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Feast on the Bible’s Grammar · Pastor John Piper's answers

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  Hi. My name is Mary Lynn. I'm a wife, mother, and
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  grandmother and women's ministries coordinator in Seattle, Washington. You are listening to the
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  Ask Pastor John podcast with John Piper. Mary Lynn is a friend of ours
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  and I want you to meet her in a moment. But first today's question
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  Pastor John. About a month ago in APGA nineteen ninety three, an episode
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  on expository preaching and youth ministry, should youth ministries work through books of the
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  Bible? You mentioned how artificial it is to distinguish between exposition and application because
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  the preacher is always moving from language to reality. There's no faithful exposition of
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  the text if the preacher isn't constantly feeling the tug from the words of the
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  text to the reality it's talking about. This is a profoundly important point for
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  preachers, and there's a principle behind it. So I was wondering if you
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  could explain today on the podcast one line from your new book. You have
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  this new book called Foundations for Lifelong Learning, Education and Serious Joy, And
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  in the book you wrote this quote every therefore in the Bible, and there
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  are about five hundred of them in the Greek New Testament alone, that word
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  oun oun, every one of them is a doorway to life and love.
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  Explain this principle. How do these five hundred there force in the Greek which
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  are translated in different ways into English, all from that one Greek word?
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  How do these five hundred of their fours in the New Testament open the door
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  to life and love? Yeah? Just a word about that statistic did I
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  wanted to find some juicy there force, so I did a search on the
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  word therefore in the Gospel of John. I think I got sixteen. So
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  they use words like thus or so, which are just fine. I mean,
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  that's fine, yea, Okay. I love this question, especially the
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  last part about the therefore is opening the door to life and love. But
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  before I go there, I really want to say something about that other thing
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  you draw attention to earlier, namely how artificial it is to distinguish between exposition
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  and application. That can be quite controversial because of the danger, real danger
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  of reading our situation back into the biblical situation and possibly missing the original meaning
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  because of smothering it with our own sense of what it must mean for our
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  situation. That's the danger, and I want to warn students of that I
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  want to warn our listeners about that. So a great deal of emphasis is
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  usually put on figuring out the original intention of the author for his situation first,
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  and then only after you have done that hard work of interpreting the original
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  meaning in the original setting, you asked the question whether it has any application
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  to your own life, And what you're drawing attention to when you quoted me
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  is that I have said that this approach can be quite artificial, meaning it
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  simply won't work to keep the intention of the author separate from my situation,
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  because my situation may be part of his intention originally. For example, when
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  Paul quotes Jesus and the Old Testament and says in Romans thirteen nine, you
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  shall love the love your neighbor as yourself. Whom does he have in mind?
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  By you he has in mind. I think everybody reading his letter,
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  whether it's only Romans or gets passed along to a church in northern Germany.
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  It's God's will for everyone to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. So
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  what does it mean to interpret that sentence Apart from applying it to myself?
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  It would mean trying to grasp the meaning of the word love from Paul's other
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  uses of the word love, not just my use of it. That would
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  be a mistake, and it would mean trying to understand the meaning of the
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  word neighbor, as Paul and Jesus and the Old Testament use the word neighbor
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  in that context. But do I know what this command means? I mean
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  means if I can give no illustration or implication of what it would mean for
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  me to love my neighbor this afternoon, I don't have any idea. The
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  command is addressed to me, not just to the Romans, not just to
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  a first century Jew listening to Jesus. And if it is addressed to me,
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  the line between original meaning and application to me vanishes. That is,
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  here's what I mean by that, because that could be misinterpreted. I mean
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  I have not finished finding the original meaning until I know some of what it
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  means in my life this afternoon, John Piper today, to love my wife,
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  my children, my neighbor, the people on the street, the beggar
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  at the corner. If I have no idea what that sentence means means for
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  my life, I have not interpreted it yet fully according to its original intention.
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  Because that was God's and Jesus in Paul's intention, that whoever reads this
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  text do what it says in their situation. That's the intention of the text.
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  That's its fullest, original meaning. So, by all means, let
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  the original usage of the words and the grammar and the historical context govern our
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  interpretation. But let's not think we are done interpreting grasping the author's original intention
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  until we have a sense of how the text works itself out in our lives.
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  This is urgent for us to the degree that we believe God is addressing
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  us, not just the first century, but addressing us by the words of
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  scripture. Now, here's the connection with all those life giving, love producing
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  therefores in the New Testament. Dozens and dozens and dozens of these therefores are
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  intended to have a practical, emotional, intellectual, behavioral effect on our lives
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  today. That's their purpose, that's their intention. So we don't know the
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  full meaning of these therefores until we see what their effect is to be.
