Embedded Quotes: Sayings That Stuck with Me

The Apostle John

"The Bible is not written to you; it is written for you."

                                                                    -CL Mitchell

What I have often noticed about memorable quotes is how simple they seem at first, yet how profound they become as they settle into my mind a bit. This essential principle concerning biblical interpretation, uttered by one of my favorite teachers during my undergrad years, has helped solidify in my mind the appropriate way to view the Scriptures. Granted, there was much more strenuous classroom learning that contributed to my growth in understanding the Bible (doubly strenuous considering I failed my first attempt at Mitchell's class, humbling me enough to become more seriously engaged to do well the second time), but the Spirit has used this quote often in my heart and mind to give me analytical clarity, avoiding as many cultural biases as I can.

Why It Matters

What this slight prepositional change taught me was how inappropriate and illogical it is for me to simply pick up a text at random and immediately apply it to myself without filtering it through its historical context first. Sure, many Scriptures easily transfer over personally in this way. I can indeed receive a personal truth of assurance of my salvation from Ephesians 2:4, 5, "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved..." (ESV). But the reality is that this truth was first written to the Ephesians by the Apostle Paul to encourage them to trust in Christ alone for their salvation, not in their works of righteousness. It is clear that the plural pronouns "us", "we", and "you" do not include me since Paul wrote this letter nearly 2000 years ago. It was written to the Church at Ephesus, but it was also certainly written for me and you to have confidence and hope in Christ.

An Example

The peril is brought to light more clearly when we examine a text like 2 John 10, 11, "If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works." John, who is about to end this letter which admonishes his recipients to hold to the truth of the incarnate Christ, seems at face value to be urging these believers to harshly treat a "deceiver" or "antichrist" (v. 7) rather than displaying love, contradicting places where John declares, "whoever loves has been born of God and knows God" (1 Jn 4:7). However, a better understanding of the historical-cultural context helps us see more clearly what he means. Commentator Daniel Akin writes, 

The elder is not demanding that they refuse to engage in conversation with someone who is spiritually confused. He is not saying you cannot invite them into your home for a visit where you confront them with the claims of Christ. What he is saying is that we are not to provide support and aid (e.g., a place to stay and money) to anyone who is spreading false teaching and disseminating error...They must not open their homes to any such persons and give them a base of operation to spread their heresy.(1)

This makes much more sense of the confusing "love vs. truth" dichotomy that seems to arise from these verses. We learn that we are of course called to love those who oppose the truth of the gospel, but to allow a "base of operations" intent on teaching false theology to be set up in our homes is neither loving to the teachers nor to the potential recipients of such errant thought.
                                                            ___________________________

Craig L. Blomberg says it well, "Understanding the historical context of a passage removes the haze of obscure cultural traditions that often shrouds the text for modern interpreters of Scripture. Reading the Bible can seem like listening to one side of a phone conversation or reading an e-mail addressed to someone else."(2) The Scriptures are indeed written for us, but they were not written directly to us. May this understanding be applied to our engagement with God's graciously given Word, and may we see the Bible as Paul saw his Bible, the Old Testament, "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope" (Rom. 15:4, c.f. 1 Cor. 10:11).



(1) Akin, Daniel L., vol. 38, 1, 2, 3 John, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2001), 233.
(2) Blomberg, Craig L.; Foutz Markley, Jennifer (2010-11-01). Handbook of New Testament Exegesis, A (New Testament Studies) (p. 63). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.