In the past weeks, we have spoken of God’s will and how to understand his will as revealed in the scriptures. In the last three articles, we looked into the principles of the commandments of God and the examples of Jesus and the Apostles. This week, we will look into the principle of implication, sometimes known as necessary inference.
Necessary inference occurs when the Bible does not state something explicitly, but rather states things in a way that forces us to make the needed conclusion. Stated another way, it says something without actually saying it. “Are you pulling my leg,” you say? To which I reply, “No, not at all!” Let’s look to the words of Jesus for our first example of necessary inference.
Matthew 12:18-27 records for us an event in the life of Jesus when certain Sadducees came to him asking a question that they thought that Jesus could not answer. Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. I will leave it to the reader to look up the verses, but for now let’s read verses 26-27:
“26 And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.”
As Jesus combats the error of the Sadducees, the belief that there is no resurrection, he does not tell them that there is a resurrection! No, instead, he reminds them that the scripture records God telling Moses from the bush, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” When God told Moses this, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s deaths were about 400 years in the past—yet Jesus tells them that God is the God of the living. What conclusion must we reach? That Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (who died) are now living! And what does this in turn imply? That there is a resurrection of the dead! Yet Jesus never stated this to those men in so many words. Can we be sure of the meaning just the same? Of course we can! There can be no mistake.
So, the principle of necessary inference does not leave us free to make the Bible say what we want, but rather we must study carefully to understand just exactly what it is that the Bible says. Just as Jesus communicated his teaching through statements of truth, through command, example, and necessary inference, the written Word of God does as well.
Until next time, let me encourage you to search the scriptures daily, whether these things are so. Acts 17:11
May God bless you in your study of his Word.
Copyright 2006 Mance J. Davis Jr.
