Upholding Scripture's Authority in a Changing World

Devotional

Day 1: Scripture as the Ultimate Authority

The Reformation was a pivotal moment in church history, emphasizing the authority of Scripture over church tradition and papal authority. Reformers like Martin Luther, John Wycliffe, and Jan Hus sought to return to the original sources of Scripture, challenging the church's equal regard for tradition and papal authority alongside Scripture. This movement was not just about justification but about establishing Scripture as the sole authority in matters of faith and practice. The principle of "sola scriptura" emerged, asserting that Scripture alone is the ultimate and infallible guide for faith and life, without the need for additional authorities to validate its teachings. [05:57]

2 Peter 1:20-21 (ESV): "Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."

Reflection: In what ways have you allowed tradition or external influences to overshadow the authority of Scripture in your life? How can you realign your focus to prioritize God's Word as your ultimate guide?

Day 2: The Power and Profitability of Scripture

Scripture is divinely inspired and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. It serves as the ultimate and infallible guide for faith and life, without the need for additional authorities to validate its teachings. This divine inspiration means that Scripture is not just a historical document but a living and active guide that shapes and transforms the believer's life. The power of Scripture lies in its ability to convict, correct, and comfort, leading believers to a deeper understanding of God's will and purpose. [14:54]

Hebrews 4:12 (ESV): "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

Reflection: How has Scripture recently challenged or corrected you in your walk with God? What steps can you take to allow it to further shape your life?

Day 3: The Immutability and Sufficiency of Scripture

Despite cultural pressures to adapt its message, the immutability and sufficiency of Scripture remain unchanged. True biblical preaching should confront us with our sin and point us to the grace found in Christ. In a world that often seeks to dilute or modify biblical truths to fit contemporary norms, believers are called to uphold the unchanging nature of God's Word. This requires courage and conviction, as well as a commitment to preach and live out the truth of Scripture, even when it is countercultural. [20:14]

Isaiah 40:8 (ESV): "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever."

Reflection: Are there areas in your life where you feel pressured to conform to cultural norms over biblical truths? How can you stand firm in the unchanging Word of God today?

Day 4: Embracing the Clarity and Sufficiency of Scripture

As believers, we are called to embrace the clarity and sufficiency of Scripture, allowing it to convict, correct, and comfort us. In our worship and daily lives, we must be committed to the authority of Scripture, resisting the temptation to conform to the world's ideologies. This commitment involves a daily choice to prioritize God's Word and to seek its guidance in every aspect of life. By doing so, believers can experience the transformative power of Scripture, leading to a life that reflects the character and purposes of God. [36:47]

Psalm 119:105 (ESV): "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."

Reflection: How can you incorporate more of God's Word into your daily routine to ensure it guides your decisions and actions?

Day 5: Upholding the Truth of God's Word

Let us be a people who courageously uphold the truth of God's Word, doing so with grace, humility, and prayerful dependence on the Spirit. Our commitment to Scripture should be unwavering, even when the world views us as old-fashioned or traditional. Upholding the truth of God's Word requires not only knowledge and understanding but also the grace and humility to live it out in a way that reflects Christ's love and truth. This involves a reliance on the Holy Spirit to empower and guide us as we seek to be faithful witnesses in a world that often opposes biblical values. [42:52]

1 Corinthians 16:13-14 (ESV): "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love."

Reflection: In what ways can you demonstrate both strength and love as you uphold the truth of God's Word in your interactions with others today?

Sermon Summary

In our gathering today, we delved into the profound significance of Scripture as the ultimate authority in the life of a believer, drawing from 2 Timothy 3:14-4:4. This passage underscores the necessity of adhering to the teachings of Scripture, which is divinely inspired and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. The Reformation, often associated with Martin Luther, was fundamentally about the authority of Scripture over the church's traditions and interpretations. The Reformers, including forerunners like John Wycliffe and Jan Hus, sought to return to the original sources of Scripture, challenging the church's equal regard for tradition and papal authority alongside Scripture.

The Reformation was not merely about justification, though that was a significant aspect, but about the foundational issue of authority. The church of the Middle Ages held a trifold authority: Scripture, the magisterium, and tradition. The Reformers argued for the sufficiency of Scripture alone, a principle encapsulated in the term "sola scriptura." This principle asserts that Scripture is the ultimate and infallible guide for faith and life, without the need for additional authorities to validate its teachings.

Today, we face similar challenges as the church grapples with cultural pressures to adapt its message. Many avoid using terms like "sin" or "wrath" to avoid offending, yet Scripture's immutability and sufficiency remain unchanged. As believers, we are called to embrace the clarity and sufficiency of Scripture, allowing it to convict, correct, and comfort us. True biblical preaching should confront us with our sin and point us to the grace found in Christ.

In our worship and daily lives, we must be committed to the authority of Scripture, resisting the temptation to conform to the world's ideologies. Let us be a people who courageously uphold the truth of God's Word, doing so with grace, humility, and prayerful dependence on the Spirit.

