Monday, January 20, 2025
All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17
A Guidebook For Our Lives
Yesterday we heard our second Core Truth – Biblical Authority - We value the whole counsel of God’s Word, both Old and New Testaments, as the authoritative foundation for understanding and relating to God, each other, and the world as the church applies its truths in every area of life. (Psalm 119:105; 2 Tim. 3:15-17; Heb. 4:12)
Why should the Bible be the authority and the means in which to know God, navigate this life, and give direction to the church?
All Scripture is inspired by God…
God is the author, and the Bible was written by men who were divinely and uniquely inspired and it was without error in its original writing. It is complete, trustworthy, and has supreme authority in all matters of Christian faith and conduct.
The Bible Shapes Us...
and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness
The Bible gives us the guidelines by which God judges us and asks us to live our lives so it is the standard we should measure our lives by. It is the standard through which we should weigh every decision. It is the how-to manual for living this broken life. As Baptists we believe in the complete inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. The Bible is our guide for life, and the Holy Spirit will not lead us contrary to it.
The Bible Completes Us...
… so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work .
God's Word is truth, plain and simple. We can have perfect confidence in the fact that His words are accurate, true and unerring. When followed, they guide us without fail in the paths that we need to walk. Hosea 4:6 tells us that we can be destroyed by lack of the knowledge of God, but Luke 11:28 affirms that we will be blessed if we hear and keep the Word of God. Such knowledge is not just for us. We are to be ready to answer others who ask us (1 Peter 3:15).
When He was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, Christ used the sword of the Spirit and defeated the enemy. Three times Jesus said, “It is written” (Luke 4:1–13). The Word of the Lord gives us a weapon for every battle we will ever fight in this life. Any question, any dilemma, any situation – there is something for every single thing. It is all sufficient and timeless. What it said when it was written can be applied to our lives today.
Inside the Bible we can find all the information we will ever need for life. It has answers for all circumstances, for all peoples, at all times, meaning it is just as applicable to our lives today as it was when it was written. We know it is divinely inspired by God so we can trust what it says. It gives us stories of God’s faithfulness through all times revealing who he is and helping to see him in our own lives. It gives us stories of the beginning of the church and how important the body of Christ is to the advancement of the kingdom. It is a guidebook for our lives but also for churches.
We can be tempted to pick and choose what we want to believe and apply to our lives from the Bible. Just as the Bible is the authority for all people at all times, it is all of the Bible that is applicable to our lives.
What authority are you applying to your life? Is it from God or man? Are you applying the truth of the whole Bible to your life or are you picking and choosing what you want to apply? Make the Bible the authority in your life - God who created our lives gave it to us to navigate our lives. Make time every day to read and learn every day so you can apply its truth to your life.
