The Heidelberg Catechism: Lord's Day 19
50. Question: Why is it added, ‘And sits at the right hand of God’? Answer: Christ ascended into heaven to manifest Himself there as Head of His Church,[1] through whom the Father governs all things.[2] [1] Eph. 1:20-23; Col. 1:18. [2] Matt. 28:18; John 5:22, 23. 51. Question: How does the glory of Christ, our Head, benefit us? Answer: First, by His Holy Spirit He pours out heavenly gifts upon us, His members.[1] Second, by His power He defends and preserves us against all enemies.[2] [1] Acts 2:33; Eph. 4:7-12. [2] Ps. 2:9; 110:1, 2; John 10:27-30; Rev. 19:11-16. 52. Question: What comfort is it to you that Christ will come to judge the living and the dead? Answer: In all my sorrow and persecution I lift up my head and eagerly await as judge from heaven the very same person who before has submitted Himself to the judgment of God for my sake, and has removed all the curse from me.[1] He will cast all His and my enemies into everlasting condemnation, but He will take me and all His chosen ones to Himself into heavenly joy and glory.[2] [1] Luke 21:28; Rom. 8:22-25; Phil. 3:20,21; Tit. 2:13, 14. [2] Matt. 25:31-46; I Thess. 4:16, 17; II Thess. 1:6-10.
0 Comments
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) Our True Rule
The United Methodist Church, by way of its denominational standard, addresses the sufficiency of Scripture. The 2008 Book of Discipline reminds us, Scripture is “necessary for salvation” and is “the true rule and guide for faith and practice.” The "practice" referenced is the practice of our faith, the exercise of living this life under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and preparing for the next. We believe God expects us to live such a life in accordance with Scripture’s direction, rules, laws, commands, examples, teachings, principles, and all the rest. That covers a great deal of ground. Scriptural Holiness United Methodists believe that what John Wesley called scriptural holiness relates to both our inward walk with Christ and the outward expression of that relationship with our neighbors. Our Doctrinal Statements, General Rules, and Social Principles cover an enormous variety of topics, such as God, the Church, the Bible, discipleship, economics, environment, bioethics, justice, marriage, parenting, politics, poverty, and yes, our precious Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation that comes through him. In all these spheres and more, Scripture is our “true rule and guide for faith and practice.” The 2008 Discipline says this about scriptural holiness, We insist that personal salvation always involves Christian mission and service to the world. By joining heart and hand, we assert that personal religion, evangelical witness, and Christian social action are reciprocal and mutually reinforcing. Scriptural holiness entails more than personal piety; love of God is always linked with love of neighbor, a passion for justice and renewal in the life of the world. Every Sphere In other words, Scripture is sufficient for every sphere of life. This is what our Discipline means when it reminds us that Scripture is “necessary for salvation” and is “the true rule and guide for faith and practice.” So, while the Bible doesn’t, for example, teach me how to change the oil in my car, it still directs and guides me to do even something as mundane (and as important) as that to God’s glory. It teaches me to be a good steward of what God has provided. And caring for my car in such a manner shows my love for my closest neighbors - my family. The Apostle Paul teaches us, All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) Scripture is profitable for every area of your life. He doesn’t use the same language here, but Paul is saying Scripture is sufficient for every sphere of life. Bishop Mack Stokes addressed this by writing, Immediately following the “General Rules,” Wesley wrote, ‘These are the General Rules of our society; all which are taught of God to observe, even in his written Word, which is the only rule, and the sufficient rule, both of our faith and practice.’ (The Bible in the Wesleyan Heritage, p. 21) Understanding that Scripture is sufficient for faith and practice is not the same as saying the Bible is a science textbook, a political constitution, or a manual for how to care for your car. But the Bible clearly does have something (and something important) to say about those areas of life and far more. Wayne Grudem, (who is not a United Methodist), shares this definition for the sufficiency of Scripture, which I believe is helpful. He writes, The sufficiency of Scripture means that Scripture contained all the words of God he intended his people to have at each stage of redemptive history, and that it now contains all the words of God we need for salvation, for trusting him perfectly, and for obeying him perfectly. (Systematic Theology, p. 127) God commands us to submit to our Lord in every sphere of life and he guides us in that quest in and through his Word. It is sufficient for such a grand pursuit. Walking Points