Key Takeaways

1. The Reformation was fundamentally about the authority of Scripture over church tradition and papal authority. The Reformers sought to return to the original sources of Scripture, challenging the church's equal regard for tradition and papal authority alongside Scripture. [05:57]
2. Scripture is divinely inspired, profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. It is the ultimate and infallible guide for faith and life, without the need for additional authorities to validate its teachings. [14:54]
3. The immutability and sufficiency of Scripture remain unchanged, despite cultural pressures to adapt its message. True biblical preaching should confront us with our sin and point us to the grace found in Christ. [20:14]
4. As believers, we are called to embrace the clarity and sufficiency of Scripture, allowing it to convict, correct, and comfort us. In our worship and daily lives, we must be committed to the authority of Scripture, resisting the temptation to conform to the world's ideologies. [36:47]
5. Let us be a people who courageously uphold the truth of God's Word, doing so with grace, humility, and prayerful dependence on the Spirit. Our commitment to Scripture should be unwavering, even when the world views us as old-fashioned or traditional. [42:52]
** [42:52]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:32] - Reading of 2 Timothy 3:14-4:4
[01:45] - Opening Prayer
[03:03] - Question: What Was the Reformation About?
[04:28] - Material vs. Formal Cause of the Reformation
[05:57] - Authority: The Foundational Issue
[07:17] - The Church's Trifold Authority
[09:15] - Luther's Realization of Church Errors
[10:32] - Luther's Call for Church Repentance
[12:06] - Return to Original Sources
[14:14] - The Power of Scripture
[16:10] - Inspiration and Characteristics of Scripture
[18:02] - Immutability and Cultural Pressures
[20:40] - Perspicuity and Sufficiency of Scripture
[23:17] - The Necessity of "Sola"
[25:57] - Challenges with Modern Church Authority
[28:14] - The Role of the Pastor
[32:05] - Preaching as Service to God's People
[36:47] - The Call to Preach the Word
[40:08] - The Danger of Itching Ears
[42:52] - Commitment to God's Word
[43:55] - Closing Prayer

Sermon Clips

The Reformation had begun centuries before, through men like John Wycliffe in the fourteenth century, John Hus in the fifteenth century. These forerunners of the Reformation along with Luther were concerned about many of the same issues. They had some of the same concerns and some of the same complaints. [00:03:30]

The church believed that there were three aspects of authority, or three realms of authority. It was a trifold authority of Scripture, the magisterium, which was the pope, his bishops, and those who interpreted Scripture, and the tradition of the church. [00:07:05]

The problem is that they looked at those three authorities as essentially equal. And that was the problem. So, the church interpreting Scripture, the pope when speaking about doctrine, when speaking about Christian matters, he would speak with authority, he would speak ex cathedra, from the throne, and he would speak infallibly. [00:07:45]

Luther realized that councils throughout history had been in error and that the church in its own interpretations, in its own contradictions, had been in error as well. You know, it's important for us to understand this because Luther didn't just come right out of the gate questioning everything. [00:09:24]

They sought to teach the church and to confront the church with false doctrine and abuses of the church's historic doctrine, such as the abuses of Johann Tetzel and the indulgences at Wittenberg and elsewhere throughout the high Rhenish region of Germany and Europe. [00:09:54]

Erasmus was concerned that we not just go back to translations and to interpretations from a century or two or three or four prior, but that we go to the original sources themselves. Now we have to understand that at that time what the church had and what the church used, by and large, was the Latin translation of the Bible, the Vulgate. [00:12:14]

It's the Scriptures themselves that give to us the special revelation of the Word of God, that give to us the gospel of God without which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation. The gospel is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes. [00:14:48]

When we speak of the inspiration of Scripture, we are speaking of God having inspired Scripture. God has breathed out Scripture. And so, we speak of the superintending power of God in the draft of Scripture, in the writing of Scripture. [00:15:47]

We also speak of the immutability of Scripture, that Scripture doesn't change. Now, this is something that I mention from time to time and more and more regularly from the pulpit of Saint Andrew's Chapel. After I've read Scripture and before I preach, I will remind our people that this is the unchanging Word of God. [00:17:51]

The problem is when it comes down to sufficiency. And this is where we have to come down and deal with that little necessary qualifier "sola." Now, here's what we all have to admit. The reality of it is that we don't actually need the word "sola." [00:23:17]

The Protestant church today, quote, unquote, is not a church at all by and large. Most of the churches we see in our street corners, there's no gospel being preached there, there's no Word of God being preached there, it's just a bunch of sociocultural, social justice religion that's being preached. [00:26:20]

Dearly beloved, let us, as the church, be God's committed people to His Word and to His church, even when it means that the world thinks that we are just a bunch of old-fashioned, traditional sticks in the mud who don't waver and don't change. And we can say, "So be it." [00:43:25]

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