With Most Approved Examples, It Is Obvious As To Whether Or Not They Are Binding
Some are unsure that approved New Testament examples are binding today, and the main reason is because no one can come up with any fail-safe infallible man-made rule that determines which examples are binding and which are not. But it seems to me that with about 99% of the examples – it is obvious as to whether or not they are still binding.Some things in the Bible are obvious without a hermeneutical rule you know. For example, it is obvious from the context of John 13:18 that “He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me” is referring to Judas Iscariot right? We didn’t need some hermeneutical rule to know that, did we? All we had to do is read the context and understand what we were reading (Eph 3:4).Similarly, regarding what is required for us to do today, it is pretty obvious the instruction Paul gave in II Tim 4:13 (“The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments”) is specific to only Timothy, and not for all time, isn’t it? I may not know a mathematical formula that rules it out, but we all know that instruction is not binding on us today, correct?On the other side of the coin, it is mega obvious the example of the Bereans in Acts 17:11 (“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so”) is intended by God for us to emulate. If for no other reason, you can tell because of how much the Bereans are praised by God for such actions, and we certainly should covet the praise of God (John 12:43).The way we determine if approved examples (as a general rule) are binding is not necessarily because we can answer every solitary question on the topic. The way we know approved examples are binding (required to be followed) is because God says they are … in passages like Phil 4:9, I Cor 11:1, I Cor 4:16, Phil 3:17, II Thess 3:9, Heb 6:12, and I Thess 1:6. Those scriptures should settle the question.