Ezra 7:6 – this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a teacher well versed in the Law of Moses, which the Lord, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted him everything he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him. Ezra, A Model Shepherd of Souls
You may not know much about Ezra, though you’ve probably heard of him. He has a book in the Old Testament named after him. He exemplifies much of what I believe my own purpose is as a pastor. Yet more important than that, he is a model for all Christians. Ezra was a descendent of Moses’ brother, Aaron, the chief priest. Ezra was a teacher, we’re told, who was well versed in the Law of Moses (Ezra 7:6). The end of verse 9 tells us the hand of God was on Ezra. Why? Because, according to verse 10, Ezra “devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord as well as to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel.” In other words, Ezra passionately studied God’s Word, lived God’s Word, and taught God’s Word to others. Study, Live, Teach Every Christian must first study God’s Word. This is obvious. This is where the pump is primed, and fresh water is poured into the soul. This is also where the mind is renewed so it will become fertile ground for transformation later. This leads to the next point – living God’s Word. If you don’t believe the teachings of God’s Word, nor trust in the God of those teachings, nor practice them each day, then one might ask why you are studying Scripture in the first place. The Word of God makes us wise for salvation, teaches us, rebukes us, corrects us, trains us in righteousness so that we may become thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:15-17). We don’t study it to win Bible trivia contests or to impress our congregations. We study it so we may become more and more like Christ. But Ezra did more than study it and live it – he taught it to others. He passed along his knowledge to those entrusted to his care. He taught them about their covenant God, how they could be rightly related to that God, and how they should live in light of that covenantal relationship. And it’s the fact that he faithfully studied and lived it that brought credibility and integrity to his teaching. You see, the goal of any disciple of Jesus Christ is to reproduce the life of Christ in the lives of others. This is accomplished through learning what it means to be a disciple of Christ, faithfully living that calling out each day, and then passing it along to others. It is sometimes described as, “pouring your life into another person.” Jesus put it this way in the gospel of John, I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. (John 12:24) For the Sake of Others In a sense, we die to ourselves as we diligently study God’s Word, conform ourselves to its standards, trust in its promises, and then pass it along to others, even at personal cost. But any sacrifice offered is more than worth it because, as Jesus put it, it produces many seeds. How do we pass along God’s Word to others? This can be done in a variety of ways. It can be shared with others from the pulpit, in a classroom, in a hospital room, in a counseling session, over lunch with a friend, around the family table at breakfast or dinner, or written correspondence. The list could go on and on. Devoted Finally, I love the spirit in which Ezra did all of this. The text says he devoted himself to it. He gave his life to it. He was committed to God’s Word in all its life-transforming fullness. And because he was so devoted, we learn that God’s hand was on him. God has appointed his Word as a primary means of grace (as it works with his Spirit) whereby we are enabled to intimately know God and his Son Jesus Christ, know about the character, attributes, and works of God, learn how to love and serve God and others, discover how to become more Christlike in our daily lives, as well as the path that leads us to an eternity with him. God’s Word: Study It – Live It – Teach It to Others. Not a bad purpose statement for all of us. I want to be more like Ezra. How about you? Walking Points
Salvation, Faith, and Practice
The United Methodist Church, via our denominational standard, addresses the issue of the sufficiency of Scripture. Our 2008 Book of Discipline reminds us that Scripture is “necessary for salvation” and is “the true rule and guide for faith and practice.” Surely the "practice" referred to, is the practice of our faith (the practice of living in this world and preparing for the next, as Christians). Thus, we believe Christians should live in accordance with Scripture’s doctrines, direction, rules, laws, commands, examples, teachings, and principles. You can see, therefore, that “faith and practice” cover a great deal of ground. Scriptural Holiness United Methodists believe that what John Wesley called scriptural holiness relates to both our inward intimacy and communion with Christ, but also our outward relationships, conduct, and witness in this world. Our Doctrinal statements, General Rules, and Social Principles address an enormous variety of topics such as