The Sufficiency of Scripture for Salvation & Worship
Notes
Transcript
A) Definition of Sufficiency;
opportunity to expalin confessions - subject to Scritpure not other way around, just like Luther, Calvin…
perspecuity too!
B) Consequences - erroneous categories used by people to circumvent the Bible’s authority.
i. custom ie. Cardinal Newman’s baptism of pagan ritual by church…
ii. great majorities - ie. finger to wind George Barna polls ie. universal salvation, gender, gender roles…
iii. antiquity of particular teaching… our age oppostie problem often since 20 years old is ancient, noveltiess… but opniions contrary to God’s word though good since predates Christianity - eastern religino and New Age..
iv. “succession of times and persons, or councils, decrees or statutes.” When our confession speaks of succession of times and persons, it is referring to the Roman Catholic notion of apostolic succession–i.e., there is a direct and unbroken line of popes from
the current pope all the way back to the apostle Peter. ...Between AD 251-1328, there were no less than 39 “anti-popes” (popes who were elected in a non-canonical way through deceit or internal intrigue). From 1376-1417 there were two and at times three rival popes serving at the same time, each with lines of apostolic succession and a supposedly valid claim to the office.4
One pope, Honorious I, was
anathematized by both his successor and a church council for being a heretic, for something he
supposedly taught infallibly. And we could go on and on.
As Calvin taught us, what is historic and unbroken is not a chain of successive popes, but the doctrine taught in holy Scripture.
CREEDS and COuncil: o-called ecumenical councils ofNicea (325), Constantinople (381), Ephesus (431), Chalcedon (451), and those ofConstantinople in 553 and 680. But Rome also regards the Council of Trent (1545-1563), which anathematized Paul’s doctrine of justification sola fide, Vatican 1 (promulgated in 1869) which affirmed papal infallibility and the immaculate conception ofMary, as authoritative, as well as Vatican II (1962-63). While Protestants have historically held these ecumenical councils and the creeds which come from them–the Apostle’s, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed and the Formula ofChalcedon–in high regard, indeed, we confess one of them each Lord’s day and regard them as doctrinal standards in our churches, these councils and the creeds which come from them, do not possess the authority ofHoly Scripture. These documents are authoritative, only insofar as they reflect the teaching ofScripture. Scripture stands above all Christian creeds and certainly Christian
councils should likewise submit to the authority ofGod’s word, a point Rome certainly does not accept.
CUSTOM has human error in it - vs. Word of God: “since the truth is above all; for all men are of themselves liars, and lighter than a breath.” God alone is holy. He alone is able to speak with divine authority. God alone speaks without error. As the Psalmist declares (Psalm 116:11), “all men are liars.” This is why God’s word must stand above custom, the consent of the majority, great antiquity, and especially above the authority of the church, and its creeds and councils. The church is not infallible. The church is filled with sinners and her decisions and
doctrinal pronouncements are true and possess authority only as they conform to Holy Scripture.
A)
When we speak, then, of the sufficiency ofHoly Scripture, we simply mean that Scripture alone contains the law and the gospel. In these two words, we have all that we need to know God’s will, to come face to face with our sinfulness and to discover how God saves us from our sins. We also have all the information we need to worship God in a way which pleases him. The Bible was not given to satisfy sinful human curiosity–we do not find the answers to all of the mysteries of life in the Bible. In the Bible we find the story of our redemption, as revealed in the law and the gospel, which unfold in the covenant ofworks made in Eden and restated in the Ten Commandments and through the various administrations of the covenant of grace in which we witness Jesus save us from our sins in the type and shadow of the Old Testament and in the promise and fulfillment of the new.
As one writer reminds us, those looking for esoterica [hidden things] had better look somewhere else than in Holy Scripture. But those who want to know God, “his purpose for mankind and the meaning of history, salvation in Christ, and the reality of the kingdom ofGod” will find what they are looking for.1 Those who come to the Bible looking for something other than the story ofGod saving sinners will not find it. Nor did God give us his word to answer the objections of sinful rebels to the way in which God has decided to order and govern his universe. God did not give the Bible to justify his actions. After all, who are we as sinners to demand that the Holy God give an account to us? No, in the Bible we find the will ofGod and the person and work of Jesus Christ in all his saving glory and mercy. What else could
we possibly need that God has not already given to us?
