What is “this”?

So much time and energy is spent on arguments about translations of the Bible. The fact remains that the best translation in the world cannot help you if you misinterpret the text’s meaning. The further fact is that if you have the best translation with a keen, clear and accurate interpretation and you know exactly what the original writer intended but you do not apply it to your life, you have profited little.

Today, we stop in our study of Biblical text to remind ourselves who we are and how we became who we are. We are children of God through Jesus Christ & we belong to Him through faith. Our faith centers on the Person and work of Jesus Christ. We use the Bible as our source.

We believe that the Bible was inerrant in its original form. Modern translations vary only in minor details. The central thrust of the text is not even in the slightest way affected by most modern translations. The modern text takes us back to the Savior and when it has done that, it has done its job. The reliability of the modern biblical text has been systematically confirmed through history and archaeology. No document has ever undergone more scrutiny than the Holy Scriptures and yet it has come forth as profoundly reliable. However, there is more to our faith than what the Bible says

What it means is equally important with what it says. Our interpretation may be slightly inaccurate at times, even though we work laboriously to keep them at a minimum. All of our interpretations must be held accountable to the way orthodox Christianity has interpreted the Bible down through the centuries. If our interpretation draws faithfully to the Master, it has done its job. Our faith is ultimately not in the text or the interpretation or even the application, but rather is in the Savior that it lifts.

Recently, I met a man who believes is transubstantiation. This is the theological position that when we partake of the Lord’s Supper, the elements actually become the body and blood of Christ. When this man said that he believed this, I was stunned. It feels so mystical and medieval to me.

His belief comes from a literal interpretation of Mark 14:24 which says, “this is my blood.” The Roman Catholic Church teaches in their theology, that in this verse, there is a transformation of the wine into blood. We need not argue about that because our faith is neither in the text, nor the interpretation of the text at this point, but rather in the Person and work of Jesus Christ.

We need to expand the “this” from the cup and arguments that come from it, to the cross and the Christ event. What is that “this?” Jesus gives His life for us. God’s full payment for our sin is the bigger issue. “This” is salvation that Jesus laid down His life as a substitute for ours. He gave God His perfection to pay for our impurities. His union with the Father prevents our separation. “This” is the gospel and this “this” is a much greater issue than anything that will even go through your physical digestive system.