economics, environment, bioethics, justice, marriage, human sexuality, parenting, politics, poverty, and yes, our Wesleyan understanding of grace, Jesus Christ and the salvation that comes through him, and the other foundational doctrinal truths. In all these spheres and more, Scripture is our “true rule and guide for faith and practice.” Our 2008 Discipline says this about scriptural holiness… We insist that personal salvation always involves Christian mission and service to the world. By joining heart and hand, we assert that personal religion, evangelical witness, and Christian social action are reciprocal and mutually reinforcing. Scriptural holiness entails more than personal piety; love of God is always linked with love of neighbor, a passion for justice and renewal in the life of the world. This is what is meant by my phrase, “the sufficiency of Scripture for every sphere of life.” This is surely what our Discipline means when it reminds us that Scripture is “necessary for salvation” and is “the true rule and guide for faith and practice.” Thus, while the Bible doesn’t, for example, teach me how to change the oil in my car, it still directs and guides me to do even something as mundane (and as important) as that to God’s glory. Among other things, it teaches me to be a good steward of what God has provided. The Apostle Paul teaches us… All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) The Bible is Sufficient Paul is declaring that Scripture is profitable (sufficient) for virtually every sphere of life. This is no mere rhetorical flourish. Bishop Mack Stokes addressed this by writing, Immediately following the “General Rules,” Wesley wrote, ‘These are the General Rules of our society; all which are taught of God to observe, even in his written Word, which is the only rule, and the sufficient rule, both of our faith and practice.’ (The Bible in the Wesleyan Heritage, p. 21) (Emphasis mine) That’s what is meant by saying Scripture is sufficient for every sphere of life. To be sure, embracing the sufficiency of Scripture is not the same as suggesting the Bible is a science textbook, a political constitution, or a manual for how to change my car’s oil. But it does have something (and something important) to say about those areas and far more. Wayne Grudem, (who is not a United Methodist) shares this definition for the sufficiency of Scripture which I believe is helpful. He writes, The sufficiency of Scripture means that Scripture contains all the words of God he intended his people to have at each stage of redemptive history, and that it now contains all the words of God we need for salvation, for trusting him perfectly, and for obeying him perfectly. (Systematic Theology, p. 127) Christians want to submit to our Lord in every sphere of life and are guided in that pursuit in and through the study of God’s revealed Word. It is sufficient for such a pursuit. Thanks be to God. The United Methodist View of Scripture What is the United Methodist view of Scripture? Is there an official view? I know what the Discipline says, but how much latitude do we allow, one way or the other, before we say a particular view is out-of-bounds? Those are some of the questions we as a denomination have been wrestling with for a long time. Several years ago, at my denominational conference's Annual Conference, I heard a phrase (used by two different people) that got my attention. The phrase was, “We take the Bible seriously, but not literally.” “Seriously, but not literally.” What does that mean? Does that strike you as a slight of hand? What does it mean to take the Bible literally? As a former member of the theology team of the Board of Ordained Ministry in my conference, I was a part of many meaningful conversations about candidates’ views of Scripture. However, my observation was, in some instances, suggesting that a candidate took the Bible literally was code for saying the candidate took the Bible a little too seriously. Biblical Literalist? A phrase that is often used in a pejorative way to end a theological debate is to call someone a "biblical literalist." However, let me suggest that using the phrase, “they take the Bible literally,” is not the check mate some believe it is. To paraphrase a famous line in a film, “They keep using that phrase, but I do not think it means what they think it means.” I think some who charge a person with, “taking the Bible literally,” would have us believe that those who hold such a view assume that when Jesus claims he is “the door,” we should start looking for a doorknob where his belly button is, and hinges on his side. Obviously, that is absurd, as is thinking that the mere declaration that a person embraces a literal view of the Bible magically ends all debate. Taking the Bible Literally To take the Bible literally means, quite simply, reading the Bible according to the literature-style in which it was written. We know there are many kinds of literature in the Bible. Throughout Scripture we find gospel, epistle, poetry, apocalyptic, wisdom, historical narrative, hymns, etc. They are not all to be read in the very same way. That would