The Bible Is Not an Instruction Manual (Covenant Theology #2) | Theocast

Hi, this is Justin. Today on Theocast, we are going to be considering the fact that the Bible is not an instruction manual. Many seem to think that it is. Many also go to the Bible like it's a step-by-step guide to godliness or even a medicine cabinet that can cure anything that ails them.

But today in our second of three episodes on implications of covenant theology, we're gonna think about what the Bible is all about. And it is in fact all about redemption and all about the work of Christ for us.

And so we're gonna unpack that, John and I, in terms of what this means for us and how the Bible should be used, how we should go to it, what we should look for. We hope that you are encouraged by this.

Stay tuned.

A simple and easy way for you to help support Theocast each month is by shopping at Amazon through the Amazon Smile program. When you make a purchase through Amazon Smile, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to our ministry.

To learn how to sign up, just go to theocast .org slash give.

Theocast’s Purpose and the “Goods” of Christ

Welcome to Theocast, encouraging weary pilgrims to rest in Christ, conversations about the Christian life from a Reformed and pastoral perspective. Your hosts today are John Moffitt, who is pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, Tennessee, and I'm Justin Perdue, pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, North Carolina.

John is saying hello for those of you watching on the YouTubes, where you can actually see his face and the handy-dandy whiteboard that he's holding up. John, I'm feeling a little geeked up on the gospel today, man.

I'm feeling a little punchy.

It's about to happen.

I know, I'm excited about Christ. I mean, always am, but I feel it really, really, like viscerally this morning, which is always a wonderful place to be. I almost come up with like new taglines whenever I'm feeling this way.

Kind of like, you know, welcome to Theocast, giving you the goods every Wednesday since, you know, 2000-whatever. Because like the goods, we joke about this at our church a little bit, and it's kind of a...

When we're serious, we'll always just tell each other whenever somebody's about to lead or preach anything. It's like, hey, brother, give them good news. But when we're feeling like behind the scenes, like before the service or whatever, like the days leading up to it, where I say, hey, bro, you better give them the goods on Sunday.

The goods being Christ, you know, we need to give them Christ in the Word and in the table. Amen? Anyway, giving them the goods. John, let's give them the goods today, but beforehand, why don't you tee it up?

Tell them what we're going to talk about.

Misusing the Bible as an Instruction Manual or Medicine Cabinet

Yep, absolutely. Well, as usual, Justin and I, we love to talk about things that we think are beneficial for our church, those who are new, those who are part of our congregation. And then we also think broadly, how is this applicable to those who have been listening to Theocast?

One of the issues that we run into is misappropriation of the Word of God. It's like any tool. If you don't use it as it's designed to be used, it could actually be damaging. It can actually hurt you.

It's like a gun. You don't use a gun the way it's designed to be used. It can cause massive infliction of harm. This is true about the Bible. The Bible is definitely an amazing tool. It's described as a sword, a two-edged sword cutting about to the heart of man.

So we wanted to talk about the inappropriate use of it and then maybe put it in its place.

It's also sweeter than honeycomb, too.

That's right.

I mean, this is pretty good.

That's right. The Word of God. Many, including myself and Justin, we've grown up in context where the Word of God has been used with right intentions. I think intentions to be helpful.

Motivations are good.

And one of these is we start to use the Word of God as an instruction manual for life in almost every area of life. Where we're trying to determine the biblical application to a passage or potentially even the will of God.

So we go into the Bible and we are trying to determine how we should spend our money. Should I buy the cheap Kroger brand or the cheap grocery brand milk? Or should I buy the more expensive milk? Which one should we use?

And so we go into the Word of God and we look at Proverbs or Psalms or the Old Testament passages. And we're trying to make application. And I've seen people do this for things like homeschooling, dieting, governmental decisions, vaccinations.

There's so many decisions that have been made. And the argument is we're right here. This is what the Bible teaches us. This is the instructions that we've received. And so I know I'm good with God because I'm obeying the instructions that God clearly gave to us.

And Justin, I think we're going to try as gracefully and pastorally as we can say, maybe we're holding the wrong end of the sword here. And we're going to be slitting our wrists if we're not careful.

