We are bombarded with the idea that we need someone elses materials to learn to function proprly as a Christian.
II Timothy 3:16-17 tells us, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
In other words, God gave us every bit of the Bible, not just part of it. I don't have to try to determine which parts are the word of God, and which are not. It can all be depended on. This greatly simplifies knowing what I should do.
All of the Bible is beneficial for doctrine. The word doctrine means literally teaching. Many today hold that the Old Testament has no value in the New Testament Era. I Corinthians 10:11 says that, "all these things happened unto them fo ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
They were written to teach us what the truth is. They are also useful to point out things that are wrong, i.e. for reproof, and finally they give instruction, both in statements, and by example, in how to do what is right.
They are given so that Christians may be perfect, or fully developed, and throughly or completely prepared for every good work. No other material is required. No training program, no Book, no lecture program, nothing other than the Bible is neccessary.
False doctrine, heresy, and conflicts arise because we have accepted other men's ideas, rather than the scriptures as our final authority. Let's get back to the scripture.
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Lifted out of its context, we can make the Bible say whatever we wish. Its like a card trick; we pretend to be using the whole deck when in fact there are only a few cards we favor over and over. The rest of the deck is merely a distraction.
ReplyDeleteI think too many of us practice the art of distraction instead of taking in the whole word of God to discover what He says. If it was really so simple as quoting a verse in favor of our particular stance Paul would never have to have told Timothy "study to show thyself approved..."
I was shocked to find how much "Reformed" churches relied on tradition and the "church fathers" as well as Scripture when reorganizing the church; the result was that Protestant churches did not reform nearly enough! You are entirely right in that we follow other men's ideas too easily and need to get back to Scripture. Thanks for the reminder, and good first post!
Thanks, Ian.
DeleteOne of the things that impelled me to start the blog was concern over how few of the people really knew what the Bible said when I became pastor of the Church here. Years of speaking in churches elsewhere convinced me the problem was not just in this church.
It is a privilege to write the blog as it helps me organize my own thoughts before presenting some of the material to my people. Some of them seem to be really beginning to understand how much the scriptures teach, and are starting to study for themselves instead of just reading a verse or two and depending on some devotional book.