The conflict never ends. Is the Bible a rulebook for life, or is it not? Let me introduce you to a term from the "logical fallacy" playbook--the false dichotomy.
A false dichotomy occurs when you offer two possible answers to a question when there is more than two possible answers. A false dichotomy gives the impression that there are two opposite options that are mutually exclusive and that at least one of them is true, meaning that these options represent all of the possible options. The question above is just such a dichotomy.
Is the Bible a rulebook for life? Yes, yes, it is. It cannot be doubted. It is the source of all of our recognized mutual values. It's wrong to murder. Stealing is wrong. Everyone recognizes the value of doing the good to others that you would have done to yourself. And so it goes. It clearly and indisputably contains God's statements on what pleases and angers Him in human behavior. It is a book of rules.
So, the Bible is a rulebook for life? No, no, it's not. ("Oh, great," you're likely thinking, "we've got a madman behind the keyboard." Give me a minute.) While the Bible is full of what God wants and doesn't want from us, the Bible is equally clear that without exception we fail to supply that. We don't meet the standard. We don't follow the rules. We are not going to make it. The Bible is not vague when it says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23) and "The wages of sin is death." (Rom 6:23) The Bible as a rulebook doesn't work. Instead, we are "justified by faith apart from works of the law" (Rom 3:28).
Okay, so it is not a rulebook for life? Well, perhaps you can begin to see the dilemma. The answer is "Yes" and "No." We have a problem. We don't measure up to God's standard. We need a rulebook to see that. We have good news. We are not saved by works but by faith. A rulebook is beside the point. But this isn't the end of the story.
We've arrived in the examination at "saved by faith". What now? James points out quite strongly that "faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." (James 2:17) "Faith apart from works is dead." (James 2:26) Okay, great. We decided that the rulebook condemned us, but we are saved by faith. On this side of faith, then, we find that living, effective, functional faith requires good works. Are we back at a rulebook then? Not quite.
When the lawyer asked Jesus the great commandment, He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." (Matt 22:37-40) So, no, we don't need a rulebook. Love God and love your neighbor. Every commandment given hinges on these two commands, boiled down to one word--love.
Oh, good! Then we don't need a rulebook. Well, hold on. You see, we have a problem. Sin rots the brain (Rom 1:21). We have deceitful hearts (Jer 17:9). So we although love is the answer to the question of doing what God wants, we have a hard time figuring out what that looks like. So we're back to a source book. It's God's source book, so it's right. It's not a rulebook as in "Do this and live" because we already know we can't and won't, so it's not that kind of rulebook. But if you want to love God and are (rightly) concerned that you might be mistaken on just how that might look, God's Word would be a good place to look for direction on that. And if you are grateful to Him for saving you from certain eternal death and wish to love your neighbor because that would please God, God's Word would be a great place to see what that looks like. Because one thing is abundantly clear among humans. Our ways are not His ways (Isa 55:8-9), and a world of people who, in their natural state, hate God (Rom 8:7) are not very likely to have an accurate notion of just how to please that same God.
Is the Bible a rulebook? Yes, no, both, and neither. First and foremost, the Bible is God's Word. That means that the primary point is God. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. It's not "morality" or "all about us" or any thing less than about God. However, being about God, it tells us what we need to know to live in relation to Him. It tells us where we ought to go and it tells us where we've run off the track. It tells us how to get right and it tells us how to keep right. Oh, wait! Isn't that just what it says? "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." (2 Tim 3:16-17) Yeah, I thought I'd heard that somewhere else.
2 comments:
I say the answer is "Yes...yes it is a rule book." That's not all it is, but it's a rule book as well. Whether or not the rules save us is irrelevant to the question. But as you demonstrate, it is a book of rules and those rules teach us what is and isn't pleasing to God. I don't see what the issue is here, unless one is trying to argue against following specific or particular rules, which, it seems to me, is usually when this question comes up.
" I don't see what the issue is here, unless one is trying to argue against following specific or particular rules, which, it seems to me, is usually when this question comes up."
Yes, that's generally true. Those who make such claims are complaining about a particular rule they don't like. Or they're complaining that you're calling them on biblical morality and they don't like to be called on that. Even if they're calling themselves "Christians".
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