Yeah, I mean we're certainly not going to be using the Word of God for the purpose for which it's intended, right? And this is the second of three episodes that we've planned to do, that we've mapped out to do, relating to covenant theology.

And these episodes, we hope, are not academic, heady, seminarian type stuff at all. But they're very practical, boots on the ground kind of conversations about why covenant theology should matter to you.

As proverbially speaking, metaphorically speaking, a person who sits in the pew. And it's like, hey, I'm just meaning to trust Christ and make it through life. So why does covenant theology matter for me?

And so we're going to be coming at the Scripture and what the Scripture is about and what the purpose of the Bible is from a covenantal perspective. And yeah, as John's already laid out there, the Bible is not an instruction manual in terms of just all of these particular sets of to-dos or not-to-dos that would then guide us in all of these various decisions that we make in the course of any given day.

Also, the Bible is not a step-by-step guide to godliness or something like that, where here's steps 1 through 19, you know, in terms of how to become increasingly godly. It's not a medicine cabinet, John.

I mean, how many times have we heard the Bible talked about like that, where, hey, there are verses in the Bible for everything. And again, the intentions are good, right? We're wanting to uphold the sufficiency of Scripture.

It's like, well, yeah, it's sufficient in using it for the purpose for which it was intended, right? It's not sufficient if you start to use it in ways that God never meant you to use it. And so when people will say, you know, the Bible's got the cure for what ails us, and so let's go to the Scripture and find the verses that pertain to A and the verses that pertain to B and the verses that pertain to C, and we're often isolating those, and it turns into this thing that's, again, with the best of intentions, it's almost comical.

It's like, hey, take three of these and meditate on it the right way and call me in the morning. I'm sure you'll be doing better. And if not tomorrow morning, certainly next week you will be. Because if we use the Scripture the right way, it can fix what's broken in us.

But we use it as the sanctified Google search in many ways.

Sure. Sanctified Google search. I mean, unpack that, John. First time I've ever heard that from anyone's mouth, including yours.

Well, as you're talking, I'm thinking about that. And as a pastor, you've gotten this text. Hey, Pastor or Justin, what does the Bible say about this? And then they give you whatever your question is.

And so now they're thinking, you know, because they've probably already done a research on it, and they can't find it.

And it's some very obscure thing, usually, is what you mean. Because they're not asking, hey, what does the Bible say about how we're reconciled to God? Or what does the Bible say about our sin and our nature or something like that?

Or how we're saved. It's more like, hey, what does the Bible say about some earthly common kingdom concern that the Bible frankly doesn't speak to with any definitive clarity?

Yeah, like at what point is a car too expensive to purchase, biblically speaking? You know, like what's the cap limit on that?

Or, you know, we're kind of merging into the whole will of God conversation. But like, should I take this job? Or like you said, which car should I purchase? Or how should I spend my money? It's like, yeah, are there wisdom principles that we can glean from the scripture and infer things from clear biblical teaching that might apply here?

Yeah, but we're really in the realm of wisdom and prudence, and we can have that conversation. But the Bible, in terms of chapter and verse, is not written for this. And anyway, yeah, man, I can't...

I'd love to jump on the whole medicine cabinet thing here for a second. Oh, yeah, because get your additional thoughts on this. But let's take something that most people are dealing with right now because of all kinds of unrest.

And I know we both have struggled here, which is anxiety, right? And we hear passages, you know, be anxious and sin not, cast all your anxiety on the Lord for He cares for you. And, you know, we need to trust the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding, and the Lord will direct our paths.

So you hear these wonderful passages, but yet we still struggle with anxiety. And what ends up happening is someone who confesses a sin or even goes to a biblical counselor, what they're handed is a long list of verses that may or may not apply to that particular passage, or I'm sorry, that particular problem.

But you're right in that, OK, oh, OK, so you're... We're looking at you from a spiritually health position, so we need to give you some vitamin B, and we need to give you some vitamin C, and go home and start taking these on a daily dosis.

And you should see some spiritual health improvement. And so we use the Word of God, specifically just certain passages, and we put them into the chamber of our counseling gun, and we just shoot them at the patient, thinking, you know, these tranquil darts are going to hopefully give them the boost that they need to fix whatever ailment that they have.

Right, and not to steal any of the thunder that we hope to drop later in the episode, right?

