The Five Solas (2017): Sola Scriptura

Well, I most always say, take out your copy of God's Word and turn to.

Just hang on to your copy of God's Word for a moment, and I promise I will tell you where to turn and get there.

I have felt in the past when I've given some longer introductions that you're staring at the text going,

when in the world is he going to get to the text?

There is a text, and we will get to it this morning, I promise, but I want you just to settle in for a moment

as I give you some bit of an introduction to what we intend to do this Sunday and then the next four Sundays.

As mentioned previously in our service, we are going to work through the five solas of the Reformation.

And if you're already a bit confused, a sola is Latin for only.

And so the five solas are sola scriptura, or scripture alone,

and that is that the Bible is God's final authority to man.

Sola gratia, which is to say grace alone, we are saved by God's grace alone.

Sola fide, through faith alone.

Solas Christus, in Jesus Christ alone.

And soli Deo Gloria, to the glory of God alone.

And the Christian life is to be lived to the glory of God.

And so these are the five solas.

The Reformers loved the word sola.

Because remember that they were speaking to Christian contexts, right?

People who, even more than in our day, believed that they were of the Christian faith

simply because they were citizens of the country in which they lived.

They assumed that they were Christians.

And so they're speaking to a people who would have said,

yeah, yes, scripture.

And sure, grace and faith.

And yes, Christ.

And of course, the glory of God.

The Reformers said time and time again,

no, the scripture alone.

Grace alone.

Faith alone.

In Christ alone.

To the glory of God.

Alone.

And these, the structure that we're going to be talking about,

sola scriptura, sola gratia, sola fide, sola Christus, sola Deo Gloria,

was not systematized by the Reformers.

And that's the thing that you ought to know.

So as we talk about the Reformers kind of holding these things up as banners

over the Reformation,

it wasn't systematic until much, much later.

But you pick up these themes in so much of their writing,

these various alones that they stood for and supported.

This morning, I want to spend a little bit of time,

as I mentioned, on an introduction.

And then we're going to briefly consider the doctrine of sola scriptura.

But before we begin,

I just want to be clear about a few things for this morning

and in the coming month.

The Protestant Reformation was not the beginning of Christianity.

God has had a people that he has sovereignly preserved from the fall

by a promise.

And that promise was fulfilled in Christ.

He has had a people from the very beginning.

It didn't begin with the Protestant Reformation,

as sometimes we can mistakenly be misunderstood.

The truth of God had not been lost to the world

and then rediscovered by an Augustinian monk

by the name of Martin Luther in the 16th century.

It wasn't completely lost.

It wasn't gone all together.

The truth of God had been preserved by God,

although largely lost to the Western world,

to European Christianity,

buried in a Latin translation

and by Roman Catholic tradition

and papal infallibility,

which at very best obscured the truth

and at very worst and most often replaced it.

God had long been working amongst his people in Europe

to ignite the purifying flame of the Protestant Reformation.

A very popular analogy goes that God has been stacking the kindling for centuries

and that he used Martin Luther's writings as a spark

to ignite the fire that burned so brightly across Europe

to purify the church.

Faithful men, known and unknown,

were used of God.

I'm so thankful for writing and distribution

that began in this same time

so we can know so many of these men.

But it's important to know also

that there are many unknown men

used by God to bring about reform in the church.

Men like John Wycliffe,

who in the 14th century,

much before,

defied Rome and translated the Bible

from Latin into English

and the kindling began to stack up.

So we don't want to see,

while the Reformation was a great turn

in Western Christianity,

it's a very significant thing to consider.

It's been a work of God all the way through.

He threads every single bit of it.

You have heard and will hear a bunch

about the Reformation in the past couple of months.

We've been reading the Reformation ABCs

to the children in the coming month.

But I want to be clear

that we do not worship the Reformers.

They were all fallible men.

And boy, did some of them err.

As much as they got right,

they got much wrong.

And we don't believe every single thing

that the Reformers believed.

But as I've said,

they were men used of God.

Our history,

our church's history,

traces through the redemptive history

of the Bible,

by the way of the church

that we see in the book of Acts,

through the Reformers,

and then through the Puritans,

to today.

The events of the Reformation

were significant,

and we would not exist

as a people for God's possession

if not for them.

Now, I am not saying

that God could not have established

a church in the Americas

without the Reformation.

But I am saying

that God chose

to start a church

in the Americas

with the Reformation.

