By Scripture Alone
John 5:30-47
Four key questions of Protestantism: How is a person saved? Where does religious authority lie? What is the church? What is the essence of Christian living?
Luther’s new answers: Salvation by faith alone, not by works. Religious authority is not in the institution of the Roman church, either councils or Pope, but in Scripture alone. The church is all the people of God; all believers are priests before God (the priesthood of all believers). And the essence of Christian living is serving God in any useful calling, ordained or lay.
Today: By Scripture Alone
A. THE CHURCH IS FACING A CRISIS OF AUTHORITY AGAIN.
1. Today reflects 2 Tim. 4:3-4 [READ].
Some 1/3 Americans claim to be born again, yet so little positive impact on society.
Like days of the Judges: Judges 21:25, "There was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes."
2. From sexuality issues, to the environment, to war, to how to relate to other religions, to basic doctrines... how do we determine what is right?
-Human reason?
-Experience? Whose, mine or others?
-Tradition?
-Science?
-Some new prophet?
-Or the Bible?
We will decide by an authority--but by what authority?
B. JESUS LIVED UNDER AUTHORITY; BIBLICAL AUTHORITY
1. Jesus fulfills Scripture. READ Matthew 5:17-20.
Cf. the Temptations in the wilderness, Matt. 4:1-11, where Jesus knew and had memorized OT Scriptures.
QOUTE: "The truth, paradoxical yet inescapable, is this: there is no freedom apart from external authority. To say, ’I am my own authority, a law to myself’ is to enslave myself to myself, which as Seneca the Roman moralist said, is the worst bondage of all. Only as I bow to an authority which is not myself am I ever free" (J.I. Packer, Freedom and Authority, I.C.B.I., 1981, p. 7).
2. Jesus was under the Father’s authority.
READ John 5:30.
Was Jesus less or more free, for being under authority?
Was he less or more whole and fulfilled?
In fact, He was given authority (John 5:27), for the very reason he did not become his own authority.
READ Philippians 2:5b-11.
C. THE AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE
1. The Uniqueness of the Bible
-66 smaller books by some 44 authors over a period of 1600 years
-first 39 called OT, the Jewish Scriptures, mostly in Hebrew
-27 called NT, by Christians in Greek
-OT divided into Law (first five), Prophets (early- historical books, and later Major and Minor), and the Writings (Psalms, Proverbs, etc.)
-NT divided into Gospels (first four) and Letters with Acts as an historical bridge; ending with Revelation, a prophetic and apocalyptic finale.
-Thread through all is story of human rebellion and God’s merciful seeking of human repentance and faith.
-It is no myth! Really happened. Historical faith.
-About a nation, Israel; and a person, Jesus.
-Yes, history with a point of view, but history!
-Authors selective; write about the salvation provided by God.
2. The Bible is Revelation from God
The eternal God made himself known in time.
- READ Psalm 33:6; General revelation in creation.
- READ Hebrews 1:1-2; More clearly by prophets; then especially by Son.
- READ John 1:14; perhaps most astonishing statement in the Bible.
- READ Romans 10:17; the Word of God is both act and utterance; power and truth.
By proclaiming this revelation of God, Christians make spiritual life available to those who belive the message. Men and women find genuine faith in the way they hear the Word, and gain new life by its power.
3. The Bible, as Revelation, is Authoritative.
This power to demand our obedience is called divine authority.
-Authorities are appealed to to settle disputes, whether a law book, a medical journal, or a TV Guide.
-About God and his relationships with humanity, the authority is the Bible.
-The stories of the Bible record God’s words and acts, and they also tell us the meaning of God’s acts in history.
-They also act upon our souls and call for a response to God.
-Truth is in the Biblical story, and power in its telling. General principles of truth cannot be extracted from the history of Israel or from Jesus’ teaching and then the events discarded as myth.
-Without a real resurrection there is no truth or power. READ 1 Cor. 15:12-14, 17, 19.
4. The Bible is Inspired, "God-breathed."
-READ 2 Timothy 3:16. The Bible came about because of God’s initiative, not man’s.
-READ 2 Peter 1:20-21. Men carried along by the "wind" of God’s Spirit wrote the Bible.
D. HOW TO READ THE INSPIRED AND AUTHORITATIVE BIBLE
The Bible is both a Divine and Human book; both the words of God and the words of men.
1. Therefore it demands submission and faith, but also at the same time, study and interpretation.
ILLUSTRATION:
"If God does speak in Scripture, what language does he use? There is a story about an elderly lady who took up Hebrew in her advanced years because she wanted to be able to greet her Maker in his native tongue. That, I fear, is taking a biblical figure of speech to a humorous extreme.
"The Bible often speaks of the spiritual realities of the Hidden World. To make these realms intelligible to us it employs symbolic or metaphorical language. That poses a troublesome problem for many people. If we take these expressions literally, as the elderly lady did, they will mislead us. We use no scales to measure the weight of an argument and no mathematics to calculate the height of a lofty ideal. We never get a suntan from the glow of a sunny disposition or the illumination of a brilliant scholar. In day-to-day conversation we seem to manage metaphors quite well. Why should we have so much trouble understanding the Bible?" [Bruce L. Shelley, Christian Theology in Plain Language (Word, 1985), p. 39]
-"Hellfire" is not just inward remorse; it is the reality of eternal separation from the presence of God.
-"Walking in the newness of life" is not just a respectable life, but is a radical new life of becoming like Jesus in everything we do by the power of the Holy Spirit.
2. It requires an open mind and heart.
READ John 5:39-40, 44-47.
- Jesus’ opponents were religious, but read Scripture with a closed mind.
-QUOTE: "They didn’t really love God; they loved thier own ideas about him" (William Barclay)
-This can be a problem for liberals or conservatives.
-They also stopped at the words of Scripture and failed to continue on to the living God who gave that Scripture.
-Like treasuring a letter more than the person who wrote it!
-QUOTE: "There is no life in the Scriptures themselves, but if we will follow where they lead, they will bring us to Christ; and so we find life, not in the Scriptures, but in Him through them" (G. Campbell Morgan).
As Paul writes: READ 2 Timothy 3:14-17.
3. And it requires daily reading with a view to being "thoroughly equipped for every good work" that Christ wants us to do.
READ Matthew 28:18-20.
By what authority will you live your life?
