Beliefs: Scripture as Authority (S08, E03)

Greetings and welcome to the Faith Chapel Podcast. My name is Jason and I am

the pastor of Faith Chapel.

In the podcast, we are going through a series looking at core beliefs of the Christian faith.

This will be a five-episode series

that takes a look at some of the key doctrines of Protestant beliefs.

We continue the series today by looking at the authority of Scripture.

Some people think of the Bible as a self-help book, others think it is a book

of law, but the Bible is much more than those two definitions.

It shows us who God is and what we should do with our faith in God.

Thank you for joining us as we dive further into this discussion. Thank you.

This week, my son opened up one of his Christmas presents.

It was a Lego set that he got last Christmas, and on the outside of the box

was a picture of a robot that he was really hoping to build,

a remote-control robot.

We opened the box, got all of the Legos out of it, and looked at the instructions.

The box had this huge robot on it, and then smaller pictures of different things

that you could build with the Legos that were inside.

But the instructions were specifically about a car.

He only had instructions to build the car.

So we looked to see all through the instructions to see if there were any way

that we could go online to get the instructions for the robot or anything like that.

But it didn't come to fruition.

His only choice was to build a car.

You see, instructions are important for us.

There are some things that we don't know how to do on our own.

And sometimes we receive instructions verbally.

Sometimes we receive instructions by watching and looking at what other people are doing.

And sometimes we pick up an instruction booklet or manual to help us to know

how to function, help us to know how to do one thing or the other.

And no matter what we do, whether it's washing dishes or clothes or putting

together a piece of furniture that came in a box.

We need instructions in our life or else when left up to our own devices,

we are going to not create what was intended out of that material.

And the same is true about the way you and I live.

Us have the, as human beings, we have the propensity to destroy things.

God created us back in Genesis, and he told us to take care of the creation that God has given to us.

We were to tend the garden and do all of this work for us and do all of the

work to partner with him.

This was our intent and our design, and God gave us instructions to do so.

There was only one thing we couldn't do, and that was to take from the tree

of the knowledge of good and evil.

But Adam and Eve, as our representatives, as the first human beings,

they came and they took and they seized autonomy for themselves and said,

I'm choosing right and wrong for me.

I'm following my own instructions. I'm making my own playbook.

This is what you and I have inside of us.

And if we don't have instructions on how to live and how to function,

this is how we are going to live.

And as part of the ongoing series that we are talking about,

the beliefs of Faith Chapel, we come to the belief about Scripture,

Scripture as our instruction book, Scripture as our guidelines,

how we are to live and function and move and be.

And what does that look like as Faith Chapel? What does that look like in terms

of our belief statement?

To answer that question, we're going to go to 2 Timothy chapter 3.

2 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

But before I read, let me pray.

Lord God Almighty, I come before you today and I thank you that you have given

us your instructions to us.

And while being left over to our own devices and our own understanding,

we can create havoc with your word and with your spirit inside of us.

We can bring order out of chaos. us.

We can bring harmony, not only to our lives, but to the lives that surround

us and to the world that is around us. And I pray, Father, that your word today will do that for us.

Bring a harmony and order.

Jesus, I pray for this in your name. Amen. 2 Timothy is a letter that is written

by the apostle Paul. He is writing to Timothy.

This is his second such letter. This is kind of his epitaph,

his final words to Timothy.

And in this, especially at the beginning of chapter three, Paul is warning him about

people who are outside of the faith, people who are outside the instruction

of God and people who don't have the Holy Spirit of God in them.

And I'm just going to read to you a few of the characteristics that these people

possess. They will be boastful and proud.

They will love only themselves and their money.

They will scoff at God, be disobedient to their parents, be ungrateful.

They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and forgiving.

They will slander others, have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good.

They will betray their friends be reckless, be puffed up with pride,

and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject

the power that could make them godly.

These, when we process through this first part of chapter three,

this is what we are like when left up to our own devices, when we don't have

an instruction manual to follow.

This is our default setting.

You and I are hopelessly lost, and we're contributing to the chaos of this world,

unless we have some instructions.

And that's what Timothy is going to charge. That's what Paul is going to charge

Timothy with as we begin chapter 10. Remember these characteristics that I just

shared because Paul's first words are, but you, Timothy.

He's saying, you're going to be different.

You're not going to be this list of characteristics. They're not going to define

you. You have something else in store for you.

And so we read, But you, Timothy, certainly know what I teach and how I live

and what my purpose in life is.

You know my faith, my patience, my love, and my endurance. You know how much

persecution and suffering I have endured.

You know all about how I was persecuted in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra.

But the Lord rescued me from all of it. Yes, and everyone who wants to live

a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

But evil people and imposters will flourish. They will deceive others and will

themselves be deceived.