And so as such,

we should want to know

our history, right?

Much of our history.

This is our family

that we're considering

as we look back

to the lives

of some of these men.

So we should want to know it.

And we should also want

to know our history

because those

who don't know their history

are doomed

to repeat its mistakes.

We do not want to be known

as a church

for what we are against.

However,

sometimes to be clear

about what you are for,

I believe you must state

what you are against.

You must clarify,

not that,

but this.

The Protestant Reformation

began as an attempt

to bring correction

to the Roman Catholic Church.

Martin Luther did not intend

to vacate the church.

In fact,

he was excommunicated.

He was kicked out

of the church,

but he wanted to see

the church correct

its teaching.

But upon Rome's rejection

of the plain teaching

of Scripture,

the Reformers abandoned Rome.

We are Protestants,

and we are Protestants

in that we will protest

any teaching,

not just Roman Catholic teaching,

but any teaching

against justification

by grace alone,

through faith alone,

in Jesus Christ alone.

And there is much teaching

out there in this way.

There is much teaching

in the name of Jesus Christ

that would suggest to people

that they must earn their way

into God's favor.

And beloved,

we can only stand confidently

before God,

be justified before Him

because of what Christ

has accomplished

on our behalf,

because of His perfect life

and perfect death.

And so we protest

any teaching that's

in opposition to that

because we love mankind

and we want mankind

to come to saving faith

in Jesus Christ.

all other teaching

besides the gospel,

the pure gospel,

right?

Justification by faith alone,

by grace alone,

through faith alone,

and Christ alone

is damning.

It's dangerous

for people.

And so we must

defend

the truth.

And so the Reformation

has a great deal

of bearing

for our lives

today.

It means something

for us,

and we ought to take

some time

to understand it

and to study it.

And I want to try

to do something

multimedia,

so Harold,

wink, wink,

nod, nod,

back there.

We don't tend

to do things

like this very often

for the potential

failure of technology,

but Harold's going

to try to play

a video for you

that was played at,

the video was played

at a conference

that happens

every two years.

I would love

for you all

to get to go

to one of them

called Together

for the Gospel.

And I don't recall,

2016, I think,

maybe,

anyway,

it doesn't really matter.

But this is a video

of a man named

Martin Lloyd-Jones

speaking on the

450th anniversary,

so 50 years ago,

about the significance

of the Protestant

Reformation.

And just to give you

a quick story

about Lloyd-Jones,

many people call him

the doctor,

he was a physician

before he was a pastor,

and the first church

that he was hired

to pastor

was very well known

for its dramas.

In fact,

they would often

not have preaching

on Sunday morning,

but would instead

have plays.

And the pulpit

on the stage

was movable,

and there's nothing

wrong with having

a movable pulpit,

but it was movable

so that they could

put on these plays.

And on his

very first Sunday

when he got up,

opened God's Word,

he first

announced that he

was disbanding

the dramatee,

and then physically,

in reality,

took a handful

of nails

and a hammer

and nailed

the pulpit

down to the stage.

He said,

the Word of God

will be central

in the life

of the church.

So this is

Martin Lloyd-Jones,

20th century

English pastor

in this video,

so take a look.

Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones

will now address us.

At a time like this,

with the world

as it is,

and with this

multiplicity of problems

that are pressing

in upon us

on all sides,

why turn back

and consider

what happened

400 years ago?

Now, as I understand it,

there are two main

objections

to the doing

of what we are meant

to do this evening.

The first is

a general objection

to looking back,

a feeling

that the past

has nothing

to teach us,

that after all,

we are the people

of the 20th century.

We are the people

who have split the atom.

We are the people

who are encompassing

all knowledge.

We are the people

who have advanced

to such giddy heights

that our forefathers

could not even

have imagined them.

Why should we

of old people

look back,

and especially

look back

for 400 years?

That's one objection.

The other is,

the Reformation

was a tragedy.

We are told that

what we should be

considering today

is unity,

and that if we

spend our time

in considering

a kind of disruption

in the church,

or a division

such as took place

400 years ago,

we are doing

something that is sinful.

And there is,

alas,

an increasing

body of opinion

in Protestant circles,

which openly

and unashamedly

is saying

that the Protestant

Reformation

was a tragedy,

and that it is

our business

to forget it

as soon as we can,

and to do

everything possible

to heal the breach

so that we

should be back

again,

one with the

church at home,

and there should

be one great

world church.

