📖 Reading: Video Transcript: Scriptures

Believing the Truth: Scripture

Hi, I'm David Feddes, and we're going to be talking about believing the truth in this course. I’ll be going through the Statement of Faith of Christian Leaders Institute. The first talk we’re going to have is on Scripture.

The Authority of Scripture

Our Statement of Faith says: The Bible is God’s inerrant Word, the only final authority for faith and life. The Bible is without error, and it is our supreme guide in all matters of faith and living.

The Bible says, All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

That word “God-breathed,” or “inspired by God,” means that the source of all the biblical writings is God Himself. And because God has breathed it out, it’s true and it’s useful. It’s useful for teaching us the way things are. It’s useful for something we don’t enjoy quite as much—rebuking us when we’re wrong. Then correcting us and showing us how to get back on the right track again. And providing training in righteousness so that we can get mature and equipped to do what God wants us to do.

A similar passage occurs in 2 Peter, when he talks about Scripture not just being from humans but from God Himself: No prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Somehow, mysteriously, the Bible is human words written by human authors. But all along, they’re speaking from God, and the Holy Spirit is carrying them—making sure that the words they spoke and wrote were exactly what God wanted said.

The Inerrancy of Scripture

The Bible is inerrant. Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.

Jesus Himself said, Scripture cannot be broken. The Bible says in several places, God never lies.

So if the Bible is inspired by God, if people were carried along by the Holy Spirit as they wrote the Bible, we can be sure the Bible is true and without error, because God never lies and His Scriptures cannot be broken.

The Purpose of Scripture

Now, the Bible is given for a major purpose. The Bible isn’t written to correct our thoughts about everything under the sun. There are many ideas we can gain elsewhere about medicine or how to build a car that the Bible doesn’t reveal.

But the Bible is supremely about the Savior. Jesus Himself said to some of His opponents: You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me.

The Bible is about Jesus. The Old Testament pointed forward to Jesus—preparing people for His coming and helping them to know God before He came to us in the person of Jesus.

The Bible says that the Holy Scriptures are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. That statement comes right before the one that says all Scripture is God-breathed and profitable. So what’s it profitable for? Making you wise for salvation. Giving you eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.

If you read the Bible and think of it disconnected from Jesus, then you’re not really understanding it—not that passage, not the Bible as a whole—until you connect it to salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Scripture Above All

The Bible is true, it’s about Jesus, and it’s the final authority. And because it’s the final authority, Scripture stands above everything else.

It stands above our personal experiences. Sometimes people say, “I just have a sense that God wants me to do this.” But if their sense goes against what the Bible says, that personal experience is misleading.

People have even said they had visions of angels—Muhammad claimed that, Joseph Smith claimed that as the founder of Mormonism. But those experiences were out of line with what the Bible teaches, so they were misleading.

Sometimes people say, “I feel like the loving thing to do is say that all brands of sexual behavior are okay. People can’t help what they feel—love is love.” But they don’t want to be guided by the Bible. They want to be guided by personal sense of the situation. Scripture stands above all that.

Scripture Above Other Books

Scripture also stands above other books. The Book of Mormon claims to be from God, but it adds to the Bible. Hebrews 1 says: In the past, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.

Because Jesus is God’s final revelation, the New Testament writings that reveal Him and explain His mission are God’s final books for the building up of His church. We should not rely on other so-called revelations presented by other religions.

Scripture Above Tradition

We also must beware of traditions being put alongside the Bible. In Roman Catholic belief, sacred tradition is exalted to a position equal to the Bible. Church traditions, or papal declarations, are treated as infallible and as certain a revelation as Scripture itself. But that puts tradition at the same level as the Word of God.

At Christian Leaders College, we don’t believe that. No tradition, however noble or ancient, has the same standing as Scripture.

And if we don’t believe traditions or personal experiences have equal standing with the Bible, we certainly don’t believe unbiblical modern ideas do.

Scripture Against Modern Ideas

When the Bible tells us, In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, we don’t fall for the modern idea that everything just randomly happened.

When the Bible reveals God’s will for how to live, we don’t listen to voices claiming to “update” the Bible or improve on it. Some say, “Now the Spirit is leading us into fresh ways.” Beware of that.

A good rule of thumb: If it’s new, it isn’t true. If it’s true, it isn’t new.

That’s not to say there are no new scientific or medical discoveries. But when it comes to who God is, how God saves, and how God wants us to live—there is nothing new. God has already revealed all of that in the written words of the Bible.

Conclusion

That’s why we say in our Statement of Faith: The Bible is God’s inerrant Word, the only final authority for faith and life.