Prescriptive or Descriptive?

August 16, 2018

A frequently ignored principle regarding Bible study is being able to distinguish between a description and a prescription. Allow me to explain. 

When Jesus told Nicodemus that to see the kingdom of God he must be born again, he was using prescriptive language. “Must” is pretty definitive, and the way Jesus speaks, everyone is included. The same is true for Peter’s response to those who heard his preaching at Pentecost and asked, “What must we do?” (Acts 2:37).

“Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” This is prescriptive language, telling us the requirements for salvation.

But earlier in Acts 2, we find descriptive language when the Holy Spirit comes upon the believers in the upper room. It says that there was the sound of a mighty rushing wind, tongues of fire descended upon them, and they spoke in other tongues (or languages, according to the context) that they had not learned. Nowhere is it intimated that this is intended to happen to everyone in this way. Some Christians have asserted that the speaking in tongues is prescriptive, that is, it is normative for every Christian. 

St. Paul’s own words in 1 Corinthians 14:5 are telling: “I wish you all spoke in tongues...” indicating that they did not. Even more, he wished they all could prophesy, again indicating that they did not. But Paul’s desires do not necessarily mean everyone should do this. He himself used the various members of the body to illustrate the necessity for diversity in the Body of Christ. 

Too often Biblical language that is descriptive is taken to be prescriptive, with the result that many faithful Christians are made to feel like second-class believers who are missing out on God’s “perfect will” for them. The irony of it is that often prescriptive language is taken with a grain of salt, with the resulting destructive disobedience that such misunderstanding brings. 

I am thankful tonight for both prescriptive and descriptive language, the one that is intended to universally apply to all, and the other that instead reveals the many ways God’s work in our life is manifested.