I have a feeling

that you've come

together to

demonstrate,

that you've come

together to make

a declaration,

and that is

that unlike so

many others

at this present

time,

you're not ashamed

of the Protestant

Reformation.

The greatest need

of this country

tonight and of

the whole world

is to recapture

that principle

that fired the

men at the

time of the

Protestant

Reformation.

What was it

about?

Justification

by faith.

How does a man

stand just

before God?

God

I got a head

start there.

You wouldn't

think I've

watched the

video 20

times this

week.

Any teaching

of the gospel

of Jesus Christ

that doesn't

teach that we

come to Christ

by faith alone

is an

anti-gospel.

And any

uniting and

joining with

people without

the truth

is not

unity at

all.

Any expression

of love

without the

truth is

not love

at all.

And beloved,

this history

repeats itself

and you're

going to hear

across this

next month

many people

make cries

for what's

called ecumenicalism,

us coming

back together

for the sake

of unity

and the sake

of peace.

And those

are words

that I also

love but

not devoid

of the

truth.

It's good

for people

that we

proclaim boldly

the gospel

of Jesus

Christ,

justification

by grace

alone

through faith

alone,

in Christ

alone.

And so we

must learn

from the

past.

We must

arm ourselves

so that we

can understand

the world

in which we

live,

that we

might speak

clearly

into it.

On your

bulletin

today,

the historical

quote,

Martin Luther

said,

the time

for silence

is past

and the

time to

speak

has come.

So let's

talk a bit

about Martin

Luther,

and we

are almost

to the

text,

I promise.

And this

event that

we're working

toward,

the 500th

anniversary

of October

31st,

1517.

Now,

as I

mentioned

previously

in bit,

it'd be a

little unfair

to say this

is when

the

reformation

really began.

In fact,

we could

probably more

accurately say

it began

in the

following year,

so maybe

we'll also

celebrate it

next year.

Martin Luther

did not

originally set

out to be

a monk.

His original

intention was

to be a

lawyer,

but in

the process

of his

life,

he was

deeply

troubled

by the

status of

his soul.

He was

asking this

question,

what makes

me right

before God?

and he

was not

finding it

in the

religion

of the

day,

although he

was

working

and

working

and

working

to be

found

right

before God.

The story

goes that one

evening in a

very intense

lightning storm,

lightning striking

all about him,

that he

cried out,

rather ironically,

not directly to

God,

but through

the saint,

Anne,

that if he

would just be

spared from the

storm,

that he would

become a

monk.

So he

lived,

and he

became an

Augustinian

monk by the

great providence

of God.

But as a

monk,

still working

and laboring,

he was still

very troubled

by the state

of his soul,

and in order

to put his

mind to rest,

they put him

to work

translating the

Bible.

It's a bit

of a mistake

on their

part.

They put him

to the task

of translating

the book of

Romans.

And in

Romans 1,

Romans 1:17

verse 17,

he came

across this

phrase,

the righteous

shall live

by faith.

And by the

illumination of

the Spirit,

he came to

understand,

and it was

not by works

that we are

righteous before

God,

but because

of faith.

And the

Christian life

was meant to

be a life

of repentance,

which was

counter to

Roman Catholic

teaching,

and still

is.

They teach

that life

is to

be a life

of penance,

doing your

work to

fill the

hole,

the vacuum

that you've

created by

your rebellion

against God.

But the

righteous

shall live

by faith.

So in

that day,

the Roman

church was

trying to

raise money

to build

St. Peter's

Basilica,

which exists.

You can find

pictures of it

online and

even visit it

in Rome.

And so

because of

the great

cost of

building such

a building,

they perpetuated

a practice

that had been

going on for

quite some

years of

the selling

of indulgences.

You may hear

the name

Tetzel from

time to

time,

a man who

went around

selling

indulgences.

And what

indulgences were

were little

bits of

paper that

supposedly

bought you

and or your

loved ones

time out of

purgatory.

Unbiblical

teaching,

but nonetheless,

the church of

Rome taught

that there was

this interstitial

period of

time where

you continued

to pay the

penance until

the penance

was paid

off before

you could

go to

heaven.

And they

sold indulgences

in order to

raise money

for the church

and were

being quite

successful at

it.

On October

31st,

1517,

Luther nailed

a document,

and this was

an entirely

appropriate thing

to do in

the day.

The church

building's door

was like a

bulletin board,

so please

don't put

anything on

our door.

