Today I was working on Romans 3:21-26. It is a fascinating text with all kinds of “glorious grammar.” If I remember correctly, we did translate this in seminary, but that was some time ago. So I was in awe of what Paul, under the inspiration of the Spirit, put down there. Lots of parallelism, and many of my questions about key genitives were answered in the text. But there are some difficult phrases. There is alot on the line, so to speak, as this passage is central to many a theological controversy.
The specifics are not important at the moment. What is I want to focus on is my response to these difficult questions about the meaning of the text while I weigh legitimate options. I took a walk to pray about it. And there I wrestled with both humility and confidence.
Approaching the text with humility is important. I am not a Greek scholar. So as I stacked up the commentaries by John Stott, John Murray, John Calvin (there’s just something about that name) as well as Martin Luther I was in awe of sorts. They far exceed me in knowledge, expertise and godliness. It would be easy to default to their opinions. I should not arrogantly dismiss their opinion about the meaning of the text, particularly those tough phrases. I do need to hear them out, particularly as I stand inside the heritage of the Reformation.
But a second thought occurred to me: I too have the mind of Christ. Like them, my mind has been justified and is being sanctified (thanks to Graeme Goldsworthy for turning me onto the obvious truth). Theirs may have been more sanctified than mine, but in some ways mine might be more sanctified in particular areas. But the bottom line is they were not more “in Christ” than I am, nor did they have more of the Spirit than I have.
As we prepare for sermons we walk this line between humility and confidence. We must not be arrogant and assume our opinions are right. But we must not assume we must be wrong either. We have to rely upon the Spirit to work, revealing where we are right and where we are wrong. What is attractive to us at first may prove to be utter foolishness. My scribblings on the white board may look very different after I engage with my heritage. But maybe it won’t.
Rembrandt
So humility and confidence play out in recognizing my dependence upon the Spirit, and the confidence that He is at work because Christ’s honor is at stake here (not mine). Just as the cross humbles me because Jesus HAD to die for me to be saved, exegesis should humble me because the Spirit HAS to illumine the text if I am to understand it. (Yeah, I’m borrowing from Keller and applying it in another area, hopefully appropriately). Just as the cross grants me confidence because Jesus loved me and wanted to save me, exegesis should give me confidence because God loves me and wants me to understand the text. God is not out to keep me ignorant (I’m pretty good at that on my own). But He works through my community, my heritage and my mind that I might understand such important questions.
Cavman Considers 
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