Skip to main content

Basil: Reverence and the Word of God

Image
By
Of the thought of Basil of Caesarea Christopher Hall writes, “Thus, because the text [of the Bible] itself is holy, derived from the work of the Holy Spirit, interpreters of the text must approach it with a reverent disposition. Whatever is said about the ideas of the text must match the exalted nature of its divine source” (Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers, 87).

From this brief quote I draw three simple and ministry-shaping ideas. First, the text of the Bible is holy because its source is holy. It’s not so much that we make a big deal of words and phrases and paragraphs and pages, as we do the infinitely holy Being who inspired these things. Words and such matter, but they matter to the degree that their source matters, and since the Holy Spirit matters to an infinite degree so does the Word he inspired.

Second, we must approach the text of the Bible with the same reverence we would show in the presence of God himself. To approach his Word is, in a way, to approach him, and thus we must learn to tremble and treat his Word with the honor due his name. To gain insight into the Word of God is to hear the voice of God, and this calls for a unique level and quality of reverence.

Third, when it comes to teaching, preaching, and writing about the Word of God, we must learn to express ourselves in a way that “matches the exalted nature of its divine source.” This means, at least, (1) that our teaching must flow from our personal pursuit of God, that is must be saturated with the aroma of the presence of him who gave us his Word. (2) That our teaching must accurately portray what is found in the Word. To play fast and loose with God’s Word is to defame his sacred name, and this is a most serious sin. (3) That our teaching must be imbued with an affection appropriate to its source. As Jonathan Edwards so helpfully taught us, light produces heat. Godly truth produces godly affections, and both are necessary to honor God and his Word.

The one who would dare teach and preach the Word of God must carefully stoke the fire of reverence in his heart, for this will in turn stoke that fire in the hearts of the people.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

To Have My Soul Happy in the Lord, by George Muller

By Anonymous
To Have My Soul Happy in the Lord By George Muller “It has pleased the Lord to teach me a truth, the benefit of which I have not lost for more than fourteen years. The point is this: I saw more clearly than ever that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not how much I might serve the Lord, or how I might glorify the Lord, but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished. “I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God—not prayer, but the Word of God. And here again, not the simple reading of the Word of God so that it only passes through my mind just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what I read, pondering over it, and applying it to my heart. To meditate on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed. And that thus,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Reflective Glory: How the Moon Displays the Mercy of God

By
Our sun is a fitting metaphor for the glory of God. In the context of our solar system, it is massive, bright, beautiful, powerful, self-sufficient, heat-producing, life-giving, and dangerous. It is, by far, the dominant feature of our solar system and without it the system would fling apart and all living things therein would die.  On the other hand, our moon is a fitting metaphor for human beings, especially for those who believe in Jesus Christ. First, compared to the sun, the moon is tiny and dim. The sun is 400 times larger than the moon, its mass is 27 million times greater than the mass of the moon, and from our perspective its light shines 450,000 times brighter than that of the moon. The sun is so much greater than the moon that it’s difficult to quantify and express the difference. Likewise, the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is so much great than each and all of us that it’s impossible to quantify or express the difference. Indeed, the Lord is very great and greatly...
Post a Comment
Read more

Catechisms: Building a Heritage of Sound Faith - By Pastor Kevin Feder

By
This is an article I (Pastor Kevin) wrote in 2005 and updated in 2017. It is featured in a new resource available through Children’s Desiring God called Discipleship through Doctrinal Teaching and Catechism by Sally Michael.  It is our desire to encourage parents to use a children’s catechism as a tool in building and strengthening faith in children. A simple definition of a catechism is “organized teaching.” Catechisms are not the only things that can or should be used to instruct the next generation, yet they have useful purposes. Listed here are ten specific benefits a catechism can uniquely offer. Hopefully these ten points will help parents understand how a catechism can be effectively used in their families. 1.  A catechism is a very clear and complete gospel message. A catechism is, among other things, a very clear and concise gospel message to children. Everything a child needs to know for salvation is embodied within a catechism. The gospel is truly ama...
Post a Comment
Read more