Gospel Indicatives And Imperatives: Where Is The Debate Anyway?

Posted on August 25, 2011 by Rob Green

Many of you already know that on various blogs, including The Gospel Coalition, there has been a discussion concerning gospel indicatives and gospel imperatives in the sanctification process.  It is not difficult to see how this debate has significant influence in the realm of biblical counseling.

I would like to enter this discussion by first explaining, at least if I have understood the posts properly, what everyone already agrees about.

  1. Everyone agrees that the NT includes both indicatives and imperatives.  This means that no one is taking out their proverbial scissors and cutting out parts of the Bible.  Those who have emphasized gospel indicatives also believe that imperatives are important.  Those who emphasize imperatives also believe in the significance of gospel indicatives.  Some posts seem to want to prove there is a both/and in the Bible.  While I agree that there is a both/and, it seems that is not the location of the debate.
  2. Everyone agrees that the indicatives lead to the imperatives.  In other words, a person who has not yet understood the gospel is not in a position to obey the gospel.  A person may behave in some positive ways, but that does not mean they are behaving in a way that pleases or gives glory to God.  Again, any blog that suggests either side does not take seriously the importance of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus is not being fair.

If the debate is not about either of those two issues, what is it about?

The crux of the debate seems to be the relative balance given to the communication of these two concepts in the sanctification process.
The crux of the debate seems to be the relative balance given to the communication of these two concepts in the sanctification process. The folks arguing for the indicative side of the equation might argue that 80% (I am making up the percentages for illustrative purposes only) of our communication should be focused on a theology of “remembering” or “appreciating” all that God has done for them in Christ Jesus.  “Preach the gospel to yourself everyday” seems to be one of the key phrases.  Their position is that the more God’s people meditate on the gospel in their daily lives, the more they will be motivated to put the commands of Scripture into practice.  Since the motivation is already there, the command section is not all that difficult.

Those who argue on the imperative side of the equation might strike that balance at a number of 30%–arguing that their counselees understand the content of the gospel, but that they fail to grasp what it “looks like” to live worthy of their calling.  They believe that what would be most helpful to their counselees is spending the bulk of their time focused on what the counselee must do in order to live out their calling.

How do we break the impasse?

I would like to suggest a few steps to help us dialogue on this issue.

1. Be careful of inflammatory rhetoric

Be careful of inflammatory rhetoric that comes across like this:  “If you don’t agree with me, then you obviously have never read your Bible, and I seriously question your love for Jesus.”  There may be a few people whose views are so variant from Scripture that this type of warning is necessary, but comments like this come across as prideful and rude.

2. Explain Terminology

The words “gospel” and “law” are used regularly, and I am not always sure I understand what a particular person means by them.

Gospel – Is “gospel” being used as the death, burial, resurrection, and eyewitness of Jesus as described in 1 Cor 15, or is the term being used for something more?  For example, does gospel indicative include regeneration, reconciliation, adoption, inheritance, sealing of the Spirit, and redemption?  I personally have no problem with people using gospel indicative in this broader sense, but at times I would like to know if that is what they are doing.

Law - Sometimes the word “law” is tossed around as if “law” equals any and every command in the Bible.  “Law” is used in the Bible to refer to several different ideas, and it would help if there was a bit more precision when using this word.  For example, in many passages, the law is the Law of Moses.  The use of the Law of Moses is a different debate and one that I doubt is really included in the current discussions.  Law can also be qualified by Christ (Gal 6:2).  The law of Christ might include the NT commands, and if so, I highly doubt that anyone really wants to ignore the law of Christ.  “Law” can also be used in a more general sense.  My point is simply that that law is not equal to the NT commands. I wonder if “law” is used in some blog posts to refer more to “legalism” than to a biblical definition of law.  It would be helpful if law were actually defined as these various articles are written.

