Preaching: Text or Theology?

If the Bible is not a theology Book (see previous post), then what is it? The Bible is God preaching. It is not just information; it is proclamation. The aim is to address sinners about what God has done in Christ, and to call them to “repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). Whether Old Testament or New, we read about God’s salvation through Christ. Therefore the grand theme that is controlling all the revelation in the Bible is “God’s gracious salvation of sinners through Christ.” That could really be the subtitle on the title page of your Bible. It is the controlling factor for all that the Holy Spirit inspired the writers of Scripture to include in their texts.

All of the Bible is what can be called “occasional” literature. That does not mean that we can read it once in a while. It means that it was written for a specific occasion to address particular people about particular needs. So then, when it comes to a particular book of the Bible, we first ask what part the book plays in developing the grand theme of redemption. That is why it was written in the first place. It was not written to give 21^st Century man “lessons” or “principles” about life. It was written to address sinners who are in need of a Savior, and to call them to repentance and faith in Christ.

Furthermore, when it comes to a particular book, we ask what God’s message was to those people in the context of His redeeming work. The Old Testament is not simply a history of God’s dealings with Israel. It is the story (sermon) of God’s unfolding work of redemption as seen in His dealings with Israel. When we read a particular text in the OT we need to keep in mind what God was doing at that particular time so we can understand what contribution the particular book or even passage of the book made to the overall picture. That sounds like a lot of work! It is. It is a lot harder than just getting “lessons” out of an ancient text to apply to modern hearers. But it is also a lot truer to God’s original intention in the Book.

More to come, God willing…