Explicit Statements



From: TFTW Bible College

Explicit statements might be either 1) general, or 2) specific. 

For example, God gave Noah some specific instructions about building an ark. “And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.” (Genesis 6:13-15) Jesus gave an example of a general explicit statement. 

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matthew 28:19-20) Jesus explicitly said to go and teach people, but He did not give specific instructions on how to do it. We could teach people using TV programs, radio programs, preach sermons, have Bible discussions, or even write Bible Correspondence Courses, if you can believe that. But which one do we choose? This is where “expediency” comes in. Expedience is figuring out the most efficient way to do something when God has not given us all the specifics on how to do it. Imagine how long the list would be if Jesus started listing all the different ways people could teach others throughout the rest of time. Instead of doing that, He just told them to go and teach and let them figure out the details. As long as we are teaching people the word of God, we are carrying out the general, explicit statement of Jesus. 

Jesus originally gave this command to His apostles. But, we know that this statement applies to us today because Jesus told the apostles to teach other people to obey the things He had commanded the apostles. Therefore, if Jesus told the apostles to teach other people, the other people who are taught should then go and teach other people, and so forth.


God Authorizes Through:

  • Explicit Statements
  • Implicit Statements
    • General
    • Specific
  • Approved Examples


留言

這個網誌中的熱門文章

Should I Forgive A Brother Who Won't Repent? (Don Blackwell)

人的七個家

Together: Forgive One Another