3. Build your balance from Scripture rather than from reactions against others.

I know that I am prone to reactions.  I also know that when I react I tend not to develop my thoughts from Scripture but rather my thoughts come from whatever I am reacting against.  Some circles of biblical counseling may not have emphasized truths of the gospel (I am using gospel in a broader sense here to include the implications of the received gospel) as they should have, so the tendency is to speak about nothing other than the gospel truths.  Instead of reacting to these imbalances, allow the imbalances to drive you back to the text and find out what kind of balance the text of Scripture has.

I think the balance found is Scripture is an interesting one.  There are some books, like the gospel of John, which have very few commands given to the readers (most of the commands take place between the various persons in the various accounts).  John’s purpose is very clear according to John 20:30-31 – he wrote so that the reader would believe that the Messiah is Jesus and that by believing the reader would have life.  So the whole book is given to prove two points and those two points would encourage belief.  If I take my theology from John I would have to conclude that you give truth 90% of the time.  Why focus on application?  Why focus on command?  Give truth and the rest will come.

In the book of James, however, imperatives are found in 1 out of every 3 verses.  Apparently, James did not feel the same need to give long discussions of gospel indicatives before giving numerous commands.  Admittedly, gospel indicatives still form the foundation of the command, but the way that James commands is a bit different than we find in many other books.

The book of Hebrews includes commands in about 1 out of every 10 verses.  However, one must admit that the imperatives found in Hebrews are some of the most potent in the entire NT.  What Hebrews lacks in quantity is more than made up for in potency.  The ratio in Colossians is almost 1 in 3 verses (slightly less in Ephesians and 2 Timothy), while 2 Corinthians has an imperative to verse ratio of 1 to 15.  Why the diversity? Why is the balance in one of Paul’s book so high and in a different book it is very low?

While these stats do not tell the whole story, they do give us a clue into how Scripture might encourage us to strike the balance.  Maybe the Scripture demonstrates that there were different needs among the various peoples in various locations.  Some folks needed to be reminded of all that Christ had done, while others needed a bit more exhortation.  Maybe the wise biblical counselor will do the same.  The wise counselor will not only exegete the meaning of the text, but they will also exegete the people they are trying to help.  The balance of indicative to imperative is different depending on context.

Benefits from the discussion

The wise counselor will not only exegete the meaning of the text, but they will also exegete the people they are trying to help.  The balance of indicative to imperative is different depending on context.
I have personally benefitted from the discussion in several ways.

  1. This discussion has forced me to think about just how much of the gospel indicatives my counselees really understand and appreciate.  Do they really appreciate all that Christ has done?  Do they really understand that they were enemies and made friends, they were orphaned and now adopted, they were under punishment and now they are given the righteousness in Christ, they were powerless and now they have the power of God working in them?  Without those emphasizing the gospel indicatives, I am not sure I would have thought about these questions as deeply.  Many of us in the biblical counseling movement would agree that we should talk about the implications of the gospel far more.
  2. This discussion has reminded me of the importance of terminology.  At times, I have struggled to understand the referent of a term.  By clarifying what we mean by a term or phrase, all of us are in the proper position to evaluate it.
  3. This discussion has driven me back to ask the question from the text of Scripture – to ask Paul about his balance, to ask James about his, and the writer of Hebrews about his.

In the next article I will provide a few thoughts regarding what the communication looks like with a counselee.

Related posts:

  1. Communicating the Balance of Gospel Indicatives and Gospel Imperatives
  2. Five Reasons why being involved in Gospel Centered Counseling is Rewarding
Rob Green

About Rob Green

Pastor Rob Green oversees Faith Biblical Counseling Ministries. A seasoned counselor, Rob also teaches others how to counsel--through FBCM's training conferences and Faith Bible Seminary's MABC program.
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  • Anonymous

    Good post. I think maybe even a better contrast between the Gospel of John would be John’s epistles, since they come from the same author and are full of imperative proofs of having the faith he established in his gospel. Just my two cents.

  • Andrew

    Thanks for the post.

    Comparing John and James is fine and good…but it might be illuminating to also consider the apostle John’s indicitive/imperative ratio in his gospel vs. his 1st epistle.