be folly. Furthermore, I have yet to read someone who holds this particular view of Scripture who believes the Bible should be read in such a way. Many of the folks I’ve talked to who hold a certain disdain for views such as biblical inerrancy, for example, have never read a single book by an actual inerrantist on the subject of biblical inerrancy. Instead, many critics of inerrancy are often reacting to the very worst caricatures that have been built into conference folklore over the years. And frankly, who would want any of those caricatures to come to life and serve a local church in our conference? Not me! Your Stigma Against My Dogma I’m not saying concerns about inerrancy (or, at least, some folks who hold that view) are completely unjustified. I am saying few people in United Methodist circles have read much on the subject and thus have the worst possible view of it. That doesn’t strike me as very open-minded, something on which we United Methodists pride ourselves. I would like to see an end to the negative stereotypes of folks who hold this view of interpreting Scripture. I would like to hold a high view of Scripture without being accused of bibliolatry (the view that the Bible, and not God, is being worshiped). Let me be clear: I’m not defending any and every bad interpretation that has come along in the name of Scriptural authority. Both sides of the debate have clearly misused and even abused the Bible. What I am for is a holy and reasonable discussion, free of character assassinations and strawman arguments. Let’s Actually Take the Bible Seriously Let’s roll up our sleeves together and do the hard and responsible work of rightly interpreting the Bible, all the while, maintaining a grateful, joyful, and humble attitude toward the Bible’s inspiration, authority, and sufficiency in our lives. We won’t always agree, but we can still disagree with integrity. Text management (i.e., “I like this verse, so it’s authoritative for me; I don’t like that one, so it’s not.”) is not the reasonable, mature, wise, or godly way to go about it. Our denomination will not thrive without truly taking the Bible seriously. More on interpreting Scripture literally...
Not all of Scripture is didactic and historical narrative. In addition to those two literary forms, there is poetry, wisdom, and apocalyptic literature, just to name a few. Bearing this in mind, the Church should beware of an unchecked “literalistic” interpretation when reading Scripture. The fact that there are many different literary forms in Scripture is important for the reader to recall as he or she seeks to understand the Bible. Christians must always acknowledge that for all that the Bible is, the Bible is not God. If one does not move beyond the pages of Scripture to the One about whom the Scripture speaks, the reader is no closer to the relationship God desires. Mere knowledge of and reverence for the Bible should not be equated with intimacy with and love for God himself. However, for those who use broad and undefined phrases like “literalistic interpretation,” it seems the hope is that the charge of "literalism" will end the debate. And yet, often in such discussions there is no clear definition of what is meant by “literalism,” only vague examples. Thus, this attack appears to be merely the assault on a strawman. However, there is much that can be said in defense of a proper understanding of the literal interpretation of Scripture. In The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, Article XVIII makes clear what is meant by the “literal interpretation” of Scripture. It defines as follows, “We affirm that the text of Scripture is to be interpreted by grammatico-historical exegesis, taking account of its literary forms and devices, and that Scripture is to interpret Scripture. We deny the legitimacy of any treatment of the text or quest for sources lying behind it that leads to relativizing, dehistoricizing, or discounting its teaching, or rejecting its claims to authorship.” In other words, says R.C. Sproul, “to interpret the Bible literally is to interpret it as literature. That is, the natural meaning of a passage is to be interpreted according to the normal rules of grammar, speech, syntax and context.” This understanding of interpreting Scripture is not a recent invention. Indeed, the Reformers accented it. Yet, critics of a “literalistic” interpretation of Scripture seldom respond to this. Instead, they attack what must be considered a poor caricature of “fundamentalist” biblical hermeneutics. Thus, if they would seriously consider what has been written about biblical interpretation by inerrantists, they would be obliged to at least think more deeply about their charges. It also appears to be assumed that because of the human contribution to the authorship of Scripture, the Bible is therefore culturally conditioned, time-bound, limited, and prone to error. In fact, one author attempts to make the case that Scripture, though inspired, is still human and therefore prone to these limitations and errors. One might first ask what he means by “inspiration.” A common