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The Character of the Church

The Marks Of God's Obedient People

Moody Publishers

THE BIBLE'S AUTHORITY

The Bible is unlike any other book. There are thousands of sacred texts used by various religious groups searching for wisdom and life. But the Bible stands out from the rest, not only in terms of the number of ancient copies that have survived throughout history and its popularity around the world, but also in terms of what it is. The Bible is not merely the words of spiritual leaders or a book of instruction. It is the very Word of God.

THE BIBLE'S DIVINE ORIGIN

When the apostle Paul explains that "all Scripture is breathed out by God" (2 Tim. 3:16), he is telling us that what the church recognized to be and received as Holy Scripture, though penned by men, was in fact God's Word to us. Further, the apostle Peter explains that Scripture is not the invention of man, but that "men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:20).

Because the Bible has a divine origin, it has divine authority. Psalm 19 unpacks the nature of Scripture and what it accomplishes in the believer:

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

(PS. 19:7–11)

Scripture is "perfect," meaning that it is complete and lacking in nothing regarding its teaching on Christian faith and practice. While we profit from the preaching and writing of Christian leaders, only when they rightly understand and apply Scripture do we benefit spiritually. The Bible is perfect.

Scripture is "sure," meaning that it is trustworthy. Theologians often talk about "the trustworthiness of Scripture," meaning that the Bible is reliable in all that it teaches. When people bet on horses — I am not advocating gambling — a "sure thing" is a horse that is guaranteed to win. Your bet is safe. There will be a return on your investment. Of course, there is no such thing as a "sure thing" in the matters of the world. But when it comes to the Bible, we have the divine promise that it is sure. And all of its promises are reliable. We cannot lose by believing what it teaches.

Scripture is "right," meaning that it communicates the person, work, and will of God. It is in full accord with who God is and what He wants from us and for us. While God is unknowable in any complete way since He is infinite and eternal, we have the assurance that what the Bible reveals about God is right. It is not spiritual guesswork.

Scripture is "pure" in that it is without corruption in its content and message. We believe that the Word of God is "inerrant," meaning that it contains no errors in whatever it teaches. And beyond that, the Word of God is pure in its morality. Many today believe that the ethics and doctrines communicated in the Bible are not only primitive and antiquated, but also are immoral. How can a God condemning someone to hell be good? How can punishment for sin we inherited be just? How can the Bible teach that true marriage is between one man and one woman, and anything outside of that is sinful? Biblical morality is perceived to be out of step with our culture and "common sense" and thus impure. But the standard of righteousness is not found in the convictions of any one human, nor in the general consensus of any society. The standard of righteousness is found only in the God who created all things. He alone is pure, and His word is pure (1 John 1:5).

Scripture is "clean," meaning that it is not only pure in itself, but also that it purifies all who receive it by faith. Scripture is the instrument by which God cleanses a soul and sanctifies a spirit (Eph. 5:26). It keeps us from sin, calls us to Christ, is the means by which we are born again (1 Peter 1:23), and is what God uses to transform us from the inside out (Rom. 12:2).

Scripture is "true," just as God is true and Jesus is "the truth" (John 14:6). Despite what the world tells us today, truth exists and can be known. We can discover much of it, but the most important truth is that which we cannot unearth on our own. It has been revealed by God Himself. He has opened the deepest mysteries of life and death, God and humanity, eternity and salvation, in the pages of Holy Scripture. So when we open the Book, we open something given to us by God that is complete, trustworthy, comprehensive, life-changing, and true. All of this means that it brings with it authority which we all must recognize.

THE BIBLE'S CLAIM

Today in our Western individualistic culture, we tend to bristle at the idea of authority, unless it is our own. Most of us say we like freedom, but what we really want is radical autonomy — a life lived independently from the authority of another. We want to live life our way and for our own purposes. And when it comes to spirituality, most prefer anarchy to order and creativity to confession. But the Bible, as the Word of God, rightly claims a position of authority in the life of the church.