  • S_gilchrist

    Rob,

    This is a great article. And the point you made here “Build your balance from Scripture rather than from reactions against others.” really could apply to every doctrinal debate +/or fear that evangelicals face.

    Thanks brother

  • r3isenough

    This is an excellent post. I appreciate your humility and grace as you participate in this dialogue.

    I do wonder if the number of verses that mention a particular truth is really the measure of its importance. Just a metaphorical example, the supporting structures of a bridge measure to be  small compared to that of the expanse of the bridge. Though they are “less”, is their importance “less”? James, for example. The indicative must be pretty weighty to lead one to the transformed life described in that book though it not be mentioned often. A flimsy or inane message has no power to produce such a life as described in that letter.

    Your insight shared of looking at each situation individually to discern an appropriate and biblically based response is encouraging. What has been hard to see in the Christian community (not referring to Faith’s ministry) is that when someone is viewed as particularly naughty, licentious or a poor fruit bearer, the often discerned response is to put before them more imparatives and assume that they are relying too much on grace; therefore, further discussion of indicatives should be avoided. But in contrast, those who seem to outwardly be “getting it right”, doing a lot of visual imparatives well, the discerned response is often, “they must really be amazed by indicatives, so we don’t need to focus on those.”

    The pattern of scripture’s application of indicatives and imparatives looks nothing like either of these scenarios.

    I eagerly anticipate any further writing that you do on this subject. God has lead you in wisdom to write in a way that refreshes those who have seen and heard (and are weary) the inflammatory rhetoric.

  • http://trevinwax.com/2011/08/29/worth-a-look-8-29-11/ Worth a Look 8.29.11 : Kingdom People

    [...] Gospel Indicatives and Imperatives: Where is the Debate Anyway?  The crux of the debate seems to be the relative balance given to the communication of these two concepts in the sanctification process. The folks arguing for the indicative side of the equation might argue that 80% (I am making up the percentages for illustrative purposes only) of our communication should be focused on a theology of “remembering” or “appreciating” all that God has done for them in Christ Jesus.  “Preach the gospel to yourself everyday” seems to be one of the key phrases.  Their position is that the more God’s people meditate on the gospel in their daily lives, the more they will be motivated to put the commands of Scripture into practice.  Since the motivation is already there, the command section is not all that difficult. [...]

  • Rob Green

    Thank you all for your great comments.  Here are a few respnses:
    1. Number of verses:  Great comment “r3isenough”.  My post was already too long, but I orignially had a paragraph about your very point.  I took a very simplistic approach in order to show one and only one thing – the balance of indicative and imperative is not the same even in the Bible.  A more meaningful study will take issues of genre, discourse analysis, and other exegetical tools into account.
    2. The contrasts that I chose were some of the more extreme examples.  I thought about listing all the various rates (maybe I will on a different post).  A careful look at the epistles is equally of value. 2 and 3 John are a bit tough since the letters are so short, but there is no question that a comparison of John and 1 John would be interesting (although we do have genre differences that will affect the stats).

    Thanks for the great interaction.  Feel free to comment on our blogs at any time. 

  • http://blog.fbcmlafayette.org/2011/08/communicating-the-balance-of-gospel-indicatives-and-gospel-imperatives/ Communicating the Balance of Gospel Indicatives and Gospel Imperatives | Counseling with Confidence and Compassion

    [...] ← Gospel Indicatives And Imperatives: Where Is The Debate Anyway? [...]

  • http://www.jesussaidfollowme.org/blog/2011/08/30/indicative-imperative-balance/ Indicative-Imperative Balance Depends on Hearers’ Needs « JesusSaidFollowMe Blog

    [...] trying to help. The balance of indicative to imperative is different depending on context.” Gospel Indicatives And Imperatives: Where Is The Debate Anyway? By Rob [...]

  • Josh

    Great post, thanks for your research. It would be interesting to look at not just the ratio of imperatives to verses, but also the ratio of indicatives to verses. That way we could better compare the overall emphasis on indicatives to imperatives in each of these contexts.