Biblical Principles: Use or Abuse? (Part 1)

I have a had a very messed up way of thinking about and using Biblical principles for most of my Christian walk, and also for years taught and mislead many in this.  I have spent a great deal of time thinking on this lately, and wanted to try to write these things out.  So this is the first in a series of posts on how to use and how not to use what we call “Biblical principles.”

Let’s start by doing the important work of defining terms (from Webster, adapted):

Biblical principles – the fundamental truths and propositions (commands and cause-and-effect statements) in the Word of God that serve as the foundation for our beliefs or behavior or for a chain of reasoning.    

The Bible is replete with principles:

Jesus used parables to teach fundamental truths and propositions (principles).  For example, in Luke 18:1, it says, “Now [Jesus]was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart.”  So Jesus has a fundamental truth (a principle) that he wants to teach His disciples: Pray and don’t become discouraged and give up.  He then tells a story about a judge and a widow to illustrate the principle.

The Old Testament teaches principles.  Deu 25:4 "You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing.”  Here is a command that someone in the OT days could read and understand that God says He wants the Israelites not to restrict the working animal from eating out of the grain in which they are working. 

Then Paul takes this as a principle (a foundational truth) and applies it in the NT to those who make their living from the gospel:

1Ti 5:17, 18 The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.  For the Scripture says, "YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING," and "The laborer is worthy of his wages."

So then, we can pick a topic (for instance, marriage) and say, “What does the Bible teach about this?” or, going back to our definition, “What are the fundamental truths and propositions (commands and cause-and-effect statements) in the Word of God that serve as the foundation for our beliefs or behavior or for a chain of reasoning about marriage?”

We can then compile a list of related verses:

Gen 2:18-24     Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him…"

Eph 5:22-24     Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord…

Eph 5:25-33     Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her…

Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera…

Then we would start looking for the fundamental truths and propositions (commands and cause-and-effect statements) that would serve as the foundation for our beliefs or behavior or for a chain of reasoning about marriage.

1. “It is not good for the man to be alone.”
1. As a general statement, it is good for men to be married.
2. It is not a bad thing for men to be married.
2. “I will make him a helper suitable for him."
1. Men need help!
2. One of the purposes for the wife is to be a helper for the man.
3. God Himself made the women for the man.  It was not an accidental thing.
4. The wife is God-designed to be suitable (the best possible) for the man.

Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera…

Now for the main question.  How do we think about and use these Biblical principles?