As Christians, we may be quick to say that God is our authority, but we must say more than that. If we say that the Lord is our God, then we must also say that His Word is authoritative in the church and in our own lives. This second confession is more difficult to make, for it means that there is a clearly articulated authority that directly applies to our thoughts, decisions, and actions, and to which we are held accountable.

The authority of Scripture implies that we should hear and accept God's Word as indeed divine when it is read and preached. Not only that, we should heed it as His very message to us. Every time we open Scripture to read it, we must recognize that God has spoken, and that He is speaking today — to us. It is all too easy to treat the Bible as a text to study and know, only to forget that it has been given to us so that we maybe confronted by the God who wrote it, convicted of the sin it condemns, and rescued by the grace it offers to all. The authoritative Word of God, the Bible, is God's Word to us, and we must receive it as such.

Many people want a special word from the Lord, to have one of those miraculous moments when His voice breaks through the clouds and echoes overhead in booming authority. But we have something better: the voice of God recorded perfectly on pages that, when read, echoes in our hearts with thundering certainty. The miracle stays with us, and its authority is a gift and a safeguard. The old Baptist confession gives us a beautiful summary of this truth:

The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience, although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet they are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and His will which is necessary unto salvation. Therefore it pleased the Lord at sundry times and in diversified manners to reveal Himself, and to declare (that) His will unto His church; and afterward for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan, and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which makes the Holy Scriptures to be most necessary, those former ways of God's revealing His will unto His people being now completed.

No doubt, a local church should be governed by elders working with the congregation. But the final evaluation of all that is done in and through the church is the Scripture itself.

THE BIBLE'S SUFFICIENCY

When we say that the Bible is authoritative, we mean that it is the ultimate word in all faith and practice. Not only do we take it seriously; it takes us by the hand and leads us in all areas of life. We submit to it, rejoice in it, and shape our lives according to it. While many churches today embrace the authority of Gods Word, they are tempted to keep their distance from its sufficiency.

SCRIPTURE IS ENOUGH

When we say that Scripture is sufficient, we mean that it is enough. It is all we need to know God and to maintain a vital relationship with Him by faith. We need nothing more than Holy Scripture to organize our churches and to order our lives. This does not mean that if a specific way of making disciples is not found with a chapter and verse it is out of place in the church. Local churches are tasked with making disciples through the preaching and teaching of the Word. Outside of corporate worship, we may choose to gather for Bible study or to develop Sunday school classes as other means of carrying on the mission. All we need to make disciples is found in Scripture, though we may use practical wisdom in applying the best methods for carrying out what Scripture commands.

During the Reformation, men like Martin Luther objected to the Roman Catholic Church's stance on matters of authority in the church. For Catholics, Scripture was but one authority. Equal to it were both church traditions and the pope's teachings. The Reformers objected, arguing that contradictions and errors, which could not be inspired by God, could be found in these authorities. Instead, they taught "Scripture alone" (sola Scriptura in Latin), meaning that Scripture is the final authority by which all other teachings must be judged.

This does not mean, however, that we cannot benefit from the writings of Christian men and women through the ages. We should indeed seek out such individuals who help us to better grasp the meaning and significance of Scripture. But Scripture must be considered the final arbiter of truth and the standard by which we evaluate all teachings, sermons, and books. Most importantly, it means that only Scripture has the power to change the heart and transform the soul. The further we move away from the authority and sufficiency of Scripture, the weaker our churches become — not only in focus, but also in fruitfulness. The Bible is sufficient in that it teaches us all we need to know about God, His precepts, and His promises, ft alone instructs us in the way we are to live as God's people.

KNOWING GOD

God cannot be known in His entirety by finite and fallen humanity. He is too big, and we are too small, for us to fully comprehend all that He is. But what can be known of God is revealed in the Bible. So that is where we look to understand Him and His ways. No one can develop an accurate picture of who God is through mere reason or imagination. Such things, apart from the Bible, leave us with a god of our own making. But as we read through the pages of Scripture, we can begin to see some of our Maker. The Bible tells us that God is a spirit who is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.