And so he first of all says, you are going to be different. You are set apart.

You have me as an example.

And he first uses himself. You know how I've lived. You know what my patience

is like. You know what my endurance and my perseverance is like.

You know what the spirit of God has done for me.

And then he lists three cities. And if you go back to the book of Acts,

these three cities are Paul's first missionary journey before Timothy even began being a

disciple of Jesus with Paul as his mentor.

This is way before that. But what we do have here is the city of Lystra.

And in the account of Timothy, we understand that Timothy came from this town.

And so while Paul was there, Timothy inevitably came into contact with him.

And they started forming a relationship.

Timothy heard Paul preaching about Jesus. And he knew about the salvation that

comes through Jesus Christ.

And he began to follow Jesus because of this.

We also know that in Lystra, where Timothy is from, that Paul was taken,

dragged out of the city, and stones were chucked at him.

He was stoned for his faith and the way he presented the gospel message.

And he says to Timothy, you know about the persecutions that I have experienced.

You were there in Lystra when the crowd was throwing rocks at me.

You were there when I got up off of that rock pile and went back into the city

to encourage the believers.

The other two towns that he mentioned are in the same province.

And news didn't travel as fast back then as it does today, but it still traveled.

And so being in the same region, being in the same area, he knew what happened

in these other towns as well, how Paul was persecuted.

And he says, you know, you saw the patience that I showed to these people.

And then he gives a phrase that you and I don't like to hear.

Everyone who lives a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

It will be different for each and every one of us, but the world who is not

following Christ will always remain hostile to the message of the cross.

It will never not be hostile. And so you and I, we need to understand that and

wrap our heads around that,

whatever that persecution is like, you and I will suffer it if we are living

a godly life in Christ Jesus.

And so Paul says, all right, Timothy, you've seen my instruction.

You've known what I have taught. You've seen how I've lived out this gospel message to you.

But there's more instruction that Timothy received. Picking up in verse 14.

But you, Timothy, must remain faithful to the things you have been taught.

You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you.

You have been taught the Holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given

you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus.

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and

to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.

It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.

God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

So this section begins with Paul relating Timothy to his childhood before he met Paul.

And in the first chapter of 2 Timothy, he writes about Timothy's mom,

Eunice, and his grandmother, Lois.

And so this is who he's relating this to.

You know these people that taught you. You know their sincerity.

You know what is in front of you is true because the witness that your grandma

and your mother have had on you, you saw how they lived it out.

As a Jewish boy, Timothy would have begun instructions at five years old on

the first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,

Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

This is when they learned what they call the Torah, these first five books.

But Paul seems to say here, your mom and your grandma taught you well before

that. This has been ingrained in you.

And so he is relating this level of instruction to Timothy as well.

He's reminding Timothy about what God had been doing through his mom and his grandma.

And then he goes into scripture and he coins a phrase that is found.

This is the first recording of this word that we have in the Greek language.

And he put two words together, God and breathed. And basically the idea here

is it came from the mouth of God.

In Genesis 1, it says, God said, let there be light. And there was light.

It was word. It was breath that was coming out of God.

God, we cannot inhale as we're talking. We are exhaling as we are talking.

And so God is exhaling these words on us. He is inspiring these words.

And Paul uses the phrase, all scripture comes from the mouth of God.

Now, when Paul is writing this

in the first century, this is relating specifically to the Old Testament.

The New Testament, it was being written when Paul was using these words.

And in Peter, we have Peter's announcement that some of scripture is hard to

understand, especially what Paul writes on occasion.

So he, Peter, sees that God is breathing out these letters of Paul.

And he equates them and gives them as much authority as the Old Testament.

And so based upon this testimony of Peter and how Paul quotes the gospels that

we have in the New Testament today,

we have our New Testament and we believe also that they are inspired by the

mouth of God, by the breath of God himself.

This is what Paul says. This is our instruction manual and booklet.

This is what we are adhering to and pursuing.

We may want a robot. And we in our hearts may want to produce this thing and to play with this thing.

But what the Holy Spirit gives us could be something drastically different.

It could be that we can only put together a car.

But it's not what we want. It's what God wants us. And this is what we need to surrender to.

All scripture being useful for teaching and correcting and rebuking in righteousness

so that you and I, the men and women of God, can be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

You see, we'll fall back into our natural state if we don't have an instruction book.

We will be boastful and proud, disobedient, ungrateful, all of those characteristics that I read earlier.

That is our natural tendencies.

Unless we have instruction, unless we really adhere to what God has revealed

to us in Scripture, you and I will display those characteristics more than godliness,

more than love.

And so you and I, we really need to decide what our instruction manual is.