response to an inerrantist on this question is to charge him with a mechanical or dictation view of inspiration. Yet, though that charge is asserted, it is never proven. In fact, there is little effort exhibited to even define terms such as “rigid biblical literalism.” Author Maynard explicitly suggests that anyone who interprets the Bible literally must therefore be categorized as someone who believes the Bible was dictated by God. This is an unfortunate, even irresponsible, conclusion. I would agree with B.B. Warfield that “it ought to be unnecessary to protect again against the habit of representing the advocates of verbal inspiration as teaching that the mode of inspiration was by dictation.” The fact is, with very few exceptions, there is no instance where a form of the dictation theory even appears in evangelical literature. If it exists today, it certainly is a minority report. Once again, the respected standard for the doctrine of inerrancy, The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, succinctly and explicitly states the relationship between Scripture and the human authors. It says in Article VIII, “We affirm that God in His work of inspiration utilized the distinctive personalities and literary styles of the writers whom He had chosen and prepared. We deny that God, in causing these writers to use the very words that He chose, overrode their personalities.” Furthermore, it is a false assumption to assert a priori that the humanness of Scripture therefore makes it a fallible and erroneous document. The Chicago Statement again makes clear that “with the aid of the divine inspiration and the superintendence of the Holy Spirit giving of sacred Scripture, the writings of the Bible are free from the normal tendencies and propensities of fallen men to distort the truth.” If God did not communicate to humanity through human language, how else would we know him? Jerry Walls suggests that “the United Methodist Church must decide whether or not it believes God has revealed himself to us. If we believe he has, there is no evading the further claim that we know the essential truth God intended to reveal. …Indeed, if we do not know the essential content of God’s revelation, then the very claim that God has revealed himself is undermined.” God created humans as creatures with the capacity to communicate through human language. Is it an outlandish idea to suppose that God could also communicate to his creation without error using that same language? John Calvin writes, “…Who, even of slight intelligence, does not understand that, as nurses commonly do with infants, God is wont in a measure to ‘lisp’ in speaking to us? Thus, such forms of speaking do not so much express clearly what God is like as to accommodate the knowledge of his to our capacity. To do this he must descend far beneath his loftiness.” Thus, God was able to communicate or ‘lisp’ to humanity through the use of human language. Moreover, in saying that Jesus of Nazareth was fully human, must one assume he was errant by virtue of his humanity? To speak of Scripture being inspired by God, yet limited and prone to error because of its human authorship is an inconsistent notion. Finally, criticisms against a "literal interpretation" of Scripture seem to suggest that because Scripture was written at a certain time, by certain people, in a certain situation, its authority is not absolute, nor can it transcend the centuries to our day. Addressing this view of biblical interpretation, United Methodist scholar, Victor Furnish says, “[Scripture] …documents how our mothers and fathers in faith sought to discern and do what love required within the particularities of their various times, places, and circumstances. It is therefore not surprising that the specific laws and moral counsels of the Bible are diverse, often in tension with one another, sometimes even contradictory.” Furnish further elaborates his understanding of biblical interpretation and moral application by suggesting that a “proper biblical interpretation” explains that the ancient thinkers, which includes those who wrote the books of the Bible, were limited in their understanding concerning ethical issues. Moreover, as people living in a particular historical, geographical, and cultural context, these biblical writers merely reflected the “times” in which they lived. The obvious response to this is to assert that if Scripture is not understood to be the self-revealed, transcendent Word of God, then it becomes little more than the musings of an ancient people who attempted to make sense out of their world based on the limited amount of wisdom and knowledge at their disposal. Even if it is granted that God is revealed in these writings, the most this position can assert is that Scripture is a fallible instruction guide giving us a glimpse into what these ancient writers believed to be case about God. Greg Bahnsen asks, “…Will Scripture be the Christian’s normative guide or must it yield that position of authority over ethics to modern scholarship, personal experience, natural reason, new mystical insights, public opinion, or