The Perspicuity of Scripture
Perhaps you have heard the perspicuity of Scripture mentioned and wondered what that meant. It only means that Scripture is clear and easily understood.
Perspicuity is part of the miracle of Scripture, especially because Scripture reveals God! That He, the infinite and eternal God, is not only willing to reveal Himself to us, but can do so clearly and plainly is a great wonder.
We do not deny, of course, that there are difficult passages in Scripture, even difficult books. The Bible itself teaches us that there are in Psalm 78:2 and II Peter 3:16. Nevertheless, we do believe that every doctrine of the faith and all things necessary for God’s glory and our salvation are clearly taught.
Psalm 119:105 teaches perspicuity: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Scripture could not even be called a light if it was not clear, but this verse says that it is a light for our path—that is, for our whole life. It is a safe and reliable guide to bring us all the way along our life’s path to glory.
Because Scripture is clear, it can be understood even by the unlearned and by children. It may not, therefore, be kept from them. So too, it ought to be translated into the language of every people to whom the gospel comes, that they may read it and have its light with them always.
There are several things we must understand, though, about the perspicuity of Scripture, lest we fall into error.
First, because there are difficult passages, we must always interpret such passages in the light of those that speak more clearly. No interpretation of a difficult passage, for example, may contradict any important doctrine of Scripture, or any rule for thankful living, all of which are clearly taught.
Second, we must realize that Scripture is clear only to believers. Unbelief cannot understand Scripture, because the things that are in Scripture are the things of God and they are spiritually discerned (I Cor. 2:14). We should remember this when speaking to someone who denies an important truth of Scripture such as the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. When such a person cannot see from Scripture that Jesus is God, we should not begin to doubt that Scripture plainly teaches this important truth. The problem is not in Scripture. The problem is in that man’s heart and mind. Before anyone can understand anything Scripture teaches, his heart must be opened and his mind enlightened by the Holy Spirit. Without that, proof texts, logic and argument are useless.
Because Scripture is the clear light of God’s own revelation, we must follow its light. The warning and the promise of I John 1:6-7 are for us: “If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” Rev. Hanko
The Lord Creates Evil (1)
“Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?” (Amos 3:6).
“I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things” (Isa. 45:7).
The reader of our newsletter who sent in a request to have these texts explained apparently was particularly concerned about what the texts say concerning the relation between God and evil. The passage in Amos speaks of evil in the city which the Lord has done; and the text in Isaiah speaks of Jehovah creating evil.
These important texts address themselves to a very common error. All pagan religions, also at the time when Isaiah wrote, were guilty of the error of dualism. These pagan religions noticed that in the world one finds good and bad, forces of darkness and forces of light. In an effort to explain two such contradictory powers in the world, heathen religions spoke of two ultimate powers or gods, one of whom was responsible for the good and one of whom was responsible for the bad.
The background of Isaiah’s prophecy speaks to this as well. The whole chapter is addressed to Cyrus, king of Persia (1). The Persian religion was dualistic: Ahura Mazda (Ormuzd) was the god of good, and Ahriman was the god of evil. Through the prophecy of His servant Isaiah, God makes known to Cyrus that He alone is God, and that there is none beside Him. Dualism, therefore, is impossible.
That dualism has persisted throughout history. In the days of the early church, the saints were confronted with the errors of Gnosticism and Manichaeism. The great church father Augustine belonged for a time to the latter sect. Both heresies taught a dualism of light and darkness, of good and evil.
It is no different today. Especially the charismatic movement, which has sorely infected the church, is guilty of such a dualism. Those who have been persuaded of the argument of the charismatics hold to the idea that God only gives good things; bad things come from the devil. When a family loses a child through death, we are told that the devil took our child from us. When we are sick, the devil is said to bring sickness. When catastrophes come on the world, the devil brings these. Only good things come from God.
This is a dreadful error which ultimately robs the people of God of their comfort.