Now owners manual to happy prosperous life … but God’s word shows us our sin and wonders of his grace!@
Q. sufficient for LIFE and Faith, manner of service = cultus = public worship service vs. RC add bowing to cross, veneration of Mary, visual...
Article re - Moral Therapeutic Deism - purged through church, do we have kids growing into adults see this world as My Father’s World, with God active in Christ, Christendom, or as Deists in MTD - law and gospel defines…
January 20, 2020. A virus which had been making its way through China and then through Europe makes the first confirmed diagnosis in the United States. Little did anyone know the weight and catastrophe which would soon be poured out. Many local churches began to sense a disquieting apprehension that they, in fact, might have to shut down permanently. Many did. Others trudged through muddy waters and began to pioneer their stake in a digital landscape, which was raw and novel to so many. Now, in the 177 days since COVID first darkened America’s door, there continues to be unanswered questions, rumors, guesses, fears, guidelines, restrictions, etc., but through all of it, can there be a silver lining? Is it possible to see blessing in the midst of loss? It can often be hard to see those things, yet there is undeniable sanctification which is beginning to take shape. How? What does this mean?
It is no large secret the modern American church has some problems. One such problem which is certainly nothing new but profoundly prevalent nonetheless, is that of cultural or nominal Christians. In other words, the churches of America are jam filled each week with people who claim to be Christians but have no personal relationship with Jesus as both Savior and Lord. Many may have walked an aisle, said a prayer, and read a tract at a younger age, but they have never acknowledged their depravity, need of a Savior, and trusted in Jesus as the only source for salvation. So now they think they are fine because they followed a few steps or because they live in a “Christian” country and do “Christian” things. Most of these people have no real grasp on who God is, the person of Christ, the need for a savior, or even the importance of the Bible. Pew research suggests some alarming statistics about Christianity in America.
More than 4,700 U.S. adults finds that one-third of Americans say they do not believe in the God of the Bible, but that they do believe there is some other higher power or spiritual force in the universe. A slim majority of Americans (56%) say they believe in God “as described in the Bible.” And one-in-ten do not believe in any higher power or spiritual force.[1]
Simply believing in God has become the only criteria necessary for millions of people who claim Christianity, and so it is no revelation why so many in the western church today are essentially either truly agnostic or atheist for all intents and purposes.
Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton are sociologists who have coined a term to describe what so many of the local churches are really occupied by: “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (MTD).”[2] What does this term actually mean? Smith and Denton elaborate:
1. A God exists who created and orders the world and watches over human life on earth.
2. God wants people to be good, nice and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.
3. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
4. God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.
5. Good people go to heaven when they die.[3]
This is an alarming ideology because it makes man the central figure and hero, and God becomes little more than a background character in the cosmos. If someone holds to this belief system, they are, by definition, not true believers. Please note, this is not a declaration or insinuation that all people who have fallen into this trap are irreparably damned, but rather it’s an indictment stating many people in the western church likely are not saved, and even many who are get duped into this kind of thinking where self is king. This is seen clearly in reference to many people locked into the prosperity and word of faith movements. Ok, so what does any of this information have to do with COVID?
Now that the stage is set, the heart of this article may be more fully explained. One thing which is certain about nominal believers is once things get real and faith actually gets tested, they are the first to abandon ship. Why? Because a faith not rooted in Jesus is a faith which either dies or withers (Matthew 13:4-7). Cultural Christianity cannot withstand scrutiny of faith. Adherents to this false gospel will buckle under their own weight because their faith is insecurely anchored in their inability. This means many people who were forced to vacate a church building during COVID and go online instead will likely not be returning if and when churches are once again open at full capacity. This is certainly sad on one hand because now they are removed from Christian influence in large part, there is also a benefit which may not be seen immediately but will unquestionably be a good thing as part of the American church’s bigger picture.
In John 15, Jesus famously speaks metaphorically about the vine and branches when he states, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:1-2, ESV). The church must go through a pruning process at times. Part of this pruning may indeed be exposing those who truly follow Jesus and those who merely follow an obscure idea of Jesus. So, while many churches will be faced with a daunting rebuild task, it will be with a firm foundation of people who are truly following Jesus and bearing much fruit because of him. The process of pruning is seldom easy and always painful for a season, but the yield will always be worth the toil.