You and I really need to process through what are we living for?

And do we want to be the people that God wants us to be?

Or do we want to go our own way?

Continuing on, we read in chapter 4, verse 1, I, Paul, solemnly urge you in

the presence of God in Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the

dead when he appears to set up his kingdom.

Preach the word of God. Be prepared whether the time is favorable or not.

Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.

For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching.

They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell

them whatever their itching ears want to hear.

They will reject the truth and chase after myths.

But you should keep a clear mind in every situation.

Don't be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the good news

and fully carry out the ministry God has given you.

And so he says, I want you to follow the instructions of God.

God has a calling on your life. And this is what I want you to follow.

These are the instructions for you to make you into the man or woman that God wants you to be.

Because there are people who are going to come alongside you.

Who will tell you what your itching ears want to hear. what you desire and they

will give you permission to do those things.

Whatever that looks like in your own life, I can't know that anymore.

But phrases like, God wants you to be happy, are prevalent in our society,

and nothing could be further from the truth.

God wants your obedience, even if that means you have to sacrifice.

For after all, God himself sacrificed his own life so that you and I could be with him in eternity.

When we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that

God raised him from the dead, we will have that eternity with us.

God says he wants us to love our neighbor as ourselves. Not think of me first.

Not to be filled with the essence of my wants and my desires,

but to be filled with the Holy Spirit and what he wants us to do.

And it is a sacrifice.

But the sacrifice is so worth it.

And so Paul charges him, this is your instruction manual. You know what I taught.

You know what I teach and how I live my life. You know what your grandma and

your mom taught and how they lived their lives. You know what scripture says

because your parents were faithful in teaching you about the Torah.

And you know how the world is.

And sometimes how enticing it is to live that. way.

But I charge you, Paul to Timothy, to choose the correct instruction manual.

And for us, Faith Chapel, as we have written our belief statement, it's the word of God.

This is our instruction manual. And it's something that we constantly need to

be putting in front of our noses.

We need, as we are consuming the words of these pages, we need to be praying

for the Spirit to lead us into discerning what we need to do.

We need to look at this like it's a mirror and say, all right,

Spirit, what do I need to get from this?

How do I draw closer and closer to you.

Don't leave me over to my own debased mind,

to my own wants and my own desires, but really show me and make me a new creation

inside of me because I'm following after you.

Your instructions are true and right and accurate. And if, even if I don't like

what it says, I will surrender to it because you, after all,

are King and Master and Lord of my life.

This is how we view Scripture. There is one caution that I want to throw out there, though.

We serve one God, and this is not it.

The Bible can sometimes become an idol in our lives.

And there are examples that I believe show this.

The people who have gone around and protested at military funerals,

they have used this as their God and not the one true God.

And so while this is our instruction manual, and while this reveals to us the

things of God, and it's so very important to us, we do not worship this book.

We worship the one true God and we surrender to him.

I cannot overstate the importance of what God has revealed to us,

what he has breathed out to us in these pages.

But this is not our master. Our master does not reside in human hands.

Our king and lord, he is outside of time and he is outside of space.

He is everywhere present all at the same time. He knows every one of our thoughts

and he is powerful enough to speak the sun into existence and all the billions

of other suns that are out there.

That is our true God.

This reveals himself to us, but this is not our God.

And so let's come with reverence before God and let's pray for eyes that see

him and ears that hear him and hearts and minds that know him and love him in his word,

so that we can have a personal relationship with him.

Because ultimately that's what he craves. In the Garden of Eden,

before sin entered this world, God walked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day.

And this is his desire for us to be in relationship, to be in fellowship with

us, to have an intimacy with us that is beautiful and perfect and life-giving.

And so we use this to understand his ways.

We use this to surrender ourselves to him, but we keep our focus and our worship on God. Let me pray.

Gracious Heavenly Father, we come before you today and we ask for your grace

and your mercy to be upon your word as I pray we engage with it.

Give us a passion, give us a drive to understand more and more of you by connecting

with and reading your word.

And I pray, Father, that it truly becomes a lamp into our feet and a light into our path.

And I pray, Father, that you will use it to teach us and to correct us and to

rebuke us and to train us up in righteousness so that we are thoroughly equipped

to do everything that you are asking us to do.

Jesus, I pray for this in your name. Amen.

Joining us in our discussion of the

authority of Scripture. The Bible is a manual on how to live our lives.

God created us and knows us intimately, and therefore knows how we were created to live.

And he used human authors to write down these truths for us to teach us and to correct us.

If you would like more information about Faith Chapel and its ministries,

please visit the website gofaithchapel.org.

Next week we will continue this discussion by looking at the Protestants' belief

of salvation. Have a great week.