We are learning how to understand the Bible. In this series, we have been looking at the way God authorizes in the Scriptures. God gives us direct commands and He gives us implied commands. But, there is one more way in which God authorizes.
Throughout the sixty-six books of the Bible, God gives us a tremendous amount of examples of how men of God and enemies of God acted in light of His word. Sometimes they acted according to God’s will and other times they acted against God’s will. When the people of the Bible act in agreement with God’s will, we call these approved examples. For instance, when Abraham offered Isaac according to God’s command in Genesis 22, God showed approval, saying, “…because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son…blessing I will bless you…” (vv. 16-17).
Now, we obviously know that this specific command for Abraham was only meant for him. God does not require us to prove our faith by sacrificing our children. All we are meant to take away from this example is that God expects us to obey His commands without question. But, how do we know that is the case? How do we know when an example is binding? Let’s look at some passages to see what the Bible says.
In the Scriptures, we will find examples that are meant to be taken as commands and others that are simply meant to show us how people acted at a certain time. They describe what people did but not what we must do. For example, in Acts chapters 2 and 4, we see twice that the early Christians sold their possessions and land and distributed them amongst the brethren. But, you don’t see hardly any congregations doing this kind of thing today. Why is it that these examples are not practiced by Christians? Because no command is being illustrated by the example.
In order for an example to be binding, there must be an underlying command. We see this happen in regards to the Lord’s Supper. When Jesus instituted the Communion, He commanded us to “take” and to “eat” and “drink.” Then, in 1 Corinthians 11:26, Paul commands that we do this “often.” But, in both cases, we are not told how often. However, there are several examples of the apostles and their disciples partaking on “…the first day of the week” (Acts 20:7) and on “…the first day of every week” (1 Cor. 16:2, ESV). In both of these examples, they are illustrating how the early Christians carried out the commands to take and eat often. Therefore, these approved examples must be followed today.
Did you know that an example can be as binding as a command? What other approved examples do you know of?