, the less homogeneous a church becomes. On the other hand, the more you control such things, the more easily it all becomes fleshly legalism.) The people that decry denominationalism the most are frequently the least "joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." As the old adage goes, physician, heal thyself! Well, I hope the waters are a little less muddy than before! In Him, Doc |