All forms of Arminianism are also essentially dualistic. They teach that the will of man which decides salvation is independent of the power of God. God is helpless until an autonomous man accepts Christ. So man is a power alongside of God, and God can do nothing until man accepts Christ.
We must make our choice. Either all things, good and bad, come from God, or there is another power in the universe, independent of God, which sends evil. God has no control over such a power, it operates independently from Him.
So there are two powers in this world, both ultimate powers, both independent of each other. God is then no longer the sovereign God who alone does all things. He is not the omnipotent God to whom belongs all power. He is a helpless God when confronted by the powers of evil. He is limited in His power by the power of Satan and evil and can only fight against such power in the hopes that someday He will overcome it.
The Bible-believing Christian does not want or need such a god. His faith rests in the one true God who is sovereign in all He does.
It is against all this dualism that these texts come with their sharp language: “Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?” “I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.”
The prophet Amos was speaking to apostate Israel upon whom was soon to come the judgment of God through the Assyrians which would result in Israel’s captivity.
The question of verse 6 is the last in a series of questions, the answers to which are obvious. “Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid?” That will never happen. “Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?” Of course not!
So the text in Amos plainly refers to the “bad” things that occur in this world of suffering and grief—war and destruction, famine and plague, sickness and death, sorrow and anguish. These are evils which the Lord sends. They do not arise from some independent power of evil, as though the Lord lacked control over what happens. They come from God; the Lord does it. There is no dualism here. God is God—sovereign and mighty.
This is the great comfort of the child of God. While surely all the calamities of life are sent as judgments upon the wicked, the child of God finds refuge in all these troubles in what God does, knowing that all things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to His purpose. Prof. Hanko
How Do I Know?
A reader asks, “How do we experience God’s love? I know a lot in my head but do not believe I am saved. Apart from my desire/longing/thirst my life remains the same.”
This question is of particular interest because it illustrates the importance of believing that the promises of the gospel are only for the elect. Thus, in Isaiah 55:1, where God promises water to the thirsty, and in Matthew 11:28, where He promises rest to the weary, we understand that “thirsty” and “weary” are other names for the elect—names that they receive at the time God begins His great work of grace in them.
To put it another way, to be weary or thirsty, to desire God and to long for salvation from sin and assurance of eternal life, are all the result of saving grace and the work of the Spirit in the hearts of God’s elect. To such only does God sovereignly promise the water of life, the bread of life, rest for the soul and all the other riches of salvation.
Those whom God has not chosen to salvation do not hunger and thirst for righteousness, do not desire God and do not long for salvation from sin, though they may crave many other things. That is the doctrine of total depravity as taught in Romans 3:10-12. Only the elect do, and they only when the Spirit works the work of sovereign grace in their hearts.
But let us not leave this an abstract question. What shall we say to this poor, struggling soul? Shall we just say, “Keep seeking; perhaps someday you will find what you are looking for”? Shall we say, “O, but all men have these desires and longings after God, yet many perish”? God forbid.
Let us rather say this: You, dear brother or sister, must understand that you would not even desire salvation or thirst for righteousness, except that God had already begun His work of grace in your heart! As one in whom God has begun a good work, be assured that He will also finish it (Phil. 1:6). You will find what you are looking for! Your seeking is itself the proof that you will find it. It is to you that Christ is speaking when He says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest!” Come then, do not hold back. The grace that made you weary of sin, hungry for righteousness and thirsting for God, is the warrant for you to believe that you may come to Christ. Yea, you must come, for Christ Himself is calling you. He is calling you by the spiritual name He has given you through the work of His Spirit, O Weary, Thirsting One.
You say your life remains the same. If you mean that you are still living in sin, then He says to you, “Repent and forsake your sins.” Pray God to deliver you from them. If you only mean that you have not experienced the blessedness of the love of God, then pray that the love of God may be shed abroad in your heart (Rom. 5:5). He will not quench the smoking flax or break the bruised reed (Isa. 42:3)! “Ask, and you shall receive. Knock and it shall be opened unto you. Everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened” (Luke 11:9-10)! Rev. Hanko
