Owen Barfield, a friend of CS Lewis, once said of Lewis, “One way or another, what Lewis thought of everything was secretly present in what he said about anything. “The truer and more complete a person’s thoughts are, the more accurate this statement about the person is.
Biblical writings are the expression of God’s true thought, inspired by himself in writers. How much more, then, should this statement be made about them: “What did they think that everything was secretly present in what they said about anything?”It’s very important for preaching. Knowing the broad vision of an author’s reality will guide the preacher to deal with specific texts in a way that is not contrary to the author’s intention.
- I suppose.
- For example.
- That the Apostle Paul would not be content if he eliminated his exhortation: “Practice hospitality?(Rom 12:13).
- Outside the context of her global vision of reality.
- And make her serve a vision contrary to what He teaches.
- Wouldn’t you be satisfied if we used it as part of one?Campaign for morality and good manners? Secular; or if we were part of an ecumenical crusade to show how Hindus.
- Muslims and Christians really live the same way because they practice hospitality; or if we make it serve a legalistic cult that teaches us to earn salvation through good deeds.
- In other words.
- I suggest that Paul wants us to see all his particular exhortations and observations in the light of his global vision of reality.
It is not enough to say (by the way) that the purpose of preaching a text like Romans 12:13 is to proclaim the reality that the biblical author is trying to communicate through the text. this particular instruction is vast.
What Paul wants us to consider when we obey and proclaim hospitality to the commandment is more than just the practice of opening our homes to others; indeed, even careful adherence to this practice could deeply contradict Paul’s intention. Don’t do it out of faith. (2Co 5. 7), do not do it by the Spirit (Gal 5. 16), do not do it in the name of Jesus (Col. 3. 17), do not do it for the glory of God (1Co 10. 31)?All of this, in Paul’s mind, would be a failure to see, experiment and show the most important realities. I wouldn’t be true to your intention.
What reality should we preach when we have a limited and specific text before us?Let me answer this question by anticipating two mistakes that are usually made in preaching a text like “Practice hospitality”.
The first mistake (?Fair practice?!) Minimize Paul’s broader and more complete view of how and why to do so. This error deals with hospitality in limited and sanctimonious terms, without reference to any rooted in grace, Christ and faith, and without reference to any connection to the high branches of God’s glory.
Just practicing?this may seem useful for some preachers, as they think hospitality can make improvements to get along in the world, earn points with God, make the church friendlier for more people to come, inspire certain traits of character and generosity for free, or bring unexpected rewards if you have a rich person at your table. This is not a faithful preaching. Ignore the broader vision of Paul’s reality: grace, Christ, the Spirit, faith, joy, and the glory of God.
In the second mistake, preachers say something like, “You can’t do that; but Christ already did it perfectly, so stop trying to do that and enjoy the justification of imputed justice?This minimizes the seriousness of the commandment, diverts Attention from the real need for the imperative, leads to a type of preaching that overly simplifies the urgency and complexity of Christian obedience, and transforms each sermon into a predictable soteriological crescendo that causes people to disconnect and begin to put on their coats to remove you. the specific riches of the text, blocking them by erroneous applications of the correct doctrine.
Both mistakes have their own way of silencing what Paul intends to communicate. The first error silences the reality of the text with an empty moralism. The second error silences reality, placing all the text on the “Procustian bed”. Badly used orthodoxy. Certainly, justification by faith alone, based solely on Christ’s imputed righteousness, is a glorious and precious truth, but Paul does not use it in a way that diminishes the urgency of practical obedience.
Paul does not adopt the artificial package of the legalistic gospel that treats each imperative as a means of showing that human impotence must be corrected only by minimizing obedience and maximizing divine imputation. As Paul writes to the churches, he treats his imperatives as true obligations to be respected because we are justified, because we are loved by God, because we have the Holy Spirit, because grace transforms power, not just forgiveness, and because justified faith works out of love. Is the doctrine of justification relevant?infinitely relevant !?but not in a way to minimize the immediate and real concern of practical Christian hospitality.
My concern for these two types of preaching errors is theological and homilical; concerns about theological errors are the most serious, but the mistake of homiletics can be tragic. Theologically, both mistakes compromise salvation. Moralistic error (?Just practical?!) It does not lead to salvation, because moral conduct replaces the gospel of Christ crucified and resurrected by sinners, and this leaves unscanned the one power that would make moral conduct acceptable to sinners. God, that is, the power of the proper Holy Ghost by faith in the promises bought by the blood of God.
