Jesus is the standard by which we interpret Scripture
by Charles Wade

Reprinted from The Baptist Standard

Last week, I set forth the concerns I have about the new Baptist Faith & Message being used as a creed to control and manage the thinking of Baptists. Now, I want to express another concern that is even more significant to all Baptists who understand we are Christians first.

There is, of course, a high view of Jesus in the 2000 BF&M. The section on God the Son is almost identical to the 1963 BF&M. Both statements conclude with this sentence about Jesus, "He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever-present Lord."

But if Jesus is Lord, and he is, why intentionally remove him from being the "Lord of Scripture"? In the article on Scripture, the final sentence in the 1963 BF&M reads, "The criterion by which the Bible is to be interpreted is Jesus Christ." Criterion means "a rule or standard for making a judgment." Thus to say Jesus Christ is the criterion is to say he is the guiding principle, the standard, the benchmark by which the Scriptures are interpreted and understood.

Why is this truth left out of the new BF&M?

In discussion at the convention, members of the committee who wrote the new statement made it sound as though those who wanted to reinsert that wonderful sentence were appealing for the right to attribute to Jesus any outlandish view or doctrine imaginable. That was unworthy of them and a deliberate attempt to distort the issue.

Simply said, the new BF&M removes Jesus from the exalted place as the one who guides our interpretation of Scripture. Then, who or what takes his place? Does the confession of faith become the interpretive tool? Do the affirmations of denominational leaders become binding? Does the pastor become the criterion by which the Scriptures are to be interpreted? Do the linguistic and historical principles of biblical criticism become the criterion? I can hear someone say: "Let the Bible interpret itself. The words mean what they mean. Any reasonable person can interpret the Bible without any guidance."

But we do need guidance.

To know the mind of God, Christians believe we need the Scriptures, which faithfully and truly record what God has done in history and reveal his heart to us all. We need the Holy Spirit to guide us as we prayerfully read the text of Scripture. We profit greatly from Bible teachers and the community of faith as they share their understanding of Scripture with us. And we need the insight and wisdom, the example and passion of Jesus to help us properly understand the book that is above every other book.

For example, when you come to the passages in the Old Testament regarding the Sabbath restrictions, you see in the Gospels how Jesus gives guidance. "Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath ... For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath ... The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath" (Matthew 12:12,10, Mark 2:27). Jesus did not do away with Old Testament Scripture, but he did reinterpret it.

There are many other examples. Look at Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount, especially Matthew 5:17-48. Note his remarks concerning the Temple (Matthew 12:6), and his attitude toward children and women (Matthew 19:13-15, Luke 10:38-42, John 4:1-42, Galatians 3:28).

To see Jesus as the essential standard by which we interpret Scripture recognizes his sovereign authority over all things. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God ... without him nothing was made that has been made" (John 1:1-3). Jesus is the word, and he is both the author and the criterion of Scripture.

September 2000