some other standard?” For an ethic to be meaningful it must be normative. Otherwise, it does nothing but describe what is in fact occurring. It should be obvious that there is nothing inherently binding in one human telling another human how to behave. There is nothing normative nor transcendent in an autonomous human ethic. History has shown how this type of ethical system quickly denigrates into moral relativism. “I have also, as a bishop, sought to strengthen churches across the labels of conservative or centrist or liberal,” he said. “And I don't like the labels, but I've sought to be fair across the spectrum of kinds of churches. And while I believe in our traditional, orthodox faith that's rooted in the Scriptures, I also have always believed that we have to adapt our doctrine and our Scriptures to changing life circumstances that people have.” Bishop Ken Carter. Interview with The Lakeland Ledger Where There is No King
There’s a prophetic and sobering verse at the end of the Book of Judges, one which speaks directly to us today. Judges 21:25 says, “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.” Another translation puts it this way: “in those days Israel had no king, and everyone did that which was right in his own eyes.” The Book of Judges, and that verse in particular, sets the context for the Book of 1 Samuel, which describes Israel’s sinful desire and demand for their first human king. Judges 21:25 tells us there was no accepted authority over the people of Israel. They no longer submitted to the King they already had. They weren’t content with their invisible, yet divine King. Thus, the people did whatever they wanted to do. We too live in a culture that makes light of any authority outside ourselves. Many of us know parents who have abdicated their rightful authority in their own homes, schools where students do not recognize the authority of the teachers, and communities where citizens no longer respect police officers as authorities in their lives. So too, the Church at large no longer commands the respect of authority it once did. How often we have heard words to the effect, “Well, my church believes such and such, but I don’t.” Perhaps most sadly, the Bible, the Holy Word of God, is no longer held up as the authority in the lives of many. How often have you heard someone dismiss something the Bible plainly teaches because, according to them, the Bible is nothing more than what ancient people wrote a long time ago, and therefore, isn’t relevant to our day and age? That sentiment is so often expressed it’s practically a cliché. We too might say, “There is no authority in our day, and each person does what is right in their own eyes.” Confusion Our culture is confused and many in the church are following the culture’s lead. When there is no recognized authority to govern and lead a people, then the people themselves become the measure for all things. You can imagine the chaos which would ensue if each person in a city, large or small, thought he or she was his or her only authority. Such a conclusion would lead us to ask the same question the late Francis Schaeffer asked, “how should we then live?”. Rock or Sand? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke of two builders who built two homes, which based on casual observation looked basically the same. Yet our Lord tells us there was a profound difference between them. One house was built upon the shaky foundation of sand. The other house was built upon the sure foundation of rock. Jesus was teaching that we are all builders of lives. And, according to Jesus, we’re either building our lives on the sand or on the Rock. Furthermore, when Jesus spoke of the sure foundation which should undergird every sphere of our lives, he had something particular in mind. He said the only foundation that can give us the strength we need to withstand the raging storms of sin and crises is his Word – both hearing and obeying it. Roman Bridges Francis Schaeffer compared this idea to the small bridges throughout Europe built by the Romans 2,000 years ago. He said those small bridges have lasted centuries and centuries because they were strong enough to support people and even horses and carriages. Yet, he pointed out they would immediately crumble if a modern-day 18-wheeler was to drive across one of them. They are strong enough for the light load, but the heavy load would destroy them. God’s Word is the sure foundation we need for every sphere, season, and circumstance of our lives, for the light and heavy loads. Continue in What You Have Learned The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, his son in the faith, to make this very point. Paul reminded Timothy that he knew Paul’s teachings and his way of life. Timothy knew how greatly Paul was persecuted and suffered for the faith. Timothy knew how God rescued Paul from all of that. He then reminded Timothy that all Christians would be persecuted, and false teachers would run rampant, and even become more blatant in their deception. It was in that context that Paul encouraged Timothy to continue in what he had