A key difference between the Western mind and the Hebrew mind is our perspective of truth over time. According to Ray Vanderlaan, Greeks see truth as static and unchanging while Hebrews see truth as unfolding. In light of this truth, Vanderlaan says:
God said at the beginning of the Bible, a man and a woman will leave and marry - one man, one woman. Why does it take him thousands of years before it’s finally said, “husband of one wife” - one spouse? Well, says the Hebrew, it takes a long time for people to arrive at an understanding of truth. God didn’t immediately ask them to have a full grasp and concept of truth. So it developed…For the Easterner, truth is truth, but truth developed as God worked his plan. (Any grammatical errors are mine, not his. I’m quoting from audio.)
I think such a way of thinking is important. Essential concepts have been developed over Church history that weren’t fully grasped by earlier generations. The Trinity, for example, was obviously not developed in detail until the first few centuries A.D. and still continues to be developed today (Van Til). Also take the doctrine of justification. Many people today are acknowledging that the Biblical doctrine is much deeper than the forensic sense alone. The doctrine of justification apart from works is indeed a centerpiece of the Christian faith and most people who realize that the Bible’s teaching is more robust do not dare turn their backs on it. Still yet, it is important to embrace the deeper truths that God has unraveled before our eyes.
There is another progression that has recently been made in our faith, which, in my opinion, helps us to better understand God’s reason for revealing truth to us over time. I’m referring to the understanding that God requires us to mature to immortality, not to merit it. It is my understanding that when Christ did what Adam failed to do, he did not earn merit by obedience, but he matured through his obedience. When he reached that maturity, he laid his life down for his bride and rose to immortality. Then he sent us his Spirit to impute his maturity to us.
Thus, Christ’s bride as a whole is maturing in her faith, love and beauty as we come to understand these truth more fully. We understand justification differently than before, not because we have moved away from the reformers’ doctrine, but because we are maturing in it. As our King gives us more and more grace to mature in the faith, we come closer and closer to that which we long for - the time when we are risen to life immortal to rest in our Lord.
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