The second error (? You can’t do that; but Christ already did it perfectly, so stop trying and enjoy the justification of imputed justice?) Does it jeopardize your salvation, giving people the impression that faith without works is alive?that he can truly save (contrary to what James 2:17 says). This error emphasizes Christ’s obedience as a substitute for ours, rather than showing that it is an empowerment for our obedience. Therefore, there is a tendency to error in Romans 6. 1: “Will we remain in sin so that grace may be more abundant?This leaves people completely perplexed to understand that there is a “real and practical sanctification, without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb 12:14; also Gal 5:21; 1Co 6. 9-10).
I fear that this way of preaching will be cursed on the day of judgment by those who hear the Lord Jesus say, “Not all who say to me, Lord, Lord!They will enter the kingdom of heaven, I have never known you. Are you far from me, you who practice wickedness?(Mt 7. 21, 23).
My homiletic concern?The first type of preaching (?Practical only?!) It makes people not see what’s really in the Bible. This reduces the Bible to a God-approved manual of good manners and manners. This marginalizes the gospel. As a result, these preachers do not lift burdens, but, as Jesus says, they tie heavy burdens [and difficult to carry] and place them on the shoulders of men; However, don’t you even want to move them with your fingers?(Mt 23. 4).
His preaching leads to despair or pride. A little moral success leads to pride, a small moral failure leads to despair. Grace is not there as a foundation, the glory of God is not there as a goal. Preaching is shrinking to become a stimulating conference for positive thinking; therefore, preaching is no longer an explanatory joy, it is no longer part of the cult.
My homilical concerns about the second way to preach (?You can’t do that; but Christ did it perfectly, so stop trying to do that and appreciate the justification of imputed justice?) Words from the text and therefore teaches the congregation bad habits. on how to read the Bible. This preaching is controlled by a theological scheme that, instead of illuminating the richness of the text, causes a short circuit in the discovery of these riches. There are certain types of global theological convictions that obscure the specificities of a text and others that drive us more deeply towards these specificities.
Finally, this type of preaching has the unfortunate effect of dulling the hope of discovering a congregation, because, instead of discovering new specificities in the text, a monotonous “discovery”?Doctrine of justification by faith, regardless of works. that one of the most glorious truths in the world becomes banal in the name of Christ’s preaching.
What reality should preachers proclaim when they set out the text in question?It is not enough to answer: “To proclaim the reality that the biblical author tries to communicate through the text”. The reason this isn’t enough isn’t that reality isn’t enough. This answer does not clearly indicate that virtually every sermon text we preach requires us to know something about the broader and more complete view of the author of reality in order to deal with the more limited revelation of reality in the text.
Paul believes Dieu. Il believes in sin and the need for God to sacrifice his Son, so that the guilty may be treated gracefully (Romans 8:32). He believes that God’s grace so forgives sin and gives us the strength to seek sanctification (1C 15. 10) He believes that Christ receives us before we are worthy (Rom 15), and that in union with Him we die to sin (Rom. 6:11). He believes that, like new living creatures of the dead (2C 5. 17), we are now transformed by contemplating the glory of Christ as our supreme treasure (2C 3. 18).
Paul believes that this change, and all the good we do as Christians, it is the work of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5. 16), and that when we cry out to God (1 Ts 5. 17) with gratitude (1 Ts 5. 18) and faith (2Co 5. 7), does the Spirit soothe our anxiety (Phil 5:18 4:6), fill us with joy (Phil 4:4), submit to our tendency to whisper (Fil 2 , 14) and frees us for humble acts of love (1 Co 16:14)?like hospitality. Paul believes that these acts of love, done by faith and in the power of the Spirit, are true acts of worship (Rom 12. 1) that reflect the character of our Heavenly Father (Eph 5:1), adorn the name of Jesus (Cl 3. 17) and glorify God (1Co 10. 31).
Then we ask again: when the preacher intends to proclaim the reality that the biblical author is trying to communicate through text (as I think he should), what reality does the preacher have in mind?The scope of the biblical author’s broader vision is so vast and multifaceted that the preacher cannot proclaim everything in a sermon, but must make decisions.
As for Romans 12:13 (? Practice hospitality?), What will the preacher proclaim?This will probably include the nature, basis, purpose and means of this hospitality, but all this?Everything that is really Christian and really meaningful in hospitality?The preacher will say this from Paul’s broader vision of this reality, and will learn it more closely from the immediate context and, in this case, especially to the contexts more or less far removed from the content written by Paulo.
? Exultation of the exhibition? It is a book built on the basis of two previous titles:?A peculiar glory and “Supernatural Reading of the Bible”. In this article, John Piper aims to demonstrate that the purpose of the sermon is not only to explain the text, but also to provoke praise by being, in itself, an expression of worship of God.