5 Biblical Hermeneutics Commitments Vital for Healthy Missions

ABWE adheres to five hermeneutical principles to guide us as we read, interpret, and teach God’s Word as we engage in Christ’s mission around the world.

The stakes for proper hermeneutics in missions could not be higher.

Of course, properly understanding the Word of God is important for all Christians, but those at the tip of the spear taking the gospel to the nations must be able to rightly divide the Word of God and faithfully engage the Scriptures, assured that they have understood God’s Word as he intended.  To this end, ABWE adheres to five hermeneutical principles to guide us as we read, interpret, and teach God’s Word as we engage in Christ’s mission around the world. 

1. Sola Scriptura 

ABWE is committed to the truth of Scripture and upholds Scripture alone as the final authority. At first glance, this may not seem like a hermeneutical conviction, but it anchors our hermeneutics. Since Scripture is the final authority, then the words of Scripture must be interpreted according to God’s intent as written. This means that we don’t use extratextual methods to impose meaning on Scripture.  

2. Scripture Is the Final Authority in Interpreting Scripture 

Scripture interprets Scripture and is the final authority in interpretation. Since Scripture is the final authority, then it is the only proper interpreter of itself. When we encounter difficult passages, we interpret the unclear passages of Scripture by the clear passages of Scripture. This guards our interpretation from becoming widely speculative or fanciful when something is unclear. We don’t read into the Scripture allegorical meaning not intended by God.  

3. God’s Word Is Inerrant 

God has spoken in his Word, and it is inerrant. Since Scripture is God’s revelation to us, then his intent in Scripture is of  the utmost importance. He is not speaking to us in code or allegories. He is speaking to us in plain human language. He speaks to reveal and make known. Because God is infallible and does not err, we can trust that his speech will be inerrant and infallible.  

If God speaks plainly and clearly, we then must listen plainly and clearly. We do not interpret Scripture through some sort of divination or mystical methodology to get it to reveal its secret. The fact that God speaks in plain language without error means that we should interpret biblical passages according to the plain sense of the words and their meaning. 

The inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture means that God does not break his Word. He makes unconditional covenants that do not change and are irrevocable (Hebrews 6:13-20). If God has spoken something, he does not change it because he grounds his Word in who he is. For example, God gave his promise to Abraham, “surely I will bless you and multiply you” (Genesis 22;17; Hebrews 6:14) and in that word he shows “more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose” (Hebrews 6:17). It is impossible for God to lie; his Word is inerrant and infallible. 

4. Grammatical-Historical Interpretation Guides Our Scripture Reading 

We should read the words of Scripture in their plain sense, which means using grammatical-historical interpretation. Our commitment to grammatical-historical interpretation rests on the truth of who God is and what he does. He is the ultimate author of Scripture. The meaning of Scripture, as with other written texts, comes from the author who formed the words. Meaning is rooted in what is said through the plain sense of the words. Therefore, we do not engage in reader-response methodologies, critical theory hermeneutics, allegorical methods searching for hidden meaning, or spiritualization of the text that goes beyond any true, spiritual meaning written through God’s original intent.  

It should be noted that grammatical-historical interpretation does not hold authority over the text. God is the authority, and his Word is infallible, not our interpretation or methodologies. If rightly used, however, grammatical-historical interpretation functions as a servant under the authority of the text, helping us to hear and understand God as he intended to be heard and understood. 

Grammatical-historical interpretation guides us to consider the genre of Scripture passages (i.e. narrative, proverbs, poetry, or apocalyptic literature). It will recognize poetic expressions, figures of speech, and non-literal meaning where that is what the author intended to convey. It will not read symbolic meaning and allegory into the text where the author did not mean it as such. This, of course, can be tricky at times, and we therefore must continue to be careful students of Scripture.  

ABWE will not conduct ministry or formulate doctrine in a way that violates the plain meaning of the text. ABWE’s earliest motto, established in 1929, was “The Apostolic Method and the Apostolic Message.” We want to minister God’s Word God’s way. We uphold grammatical-historical interpretation in a way that esteems Scripture as God’s revelation, acknowledges Scripture as the final authority as revealed by God, and lets Scripture function as its own interpreter.  

