Stop Applying the Bible

The Will of God Ep. 5 “Whoever accuses or judges a brother or sister, accuses the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.”-James 4:11Bonhoeffer commenting on James 4 writes, Judging stands in absolute opposition to doing…There are two types of behavior with regard to the law, judging and doing; they are mutually exclusive. Those who judge understand the law as a measure that they employ against others, and see themselves as responsible for seeing that the law is implemented. They thus place themselves above the law. They forget that there is but ‘one lawgiver and judge, the one who is able to save and to destroy’ (James 4:12).For both Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer the two dirty words when it comes to God’s will are “application” and “interpretation” because both have to do with knowing/judging rather than doing God’s will:God’s commandment leaves human beings no room for application and interpretation, but only for obedience or disobedience.[God’s commands demand ]acts of obedience to be performed on the spot in a specific way, pure decisions the meaning of which is not open to discussion, because they do not in any sense point to a higher law, but is rather contained in the fact that God has decided in this way and spoken accordingly, so that human decisions can only obey or disobey the divine decision. In these texts there is no such thing as a general rule which can be debated and needs to be filled out in its application.This is the first temptation of that “pious serpent” in the Garden of Eden: “Did God really say…?” The temptation is to go behind the word of God to interpret it, to examine it for herself. But for us to interpret and apply God’s commandments puts us above the commandment for the moment. It leaves us in charge and gives us the power to do as we think best rather than simply obeying.The great irony here is that what the serpent tempts Adam and Eve with is something God has already promised: to be like God. The serpent tells them that if they grasp the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they will be like God. The Latin is sicut deus. But God has already made Adam and Eve in his image and likeness. Imago dei. They fall from receiving the imago dei into being humanity sicut deus—or what Bonhoeffer calls “god-against-God.” To have grasped after the knowledge of good and evil is to become gods-against-God because it is to falsely become one’s own source, origin, and judge. Rather than living from the knowledge of God Adam and Eve now live from their own knowledge of good and evil. Thus the split between knowing God’s will and doing it.In his sermon “The Last Farthing” George MacDonald says that the greatest way to obscure Jesus’ teachings is to interpret them rather than do them. The parables and teachings of Jesus only make sense to the person that’s doing them. Elsewhere he writes:What have you done this day because it was the will of Christ? Have you dismissed, once dismissed, an anxious thought for the morrow? Have you ministered to any needy soul or body, and kept your right hand from knowing what your left hand did? Have you begun to leave all and follow him? Did you set yourself to judge righteous judgment? Are you being wary of covetousness? Have you forgiven your enemy? Are you hungering and thirsting after righteousness? Are you seeking the kingdom of God and his righteousness before all other things? Have you given to some one that asked of you?Tell me something that you have done, are doing, or are trying to do because he told you. If you do nothing that he says, it is no wonder that you cannot trust in him…You do not do his will, and so you cannot understand Him.…He knows that you can try, and that in your trying and failing He will be able to help you, until at length you shall do the will of God even as he does it himself.…If we do what He tells us, His light will go up in our hearts. Till then we could not understand him even if he explained it to us. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cameroncombs.substack.com