Lee Campbell Ph.D.

Some contemporary evangelical scholars suggest that Matthew's use of the Old Testament is likened to the way rabbis of that period used it.[1] For example, the Qumran community contemporized the Old Testament (a.k.a. pesher) by holding that Old Testament scriptures were predictive of their own situation. Many modern scholars would argue that Matthew also interprets the Old Testament using pesher when, for example, he applies Hosea 11:1 to Christ's sojourn in Egypt. If it is true that New Testament authors interpreted the Old Testament this way, then it is a little unsettling. The most pressing concern is that pesher, peshat and many later misrash techniques are fundamentally eisegetical. That is, these hermeneutical approaches are hostile to the notion of objective interpretation. If this is the case, then it brings into question the legitimacy of many critical NT uses of the OT. Ultimately, if NT authors did use rabbinical hermeneutics, then one must question the very authority of the New Testament in critical matters of faith.

Dennis McCallum and Gary DeLashmutt

1. Neglecting the word will always eventually result in a complete stunting of spiritual growth, according to 1 Corinthians 3 and Hebrews 5. These passages clearly teach that there is no such thing as a mature Christian who is "not accustomed to the word of righteousness." In other words, no amount of prayer, fellowship, or spiritual experience can make up for a deficiency in the our understanding of God's Word. 2. Deficiency in the Word affects our experience with other means of growth. For instance, anyone who is shallow in the Word cannot minister properly, or pray as they ought (John l5:7) 3. To receive the intended benefit from Scripture, readers must "handle accurately" the word of truth. In other words, sound interpretation must proceed application. Devotional readers may feel no need to do background study or careful exegesis, leading to improper impressions of what a text means.

Dennis McCallum and Gary DeLashmutt

Body-life refers to Christian fellowship as taught in the New Testament. There, the word koinonia, is usually translated "fellowship" or "sharing." The word means "to have in common" or "to share." In the Body of Christ, we are supposed to share the life of Christ with one another in a way that cannot be done in any other context. This is accomplished through the exchange of Christian love facilitated by our spiritual gifts. Such an exchange, called "ministry" (which simply means "service"), is the life-blood of growing Christians.

Dennis McCallum and Gary DeLashmutt

- Ministry is practicing biblical love, which is the goal of Christian instruction (1 Timothy 1:5). - Each person needs to contribute their function in order for the Body to be healthy (Ephesians 4:16). - Ministry counteracts a selfish, temporal value system by replacing it with investment in eternal things - people (See Matthew 6:19-21 and interpret in light of 1 Thessalonians 2:19,20). - Gives outlet and an unselfish purpose to the other means of growth. Apart from ministry, the means of growth will tend to be viewed as purely self-serving tools, and thus will not result in growth.

Dennis McCallum and Gary DeLashmutt

Prayer is communication with God. We cannot imagine a "personal relationship" that is devoid of communication. Scriptural types of prayer include worship, thanksgiving, petition, intercession and warfare.

Dennis McCallum and Gary DeLashmutt

Paul sometimes uses language referring to the "flesh" or sin nature as the outer man (2 Corinthians 4:7-18; Romans 7). The main idea here is that suffering serves to "break down" the outer man so that the life of Christ can be "manifested" or revealed through the believer. This process is seen as important for victory over the power of sin (Romans 7:24), and for effectiveness in ministry (2 Corinthians 4:12). This approach is taught effectively by Watchman Nee, in The Release of the Spirit.

Dennis McCallum

When reading these two passages, Christians can easily become totally confused and give up. Yet, these are surely two of the richest passages in the whole of Scripture. Therefore, the author rebukes those of his audience who have no taste for meat (5:11-14) and who are therefore immature. They couldn't understand, and it will be even harder for us to do so, since we have none of the Jewish liturgical background they did. For this reason, we will have to start with some background considerations.

Dennis McCallum

Questions to discuss when reading Dennis McCallum's book Members of One Another

Dennis McCallum and Gary DeLashmutt

When two people join their lives together, how do they decide on direction? What if one has habits or tastes that annoy the other? What if their priorities are different? Secular marriages have no clear answer to these questions. Generally, counselors suggest couples should compromise or take turns in decision making. But these solutions don't always work. Spouses wind up saying, "We decided your way last time," and we open a new source of conflict. Then there's this one: "I think this would be a good compromise." "No, this would be a compromise!" Similarly, consider how you would feel in this scenario: "We decided my way about which movie to see last night, but now we have to decide your way on which house to buy!"