He nailed

a document

entitled

what we

know as

the 95

Theses,

which were

95 reasons

that the

selling of

indulgences

was unbiblical.

95 reasons.

And this

was the

Wittenberg,

you heard

Judah saying,

spelled with a

W, but it's

German,

the Wittenberg

church door.

Now some

time passed,

the end of

February,

beginning of

March of the

following year,

the 95

Theses were

translated into

German,

without Luther's

permission,

I will add,

by a printer.

We don't know

why the printer

did it,

we don't

actually know

specifically who

the printer

was,

but either for

financial gain

or maybe his

zeal for the

word of God,

he got a copy

of it,

he translated

it into

German,

printed it,

and distributed

it widely

around Germany.

So this

intention of

Luther's to

address the

issue with the

church of Rome

became a

national issue.

The common

people began to

have the word of

God in their

hands,

not just in

Latin.

This is a great

trouble of the

day.

The Roman

church held the

scripture in

Latin,

they taught it in

Latin when they

taught it at all,

so it would be

read in Latin,

and then the

priest would give

explanation of

it.

It's quite a

convenience to be

able to say

whatever it is

you want to

say.

And so it

was a big

affront to

this type of

teaching,

this type of

use of the

scripture.

He was

excommunicated,

years have

gone on,

he's been

teaching,

he's been

writing,

writing widely.

In January

of 1521,

and then in

April of

1521,

he was

summoned to

what is known

as the

Diet of

Worms,

which unfortunately

looks like

Diet of

Worms.

In English,

it's the

Diet of

Worms,

where he was

summoned essentially

to recant of

the things that

he had taught

and wrote.

The Church of

Rome was

hoping to

bring about

peace.

He did this

in front of

the Roman

emperor of

the time,

so it's not

a small deal.

We often

see Luther

as this

amazingly

bold,

brash

individual,

and he

was very

brash at

times,

but he

was sick

vomiting the

night before,

having to

stand before

this council

and to

defend what

he had

written.

He was a

weak man,

but made

strong in

Christ.

The two

questions that

were asked

of him,

did he

acknowledge

the authorship

of books

that had

been brought

to the

Diet and

that bore

his name,

a stack of

them that he

had written,

against the

Roman church,

and would

he stand

by them

or retract

anything in

them?

And Luther

asked,

this is April

17th,

Luther asked

for 24

hours to

consider his

response.

So on

April 18th

of 1521,

he said

this,

this was

his defense,

unless I'm

convinced by

the testimony

of scripture

or by

clear reason,

for I

trust neither

pope nor

counsel alone,

since it is

well known that

they have often

erred and

contradicted

themselves,

I am bound

by the

scriptures I

have cited,

for my

conscience is

captive to

the word of

God.

I cannot

and will

not recant

anything,

since to

act against

one's conscience

is neither

safe nor

right.

I cannot

do otherwise,

here I

stand,

may God

help me.

And so

he's

dismissed

from the

diet,

thankfully he's

encouraged to

get out of

town as

they're

arriving at

his

sentence.

He had

already been

declared a

heretic,

now he's

declared a

traitor to

the state

and sentenced

to death.

But he

staged a

supposed

kidnapping

on his

route home,

rescued him

away,

he's put

up in

a German

castle where

he spends

some months

translating the

New Testament,

the entire

New Testament

into German,

which is a

rather phenomenal

feat that he

accomplished.

And the

word of God

continued to

go forth

in Germany.

So we're

looking this

morning at

Sola

Scriptura.

So please

turn with me

in a copy

of God's

word,

breathe a

big sigh

of relief,

2 Timothy

2 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3.

Our text

for today

is 2 Timothy

2 Timothy 3:14

chapter 3

verse 14

through

chapter 4

verse 4.

Before I

read it for

our benefit,

let me remind

you,

beloved,

this is

God's

word to

us.

It was

written for

his glory

and our

good,

and we

would all

do well

to listen

to it

in order

to believe

its promises

and obey

its commands.

2 Timothy

3,

beginning

in verse

14 and

following.

But as

for you,

continue in

what you

have learned

and have

firmly

believed,

knowing from

whom you

learned it,

and how from

childhood you

have been

acquainted with

the sacred

writings which

are able to

make you wise

for salvation

through faith

in Jesus

Christ.

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

complete,

equipped for

every good

work.

