As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. 1 Timothy. 1.3, 4

We need to enlarge on the subject broached yesterday, namely, that of understanding, teaching, and practicing sound doctrine according to the teaching of the Apostles.

Paul told the elders at Ephesus that he had been careful among them to teach them everything that was useful, all the counsel of God in Scripture and its bearing on the task of seeking the Kingdom of God (Acts 20.20, 25, 26). In these brief comments lies a wealth of guidance in the practice of Biblical interpretation.

The cornerstone of Scripture is the Law of God. That is, the shape of the Law – its content, purpose, themes, thrusts, and principles of interpretation – provides the shape of all the rest of Scripture. The Law is the acorn to the oak of divine revelation. Trying to understand Scripture apart from a clear understanding of the Law of God is like trying to build a house with setting a solid and reliable cornerstone in place.

What kind of interpretive guidance does the Law provide? It tells us many things concerning how we must understand the rest of Scripture and its doctrines. Primarily, as we have seen, the Law reveals God and His will. All of Scripture is about God, His will, and how we may glorify Him by knowing Him and obeying His will. Anything that swerves from this is not sound doctrine.

Second, the Law teaches our need for grace. We are sinners, as we have seen, and we are unable to please God apart from His gracious, redeeming work on our behalf. We do not look to ourselves for salvation and righteousness, but to God only, and to His Law, as fulfilled and realized in Jesus Christ.

Third, the Law points to the saving work of Jesus Christ and of the coming of His Kingdom. From the beginning of the Law, in the book of Genesis, through all its detailed outworking, in the laws concerning religious practices and those guiding us in how to love our neighbors, the character of Christ is revealed and the work of Christ is foreshadowed. All the Law, as all the Scriptures, point to Jesus, and must be read in this light (Jn. 5.39).

Finally, the Law establishes the path of good works. Without the Law, which prescribes those “before ordained works of God,” we cannot fulfill the purpose of our redemption, for we will not be able to discern which works are truly good.

So we are being good stewards of the Word of God, and thus, less likely to swerve into unsound teaching, when, grounded in the Law of God, we allow its themes and content to guide us in understanding all the rest of the Scripture as the Apostles did, and as God intends.

T. M. Moore

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