OBEYING THE IMPOSSIBLE COMMANDS: How to Apply Specific Commands in the Letters?
Because they are letters, we can read direct and specific commands for the original readers that are impossible for us to follow literally. Paul instructed the church to welcome Epaphroditus (Phil 2:29). Whoever that brother with the hard-to-spell name is, we know he is no longer in this world, so we can no longer throw him a welcome party. Paul also asked for his cloak that he left somewhere, along with his books (2 Tim 4:13). Even if we all work together, we have no idea where to look for those things. How do we apply these today if we cannot even obey them? Do these commands still have relevance for us now, or should we just skip them when reading? There are a few things we need to remember:
๐๐น๐น ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฝ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ, ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฝ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ณ๐๐น. According to 2 Tim 3:16–17, all Scripture is inspired or God-breathed, and therefore it is “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,” or in short, it is beneficial. It is clear here that there is no verse or passage in the Bible that God mistakenly included and that, in reality, is just taking up space. Even the commands that are impossible to obey literally were inspired so that believers may be “equipped for every good work” (v. 17).
๐๐ฒ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป. There were situations happening that prompted what we are reading to be written. The writers were not just freestyling whatever they felt like putting in their letters. Paper was far too expensive in their time for them to waste it. This is where the rigorous process of exegesis comes in, or the proper drawing out of the meaning of the text. This must be done first before we move on to the next step of getting the “extended application.” “The key (in getting the extended application) is to do our exegesis well enough to ascertain the specific life situations of the biblical times and to gain confidence that our situations are truly comparable with theirs. Extended application occurs when one applies a biblical text to a modern situation that is not genuinely comparable to the original meaning of the text.” (Osborn, 2006). We must first know what was happening behind the statement so that we can see whether their situation is comparable to ours today.
For example, 1–2 Timothy were written by Paul while he was imprisoned. With this background in mind, we can understand why he instructed Timothy to get his cloak, books, and parchments (2 Tim 4:13). Even if we cannot retrieve his cloak from wherever it was left, we can still grasp the lesson about endurance in the midst of persecution. Paul prepared himself to face the coldness of prison. We can also apply this today by being prepared for our own versions of persecution that we may face. He also asked for his books and parchments. Even though Paul knew that his days were numbered, he still wanted to read, study, and write. He might die soon, but he was not dead yet. For him, there was still time to learn and even to teach others through his letters. This is a lesson for us today about the importance of knowing God and serving others, even when we are in difficult moments.
๐ง๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐. Not only are the similarities between the situation we read about and our present time important in getting the extended application, but the differences matter as well. Always remember that the letters addressed specific issues and concerns that were likely different from ours today because our culture and time are different. For example, Paul’s command to greet one another with a “holy kiss” (Rom 16:16; 1 Cor 16:20; 2 Cor 13:12; etc.) cannot be applied literally. The “holy kiss” in Paul’s time was lips-to-lips—and if you do that today, you might be taken straight to the authorities after the church service. (No matter how much I love my church brothers, I’d rather we just hurt each other.) The point of the command is to treat our fellow believers as family.
Another good example is in 2 Cor 11:4–16, which is about head coverings. For Paul, it was shameful for a woman to have no covering on her head. It would be better, he said, for her to just shave her head (v. 6). Does this passage mean that Christian women today must always cover their heads in public? Do we need to shave the heads of women who refuse to cover their hair? Of course not. This was written in a setting where a woman’s hair was considered a temptation to men’s eyes. So if they let it hang loose and visible to the public, it was extremely scandalous. In their time, this could even be used by a husband as grounds for divorce and as an accusation of infidelity against his wife. Obviously, we do not share the same culture as they did, which means we cannot apply the commands directly. But we can still apply the command as a lesson on modesty and being considerate of others.
The Bible was written for us, but it was not originally written to us. When we read the epistles written for the early church, let us not forget that we are only reading along. I repeat. Only. Reading. Along. This does not mean that we cannot benefit from reading messages that were not originally meant for us. The same God who spoke through these letters is the same God we have today. ๐๐ต๐ข๐บ ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด.
๐ฆ๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฒ๐:
McCain D. and Keener, C. (2012). “Application in the Bible.” Understanding and Applying the Scriptures. African Christian Books
Osborn, G. (2006). “Hermeneutical Principle." The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation. IVP Academic
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