The social spheres that we will discuss are the home, the church, and the world. It is within these contexts that we must use the Scripture to teach, to refute, to correct, and to educate ourselves and others, and to promote salvation and sanctification.

The home, or the family, is the smallest circle on our list, but it is also the building block of the others. The Scripture is authoritative, sufficient, and profitable to define the family's relationship with God, the church, and the world, the authority structure between the members, the relationship between the husband and the wife, the relationship between parents and children, the authority and responsibilities of the parents, how widows within the family should be treated, and all other related issues. It should also regulate the family in the areas of education, work, money, sex, food, health, time, recreation, and entertainment.

In other words, Scripture's authority and usefulness touches every aspect of family life. Most families do almost nothing to enforce biblical teachings in the home. There is much more to going to church together, praying together, and reading the Bible together. For example, most men probably know nothing about dealing with ungodly in-laws other than to practice the most general biblical principles such as love, forgiveness, or "a soft answer turns away wrath," and more often than not, even these are misunderstood and misapplied by them. This is why families must deliberately study and apply what the Bible has to say about how the home ought to operate.

Although the family is the building block of the church, it usually functions in connection with and even under the influence and authority of the church. Yes, the family can operate in relative independence from the church as a self-contained unit, so that a church that seeks to exercise absolute authority over a family is really a cult, but the Bible's command to obey church leaders and serve the interests of the covenant community applies to the individual families that make up such a community.

Moreover, the church is where the word of God is authoritatively preached and enforced. Of course, the word of God is also preached and enforced in the family, but the church is a larger institution that preaches and enforces the word of God to the family. Whereas the husband is the final court of appeal in the home, if the need arises, special appeals could be made to the church, so that under the authority of Scripture, the church may offer counsel or render a verdict, and in extreme cases, even excommunicate the offender.

For example, the husband could appeal to the church if his wife persistently refuses to obey him, or the wife could appeal if her husband abuses her – that is, not as she defines abuse, but as the Bible would define it. Feuding families that cannot settle their disputes by themselves may also appeal to the church. This can work very well even when the families involved belong to different churches, that is, if both churches are committed to enforcing the biblical principles of church discipline. However, it is difficult for many families to find any church that even knows about what the Bible teaches on the subject, not to mention one that would enforce it. This contributes to the way that Christians often disgrace the kingdom of Christ before the world's court, as if the church cannot even settle the smallest matters among its members.

(to be continued)

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