Letting Scripture interpret Scripture means that we reject historical-critical methodology. While historical-critical methodology often uses grammatical-historical interpretation for particular passages, it does not consider the Bible to be one cohesive book from God. Historical-critical scholars might, for example, think that it is inappropriate to use Paul’s letters to help us understand a passage in Luke as we formulate an understanding of the whole Bible. They would also reject any notion that the New Testament and Old Testament are bound together as one book and that we can use the New Testament to help us understand the Old Testament and vice versa.  

5. The Bible Tells One Overarching Story 

The Bible tells one story of God’s mission to glorify his name and save the lost. While the Bible consists of a collection of books, we recognize their divine authorship and the God-breathed nature of Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16). The human authors were carried along by the Holy Spirit as they wrote (2 Peter 1:21). As such, the Bible tells one overarching story of God glorifying his name within creation. This is an important commitment for ABWE. 

God created man in his image to have dominion over all creation as his vice-regents. After man’s sin and rebellion in Genesis 3, God continued to reveal himself in creation for his own glory, this time also for the purpose of redemption. Saints in Old Testament Israel and in the church today believe the same gospel message (Genesis 15:6; Romans 1:2; Galatians 3:8; Hebrews 4:2)—the message of salvation which is to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Romans 1:16-17). This singular story unfolds with nuances and distinctions of continuity and discontinuity but is still one plan and purpose of God and is fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ. In Adam all die and sin, while all those in Christ will be made alive (Romans 5:12; 17-20; 1 Corinthians 15:22).   

While there are distinctions in the unfolding of God’s plan, his purpose has always been to bless the nations through Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3). Israel was God’s firstborn son (Exodus 4:22), called to be the highest among the nations and God’s own heritage (Deuteronomy 26:19; 28:1; 32:8-9). She is the firstfruits of God’s harvest (Jeremiah 2:3). The gospel was never just for Israel, but Israel’s Messiah would bring the nations to know the true and living God. The dominion of the Messiah would extend to the ends of the earth, and kings would bow to him (Psalm 72:8, 11, 17).  

Jesus is this crucified and risen Messiah. While he is now being, in part, rejected by the Jewish people (his brothers according to the flesh), God’s plan nonetheless remains that salvation is found through the gospel, and that the gospel is proclaimed to the ends of the earth. God is fulfilling his plan to extend his glory into all creation by saving people from every tongue, tribe, and nation. Indeed, in Abraham all nations will be blessed, and in Christ the blessing comes to the Gentiles (Genesis 12:1-3; Galatians 3:8-9, 14). This does not mean that God has broken his promises or rejected his people (11:1), but “a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the full number of Gentiles has come in” (Romans 11:25). “The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29). God will fulfill his promises he made to Israel in the Old Testament. 

ABWE’s role in missions is part of God’s plan to extend his glory into all creation and call people from every tongue, tribe, and nation. It is our joy and pleasure to see God become known among the nations and people groups turn from false beliefs to glorify him. During this time in which there are key prophecies yet to be fulfilled by Jesus the Messiah, we seek to be gospel messengers and ambassadors for our King, to whom all authority in heaven and on earth has been granted (Matthew 20:18, e.g. Romans 1:4; Acts 2:36), who sits at the right hand of the Father, and who has all things under his feet and is bringing all things under his feet (Psalm 8:6-7; Psalm 110:1; Acts 2:34-36; Hebrews 2:5-9). 

Tim Bertolet

Tim Bertolet serves with ABWE as Director of Instructional Design and Theological Education. He has served in pastoral ministry for 16 years and knows the life of an MK firsthand. With a Ph.D. in New Testament Studies from the University of Pretoria, and degrees from Westminster Theological Seminary and Lancaster Bible College, he specializes in Bible and theology and is passionate about applying it to life and ministry. Tim is also an adjunct professor, research fellow with BibleMesh, and a published author. Tim lives in York, Pa. with his wife and kids. He enjoys reading, writing, science fiction, and gardening roses.