The Gospel is the proclamation that God has triumphed over sin and death through the work of Jesus. Every Christian sermon has to proclaim this Gospel by announcing the death and resurrection of Jesus. Since the whole text of Holy Scripture centers on Jesus’ death and resurrection, every sermon has to explain, illustrate, and apply the sermon text.

The job of the sermon is not merely to explain and instruct in good theology, but to explain and apply the text itself. And while the question of whether or not the sermon should apply the text by telling people what to do is sometimes controversial in churches that believe in salvation by grace through faith alone, applying the text not by giving rules but by applying the Gospel is mandatory.

In other words, the Gospel is not just news that sins are forgiven, it’s also the good news that Jesus is Lord of the universe, and now we are free–by the power of Jesus–to be the humans he has redeemed us to be.

Hosts: Aaron Mueller and Chuck Rathert

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The Bible makes it clear that the Holy Spirit is still active in the life of Christ’s church. But what does this mean, and how does this look?

For some, the Holy Spirit speaks directly in a miraculous way; for others the Holy Spirit guides by opening doors. How do we know that what we’re hearing or being led to do is coming from the Holy Spirit? By judging the message or compulsion on the basis of God’s Word. So it’s not just the big events that are the Holy Spirit speaking; even the small messages–like being moved to read God’s Word, to pray, to love someone else at personal expense–are clearly coming from outside fallen human nature.

It’s important to remember that the Bible–God’s Word–is primary. What God says in holy scripture is binding on all people everywhere for all time. This is different from a personal prompting of the Holy Spirit, which is not universally applicable to all people at all times. So, as Paul says, the spirits must be tested to see if they are in line with God’s Word.

Hosts: Aaron Mueller and Chuck Rathert

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To comment on this episode, visit https://saintjamesglencarbon.org/cacg-ep119.

Scripture–in some ways–is a reflection of God’s mind, which means that understanding Scripture can never be completely mastered. Like a big city, there is something new and unexplored around every corner for the reader. In other words, reading the Bible is a great adventure of exploration and discovery.

The main foundation of solid biblical interpretation is to read it as the Word of God. Humanity sits under God, so his Word must sit in authority over us. This means that the meaning of the text must come from the text, not imposed upon it from outside. The temptation of all Christian denominations is to map their theology on to the text of Scripture, using the Bible as a series of proofs for their own correctness. But this is turning our theology or thoughts in “sacred scripture”, not allowing the real sacred Scripture to speak for God.

One key to checking our own theological and cultural biases in the attempt to allow God’s Word to speak for itself is to read it in community. Hearing what people from different backgrounds hear when they read Scripture helps us read and hear Scripture from outside our own echo chamber.

Practically speaking, correct biblical interpretation depends on reading the Bible not as isolated sayings, verses, or stories, but as one complete story, and we cannot understand any story–especially the story of Scripture!–outside of the whole story. And the importance of understanding the historical background of the text is also vital to correctly interpreting it. This takes work–digging into the cultural and historical backgrounds of the text means learning from scholars who study the backgrounds of the Bible. But this will keep us from making the Bible mean something it doesn’t, turning it into a decontextualized inspirational message to me.

Hosts: Aaron Mueller and Chuck Rathert

Subscribe to the show at https://cacg.saintjamesglencarbon.org.

To comment on this episode, visit https://saintjamesglencarbon.org/cacg-ep118.