Part 3 of 3
Read:
2 Corinthians 13:1-6
Hebrews 6:13-20
Part 1
https://the146wayministries.wordpress.com/2016/02/07/what-does-the-bible-teach-us-about-itself/
Part 2
https://the146wayministries.wordpress.com/2016/02/16/what-does-the-bible-teach-us-about-itself-3/
As I move to conclude this part of our study I have included links to parts 1 and 2 for a refresher if needed. In parts 1 and 2 it was shown how all the words in Scripture are God’s words. Consequently, to disbelieve or disobey any word of Scripture is to disbelieve or disobey God himself. Believers are to keep and obey the disciples words (John 15:20b: “If they keep my word, they will keep yours also”). Christians are encouraged to remember “the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles” (2 Peter 3:2) To disobey Paul’s writings was to make oneself liable to church discipline, such as excommunication (2 Thessalonians 3:14) and spiritual punishment (2 Corinthians 13:2-3), including punishment from God. By contrast, God delights in everyone who “trembles” at his word (Isaiah 66:2).
Throughout the history of the church the greatest preachers have been those who have recognized that they have no authority in themselves and have seen their task as being to explain the words of Scripture and apply them clearly to the lives of their hearers. There preaching has drawn its power not from the proclamation of their own Christian experience or in the experience of others, nor from their own opinions, creative ideas, or rhetorical skill, but from God’s powerful words. Essentially they stood at the pulpit, pointed to the Biblical text, and said in effect to the congregation, “This is what the verse means. Do you see that meaning here as well? Then you must believe it and obey it with your heart, for God himself, your Creator and your Lord, is saying this to you today!” Only the written words of Scripture can give this kind of authority.
The essence of the authority of Scripture is its ability to compel us to believe and obey it and to make such believe and obedience equivalent to believing and obeying God himself. There are a number of Biblical passages that talk about the truthfulness of God’s speech. Titus 1:2 speaks of “God who never lies”. Because God is a God who cannot speak a “lie”, his words can always be trusted. Since all Scripture is spoken by God, all Scripture must be “unlying”, just as God is: there can be no untruthfulness in Scripture. Hebrews 6:18 mentions two unchangeable things (God’s oath and promise). Here the author says not merely that God does not lie, but that it is impossible for him to lie. Therefore all the words in Scripture are completely true and without errors in any part.
Since all the words of the Bible are God’s words, and since God cannot lie or speak falsely, it is correct to conclude that there is no untruthfulness or error in any part of the words of Scripture. We find this affirmed in many parts of the Bible. “The words of the Lord are pure words; As silver tried in a furnace on the Earth, refined seven times” (Psalms 12:6). Also in Proverbs 30:5, we read “Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.” And finally in Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.”
God’s words are the ultimate standard in truth. In John 17:17 Jesus prays to the father, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” This statement encourages us to think of the Bible not as being “true” in the sense that it conforms to some higher standard of truth, but rather think of the Bible as being the final standard of truth. The Bible is God’s word, and God’s word is the ultimate definition of what is true and what is not true: God’s Word is itself truth. We must continually remember that we have in the Bible God’s very words, and we must not try to “improve” on them in some way, for it cannot be done. Rather, we should seek to understand them and then trust them and obey them with our whole heart.