Yeah.

The Bible does speak to the anxious person, but how does the Scripture speak to the anxious person in a way that is meaningful eternally? Well, the Scripture reminds the anxious person, of which I am one of them, that God rules and reigns over all things, and that He is utterly faithful, that He has His people, and that Christ has accomplished our salvation.

And that our earthly circumstances are going to look all kind of ways, and we don't know what's coming, but ultimately the Lord has good and holy purposes for us, and at the end of it all, we're going to be with Him.

And it's like, now, does that make me feel better in the moment? Maybe, maybe not. But over the course of my lifetime, as I trust Christ, God is going to use His promises, His faithfulness to me as I reflect on that, in particular, as I reflect upon that as it's preached over me, and as the saints speak that to me, He's going to use that in my life.

And His Spirit has taken up residence within me, and He's going to transform me. Amen. You know, but this whole business of like, we're going to do something with these particular verses of the Bible and meditate on them and use them the right way, and then in some short span of time, it's going to make us better.

I mean, that's not promised to us in the Word.

No.

The Bible as a Story of Redemption and Covenant Theology

Well, no, and there are definitely helps, and I definitely don't want there to be a confusion that you can't use the Word of God for encouragement and strength and to overcome sin.

Of course you can.

Right, and that is ridiculous, because the Bible even says, consider how to build one another up in love and good works, and you use the Word of God for that. But the danger is that I think what I'm trying to get at, and I know Justin is too, is that we primarily engage in God's Word in one area, which is instruction for improvement, right?

Most of the time we want to know, how do I become a better dad, a better husband? How do I become a better employee?

How do I better manage my money?

Exactly.

How can I be a better leader? Right, it's the betterment hermeneutic. We go into God's Word to better, and Justin, there can be different motivations, right? So for some it's pietism. Pietism is the extreme introspection of the Christian life where we're always looking in, am I improving as a Christian?

Am I progressing? Am I getting better? And we're looking inward to our own actions and our own works. And the Bible can be very helpful if that's your motivation.

Well, and the Bible is, of course, pietism, this posture, especially where people are taught to always turn the thing back around on themselves somehow and look to their performance and to strive to get better.

It's very understandable then how such a person, under that kind of teaching, is going to take the Scripture and assume that it is about them. Obviously, yes, trust Christ, believe the promises of God, heed His warnings, absolutely.

But I need to get about doing all this, and that's really the purpose of the Scripture. When in reality what we're going to say is, yeah, the Bible is all kind of useful for you. And you are going to be transformed by the Scripture, by the Word of God, and by His power and His Spirit's work in you.

And the Scripture is going to be able to speak to any number of things in your life, but ultimately the message of the Scripture that's going to speak to your life in any given circumstance is about God and His faithfulness, and ultimately it's about your Redeemer, whose name is Christ.

And that's what's going to carry the day. It's not wisdom. It's not law, ultimately, that's going to carry you. It's going to be the message of Christ that's going to carry you.

Pietism is a motivation. Some people, Justin, pietism maybe not so much as fear, right? You're afraid that God is going to remove His protection, He's going to allow calamity into your life, and so you're looking at the Word of God to make sure you're keeping yourself in line.

I mean, this is paganism. This is what the Israelites were driven by because they had so many pagan gods that they followed. And so if you're living in a life of fear, you're thinking, okay, well, I don't want to cross the line too far on God, so I need to make sure that I'm—.

Because He's going to drop the hammer on me.

That's right. He's going to drop Thor's hammer on me, and it's all going to be over. And it's terrifying, so you're always wondering, okay, I'm going to go to the Word of God every single day to get a refresher and a motivation, and you aren't walking as Paul tells us to walk by faith in the love of Christ for us, that there's nothing that could separate us from the love of Christ.

You're walking in fear. So instruction living, or when we treat the Bible as a medicine cabinet, or in here, I would say, they're kind of like road hazard signs. We want to use these things to kind of keep our life in balance so that we don't run off the rails and God has to get on us for that.

Right. Yeah, in some senses, it's like we're going to the Scripture. When you talk about that fear-driven thing, we are being governed by a spirit of fear, which Paul says we haven't been given, but we've actually been given a spirit of adoption by which we call God Father.

