9
Jan

Sola Scriptura

   Posted by: Joshuah   in NT, OT, Sola Scriptura, Tota Scriptura

“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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This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 9th, 2008 at 7:35 pm and is filed under NT, OT, Sola Scriptura, Tota Scriptura. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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