Archive for the ‘Tota Scriptura’ Category

9
Jan

Sola Scriptura

   Posted by: Joshuah

“I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.” (1 Cor 4:6)

We have already mentioned that it is essential to rely on ALL of Scripture and not just on those verses we like. Elaboration on Tota Scriptura will follow, but today we want to concentrate on the idea of “Sola Scriptura”, Scripture alone.

So what’s the point about Sola Scriptura ?

Scripture, the inerrant word of God, is all we need. There is no need for additional texts to rely on, additional “revelations”, be it the book of Mormon, or anything the Catholics rely on besides Scripture, or whatever book by whatever pious author you might come across.

When Jesus is confronted with the devil, with temptation, what does He do (Mat 4:1-11)? Does He launch into a long drawn out conversation with the devil ? No, He doesn’t. He quotes Scripture:

“But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” “(Mat 4:4)

“Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” ” (Mat 4:7)

“Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” ” (Mat 4:10)

“It is written” is all that is needed to defeat the devil and his schemes. It worked for Jesus, it works for us today, in exactly the same way. We are to test the spirits against Scripture alone, and will defeat every vile scheme, just like Jesus did, if we put on the whole armor of God (1Jn 4:1, Eph 6:11-18).

All that matters is Scripture, and everything we hear, read or see is measured with the one and only yardstick, God’s Law Word. If we need definitions, we let Scripture define itself, for example the definition of love (Exo 20:1-17 and the case laws, Deu 5:6-21). If we need explanations, we let Scripture explain itself, for example Peter and his dream in Acts 10, or why Jesus speaks in parables (Mat 13, Mar 4, Luk 8).

There is no need to add our own definitions or explanations to Scripture, in fact, that would be modern Pharisee-ism: Instead of relying God’s Law Word, modern Pharisees come up with their own rules and regulations based on their own definitions and explanations, just like in Jesus’ time. But Jesus is clear about this attitude, so beware:

“You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” (Mat 15:7-9)

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7
Jan

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable”

   Posted by: Joshuah

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and 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.” (2Ti 3:16-17)

We were accused of the following recently:

“Your claim is based upon Old Testament references, I know that nothing in the New Testament upholds it.”

I am not going to explain what claim we made – it was based on both Old and New Testament references, of course – but would like to concentrate on the statement made.

This person says that, since our claim is based on Old Testament references alone, it is invalid and only if something is “upheld” in the New Testament, it is still valid and binding for Christians today.

Now you can argue about the idea of something being “upheld”, since in order to find out if it is or not, you would have to go much deeper into Scripture than just look for a word that might or might not be repeated. You will have to look for concepts, for the mindset of the people, and make sure that you understand what is going on in the New Testament based on the mindset of the people who Jesus met and dealt with, who the letters were addressed too.

But the point I am trying to make is so much more simple:

  1. Jesus is God in the flesh (Joh 1:1;14). God does not change (Mal 3:6), Jesus does not change (Heb 13:8). Whatever command is made in the Old Testament, therefore, is still valid today unless specifically ended, like the sacrificial law: Jesus himself was the last sacrifice, the last Passover lamb to be slain (1Co 5:7; Heb 10:12).
  2. When Jesus argues in the New Testament, He quotes Scripture. What does he quote ? When met with temptation, He quotes Deuteronomy (for example Mat 4:4); we find Him referring to Isaiah when He explains why He speaks in parables (for example Mat 13:14-15), and He refers back to Exodus and Deuteronomy when it comes to the Ten Commandments, just as examples. Of course He quotes Old Testament Scriptures, as the New Testament was not written yet. The same counts for Paul when he labels all Scripture to be breathed by God and profitable (2Ti 3:16-17)- all Scripture, that was, in his time, the Old Testament only. Now while we believe that both Old and New Testament are inspired by God and thus inerrant and eternal, it is important to point out that the Old Testament constitutes not only the major part of our bible, but also lays the foundations needed to understand what happens in the New Testament.

Rather than dismissing something that is based on Old Testament Scripture only, we should be careful if a claim relies on New Testament Scriptures alone, and contradicts Old Testament Scripture. The claim might very well be resting on a modern understanding of a biblical concept and hence be wrongly handling the word of truth (2Ti 2:15).

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