What should I believe about the Bible?
As Christian’s we believe the Bible, preach the Bible, teach the Bible, sing the Bible. The Bible is our book. It is where we learn who God is and what he has done to save us from our sin.
Maybe you would argue: You can’t trust the Bible, its full of errors isn’t it? the Bible was written by men, certainly its full of mistakes and their own opinions and contradictions right? Well, that’s not what we affirm. And I don’t believe any of those arguments are accurate. Next week we will look at this doctrine in more detail, but here are a few things you ought to believe about the Bible.
The Bible is authoritative. Wayne Grudem writes, “All the words in the Bible are God’s Words. Therefore to disbelieve or disobey them, is to disbelieve or disobey God himself.” The Bible claims to be God’s Words, according to 2 Timothy 3:16 among other verses. If God claims the words of Scripture are his own, then there is ultimately no greater authority than the Bible. the Bible is the standard by which all truth is to be be evaluated. The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith says this:
The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself), the Author thereof; therefore it is to be received because it is the word of God
The supreme judge, by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Scripture delivered by the Spirit, into which Scripture so delivered, our faith is finally resolved.”
The Clarity of Scripture: Wayne Gruydem accurately says that “As we read Scripture and seek to understand it, we discover that some passages are easer to understand than others.” While that is true, the things necessary for our salvation and growth are clear. The 1689 confession again states, “All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all; yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed and observed for salvation, are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of ordinary means, may attain a sufficient understanding of them.“
Not all Scripture is clear to every reader. That is why there are doctrinal disagreements among church members, different denominations. Yet at the same time Scripture is crystal clear on the things necessary for salvation and the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith.
When we say not all Scripture is clear, we are not saying that there is a problem with the Scriptures. “When individuals disagree on the proper interpretation of a passage of Scripture, the problem does not lie with Scriptures, for God guided its composition so that it can be understood. Rather, the problem lies with us. “ (Grudem).
The Necessity of Scripture. It is true that the Bible is clear on the things necessary for our salvation. It is also true that without the Bible, we would not know the things necessary for salvation, life, and godliness. We need the Scriptures. They are necessary. As Grudem says, “The necessity of Scripture means that it is necessary to read the Bible or have someone tell us what is in the Bible if we are going to know God personally, have our sins forgiven, and know with certainty what God wants us to do….Just as our physical lives are maintained by daily nourishment with physical food, so our spiritual lives are maintained by daily nourishment with the Word of God.. To neglect regular reading of the Bible is detrimental to the health of our souls.”
The sufficiency of Scripture: Wayne Grudem asserts: “the Bible contains all the words of God that a person needs to become a Christian, live as a Christian, and grow as a Christian.” In the Bible, God has given us everything necessary for teaching, reproof, correction, training and righteousness, so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16) This is what we mean by Scripture is sufficient. We don’t need anything else for those purposes.
the Bible may not answer every question we could think of, but the Bible gives us just what we need for life and godliness. In our doctrinal, ethical, and moral teachings and beliefs, we should be content with what God has revealed to us in Scripture, because it is sufficient, it is enough, it is adequate.
