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Reformation: Sola Scriptura

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Reformation: Sola Scriptura 1 The Authority of Scripture Acts 5:17-32; 2 Peter 1:20-21 In the year 1517 the German priest Martin Luther wanted an academic debate about some of the practices of the Christian church. He gave notice of this debate by posting his ideas – his theses. There were 95 of them … 95 points of concern about corruption and false teaching, particularly the notion that you could be assured of salvation by purchasing indulgences.1 He debated representatives of the Roman church. He wrote numerous sermons and papers, calling for reform within the church. Luther never wanted to break away from the church or splinter it; he merely wanted it to make a “course correction” and get back to the teachings of the apostles. But the church was steeped in centuries of tradition and papal authority, and Luther simply couldn’t get Pope Leo X to listen. In April 1521 the emperor, Charles V, convened a diet – an imperial assembly – to settle the issue in a town called Worms, Germany. (I know. It looks like we’re talking about the nutritional value of nightcrawlers … but it’s a meeting … in “Varms.”) At this assembly, Luther was told again to recant, to reject his theses that had created such division. Here’s how Luther responded: “Unless I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well-known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted. My conscience is captive to the Word of God.2 … Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.”3 With those words Martin Luther was branded a heretic and declared an outlaw of the empire. But with those words he put forth the principle of sola Scriptura – the notion that the Word of God is the decisive authority in a Christian’s life. I can’t help but notice that Luther’s response was very much like the response of the apostles, as we just heard in Acts 5. The political and religious leaders told them to stop, and they responded, “We must – we must – obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). 2 A Biblical Worldview Do you have that kind of conviction in your faith life? Do you have that kind of rock-solid foundation that compels you to stand up for what you believe, even in the face of great opposition? Can you say that your conscience is captive to the Word of God? Take a moment right now and ask yourself: What is the primary source of guidance and direction in your life? What is the authoritative lens through which you see the world? I can tell you this: If you answered anything other than the Word of God, you will be disappointed. Everything else in this world falls short. Ultimately, only Scripture leads us to the love and grace of Jesus Christ. The entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, points us to Jesus. And only Jesus has the words of truth and wisdom that lead to an abundant life now and eternal life later. When we are trying to make sense of the world and determine how to get the most out of life, we have all kinds of possible guides and teachers: Science helps us understand the world and greatly improves modern life. We can also rely on human reason and logic to guide us. Politics and government offer guidelines for civilized living. We even have great traditions and a heritage that binds us together. The problem is science answers the how and the what … but it can never answer the “Why?” Why does the universe exist? Why am I here? What is my purpose? The problem with reason and logic is that we are flawed, biased individuals who naturally want to protect our own self-interests. Similarly, laws and politics serve a purpose, but any government is ultimately made up of flawed, imperfect people. Culture and popular opinion are constantly changing and shifting. Traditions link us to the past, but they can also blind us to new possibilities. We have many possible guides and points of view to choose from, but everything in this world falls short. Only the Bible leads us to Jesus. Only the Word of God is powerful and perfectly sufficient for our lives. 3 The Authenticity of Scripture How do we know this? Because the Bible tells us so. I’ll admit, there’s a bit of circular logic here. It’s a little like me telling my wife that I’m a great driver. She’ll say, “Who told you that?” “I do – I tell myself that every time I get in the car.” But if I’ve never been in an accident, and if I’ve never gotten a ticket, and if my insurance company is giving me a good-driver discount, then maybe there’s some truth to my claim. (At least that’s what I keep telling myself.) So consider this about the Bible: It’s not just one book, but a book of books. Sixty-six books, to be exact, written over 1,500 years by about 40 different authors. It was written in three different languages on two separate continents. Despite all of that, its message is perfectly consistent, without any contradictions. Many of the events recorded in both the Old and New Testaments have been independently verified by archaeological and historical sources. Many Biblical authors claim they were eyewitnesses to the events they wrote about. If any of those authors were lying, there should have been plenty of people around who could discredit them. But no one ever could. Many of the writings of classic Greek authors such as Plato and Aristotle are believed to be reliable and genuine – even though we have only a few dozen copies that were made within 1,000 years of the author’s life. There are well over 24,000 manuscripts of New Testament writings, 5,000 of them in the original Greek, all dated to within 100 years of the author’s life. Although there are fewer original copies of the Old Testament writings, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 showed that the Scriptures handed down through the generations were tremendously accurate … there were only a handful of differences, and most of those were variations in spelling and style.4 The bottom line is that from a purely human standpoint, the Bible as we have it today is very much the same as it was 2,000 years ago – and that should give us a high level of certainty as to its authenticity and reliability. 4 The Superiority of Scripture But is it really the Word … of God? Does it really deserve to be the leading authority for how I live my life? Ultimately, that’s a matter of faith … and obedience. Yet I would say there’s a good case to be made for why Scripture – and Scripture alone – is the best authority for what I believe and how I live. First, I believe that the Bible is divinely inspired – that is, God Himself gave the words to those 40-some authors to write down. And that makes it infinitely better than any human reasoning. The Apostle Paul wrote that “All Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Timothy 3:16). The Apostle Peter wrote, “You must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20-21). The men who were eyewitnesses of Jesus believed that every word of Scripture – the Old Testament writings as well as the teachings of the apostles – came from the Holy Spirit, not from human invention. Because the Bible is divinely inspired, I believe that means it is also divinely infallible. Let’s return for a moment to Martin Luther. In his day, the word of popes and church councils were seen to carry the same weight as the Word of God. But Luther knew that human popes and councils could make errors and contradictions. As just one example, only 100 years earlier, from 1409 to 1414, there were three men who all simultaneously claimed to be the true pope. If you really want all the gory details, go home and Google “Western Schism.” The bottom line is that you had one pope in Rome, another in France, and a third who rose to power in Pisa. Naturally, the question was, who was the rightful leader of the church? Which pope had the authority to speak on Jesus’ behalf? 5 If Scripture is the deciding authority, you don’t have that problem. As the Word of God, Scripture cannot be in error, and it does not contradict itself. Don’t misunderstand: The doctrine of sola scriptura does not mean that Scripture is the only authority. But it should be the ultimate, decisive authority for the Church and for every Christian. If a pastor, priest, or even a pope contradicts Scripture, if they contradict one another, Scripture should be the deciding factor, the supreme authority. I hope that everything I preach to you is an inspired word of God that has the potential to touch hearts and change lives. But my word is not the final word. Scripture says you should “test the spirits”5 – you should test the prophets and test us preachers and make sure that everything we say is in line with the word of God.
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