EXPLICIT and implicit

      "When He, the Spirit of truth, has come,

               He will guide you into all truth

                          (John16:13a)

While it is vital that we look for the literal meaning

of biblical texts in order to guard against fanciful 

conclusions, it is not improper to draw implications

from statement made bu scripture. However, all our

implication must stand or fall on the basis  of the 

explicit, or clear, teaching of the Bible.

The Westminister conference of faith says, " The 

Whole counsel of God, concerning all things 

Necessary for His own glory, man's salavation, 

Faith, and life, is either expressly set down in 

scripture, or by good and necessary conquence

may be deduced" (I,6) In order words, just as we

have seen, everythings that mankind needsto know

on essential matters related to God,man and 

redemption is either stated plainly in scripture or is 

Implied there, using God-givenpowers of rational

deduction, the church can arrive at these necessary

implications.

An example of an implication drawn from Scripture's

Plain passage is the doctrince of the trinity. The word

"Trinity" never appears in the Bibles. But the concept

is there. The Bible clearly teaches that God is one,

but it also says thar Jesus is God, just as is the father

and the Holy Spirit is divine, too. Over the years, the 

church gradually came to agree that the implication of

these clearly stated truth is that God is in aways we 

cannot fully understandp, both one and three. We  

call this implication the doctrine of the Trinity.

Every implication must be subjected to rigous cross-

checking against the entirety of scripture. This can 

be crucial. For instance, John3:16 is often cited

as a proof text in the age old debate over the extent

of fallen man's capacity to choose christ. The verse

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only 

begotten son, that whoever  believes in Hims 

Should not perish but have everlasting life""

is said to imply that all people have the ability  to 

believe. But looking closely we see that the explicit

Teachingof the verse is that only those who believes

will live. Meanwhile, John6:44 explicity states that 

no one can choose Christ  unless God draws that 

person. The clear teaching here is that no one has

the ability to choose Christ in himself; God must 

do something first. And so the implication drawn

From John3:16 must be abandon in the face of 

explicit teaching