Devotional - 98-08-03 - Sola Scriptura

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed

From a sermon preached 8-2-98: "In the previous chapters we are shown, if you care to read the Bible on this point, we are shown..."

If I care to what? Is there an option here? Now I am sure that this was an "off the cuff", or "transitional" comment when I heard it, but nevertheless it is a miss-speak. Scripture is our first and only authority on any point. The Word of God is not simply a plumb-line for us, it is the only plumb-line.

In our culture we are undeniably bombarded from all sides with statements that claim to be authoritative. The task of taking all things into subjection to the Word of God is all the more crucial because of this. We need a renewed appreciation for the sufficiency of Scripture alone.

There have been a few short Latin phrases over time that have been rallying cries for the Church of Jesus Christ. One is the one I always use to sign off from these devotionals, Soli Deo Gloria, which translated into English means "Only the Glory of God". Another is, Sola Scriptura, which translated means, Only Scripture.

We need this rallying cry to once again be heard around our homes, churches, and nation. A healthy return to the book that heals broken lives would do more for us as individuals, communities, and as a society than any other single event could dream about.

There is a single source for us to subject ourselves to when we have family problems, conflicts at work, personal anxieties, or moral questions. That source is the Word of God. No creed supplants the Bible, no tradition (no matter how ingrained into our practice or lives) is to take a higher place than the one authority God has given us.

So, yes, my preaching friend, I care to read the Bible on this point and for that matter, I care to read it on every other point also. If you will give it a shot, try to make Sola Scriptura a conscience part of your life for a day. I'm not suggesting that many of you do not do this already, but I am suggesting that a day focused on bringing everything, (everything) into subjection to the Word of God would be both rewarding and exhausting.

"If you believe what you like in the Bible, and reject what you like, it is not the Bible you believe but yourself." Augustine

"Be walking Bibles." C. H. Spurgeon

Soli Deo Gloria,
Tim