At first glance it is somewhat surprising – and at second glance rather disconcerting – how often the Bible expects us to know certain things. It will say ‘we know’ as though it can be assumed that we do indeed know, or it will ask ‘do you not know?’ regarding something that we really should be expected to know. Joseph Parker preached in London once, and had a woman thank him for a message he had just delivered. She commented that up until then she had thought that Sodom and Gomorrah were husband and wife. These days the mistakes tend to be more drastic, and the general populace often more unteachable. George Barna has found that the most popular Bible verse in the USA is ‘God helps those who help themselves’ – which, of course, is not in the Bible.
What are Christians who read the Bible expected to know? We are expected to know that God’s judgment is against all those who practise the list of evils, including homosexuality, mentioned in Romans 1 (Rom.2:2). That might not be obvious to the Church of Scotland but it should be obvious to Christians. We also know that the law speaks to those under the law, and closes every mouth because we will have not defence as the Judge pronounces the whole world guilty (Rom.3:19). There is something instinctively correct about that declaration. Within our hearts, we know that the law is spiritual, but we are not (Rom.7:14); we know that the law is good if we use it lawfully (1 Tim.1:8). We ought to know that we are slaves of sin or of obedience (Rom.6:16), and that the church is the temple of God indwelt by the Spirit (1 Cor.3:16).
Somehow we also know that the whole creation groans and labours with birth pangs, looking to the birth of something far greater (Rom.8:22). There is something spiritually self-evident about God’s sovereignty over all things and His promise and His capacity to work all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Rom.8:28). ‘We know’ this – Paul expects no argument from his readers. The promise too of the resurrection body is a hope that all Christians know (2 Cor. 5:1).
‘A little leaven leavens the whole lump’ is a truth that Paul expected the Corinthians to know (1 Cor.5:6), perhaps as an obvious truth or as a proverbial saying. Something similar applies to his semi-rhetorical question: ‘Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize?’ (1 Cor.9:24) Paul evidently expected Christians to have at leas some grasp of the workings of athletics!
Paul also expected the Corinthians to have thought through the truth that the saints will judge the world and angels (1 Cor.6:2-3). Unless we are deceiving ourselves, we ought to know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor.6:9). A member of Christ’s body ought not to be joined to a harlot (1 Cor.6:15-16), for the body of the Christian believer is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor.6:19). James too could be blunt: ‘Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?’ (James 4:4) To miss this is to miss a clear New Testament teaching.
It is sobering how Paul expected his Gentile readers to know their Old Testaments – to know, for example, that Elijah felt isolated as a lone believer whereas the reality was that seven thousand men had not bowed the knee to Baal (Rom.11:2). They were not to be unaware of the forty year trek to the Promised Land, and the implications that has for sacramental grace (1 Cor.10:1-13). He even expected them to know something of the Old Testament offerings, that the priests and Levites shared in them (1 Cor.9:13) – something that was, no doubt, less than exciting, but nevertheless practical in its application for the church.
So many truths should be obvious to us. The warning is that Pilate felt the same way when he asked Christ: ‘Do you not know that I have authority to crucify You, and authority to release You?’ (John 19:10) The possession of such authority was obvious to Pilate, but sadly misguided. Jesus’ reply was that Pilate had no power at all save that which had been given him from above (John 19:11). Some truths are indeed self-evident, but our sinful nature means that even these can be muddied. Somehow we manage to miss what ought to hit us in the face. That is why we need to check all things by Scripture, ‘the light that shines in a dark place’ (2 Peter 1:19).
With warmest regards in Christ,
Peter Barnes