MenuServants Not Judges of the Word
In the central message of the Bible, God promises us new life on the basis of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. God’s promises alone create faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself declares that all the Scriptures are God’s own words, completely dependable in all that they teach, and without error.
Jesus uses the Old Testament Scriptures as God’s Word. He repeatedly affirms Scripture as authoritative with phrases like “It is written” (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10) and “Have you not read?” (Matthew 19:14). And He assures us that “Scripture cannot be broken.” (John 10:35)
As the Son of God, Jesus claims the same authority for Himself, saying, “But I say to you…” (Matthew 5:22, 28, 32), or “Truly, Truly, I say,…” (John 6:47, John 5:47), or explicitly claiming His words to be “spirit and life” (John 6:63 and John 8:31-32).
When God called the Old Testament prophets, He gave them authority to speak, and put His own words in their mouths as they declared, “Thus says the Lord….” Then God Himself fulfilled the prophecies that He inspired them to speak, authenticating the truth of His own words. In the same way, Jesus called and authorized His apostles to be His witnesses to speak His Word, guided by the Holy Spirit. Just before Jesus’ ascension into heaven, He told them, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” – Acts 1:8 (see also Luke 10:16; John 14:26; 2 Peter 1:16-21; 1 John 1:1-4).
When we hear someone claim to speak in the name of God, we should go to the Holy Scriptures to test and discern whether they are truthfully speaking God’s Word. “They received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” (Acts 17:11).
We don’t always understand everything in the Bible immediately. About the Holy Spirit-inspired letters of the apostle Paul, Peter said “There are some things that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.” (2 Peter 3:16)
To understand the meaning of the Bible properly, the Holy Spirit’s guidance is crucial. This means prayerfully reading with eyes of faith. “Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments.”(Psalm 119:73) Because Scripture is given in human language, to properly read and understand it, we humbly use human reason in terms of the text’s grammar, logic and context. Thus, we humbly use our human reason as a servant of the text to understand God’s Word.
Unlike all other books (which are written by humans who err), the Scriptures are God’s inspired, inerrant Word. The Scriptures are just as holy and truthful (“inerrant”) as God is. Therefore, it is wrong for us to judge the text of God’s Word to deny or question its truthfulness. “Let God be true though everyone were a liar, as it is written, ‘That You may be justified in Your words, and prevail when You are judged.’” (Romans 3:4, quoting Psalm 51)
As human beings who err, we’re tempted to turn away from God’s Word when we don’t like it – mostly, when God calls us on the carpet for something sinful we’ve done… or something sinful that our human nature wants, contrary to God’s instruction. “For a time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4)
The truth is we humans all need a Savior because we all have erred. “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.” (Romans 3:10-11, quoting Psalms 14 and 53)
The Good News is that God has sent us a Savior – Jesus, the Messiah. “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:31)
May our Triune God bless your reading, hearing and believing His holy, life-giving Word.
-Pastor Nickel