Progressive Revelation and Christ's Hermeneutic Principle

Matthew 5:17-20 (ESV)

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

This passage seems to be the most neglected part of Christ's Sermon on the Mount. I suspect that most probably because it has very little to do with the character and attitudes and mind set of the Kingdom child of God. And since most preachers do not specialize in deep scholarly exegesis of the Word long before they preach on it, then it offers very little value as admonition or exhoratation to a congregation that is more focused primarily on application than doctrine or hermeneutics.

Most unfortunately, however, this is where what is perceived and dismissed mostly as minor or peripheral issues are being grossly overlooked for they are truly MOST MAJOR in trying to know God and understand His message and revelations.

Minor vs. Major Issue, Peripheral vs Cardinal doctrine

I was once chided by a well-meaning brother that for him it was much better to focus on Jesus Christ and His redemption process which are admittedly Cardinal doctrines as summarized by the Apostle's creed rather than peripheral issues and doctrine which have to do with Christian living.  I replied to my brother by pointing out that Cardinal doctrine should shine but it is in the negligence of peripheral doctrine that Christians normally stumble and many seem to never recover. Personally, it is the true exercise of peripheral doctrine that determines spiritual prosperity, Christian growth and maturity and how to live a truly victorious life on earth that pleases the Heavenly Father and subsequently receives the promised blessings of God. In fact, the wrong exegesis of the Bible relating to peripheral doctrines is the biggest source of cultic interpretations which even well-meaning Christians fight over.

While the focus of traditional cardinal doctrine seems to focus on salvation and receiving Jesus Christ as Savior, the focus of most peripheral doctrine is on the dire implications of receiving Jesus Christ as Lord.  All my years as a Bible student, this is where I agree with John McArthur that no one can receive Christ as Savior and be truly saved without receiving Him as Lord. In fact, the correct sequence of receiving Christ in Scripture is that of receiving Him as Lord first and Savior second!

The major point of John 1:12 is almost always overlooked espeically in evangelistic messages. The RIGHT to be called children of God is not a result of receiving Christ as Savior. It actually happens ONLY when a person receives Christ as LORD. One can receive Christ as Savior without receiving Him as Lord, but no one can receive Christ as Lord without making Him his Savior first.  It is like the late Rev. Hann Brown's cliche in Manila's FEBC christian station, "You can give without loving but you cannot love without giving".

Fulfill the Law, Not Abolish the Law

So what does Christ really mean when He stated that He came to fulfill the Law and NOT abolish it, and what are it's implications to hermeneutical rules of interpretation that should be followed? Well, quite obvious but also quite overlooked and ignored!

There are Christian groups and even scholars today who literally "miss the boat" on this and claim that the Old Testament was only written for Israel while the New Testament was the one written for Christians. From my personal experience, these are normally people who learn their doctrine from somebody else, whether person or seminary and just mechanically mouth it to everyone else they meet. This teaching however, displays among others a lack of understanding of ...

            God's purpose in history: To create a people of faith who love Him back sincerely the way God loves them.

The teaching also make many false assumptions which they actually do not believe if they thought about it seriously:

1. God made a mistake in calling Israel His chose people since He later rejected them.
2. God is not intelligent or articulate enough to state that He would REALLY abolish the Law once the Church has been created.
3. When Christ said He would fulfill the Law, He simply meant that He would fulfill the requirements of the Law for us so that we are no longer bound to follow it as Christians

God forbid! None of those assumptions come from heaven at all and are the sinister work of the one whose goal is to steal, kill, destroy and mostly distort Scriptural understanding similar to how he attempted to tempt Jesus 3 times!

This thinking clearly forgets or overlooks the verses that follow Christ's statement. Verse 18 clearly states the the Law goes on FOREVER! Verse 19 clearly states that those who teach otherwise will be the LEAST in the Kingdom of Heaven ( May I assume Christ might have meant, the LEAST INTELLIGENT? at least?)

Should we not conclude then that what Christ meant to fulfill the Law did not only cover fulfilling it's ceremonial requirements but demonstrated that from Christ's viewpoint, the Law IS ETERNALLY IMPORTANT? So all this talk about Paul and the apostles saying we are no longer under Law but under Grace, is most definitely grossly misinterpreted since it violates Christ's very own words! If God is an intelligent God and a perfect communicator, then there must be another viable interpretation for this passage....and THERE IS!

