Truth and The Bible
One of the things that I routinely say about the Bible is that it has authority. This might sound old, odd, or misplaced to some. To others, it can sound heavy, burdensome, and oppressive. And then, to another set of ears, it can come off as life-giving, freeing, and hopeful. The idea of a sacred text having authority hits each of us in unique ways. And I think this is because we are all trying to answer the questions of identity. Who am I? What’s my purpose? What will bring fulfillment and meaning? Each of these questions alludes to something bigger, true, and having the ability to guide us. These questions seek a benevolent source of authority. We all know we need this in order to answer those important questions. So, what will be our benevolent source of authority? For the Christian, it is to be the Bible.
The Bible is authoritative.
Here is an excerpt from Evangelical Convictions, a theological exposition of the EFCA’s Statement of Faith.
A third quality of the Bible as the Word of God, and closely related to its sufficiency, is its authority over us. We affirm that the Scriptures provide “the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged.” God’s authority is mediated to us through his Word.
In affirming sola Scriptura, “Scripture alone,” the Reformers were fighting a battle on two fronts. On the one side, the Roman Catholics held church tradition as an authority equal to Scripture. On the other, the “enthusiasts” (the “radical charismatics” of the day) accepted immediate prophetic utterances of the Spirit as messages equal in authority to Scripture. In opposition to both, the Reformers declared that the Bible alone held the position of ultimate authority for the Christian.
The Bible itself supports this view. On the one hand, Jesus condemned the Pharisees for nullifying the Word of God for the sake of their traditions (Matt. 15:6). On the other, the words of a prophet, in the both the Old and New Testaments, were always to be judged by the previously revealed Word of God (cf. Deut. 13:1-5) and the authoritative teaching of an apostle (1 Cor. 14:37-38; Gal. 1:8).
The authority of the Bible embraces both belief and behavior. It tells us what we ought to think and how we ought to act. And its authority extends over every realm to which it speaks. That means that all we teach must be judged by the authority of the Bible itself. Thus, we can never claim that our interpretation of the Bible is inerrant. We are to preach and teach with Bibles open, encouraging people to be like the Bereans of the Book of Acts, who “examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11).
To be clear, our statement about the Bible’s authority does not mean that there is no knowledge outside the Bible, nor that the Bible must be invoked to justify every aspect of human knowledge and action. The Bible is authoritative over every realm of human activity, but, as we have stated, it does not address every realm. There is much that is not revealed in Scripture, from atomic physics to the chemical activity of the brain, that can greatly enrich human life. But nothing outside of Scripture comes to us with the same universally binding divine authority—not church tradition, not any other religious writings, not prophetic utterances, not inner promptings of the Spirit, not scientific theories, not human reason. All of these can be helpful, and Scripture as our “ultimate authority” does not imply that we should try to understand the world, and even the Bible itself, without using all the resources God has made available to us. Yet we affirm that all knowledge, from whatever source, must be in service of the Word of God, and that Word provides the necessary norms by which to assess all other knowledge. Since what the Bible says, God says, the Scripture remains the ultimate standard of all that is set forth as “truth.” It stands over every other claim to truth as the rule to which it must submit.
The Evangelical Free Church began as a reform movement in the state churches of Scandinavia, spawned by a renewed focus on the Bible. Through a network of small Bible studies called the “Readers Revival,” these believers developed a strong conviction about the centrality and authority of the Scriptures. “Where stands it written?” became the watchword for all faith and practice. We stand strongly in that tradition.
The Apostle Paul declares that in Christ “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3). Christ himself is at the center of the Bible (Luke 24:27, 44-45; John 5:39). Christ himself is the means by which God has spoken his ultimate Word to the world (Heb. 1:1-2). Christ himself, in his person and work, is the gospel, and it is the gospel of Jesus Christ that has been authoritatively revealed to us in the Scriptures.
How should we respond to such a revelation? We ought to begin with a humble and awe-filled adoration and gratitude. We do not stand over God’s Word as its judge, but under it as those willing to be taught, rebuked, corrected and trained (cf. 2 Tim. 3:17). “These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.” (Isa. 66:26). The psalmist of the Old Testament, writing even before the full revelation of the gospel in Christ, extols this Word from God in joyful verse:
The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward (Ps. 19:7-11).
God has spoken in the Bible. In speaking, God acts, and the “speech acts” in the Bible include not only the revelation of propositional truth about himself and his world, but also words of command and words of promise. Our response ought to reflect the various purposes God intends when he speaks to us through his Word. All that the Bible teaches us we ought to believe.
All that the Bible requires of us, we ought to obey. And all that the Bible promises us, we ought to trust. For what the Bible says, God says, and it is all for our good and for his glory. For in the Scriptures God’s gospel of his Son has been authoritatively revealed to us. God has spoken![1]
[1] EFCA. Evangelical Convictions, 2nd Edition (pp. 77-80). Free Church Publications. Kindle Edition.