Application is the skill by which the doctrine which has been properly drawn from Scripture is handled in ways which are appropriate to the circumstances of the place and time and to the people in the congregation. This is the biblical approach to exposition:
“I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.” – Ezekiel. 34:15, 16
“And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.” – Jude 22, 23
The basic principle in application is to know whether the passage is a statement of the law or of the gospel. For when the Word is preached, the law and the gospel operate differently:
- The law exposes the disease of sin, and as a side-effect stimulates and stirs it up. But it provides no remedy for it.
- However the gospel not only teaches us what is to be done, it also has the power of the Holy Spirit joined to it.
When we are regenerated by him we receive the strength we need both to believe the gospel and to do what it commands. The law is, therefore, first in the order of teaching; then comes the gospel.
For this reason many statements which seem to belong to the law are, in the light of Christ, to be understood not legally but as qualified by the gospel:
“Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” – Luke 11:28
“For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you,
neither is it far off…But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in
your heart, so that you can do it.” – Deuteronomy. 30:11, 14
“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him…If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” – John 14:21,23
~ William Perkins, The Art of Prophesying, Chapter 7
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