Scripture is understood as the Word of God among Christians. I remember when I was in seminary, a professor said that almost all Christians say that the Bible is the Word of God, but how many of them read, study, re-read, and re-study the Word of God? This simple statement seems simple, but it caught my attention. Obviously, it still does.
“Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was every produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Pet. 1:20-21, ESV) The Scriptures were written by humans as well as inspired and illuminated by the Spirit. The Scriptures came from God and yet were spoken from humans who were “carried along” or “moved” by the Spirit.
The Scriptures that we have in our hands are the inspired Word of God. They are sufficient and inerrant. They are “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim. 2:16b-17, ESV) Knowing Scripture as a whole is essential for Christian spirituality, maturity, and growth. Such knowledge of Scripture comes from hearing, learning, reading, studying, obeying, rereading, studying again, and obeying again and again. Most Christians are not equipped for good works because we are incompetent in many ways. We are not competent to do good works, such as training others in righteousness because we are rarely trained in righteousness.
Christian spirituality is Word-centered. Scripture is “our only infallible rule.”[1]
[1] See Michael A. G. Haykin, The God who Draws Near: An Introduction to Biblical Spirituality (Webster: Evangelical Press, 2007), chapter 5.
No comments:
Post a Comment