The Christ Centeredness of Scripture

Before I came to the reformed tradition, I failed to appreciate the Christ centeredness of all scripture. The Old Testament was useful in understanding the history of the Jews, and some good moral insights might be discerned from the characters, but the New Testament was really all I needed. Looking back, it is not difficult to see how those from the same theological camps, or lack thereof, could also come to the conclusion that only the red letter passages in their bibles are the truly significant ones. That is, if Jesus did not set forth the proposition it could not be trusted as the word of God. The result is a very small and incomplete version of the scriptures. Vos addresses this gross error brilliantly in the following passage:

"To take Christ at all He must be taken as the centre of a movement of revelation organized around Him, and winding up the whole process of revelation. When cut loose from what went before and came after, Jesus not only becomes uninterpretable, but owing to the meteoric character of His appearance, remains scarcely sufficient for bearing by Himself alone the tremendous weight of a supernaturalistic world-view. As a matter of fact, Jesus does not represent Himself anywhere as being by his human earthly activity the exhaustive expounder of truth. Much rather He is the great fact to be expounded. And He has nowhere isolated Himself from His interpreters, but on the contrary identified them with Himself, both as to absoluteness of authority and adequacy of knowledge imparted [Luke 24:44; John 16:12-15]." Geerhardus Vos, Biblical Theology, The Banner of Truth Trust, 2004, p. 302.

By better understanding this essential truth, - i.e., Christ is the center of all scripture, the Bible, especially the Old Testament, is so much richer. God has given His people the wonderful story of how he has, is, and will redeem His people. Let us tell it often, lest we forget His incomprehensible grace, mercy, and love.

The Cart Before the Horse

As Michael Horton has pointed out in a number of his works, a recurring theme in scripture is that the indicative precedes the imperative. That is, the promises of God precede his commands. Geerhardus Vos's exegesis of the patriarchs is illustrative of this point.

"God does not begin with working upon the inward psychical states of the patriarchs, as though they were subjects of reform -- an unbiblical attitude which is, unfortunately, characteristic of too much of modern religion. He begins with giving them promises. The keynote is not what Abraham has to do for God, but what God will do for Abraham. Then, in response to this, the subjective frame of mind that changes the inner and outer life is cultivated." [emphasis added] Geerhardus Vos, Biblical Theology, The Banner of Truth Trust, p. 80.

Vos on Faith

"Faith and a desire for more faith frequently go hand in hand. The reason is that through faith we lay hold upon God, and in grasping the infinite object, the utter inadequacy of each single act of appropriation immediately reveals itself in the very act. It is the same in the Gospel: 'Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief' [Mark 9:24]." Geerhardus Vos, Biblical Theology p. 83

May we ever thirst for more faith until that day we see with our eyes and need faith no more.

Girls and Snakes

"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." Genesis 3:15 (ESV)

It sounds silly now, but growing up I thought the purpose of this verse was primarily to explain why girls did not like snakes. As an adult, I think I just dismissed the verse like so many others that I could not explain. However, after reading Geerhardus Vos' Biblical Theology, I found the Gospel there.

"The emphasis rests on the pronoun: God says 'I will put enmity'. Here is not primarily an appeal to man but a divine promise. Nor does God merely instigate or promote enmity; He sovereignly puts it. . .The essence of the deliverance consists in a reversal of the attitude assumed by man towards the serpent and God respectively. Man in sinning had sides with the serpent and placed himself in opposition to God. Now the attitude towards the serpent becomes one of hostility; this must carry with it a corresponding change in man's attitude toward God. God being the mover in the warfare against Satan, man, joining in this, becomes plainly the ally of God." Geerhardus Vos, Biblical Theology, Banner of Truth Trust, 2004, p. 42.

I look forward to that day when our redemption is complete and we love sin no more.