learned from the Holy Scriptures. He then explained to Timothy why the Holy Scriptures should be Timothy’s authority for his salvation, faith, and life. “The holy Scriptures,” Paul wrote, “are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:15-16). (Emphases mine) Every culture in every age is in desperate need of a transcendent authority that does not blow with every wind of change. Every person needs a clear and true Word from God to guide them through this life and safely into the next. God’s word provides all that and more. John Wesley beautifully expressed this idea. He wrote, “I want to know one thing – the way to heaven, how to land safe on that happy shore. God himself has condescended to teach me the way. For this very end he came from heaven. He hath written it down in a book. O give me that book! At any price, give me the book of God! I have it: Here is knowledge enough for me. Only God is here.” God’s God-Breathed Book The Bible is authoritative and sufficient for us, Paul says, because it is God’s book. It is God-breathed. Some translations say “inspired,” but the N.I.V. gets it right. The idea is not that the Bible is inspired in the way we might say, “The actor in the play gave us an inspired performance.” Instead, the meaning of the phrase, “God-breathed,” literally means words breathed out by God. Paul is teaching us the words of Scripture are literally God’s words to us. We have in Scripture precisely what God wants us to have, the way he wants us to have it. What did God, as John Wesley put it, condescend to teach us? In addition to the way to heaven through Christ, Paul indicated all Scripture is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. We have been given Scripture for a reason. Paul reminds us that Scripture is sufficient for all our needs and should be our comprehensive guide and authority for every sphere of faith and life. Reformed writer, R.C. Sproul, once shared the story of a time when he was preaching on the authority of Scripture. After the service was over he saw a familiar face walking toward him. It turned out to be his college roommate. Sproul had not seen him for many years. His friend had gone to the mission field for three years after college and then came back to the U.S. to attend seminary in New York. Sproul had attended seminary in Pittsburgh and then went to Europe for doctoral studies. They had lost contact over the years. Their reunion was a happy one, and they decided to catch up over dinner. During dinner, Sproul’s friend said to him, “R.C., before we begin visiting, I want to tell you that I heard your sermon tonight where you affirmed your confidence in Scripture as our authority for life. But I have to tell you, after having been a missionary for three years where I learned about many other religious books, and after going to Seminary in New York and learning about biblical criticism, I don’t believe in the authority of Scripture anymore.” Sproul said he was a bit surprised to hear his old friend say this, and so he asked him, “Well, what do you still believe?” His friend said, “Oh, I still believe that Jesus is my Savior and my Lord.” Sproul said he was delighted, of course, to hear that. However, his friend’s answer led Sproul to ask a follow-up question. “You say that Jesus is your Lord. Can you tell me how Jesus expresses his Lordship over you? That is, a Lord is someone who issues commands. How does Jesus, as your Lord, give you your marching orders?” His friend replied that it was through the church. Sproul responded by asking, “What church? The Presbyterian Church, the Methodist Church, the Lutheran church – what church?” His friend answered, “through the Presbyterian church.” “Which Presbyterian church?” Sproul asked. “The one in New York or the one in Dallas or the one in Atlanta?” “The General Assembly for the Presbyterian Church,” his friend responded. Sproul followed by asking, “Which General Assembly, the one that voted one way last year, or the one that voted a different way this year?”. “Well, I guess I have a problem,” his friend conceded. “Yes,” Sproul said, “You have a Lord who is unable to exercise Lordship over you.” (from Sproul’s video: “Hath God Spoken?”) Give Me That Book Is Jesus your Lord? In truth, Jesus is Lord whether you recognize him as so or not. Yet, he exercises his Lordship through his Spirit working through his Word. Thus, we must hear his voice in the pages of Scripture and obey them. Let us say with John Wesley, “O give me that book! At any price, give the book of God! Here is knowledge enough for me.” Only the Spirit of God working through that book, the Bible, will lead you to Christ and the real, abundant, and eternal life that comes through faith in him. Only God’s Spirit working through God’s Word will sanctify you, making you more and more like Jesus. In a world full of people, ideas, and activities competing for your allegiance, there’s only one standard worthy to be your sure foundation. May it be for you the Word of God. |
Stand FirmBe on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love. Categories
All
Archives
July 2023
|