When God speaks of Himself to Moses in the book of Exodus, He describes Himself as

merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.

(EX. 34:6–7)

God is both just and merciful. He must punish sin, but He also forgives. Many people tend to think of God as one or the other, but He is eternally and perfectly both, and only Scripture helps us understand that this is true.

God tells us who He is and what He does in His Word. God is holy, all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-present. He is an active God who oversees all the details of our lives. He is eternally triune, existing as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We can know these things and more because God, in His kindness, has revealed them to us in His Word.

And God's revelation is not merely a list of propositions. Rather, He used a variety of literary forms to help us understand Him. From poetry to proverbs, from narratives to letters, from parables to prophecy — God has revealed Himself to us in ways that we can understand.

Those who want to know who God is and what He is like will find the answer only in the pages of Holy Scripture. The revelation of God in the Bible is not given so that we might simply learn information about Him, but that we would know Him by faith and enter into a right relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. The Word was given so that we would love God, glorify Him, and enjoy Him in both this life and the one to come.

KNOWING GOD'S PRECEPTS

The Bible reveals who God is and what His will and ways are. And these are revealed in His commands, also called His "law," which should be seen as a gift. In telling us what God requires of us, and in showing us the way we are to live, He has not left us in the dark wondering what is morally right and wrong. We do not have to establish our own code by which to live. Instead, we have a divine directive that shows us the right way.

In Scripture, the term law can refer to the first five books of the Old Testament, the whole Old Testament itself, the commands given to Israel in the Old Covenant, just the Ten Commandments, or the binding commands of God relevant at any given time. What we are considering at the present are the commands of God relevant to us as Gods people.

The law, or God's precepts, are given to us for practical, not theoretical, purposes. One purpose is to show us the way of righteousness. His law is a godly rule for all of life and should be obeyed by all people. In this sense, the law is always holy, just, and good (Rom. 7:12).

But there is another, primary, purpose of the law: to expose our sinfulness and show us our need for a Savior. While the law is good, we are not. We have not kept God's commands. Instead, we have both carelessly wandered away from His ways and outright rejected them whenever they have not suited our interests. The law of God shows us that all have sinned and fallen short of Gods glory (Rom 3:23; 7:7–11). The law not only instructs, but also reveals and condemns our disobedience. The law shows us what is right, what is wrong, and what is needed. Gods law prepares us to receive the good news of the gospel.

KNOWING GOD'S PROMISES

If the precepts of God — His law — show us the way of righteousness and reveal our unrighteousness and deserved condemnation, then the promises of God show us that there is mercy to be received. God in His kindness offers to sinners grace by which we can be forgiven and reconciled to Him.

From Genesis to Revelation, the promises of God center on the person and work of Jesus Christ. He is the one who would fulfill all righteousness, conquer our enemies, and rescue us from death. And this gift of salvation and deliverance, which is offered to all, is received by faith alone. For Abraham and Peter, for you and me, God's promises are free for the taking.

Consider the promises of God: a Conqueror will come to crush the devil (Gen. 3:15), a King will come to reign over us all in peace and righteousness (2 Sam. 7:12–13), and a Savior will come to take away all our sin and guilt (Isa. 53). He promises to forget our sins (Isa. 43:25), give us new hearts, and cause us to walk in His ways (Ezek. 36: 25–27). He promises to be with us, to reside within us (John 14:15–17), and never to forsake us (Heb. 13:5). Apart from the promises of God, the precepts of God plague us. For only by grace can we begin to live according to God's ways. But with the promises of God, the precepts protect and purify us.

The Bible is both authoritative and sufficient. A true church believes and rests upon the Scripture alone, and by the Scripture our lives and our churches are established.

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Excerpted from The Character of the Church by Joe Thorn, Kevin P. Emmert. Copyright © 2017 Joe Thorn. Excerpted by permission of Moody Publishers.
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