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One Facebooker claimed that the doctrine of “Sola Scriptura” is
not a biblical teaching. Instead, it adds a doctrine that is foreign to
Scripture:
- Sola
Scriptura is nothing more than Martin Luther’s 16th century
invention to oppose the authority of the Catholic Church. It had never
been a Christian belief prior to him.
The doctrine of sola scriptura claims that there is nothing more
authoritative than Scripture – the very words of God. This doctrine does not
claim that Scripture is the only form of knowledge but rather the supreme expression of knowledge to which
all other forms of knowledge must conform.
Admittedly, the Bible doesn’t explicitly mention the words “sola
scriptura,” but is this doctrine implicit within the teachings of Scripture?
The Apostle Paul insisted that Scripture must sit in judgment above all other truth claims:
- The
weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary,
they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every
pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take
captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Cor. 10:4-5)
All arguments opposed to Scripture had to be critiqued in its
light and taken “captive” according to the revelation of Christ. There was
nothing higher or more authoritative. Scripture was the Supreme Court where the
buck stopped:
- When
someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and
mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on
behalf of the living? Consult God’s instruction and the testimony of
warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no
light of dawn. (Isaiah 8:19-20)
In regards to the things that Scripture taught, it was the
supreme light. God’s word, “God’s instructions and the testimony of warning,”
was above all else and without competition – sola scriptura! It was the source
of blessing in a way that nothing else was:
- Be
careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it
to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you
go. Keep this Book of the Law
always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful
to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and
successful. (Joshua 1:7-8)
God warned Joshua that his response to His word would determine
blessing and curse. If he failed to follow it, he and Israel would suffer, if
he meditated on it to do it, he would prosper. There was no other activity that
could compete in importance with Israel’s response to the word of God. It
occupied an unrivaled position. No amount of philosophizing, painting, poetry
writing, or practicing spiritual disciplines could even come close. Scripture
was in a league of its own. This was the uniform teaching of Scripture, not
just a handful of verses.
All the Apostles recognized that God worked through the
understanding of His word to accomplish great things (Psalm 1). Paul therefore
recited this benediction over the Ephesian elders:
- “Now
I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up
and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” (Acts
20:32)
God would use Scripture to bless and transform. Conversely, when
Christians strayed from the word, they would suffer, as Paul had warned:
- Learn
from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.”
Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over
against the other. For who makes
you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive?
And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? (1 Cor.
4:6-7)
Many in the Corinthian Church went “beyond what is written” and
became proud to the hurt of themselves and their church. Instead, Scripture had
to serve as their highest authority – sola scriptura.
How do we please God? We abide in His word above all else. Peter
insisted that:
- If
anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of
God... so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. (1
Peter 4:11).
Our church traditions should never be in competition with God’s
word. This was the problem with the religious leadership of Jesus’ day. They
valued their own traditions above Scripture. Against this lethal tendency:
- Jesus
replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your
tradition?... Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your
tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
“‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’”
(Matthew 15:3-9)
Our traditions or institutions cannot be placed on par with
Scripture. The resulting worship is of no
value! God intends Scripture to rule over all else – sola scriptura.
Jesus had the highest regard for Scripture, claiming that it
could “not be broken” (John 10:35). Everything else could be changed but not
Scripture. It stood over everything else – sola scriptura! Even Jesus would not
do away with Scripture:
- “Do
not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not
come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the
smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means
disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of
the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called
least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these
commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:17-19)
Because Scripture came from God, it could not just be set aside.
Instead, our standing in the Kingdom depended upon our response to Scripture.
However, Jesus would fulfill it, according to Divine intention.
The deceased, ex-evangelical scholar, Clark Pinnock, decided
that the Bible was merely a human text:
- It
is important to insist that the Bible is a merely human text – written,
copied, translated, and interpreted by fallible people. It contains all
manner of internal contradictions, moral blemishes, legend and saga,
inaccuracies, and the like. It is a collection of intensely human
documents and is not an authority beyond criticism or correction. To
regard it as God’s written Word is an idolatrous perversion of belief
which must be dethroned.
However, Pinnock’s opinion was diametrically opposed to Jesus’!
- Jesus
answered [Satan], “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but
on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
According to Jesus, life is about imbibing “every word that comes from the mouth of God” – Scripture! This
means that we can’t sit in judgment over God’s word, selecting what we like or
think inspired. Instead, every one of
God’s words must judge us!
Jesus had such a high regard for Scripture that He continually
brought His disciples back to this wellspring of blessing. When Jesus
encountered His disheartened disciples after His crucifixion, He could have
spoken His own words to encourage them, but instead, He pointed them back to
Scripture:
- “Did
not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his
glory?” And beginning with Moses
and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the
Scriptures concerning himself. (Luke 24:26-27)
Scripture is so central to our lives that Jesus opened their
minds to understand it:
- He
said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you:
Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses,
the Prophets and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds so they could
understand the Scriptures. (Luke 24:44-45)
Never once do we see any indication that Jesus regarded
Scripture as merely a human document. Instead, He copiously quoted Scripture, always as maximally authoritative.
Consequently, if we want to call ourselves “Christian,” we should regard
Scripture as did Jesus!
Because Scripture is God’s authoritative word, we are not free
to interpret it in any manner we choose:
- Above
all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the
prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the
will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy
Spirit. (2 Peter 1:20-21)
Although Scripture comes through the hand and sometimes even the
vocabulary of man, it is still God-given. As such, it is above our own thoughts
and philosophies. Therefore, we are not free to interpret it as we please. It
is God-breathed in its entirety, as Paul revealed:
- All
Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting
and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly
equipped for every good work. (2 Tim. 3:16-17)
Only about Scripture can it be said that it can make us
“thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Clearly, the word that God has
breathed out transcends all other forms of knowledge – sola scriptura!
Pinnock insisted that “the Apostles never thought that they were
writing Scripture.” However, this is obviously wrong. Only one example should
suffice:
- And
we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God,
which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it
actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.
(1 Thess. 2:13)
There is nothing like Scripture. Our Lord has ordained it to
“work in [us] who believe,” through His Spirit. Scripture outclasses everything
else – sola scriptura!
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