Authority matters. Even when people claim to have no authority over them (anarchists) it matters. For the Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox authority is divided among bishops, councils, canons, holy tradition, and the Scriptures. They rely on tradition as much as Scripture, this is Prima Scriptura. The battlecry of the Reformation was of course Ad Fontes, “back to the sources,” in the case of the Church, The Scriptures. We Protestants often tour as our authority Scripture Alone or Sola Scriptura. But what do we mean when we say that? We mean Scripture is our standard for measuring orthodoxy (right belief), accurate theology, sound doctrine and Christian living because the books of the Bible aren’t the invention of men, they are the words of God, breathed unto us, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work,” (2 Timothy 3:16-18). The Scriptures were given by the Holy Trinity through his prophetic writers, “knowing this first of all, that 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” (2 Peter 1:20-21), and spoken by God Himself in the flesh. We trust the Scriptures because they were trusted by the churches of Jesus’ First Coming, and during the Apostle Paul. We trust the Scriptures because they are written by eye witnesses in lifetime of Christ & His apostles, when Buddha’s writings date 500yrs after his death; in contrast our New Testament falls between 40-101 A.D. Jesus was crucified in 33 A.D., which means the eyewitnesses were alive to give accounts which are in our Bible. We also trust the Scriptures because the Holy Spirit of the Living God that dwells inside us bears witnesses that the words in the 66 Books of the Holy Bible are God The Trinity’s very own! You can tell when you read Scripture, it transcends, touches your spirit, illuminates, comforts, speaks to you, and all manner of God’s character and personhood can be felt reading it, for just as a painting leaves echoes of the artist in the art, God in His words leaves a touch of Himself.
Scripture is our Authority because God is its author and by extension then our authority is God The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit because He wrote it. We do not place our confidence for orthodoxy, sound theology, and good doctrine on man made traditions (Mark 7:1-13), nor do we place it on men themselves such as fallible bishops, or on councils of the church that “so often contradict themselves.” (Luther 2003). No, our confidence is in God Himself and we know who He is by his Word, for as the apostle said, “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:14-17). Indeed, the Scriptures testify and teach us the True God and the True Faith. They are trustworthy, infallible, and inerrant, because they come from God directly or through the prophets and apostles who put pen to paper to preserve the oracles and orthodoxy of God. How blessed that they wrote down God’s words, so that we have a guide to test the words we hear in prayer, to test the spirits, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1)(take note it said false prophets in world, remember Scripture came to those who were carried along in the spirit in prophecy, so this passage supports trusting Scripture and its prophets.) Yes Scripture helps us know for certain the true gospel, without it we would be in a dark place, like when it was lost in Latin for thousands of years.
To be Biblically literate, to memorize and know Scripture is to guard the true faith, true Christianity, and the words of God himself. We cannot afford to continue in taking for granted our access to it. For a time may come when your nation bans The Bible and then you will only have the Scriptures persevered in your memory; for even your hard copy Bibles can be taken away. So do not take for granted the ease with which you may read God’s Words, devote time to committing them to your mind and heart, for contained in the Scriptures is orthodox Christianity: what the church really is suppose to believe, live, and preach. If a day comes when Scripture is outlawed we then can have the books preserved in us. If anywhere we lack remembering, the Holy Spirit can remind us, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26, this is for us not just the apostles because “Jesus is same yesterday, today, and forever”[Hebrews 13:2], and He lives in us 1 John 4:15). And there was the Iranian God dictated the whole Gospel of John to when he had no Bible available. But we should consider the Spirit as back up to our memory, and memorizing Scripture with it in our hands being our first means of keeping the oracles of God with us in hard days that may come. Amen.
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