I charge

you in the

presence of

God and

of Christ

Jesus,

who is to

judge the

living and

the dead,

and by his

appearing and

his kingdom,

preach the

word.

Be ready in

season and

out of season.

Reprove,

rebuke,

and exhort

with complete

patience and

teaching.

For the time

is coming when

people will not

endure sound

teaching,

but having

itching ears,

they will

accumulate for

themselves teachers

to suit their

own passions,

and will turn

away from

listening to the

truth.

And wander

off into

myths.

Our outline for

this morning is

as follows.

Three points.

Number one,

the scripture

alone is God's

final authority.

The scripture

alone is God's

final authority.

Number two,

the scripture

alone is God's

final authority

for justification.

sanctification.

And number

three,

the scripture

alone is God's

final authority

for sanctification.

Number one,

we'll take the

text a bit out

of order.

The scripture

alone is God's

final authority.

First, we must

establish that,

and we see that

in chapter four,

verses one

through four,

in this way.

And I find this

to be so

phenomenal.

In verse three,

Paul writes to

Timothy,

there's going to

be a time,

and this was the

time that Timothy

himself experienced,

and we still

experience this time

today.

People are not

going to endure

sound teaching.

There will be

sound teaching,

but they won't

even want to hear

it.

And because they

don't want to

endure the sound

teaching,

they're going

to accumulate,

which is a

strong word.

Many teachers

are going to

accumulate for

themselves teachers

to suit their

own passions.

They're not going

to want to hear

what the word of

God has to say.

They're going to

want to hear what

they already want

to hear.

They're going to

gather teachers

around them.

We're going to

allow them to go

on living exactly

the way they are,

and they'll turn

away from listening

to the truth,

and they'll wander

off into myths.

And the point

there is pointless

teaching, right?

Teaching that has

no value at all

for living.

And what is

Paul's instruction

to that?

I just find this

so incredibly

encouraging as a

pastor.

This time is

coming, right?

And I experience

it day to day.

What does he say?

He says,

preach the word.

Verse 2.

He says,

preach the word.

And we're meant

to be using the

word in various

ways.

Reproving,

rebuking,

exhorting all

different aspects

of the way in

which we apply

the word of God

to people's life,

and we're supposed

to be doing it

with complete

patience.

Man, that floors

me.

Like, I so,

I want to flip

tables over so

bad sometimes.

And Paul here

instructs Timothy

to just keep

preaching the truth.

Why?

Because it's

God's final

authority.

Because God

has spoken

by his word.

It's powerful.

It is right

to start our

study with

sola scriptura

because a

proper understanding

of scripture

is the beginning

of our ability

to understand

any of the

other

solas.

The doctrine

of sola scriptura

is known as

the formal

principle,

and the others

follow

from it.

When the

Supreme Court

is trying

a difficult

case,

they look

at other

legal decisions

and laws

to see what

unites them.

They're looking

at a difficult

matter that

needs to be

settled.

They look

out there.

What decisions

have been made

before?

What else

is laws

that are passed

state to state?

What is it

that's similar

amongst them

that unites

them?

Or, we could

say,

norms them.

They look

to consensus

amongst these

legal decisions

and laws

as an appeal

to an authority

greater than

themselves.

The Supreme

Court will

write decisions

and they're

always appealing

to something

else.

The consensus

of other

decisions,

other laws,

and this is

what's called

norming.

So, Martin

Luther pulled

in his legal

training when

referring to

scripture as

the, catch

this, norm

of norms

that cannot

be normed.

The norm

of norms

that cannot

be normed.

The authority

that has

no other

authority,

or in the

Latin, because

it's fun to

say, norma

normus

non normata.

You can

remember that,

I think.

Norma

normus

non normata.

That is

to say,

we believe

in sola

scriptura,

is to say

that we

believe that

the Bible

is God's

final authority.

Now,

that can

be misunderstood.

To say

that the

scripture is

the final

authority

is not

to be

misunderstood,

understood that

the scripture

is the

only authority.

And let me

explain before

you get mad at

me about that

statement.

There are many

people who will

misunderstand sola

scriptura to

mean that all

they need is

themselves and

the Bible.

And we have

gotten many

erroneous

Christian teaching

from a

misunderstanding of

what sola

scriptura means.

People who

will go off and

just reinterpret

it to mean

whatever they

want it to

mean.

A lot of

people's

hesitation to

even understand

the Bible to

be God's

authoritative

word is that

they've heard

so many

different

understandings of

the scripture.

