Having just read the fourth chapter of Jones’ book I must say I feel refreshed. Jones begins his chapter explaining that, “the Christian life [is] characterized by obedient love” (59). He continues on to explain that our obedience is the result of trust and faith in Christ’s obedience in our place. He is quick and sure to explain that our obedience, while it does take place and is important, is not what gains us right standing before God. Our sole basis for right standing before God is in Jesus.
After establishing this, Jones returned to the Westminster Shorter Catechism and discussed question and answer number two, “‘What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?’ ‘The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him.’” (61). This question and answer, as well as 2 Timothy 3:14–17 is used by Jones to explain the ways in which Scripture functions in the life of the believer. He highlights three basic functions:
1. Making known to us the salvation offered in Christ
2. For teaching/training in righteousness
3. For correcting/rebuking us.
It is these three simply but often glossed over functions that prove so valuable to the Christian life. Often we want simply to have some area of our life “fixed” rather than allow God to speak to us, through His Scriptures, and have our life-style corrected and then reconfigured into Christ-likeness.
Jones then briefly discussed the seven different forms of biblical direction: prohibition, permission, mandate, counsel, precedent and example. This section on prohibition was helpful because Jones claimed that, “Biblical direction in the form of prohibition requires discernment as it is necessary to determine from Scripture as whole—not isolated prooftexts—what God has actually forbidden” (63). I have always felt this was the most important way to go about understanding anything in Scripture but I realize now that prohibitive commands are even more important to understand within the context of the entire biblical story. For instance, one might see a Levitical law that states the people of God are to refrain from eating shellfish. This could easily become a “prohibitive command” for someone who believes they are following God’s will by not eating crab and clam like the sinners, but in reality all this person would be doing is misunderstanding a law which was meant for a particular people in a particular time.
Perhaps the most timely insight from this chapter by Jones came in his section on the role of conscience in the Christian life. He both affirms the role of conscience in the Christian walk, and also qualifies this by saying that conscience is sub-ordinate to Scripture. This might be the most counter-cultural thing about the Christian life, that what a two-thousand plus year old text is considered the Word of God and therefore, holds far greater weight than personal conscience. Even in Christian dominated cultures like the south and the largest Baptist University in the world, one’s personal conscience is often held above the words of Scripture, either out of downright disagreement or laziness. In either case, Jones’ argument is a much needed reminder that, as Christians, we are called to submit the totality of our being to Christ, including our presuppositions about right and wrong.
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