Calvary Church   •   11338 Ozga Road   •   Romulus MI 48174   •   734.941.0236   •   calvary@calvaryromulus.org

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WHAT CLAIMS DOES THE BIBLE MAKE FOR ITSELF?

Psalms 19:7-11

It is God’s Word  2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:19-21

It is true  Psalms 119:160; John 17:17

It is authoritative and trustworthy

The writers of the New Testament quoted the OT Scriptures frequently as their authority. Jesus asked many time “haven’t you read. . .?” When the disciples were discussing the events of the crucifixion Jesus pointed them back to the Scriptures for understanding.

Luke 24:25-27;  Luke 24:44-45

HOW MUST THE BIBLE’S CLAIMS BE ACCEPTED?

God is accepted by faith; He can’t be proved by logic. God’s Word is accepted in the same way.

Hebrews 11:1-3,6  

It is important to remember that the ideas of man must be accepted by faith as well since there are no eye witnesses to creation except God. God asked Job “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” (Job 38:4ff) The obvious point is that no one was there but God, so why would we presume to know better than God what happened? When the ideas of man contradict the Word of God, the words of man become the word of Satan. So believing something other than the Word of God comes down to whether we want to believe God or Satan.

HOW SHOULD SCRIPTURE BE INTERPRETED?

There are two general methods of interpreting the writings of an author. One method, called “eisegesis”, interprets a text based on the reader’ own preconceived ideas or biases. The interpretation is made to fit these ideas.

The other method is called “exegesis” and begins with the conviction that a writer had a meaning that he meant to communicate. The interpreter then seeks to find the author’s intended meaning. This is often called the ‘grammatical-historical’ method because the words of Scripture are interpreted on the basis of context, type of literature, etc.

Eisegesis can be seen as reading into, while exegesis is reading out of.

God had an intended meaning when He communicated His Word through the human writers to us. He wanted to communicate who He is, what He has done and what His will is for us. It is our responsibility by the Holy Spirit to seek that meaning apart from our own thoughts or ideas – to read out of and not into.

IF THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD. . . HOW DO WE APPLY THAT?

The term “world view” is used to describe how we think about life. Our world view is how we understand the meaning of life, our purpose in life and the events of our world. It is the basis on which we evaluate everything. Everyone has a world view whether they have thought about it, or whether they have consciously developed it. Every world view is based on a source of authority, again, either conscious or not. This source of authority defines right and wrong as well as significance and meaning. Our world view  shapes and drives how we think and act.

There are two basic contrasting and competing world views, defined by their sources of authority. The Christian world view recognizes the Word of God as the absolute and final source of authority. Since God’s Word does not change, the Christian world view is sure and stable to the degree it is true to its authority. The secular world view relies on human ideas as authoritative and therefore is changeable and unstable.

Followers of Christ by definition are committed to a Biblical world view. We are commanded to love God and reject the thinking of the world system.  Matthew 22:37; Romans 12:2

A Biblical world view filters everything through the Word. Since God is the source of everything through virtue of creation, science, mathematics, philosophy, the arts and daily life (heart, mind, and soul) are all evaluated in light of the truth of God’s revelation of Himself and His creation. Note the comparison:

If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?

Psalm 11:3 NKJV

The Authority of the Word of God

The need for discernment is obvious. The deception is subtle because it is natural to our fallen natures. Remember that the secular worldview is based on man’s ideas. Therefore, it seems natural to mix secular ideas with biblical truth. It seems natural to accept anything labeled Christian without carefully examining it. It seems natural to reject the idea that Scripture is the final authority and accept the idea that God’s Word is outdated and irrelevant to us.

Paul exhorts us to have a discerning mind in 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22. The requirements of a discerning mind are that we examine or test everything, cling to or embrace what is good or true and avoid or shun what is evil. The desire of every follower of Christ should be to know the truth and proclaim it with authority. To do that faithfully, we must be able to distinguish between true and false doctrines. Scripture is our standard, not feelings, emotions or human ideas. As we embrace what is true we safeguard the truth of Scripture and defend it from all attacks. Knowing the truth enables us to detect counterfeit teaching and beliefs and reject them.

A PLAN FOR SUCCESS

Put on the full armor of God   Ephesians 6:11-17

Be diligent in prayer   Ephesians 6:18

Study the Scriptures to have a ready answer   2 Timothy 2:15; 1 Peter 3:15

Train our children in truth   Proverbs 22:6

Equip others with the truth

Next: The Authority of Genesis 1-11

Next: The Authority of Genesis 1-11