That's why we

don't have Bible

studies where we

say, what does

this text mean

to you?

The text means

one thing.

How do we

apply it in

our living?

So we don't

mean that when

we say sola

scriptura.

It's not the

only authority.

It's just the

supreme.

It's the

final.

It's the

governing

authority.

Right?

It's the

norm of norms

that cannot

be normed.

The Bible

should not

be read

quote unquote

alone.

Martin Luther

said this,

the scripture's

authority is

not a

naked

authority.

And that

is to say,

we should

also look

to, in

helping us

understand what

the scripture

means, things

like church

history.

It's helpful

for us to go

back and look,

what has the

church historically

believed to be

true about the

scripture?

If you find

yourself coming

to an

understanding of

the Bible that

no one else in

the history of

the church has

understood to be

true of the

Bible, you

might need to

rethink that

position on the

scripture.

And, beloved,

this happens

all the time.

So we look

to church

history, and

there's a lot

of messes in

church history

too, and

there's a lot

of condemned

heresies in

history as

well, but it

can be a

help to us

in that.

We look to

creeds and

confessions,

things that help

us gather

together and

to unify what

the church has

believed the

scripture teaches

about particular

topics.

We look to

the teaching

of leaders,

church leaders.

You know,

once upon a

time, the

position of

pastor was

a reverenced

position.

You know that?

In our day

now, sometimes

I feel a little

ashamed when I

tell people I'm

a pastor because

some of the

jokers out

there, right,

they just get

up and

entertain and

say nothing

of any value

whatsoever.

When a

pastor rightly

comes up and

opens up the

word of God,

he speaks with

authority, not

a new

revelation, but

because he

speaks of the

word of God,

right?

Preaching is

authoritative

because proper

preaching is

Bible preaching.

It tells you

what the text

means and

gives it

application for

your living.

The writer of

Hebrews,

Hebrews 13:7

chapter 13,

verse 7,

says,

remember your

leaders,

those who spoke

to you the

word of God.

Consider the

outcome of the

way of life

and imitate

their faith.

So we have

at our disposal

all of these

tools,

but the

scripture is

the final

authority.

If you're a

member of

Christ Family

Church,

Dahlonega,

or have been

to a CFC

101 and not

become a member

yet, you've

heard me talk

about our

statement of

faith as a

church.

We have

statement of

faith that's

got 18

articles,

clarifying

statements about

what we believe

the Bible

teaches about

these various

topics.

I'm always

so careful

to say that

the statement

of faith is

not authoritative,

but is only

in that it's

consistent with

the scripture,

right?

So we can be

shown that we

have erred with

the Bible and

plain logic

because the

scripture is

the final

authority.

The scriptures

are the only

inerrant

revelation of

God to man,

and it is

a closed

canon.

So we see

in our text

today the

remedy for

people who

will be

carried off

by myth,

preach the

truth,

the final

authority,

right?

Prove,

reprove,

rebuke,

exhort with

complete patience

and with

teaching.

So the

scripture alone

is God's

final authority.

And that

means something

for us,

right?

There's

something at

stake when

we say

that.

So number

two,

the scripture

alone is

God's final

authority for

justification.

Justification is

a legal term.

It has to do

with our

standing before

God,

right?

Will we

stand before

God condemned

or forgiven?

Right?

If we are

justified,

we are forgiven

when we stand

before God.

Our record of

wrong has been

dismissed.

So the

scripture alone

is God's

final authority

for justification.

Back up to the

top of the

text,

verses 14

and 15

of chapter

3.

Paul encourages

Timothy to

continue in what

he has learned

and firmly

believed,

knowing from

whom he

learned it.

He learned it

from Paul,

an apostle,

right?

Who is presently

in the process

of writing the

scripture.

He's writing a

letter to him

now that has

been canonized.

It's part of

our scripture,

2 Timothy.

And how

from your

childhood you

have been

acquainted with

the sacred

writings.

It's almost

like Paul

says both

the New

Testament and

the Old

Testament.

Remember

these things

which are

what?

Which are

able to

make you

wise for

salvation

through faith

in Jesus

Christ.

It's the

word of God

itself that

the spirit

of God

uses to

bring about

our faith.

So it's

God's

final authority

for justification.

So beloved,

as we go out

into the

world,

desiring to

see people

come to

faith in

Christ,

it is the

message of

Christ that

we carry.

And it

must be a

message that's

consistent with

what the