And so something is terribly amiss. If we're almost going to the Scripture to be scolded, and I'm not speaking against the fact that God's law shows us the corruption of our hearts and drives us to Christ, absolutely, and also God's law guides us in Christ, but it doesn't condemn.

So all those things are true. Let me do this really quickly, John, just kind of as a public service announcement to all those people out there listening, because they may be thinking, guys, you're 15 minutes or so almost into this conversation, and you said that it pertains to covenant theology or it's related to that.

And a couple of resources to recommend and then a very quick summary of some stuff before we maybe pivot to trying to pull people onto a better thing here.

Right, and just to interject, the whole reason we started here is that if you don't understand kind of the problem, covenant theology is the solution, but we're kind of identifying like, hey, these don't work and this is why, and now here's our solution.

Covenant Theology: Redemption Planned, Promised, and Accomplished

Yeah, so the Bible is not an instruction manual. It's not a handbook for spiritual and emotional health. It's not a medicine cabinet to fix everything that ails you. It's not a how-to guide and a step-by-step guide to godliness.

It's not what it's for ultimately, right? And so how does covenant theology factor in here? Well, covenant theology at its most basic level, at a 30 ,000-foot view, helps us understand that God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit made a plan before the world began, and the plan has always been to save a people through the work of God the Son.

And then God makes the world. He creates man. He makes a covenant with Adam, tells Adam how he's to live. He gives him a specific prohibition. Had Adam obeyed, he would have earned eternal life, but Adam broke the covenant and plunged himself and all of his children into sin and ruin.

And so then at that point, at the fall of man, as it's called, God makes a promise to Adam and Eve that he's gonna send a Redeemer who's gonna come and save them, and the rest of the entire Bible, from Genesis 3, 15 on, is the unfolding of the accomplishment of that promise, and that promise is the promise of the covenant of grace.

So there's a covenant that God makes in eternity past called the covenant of redemption. There's a covenant God makes with Adam called the covenant of works, and then there is a covenant of grace that God promises, and ultimately that covenant is accomplished and established in the coming of Jesus Christ and the work that he did to save sinners.

And the work that Christ accomplished, his atoning work for sin, his satisfaction that he made for sin, excuse me, and also the righteousness that he accomplished, all of that's given to sinners by faith in the covenant of grace.

So that's the covenantal framework of the whole Bible. And not to bury the lead here, and for kind of where we're going, what that means is that the Bible is not all this other stuff that we've already alluded to.

The Bible is about redemption. The Bible is about Christ, if we really wanna narrow it down even more, because he is the Redeemer who would come and accomplish this redemption. And so that's the way that we understand the scripture should be approached.

We should always approach it. John, you were talking earlier, we were talking before we hit record, I'm gonna go ahead and say this. And I'm gonna get to some things that I maybe said this morning in a chapel service at a private school here in the area.

But we were talking about the Bible being about Christ, and you were going, hey man, what's Harry Potter about? And I said, well, I haven't read it. I mean, I was kind of doing stuff, I said, I haven't read it.

And you were like, yeah, but take a guess. And I mean, I knew where you were going kind of, and I was feeling a little pudgy. I said, well, it's about Harry Potter. And you were like, exactly. And then it's like the Bible is the book about Jesus, and so why would we ever approach it as though it isn't?

The book about Christ, our Redeemer, the one who came to accomplish salvation and the one whom we will praise forever. And so, John, let's riff on this, man. The fact that the Bible is about redemption, it's about Christ, how is that helpful for us?

The Bible as a Relationship Guide and a Biography of Christ

Yeah, it really is a book about the development of a relationship. And relationships aren't only as strong as you know the nature and history and capacity of each person, right? Like I have a dog at home, she loves me, adores me.

Hey, lady.

That's right, lady. I walk into the room, she got the name, because if you see the way she sits, it's like she's a little lady, it's hilarious. But my relationship can only go so far with that dog.

Why?

Because it's limited by her capacity, right? She can only express in certain forms her affection towards me. So, you know, I have a pretty limited relationship with my dog. I know people think they have a bigger relationship.

With their dog than they do. Again, we just offended so many people.