Lastly, the other way in which COVID has already been a sort of blessing is by exposing the bankruptcy and emptiness of prosperity gospel preachers, word of faith movement, and the NAR movement. These dangerous and heretical teachings are being utter laid bare by a pandemic. Many who were once enslaved to a powerless and hollow teaching are being awakened to the actual gospel of Jesus. It is difficult to preach that the Bible promises wealth prosperity when nearly 20-30 million people have lost their source of income and are scrambling to just feed their families and keep them from being on the street. The new age teaching of the law of attraction which has been adopted by the word of faith and prosperity preachers is now exposed. One cannot merely speak change into their own life.
So, what is happening is, in fact, hopefully the foundation of an awakening. Where Christians are truly trusting Jesus not only as Savior but also as Lord. The American church may be going through a difficult albeit essential pruning. Will it be painful at times? Certainly. Will it have a cost? Without question. Will it be worth it? Indisputably. The promise given by Jesus in John 16:33 is one the church can and must cleave. The world in which we live, and the church therein will face challenges, but each one has already been conquered by the Risen Christ. The great promise given by Jesus about his church in Matthew 16 was that not even the gates of Hell can prevail against it. So Christian, stand strong knowing the same Jesus who holds the keys to sin, death, and Hell in his victorious hand (Rev. 1:18) will be glorified even through a pandemic. Perhaps a reader here has been living as an MTD or just limping through life as a cultural Christian, please hear and believe that biblical Jesus centered Christianity is not only worth more than what is imaginable, but it will free a person from the bondage of trying to fix themselves and have no ability to do so. Confess sinfulness, believe Jesus is enough, and trust in Him alone (John 14:6).
[1] “Americans' Beliefs about the Nature of God.” 2020. May 30. https://www.pewforum.org/2018/04/25/when-americans-say-they-believe-in-god-what-do-they-mean/.
[2] Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 163.
Consequences for those who bring new teaching, reject bible! “We therefore reject with all our heart whatever does not agree with this infallible rule, as the apostles have taught us: `Test the spirits to see whether they are ofGod’ (1 John 4:1). Likewise: If any one comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting’ (2 John 1:10).”
ohn doesn’t mean that we should be rude and inhospitable to people. We are to love our enemies, after all. It is not a sin to invite a Mormon missionary into your house to share the gospel with him. Giving him a cup of cold water might even be the Christian thing to do. But John does mean that we should avoid doing anything to give false teachers any kind of legitimacy–i.e. the kind ofwelcome which appears to implicitly endorse their teaching, such as the kiss of peace, or welcoming them into our homes in such a way as to appear to welcome them as we would a fellow brother or sister in Christ. There are certain cultural things in view here which explain John’s meaning. In John’s day welcoming someone into your dwelling was usually done so as to share a meal, which was symbolic not only of friendship but of agreement. To eat with a false teacher and give them the kiss of
peace was to say, “you are one of us.” Such is not necessarily the case today.
PRACTICALLY: never give people who think that God’s word needs to be corrected or supplemented any credence in the church, nor should we given them any forum to spread their views. We don’t let them recruit in our Sunday school, we don’t let them stand up and give “words of knowledge” or speak in tongues during our worship service, we wouldn’t let our spouse or one of our children go to one of their meetings, we don’t let them into our homes for the purpose of giving them a hearing, unless we are prepared to refute their views and expose their errors. We don’t listen to cult leaders and false teachers on the radio or read their books–unless to gain knowledge of their views so as to refute them. We must not give those who deny the sufficiency ofScripture a forum to correct or add
to God’s word.
CONCLUSION: Beloved, what we must believe and confess before the watching world is that God has spoken in the pages ofHoly Scripture, but only in the pages ofHoly Scripture. Because in the Bible we have both the law and gospel, we need nothing else which God has not already given that church tradition or a prophet can provide. The Bible is most complete and perfect, it leaves nothing out. It tells us all we need to
know about God’s will, our sin, God’s salvation in Jesus Christ, and how God wishes to be worshiped.