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  What's it intended to be in our lives? Now, what shocked me fifty
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  five years ago, in the fall of nineteen sixty eight was the realization that
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  every time you see one of these therefores in the Bible, you should realize
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  that the authors are arguing arguing, not squabbling. That's another meaning for the
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  word arguing. I'm talking about squabbling. They are making a logical argument.
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  That's what I mean by arguing. They are stating premises and drawing conclusions,
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  as when I say to the weary traveler, you haven't eaten for two days,
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  you are hungry. I have a lot of food. Therefore, sit
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  at my table and eat your fill. Now that is a life giving Therefore
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  it is a logical argument. Like hundreds of texts in the Bible, three
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  premises one, you haven't eaten for two days. Two you are hungry.
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  Three I have much conclusion. Therefore, sit here at my time and share
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  my food. And of course there could be other premises added to those three,
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  like I love you, I'm not afraid of you. Now we have
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  five premises that lead to the great Therefore, share my table. So you
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  are asking me when you ask about it, therefore your own. You're asking
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  me to celebrate one of the simplest and greatest discoveries I've ever made, namely
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  that the Biblical authors make arguments and The signal that they are making arguments is
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  words like because and therefore and hundreds of these are life giving love producing.
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  Therefore, for example, here's Matthew seven, eleven and twelve. If you,
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  then, Jesus says, who are evil? If you, who are
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  evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more
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  will your father, who is in heaven give good things to those who ask
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  him. Therefore, whatever you wish that others would do to you, do
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  also to them. Now that's worth an hour's reflection. How does that,
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  therefore work? Where does love come from? That's what Jesus is answering.
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  Where does love come from? Where does the power to obey the Golden rule
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  treat others the way you'd like to be treated? Where does it come from?
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  And Jesus says it comes from the reality behind the therefore, namely,
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  the confidence that your omnipotent father in heaven will meet every need you have when
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  you ask him. Period do you believe him he will give you the good
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  you need. Therefore, do unto others as you wish them to do unto
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  you. That is what I mean by a love producing the Therefore, if
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  you don't grasp the logic and the reality of the Therefore you will forsake one
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  of the great powers and motives for obeying the Golden rule. Or here's one
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  Corinthians fifteen fifty six to fifty eight. Paul has just spent fifty verses describing
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  and defending the glories of what it will mean for us to be raised from
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  the dead, and he ends the chapter like this, the sting of death
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  is sin. The power of sin is the law. But thanks be to
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  God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my
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  beloved brothers, be steadfast, be immovable, always abounding in the work of
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  the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
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  That's what I call a life giving. Therefore death does not end your life.
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  You're going to be raised from the dead. Therefore, nothing you do,
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  nothing you do in the name of Jesus, is in vain. Press
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  on, be steadfast, abound in good work, live live because of the
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  Therefore of first Corinthians fifteen fifty eight. So okay, there are hundreds of
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  these, but we have to stop. Therefores give life. Therefores produce love,
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  and we have not gotten to the full intention of those texts until we
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  see this so good. Yeah, dozens and dozens and dozens of these therefors
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  are intended to have a practical, emotional, intellectual, behavioral effect on our
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  lives today, and we don't know the full meaning of the therefore is,
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  until we see what their effect is to be in our lives. That's the
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  kind of tool we need to make our own Bible reading authentic pessure. John,
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  thank you for that. And before we go today, I want to
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  talk to our friend Mary Lynn and Seattle. You heard her at the beginning
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  of the episode. Mary Lynn, thank you for your time today, your
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  precious gift to the Ministry of Desiring God and have served our team in very
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  tangible ways on the ground in Seattle. I've seen it with my own eyes
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  how you served the ministry and you're ministry partner as well in other ways,
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  including financially supporting the ministry. Why do you support Desiring God? We truly
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  love the ministry. All of Desiring God's resources have been the quintessential for all
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  seasons ministry to us. And I would start by saying, if I'm needing
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  a spiritual or emotional pick me up, it doesn't take long to scroll through
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  and find an article that's going to redirect my thoughts and even my emotions toward
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  Christ, toward the Gospel and eternal things in a way that refreshes my soul,
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  and I think I would say, in a way that's so far removed
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  from duty, rather that really makes my returning and rest to a faithful Savior
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  a true delight. And it has simultaneously met the needs of our whole family.
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  It's been a unifying force. Honestly, we have a family group chat
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  We're in four states right now and we don't get too much talking time,
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  look at the book for our small group weekly for a year, and if
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  the value of what we make in it being shared through your testimony. I
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  appreciate that. How would you answer this question to those listening right now to
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  of the greatest blessings you can give yourself is to support Desiring God ministries.
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  donate. We appreciate it. I'm Tony Ranky and we will see you on Monday.