I know, sorry about that. But, you know, that's God's design. You're only supposed to have so much of a relationship with an animal. And you're having a relationship with a divine being. I mean, this is, he's not human, he's other.

Praise be to him that he is not like us, man.

Thank God for that.

Thank God he's not.

So the relationships that we have with humans, we develop those over time. And we get to know history, habits, personalities, preferences, tastes, all that. Well, God is not necessarily in us in presence, not anymore.

That was lost in the garden. So we'll use the Old Testament as an example. We did this when we're talking about, if you haven't listened to Unperplexing the Old Testament, I'll go back to this illustration.

You have a God who delivers through power, the children of Israel out of Egypt, and they enter into this covenant with God and God with them, but they have no idea who God is. It's obvious because they build a golden calf and start to worship it.

And if they knew who God was, they would never, ever do that. That's such an offense to God. So what does God do? He has Moses start giving who God is to the children of Israel, not in instruction first, it's in narrative.

He starts with the development of this relationship with Adam and Eve and how the fall happens, and then he just gives them this glorious explanation.

And what you're talking about is the book of Moses, otherwise known as Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

That's right. So before you even get to Leviticus where the instructions happen, the children of Israel are receiving this relationship with God, and they're learning about God as the creator of all things, the sustainer of all things.

He has enough power to wipe out an entire planet with a flood. He has the power to stop this. I mean, there's so much that's going on in Genesis as they're being introduced to them. And that's just an introduction.

So when you go into the New Testament, Justin, I'll let you jump in here. You go to the New Testament, Jesus does the same thing. He's telling them the relationship with me is developed by what was written in the past.

He says, if you read the prophets and the law, you would have read about... And what he is saying is that whole section of Scripture is an introduction to the relationship because he says, I have come to seek and to save that which is lost.

So his purposes are not lost. So as you're reading this story, you have to say, oh, he is developing who he is because he's claiming to be God. He's complaining to be the son of the father. So all of those relationships are developed in the Old Testament and see full completion in the New.

So you're not talking about an instruction manual. You're talking about a relationship guide that is explaining to us who is this God that says he loves us and he saves us.

If you're new to Theocast, we have a free e-book available for you called Faith vs. Faithfulness, A Primer on Rest. And if you've struggled with legalism, a lack of assurance, or simply want to know what it means to live by faith alone, we wrote this little book to provide a simple answer from a Reformed confessional perspective.

You can get your free copy at theocast .org slash primer.

The Miracles of Jesus and the Promised Messiah

Yeah, amen, dude. So I'll go ahead and use a biblical example that just happened to be the text for my chapel message at a school here in the area this morning. And it was a real pleasure for me to go and do this in these chapel services that happen once a week at this school here in the area this fall.

All the speakers, I'm one of several guys that speak. We're considering miracles of Jesus from the Gospel of Matthew, and one each week. And so for me, I had Matthew 9, verses 27 to 31, where Jesus heals two blind men, gives them their sight.

And I asked the children, the kids at the school this morning, I said, hey, huge question for you to have in your mind as we're about to consider this. What is the point of the miracles of Jesus? What is the purpose of the miracles that he performs?

Is it just to do some really cool stuff and some shocking stuff? And some of the kids were like, no, you know, and it's like, amen, you know. Is it just to display his power?

No.

Is it to just help people and minister to them? Well, no, because everybody that he helped, they're gonna die. I mean, it didn't last forever, the things that he did for them. And then even is it about our faith?

And of course, we receive everything that Christ has done for us by faith, but his miracles are not about our faith. What are they about then? So we look to the passage, and it begins by these two blind guys, Jesus is passing by, and these two Jewish blind dudes cry out to him, have mercy on us, son of David.

And then goes on, you know, Jesus touches them, heals their blind eyes, gives them sight. So I said to the kids today, I was like, here are two things that we're gonna consider. First, Jesus is a son of David.

The fact that two Jewish men call him that is a big deal.

Why?

Because back in the day, God had promised David some stuff.

You know?

God had told David, you're gonna have a son who's gonna sit on the throne, on your throne forever, and reign in the land, provided he keeps my law. Then you have the prophet Jeremiah writing words to that very end.

I'm gonna raise up, says the Lord, a righteous branch for David. And he's gonna administer justice and righteousness in the land. He's gonna save Judah, and he's gonna save Israel. And the name by which he's gonna be called is the Lord is our righteousness.

