To Be a Bible Believer
Sola Scriptura is a Latin term made popular during the time of the Reformation in the 16th century. The term means “ scripture alone” and implies that we should gain our understanding of truth only from God’s word, the written scriptures. We are called to be bible believers.
Certain social issues are challenging our commitment to the Bible. Secular ideas about gender, same sex marriage, evolution, racism, the role of women, teaching our children, family, marriage and divorce, and others are the world’s hammers aimed at the anvil of God’s word. These ideas re taught in our school system to which we send our children for seven hours every day and then we wonder why society if collapsing.
So it comes as no surprise a generation is “deconstructing” its faith or abandoning it altogether. They are challenging the notion that there is one God who has revealed Himself through His Son as expressed in the Bible. Whether they identify as Protestant or Catholic, traditional churches are gradually experiencing serious losses in membership and many are adjusting their doctrines in order to accept those who reject the Bible as God’s word.
Sola scriptura developed at a time when the Catholic Church had allowed unbiblical traditions to gradually distort the clear teachings of scripture. In the years leading up to the Reformation, the Catholic Church began to see the organization with its buildings, programs and traditions as truth despite what scripture teaches. They developed concepts such as praying to saints and Mary, indulgences and an elaborate clergy system leading to the false authority of the pope and other clergy.
The reformers broke with the Catholic Church and declared that scripture alone is to be our source of authority as we seek to know and practice truth. They spoke out against allowing tradition to replace the scriptures in our desire to be at the center of God’s will.
But the reformers did not fully embrace sola scriptura because to do so would have taken them all the way back to the first century understanding of scripture before the organized church developed many traditions that cannot be found in the Bible. For example, they had allowed a clergy system to develop which insisted that certain skilled preachers were given a position of authority over other members of the body of Christ. They embraced denominations, tithing, infant baptism, transubstantiation and other doctrines that enlarged their control. Like the Pharisees in the time of Jesus, they were guilty of embracing many traditions that stifled the priesthood of all believers, an essential part of God’s will for the church (1 Peter 2:9; Ex 19:6; Isa 61:6; Rev 1:6; 5:10).
Unfortunately, the institutional church of today has developed traditions that have moved it from its spiritually organic place being led by the Holy Spirit to an organization devised and controlled by men. Most protestants denounce the Catholic attitude of placing their tradition on a par with scripture while allowing their own traditions to slowly replace the spiritual life of the body of Christ.
The clergy system, sacred buildings, man-controlled worship services, infant baptism, the one-man professional pastor, the sermon replacing fellowship, ministers of music, school-inspired youth classes, and much more, were not part of the early church for centuries. The slow drifting toward a universal (Catholic) church solidified these practices as permanent features of our corporate life as believers. The traditions have replaced the leading of the Holy Spirit and thus the life of the body of Christ.
Many of my dear brothers have responded to this message with either of two arguments. First, many will simply say that they agree but see such change to be impractical. My answer has always been to remind them that we are not committed to being practical but to being led by the Holy Spirit (John 16:13; Rom 8:14; Gal 5:16). He is supernaturally practical in leading us into all of God’s truth (John 16:13).
Sola scriptura implies more than just a commitment to the book we call the bible. It encompasses the understanding that God’s word is spiritual and living and will change people’s lives. The writer of Hebrews makes this point:
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Heb 4:12).
God’s word is more than just words. It is God speaking to us. His speaking to us is the logos word of God which has a supernatural nature that pierces between soul and spirit, between our own thoughts and the very mind of God. To truly read God’s word with an open heart will open your spirit which will enlighten your soul so that you see with spiritual clarity.
Jesus verified this when He declared “. . . the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life (John 6:63). His words, spoken from Him and reaching seeking hearts, are “spirit and life.” His word will change you if you allow it to penetrate our heart. This reaches beyond human thinking into the realm of enlightenment and revelation (Eph 1:17, 18).
We are not given the prerogative to pick and choose our practical actions but are exhorted to hear what Jesus says and allow His word to shape us as individuals and as a corporate spiritual body according to the Holy Spirit.
We must understand that the Holy Spirit is always leading us forward into change ordered by Him. If He is the Leader we are to follow and He definitely believes in sola scriptura because He inspired the word of God (2 Pet 1:21). The word “practical” implies something that works by man’s ability. The church is to be the work of Jesus through His Holy Spirit. It is a living body created and empowered by the Holy Spirit who always leads us back to scripture for answers.
The second response I hear from others is that this approach would leave many people working in churches without employment. Pastors, secretaries, worship leaders, janitors, and others would be without jobs and retirement benefits if we allowed these changes. Anytime the Holy Spirit produces a new wineskin, the old one will suffer especially if we try to put new wine into it (Matt 9:17).
There are many other arguments against a return to scripture in regard to our lives as followers of Christ. Our traditions have slowly led us away from scripture into the craftiness and deceitful scheming that Paul warned against (Eph 4:14). We have an old wineskin that cannot be changed without damage. We have allowed the building of a religious system while ignoring the simplicity and purity of God’s original plan.
As time unfolds in what could be the last years of this age, Christians must make a decision about scripture. If it is God’s word then we must realize that it clearly describes the wineskin that God always intended for us. The old wineskin of traditional Christianity is failing to contain the new wine that God is bringing to the table.