Historically and Technically for hermeneutic purposes, the Word of God is the Torah. Everything else is an augmentation, clarification and completion of the Word and must support and NOT contradict the Torah. This hermeneutical principle applies the very words of Christ in this sermon passage. When Christ talked about the Law and the Prophets, He did mean the Jewish Scriptures which today is the Protestant Old Testament. While it is true that Christ considered the whole Old Testament as the very Word of God, He clearly implies that the Law is of utmost importance and NONE of the Prophets and later writings contradict anything in the Law (the Torah). NEITHER SHOULD A SINGLE CONCEPT IN THE NEW TESTAMENT contradict the Old Testament.

Hermeneutic repercussions:

1. The Old Testament was NEVER abolished. All teachings still hold true for the Christian as it is for the Hebrew
2. The New Testament is an explanation, clarification and completion of the revelation of God and NOT a replacement for the Old Testament
3. The Kingdom of God on earth started with Israel. Although God dealt harshly with their disobedience, Romans 11 says that a remnant will still continue the original kingdom covenant (and God's covenants are irrevocable). The New Testament clarifies the declarations of the Old Testament, however, that God looks for a spiritual kingdom and not really a physical one, that circumcision of the heart and not just of the flesh is what He is after.
4. The Church is the completion of the Kingdom of God (on earth) and not a replacement or substitute for it. It continues the circumcision of the heart among the Gentiles as well as Jews.
5. The universal gospel is not about salvation through Christ. Christ told his disciples in the early part of His ministry to preach the gospel and Christ was not even crucified and resurrected yet! 
6. The universal gospel is an invitation to be part of God's kingdom which is a spiritual kingdom both in earth and in heaven. This is the gospel which not only is acceptable to Gentile ears but perfectly relevant to Jewish ears. Most gospel versions are offensive to Jews and CANNOT be the gospel declared in the Gospels and the book of Acts of the Apostles.

Such, therefore, should bear heavily on our system of hermeneutics. Doctrines that are derived mainly from the New Testament but contradicts the teachings of the Jewish Scriptures (our Old Testament) must be rejected as superflous or cultic. The following are clear example violations of this hermeneutic:

1. The belief that the church is the new Israel and God is done with the old Israel has no foundation in scripture
2. The Calvinist doctrine of Predestination. 
3. The Five Points of Calvinism or the TULIP
• Total Depravity: Clear examples are Cornelius whose prayer God listened to in His totally unredeemed state, Naaman, the repentance of the Assyrians in Nineveh during the time of Jonah, Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, etc. Yes, there is something in UNREDEEMED man, that God still appreciates, understands and even LOVES! Even unredeemed man may have the fear of God and faith like Cornelius that salvation is available. The extreme total depravity doctrine preaches that people like Cornelius should not have the slightest hint of how to reach God, On the contrary, God did not initiate the relationship but per the honest-to-goodness unedited, unqualified biblical account, simply responded to the God-fearing, God-seeking mind set of Mr. TOTALLY DEPRAVED Cornelius, go figure!
• Unconditional election: The above examples seemed to be conditioned on the person either being a seeker of God or repentance.
• Limited Atonement: Hmmm, same as above.
• Irresistible Grace: Divine manipulation of the heart is anti-Biblical. Otherwise, God would have just manipulated ALL of ISRAEL to be faithful to Him! If God refused to violate free-will in all of Scripture why make a doctrine out of nothing in Scripture?
• Perseverance of the Saints: Of what use is the Law then if salvation is NEVER dependent on it? Paul stated that the Law is our teacher, and what happens to a student if he does not follow his teacher? This is a clear violation of Christ's message on the importance and substance of the Law. And if salvation is  clearly dependent on abiding in Christ and obeying the Law, then clearly, apostasy results in none other than one losing salvation. Ergo, redeemed man CAN lose His salvation.
4. Old Testament promises like Joshua 1:8 and 2 Chronicles 7:14 are as applicable to the church as it was to Israel and not even by proxy. Those passages and words speak DIRECTLY to Christians and not just to Jews. 
5. The teaching that the principles of tithing and the Sabbath are only for the Jews is definitely a contradiction of Christ's hermeneutic principle.
6. (more later...)

Hebrews 1:1-4 (ESV)

1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

Christians according to the Nazarene denomination (and really, Karl Barth) should be Jesus-centric and not Bible-centric.  The Bible makes us understand God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, how they think, how they feel, how they deal with situations, how they deal with their people, how they deal with non-Kingdom people, etc.

In the past century, all too many Christians, especially fundamentalists, prided themselves as guardians of scriptural integrity and upheld the Bible almost as God Himself that attention has been diverted to the centrality of God's love as personified by the Lord Jesus Christ. We have seen Christians who know their Bibles a lot but totally sterile in demonstrating the love of God and being Christ to an unbelieving world. They have even gone as far as imposing Christian values on a non-Christian society instead of being the salt of the earth which is of a persuasive nature and not at all controlling.

(More later...)