In other words, he's gonna do that.

Right?

So this one's coming. And so I talked about that with the kids for just a minute, that the promised one, I mean, Jesus, in being called son of David, it's all about what God had promised to do through a son of David who would accomplish righteousness, fulfill the law, and represent his people.

Then, second observation is the fact that Jesus gives blind men their sight. It's like, hey, before we even consider anything the prophets wrote, you guys know who John the Baptist is,.

Right?

And they're like, yeah. And it's like, okay, you remember this time when he was in jail, and he didn't know what was gonna happen to him, and he knows he's probably gonna be killed and executed, and he sends messengers to Jesus and says, hey, are you the one?

Or should we look for somebody else? Are you the savior? How does Jesus respond? He says, go tell John what you've seen and heard. First thing out of his mouth, tell him that the blind are given their sight, and the lame walk, and all these things are occurring.

Well, why did he say that? Because what had the prophets written? The prophets had written that when God comes to save you, Isaiah 35, four through six, the blind are gonna be given their sight, and the lame will walk, and the mute will speak, and the deaf will hear, and all these things.

So it's like, well, that's the point of the miracles, is that Jesus is demonstrating that he is that guy. He's the savior, he's the redeemer, he's the one that God had promised hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years ago, he's the one that God had promised in the Garden of Eden to Adam and Eve, and he's here, and he's gonna save us, is the whole purpose of the miracles of Christ, is to demonstrate and to show us he's the one.

And it's like, okay, that is so much more helpful than trying to come up with all these cute takeaways from the miracles of Jesus. The takeaway is he's the Christ, behold him, and trust him. He's accomplished your righteousness, he's atoned for your sin, he's saved you.

And now look to him and believe in him, you know? So that was a practical exercise, that's why I'm geeked up today. Because what a privilege it is to be able to herald that message. It's the greatest news in the world, man.

The greatest joy we both have is to set people free from the bondage and the prisons of their mind. As Neil was told, you're in a prison, you can't see it, you can't taste it and touch it, it's a prison of your mind.

You need that red pill, bro.

That's right, and we give people the gospel and it sets them free from that. Justin, you shop on Amazon?

I mean, my family does. My wife is generally the one who's on Amazon. Sorry for a long answer to your question. In short, yes, John, let's go.

Yeah, and typically when you're buying a product that you're not that familiar with, what normally do you do? What do you look to to say like, should I buy this product?

I'm going to look at descriptions and reviews.

That's absolutely right, because have you ever heard a false advertisement before? It has happened. We've all bought something. That said, I should have read the reviews, right?

Or on Facebook these days in the ads, you get to look and see all the comments and the likes or the angry mad faces that you see all over. It's like people are mad about having bought this product.

It's like, ooh.

That's right.

What's great about God is He's presenting to you the reasons why you could and should trust Him. And the Bible is just one massive review.

It's like He's faithful.

That's right. It's one big review of all of these people who've interacted with God. Yeah, it's a record of the authors describing the interactions they've had with God. And often there comes with that instructions as well.

But one of the things that Justin and I have not said, and we want to be very clear on this, Christians, the ultimate aim of God is to not only rescue sinners, but to transform them into the image of His Son.

And He says He's going to do it.

That's right. He who began the work finishes it. He's the author and finisher of our faith.

We will be conformed in the image and likeness of His Son.

That's right. So we're not here teaching that. That's not the goal. It's not just a story.

That you should all just be carnal Christians out there and what you do doesn't matter.

Well, yeah, and it's not just a story to enjoy.

Bologna.

Yeah, it's not just a story to enjoy, but there is purpose behind it. I literally believe when Paul says that every word of God is beneficial.

It's profitable.

That's right. For the equipping and the transformation of the saints. That includes Old Testament prophecies and Old Testament passages. And what we're trying to help you understand is that when Paul said this, this is what he means.

The narrative is designed to equip you to trust. I mean, what is the greatest thing you were called to do? Put your faith in Jesus. That is the greatest thing you're called to do.

I mean, and if you want to even back it up and make it even more general than that, it's to believe the promises of God that are all ultimately finding their yes and amen in Jesus.