P7 Understanding Inerrancy in its relationship to infallibility and interpretation of the Bible

Job 23:12 “I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food."

Introduction & Review

For the past six posts we have explored the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy with the aim to better understand what Biblical inerrancy is and is not. Today's post continues by comparing Biblical inerrancy and infallibility. Such a study is crucial for pastors, Bible teachers and anyone who aims to know the inerrant Lord Jesus Christ through His inerrant Word. Below is the next section of the document that aims to give an exposition or unfolding of how Biblical Inerrancy is relevant to the major themes and sections of scripture. The link for today's post and the entire document of the "Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy" can be found at: http://library.dts.edu/Pages/TL/Special/ICBI_1.pdf  May these series of posts prove informative and edifying to readers. 

THE CHICAGO STATEMENT ON BIBLICAL INERRANCY

Exposition (-continued)
INFALLIBILITY, INERRANCY, INTERPRETATION

"Holy Scripture, as the inspired Word of God witnessing authoritatively to Jesus Christ, may properly be called infallible and inerrant. These negative terms have a special value, for they explicitly safeguard crucial positive truths."

"Infallible signifies the quality of neither misleading nor being misled and so safeguards in categorical terms the truth that Holy Scripture is a sure, safe, and reliable rule and guide in all matters. Similarly, inerrant signifies the quality of being free from all falsehood or mistake and so safeguards the truth that Holy Scripture is entirely true and trustworthy in all its assertions."

"We affirm that canonical Scripture should always be interpreted on the basis that it is infallible and inerrant. However, in determining what the God-taught writer is asserting in each passage, we must pay the most careful attention to its claims and character as a
human production. In inspiration, God utilized the culture and conventions of his penman's milieu, a milieu that God controls in His sovereign providence; it is misinterpretation
to imagine otherwise."

"So history must be treated as history, poetry as poetry, hyperbole and metaphor as hyperbole and metaphor, generalization and approximation as what they are, and so forth. Differences between literary conventions in Bible times and in ours must also be observed: since, for instance, non-chronological narration and imprecise citation were conventional and acceptable and violated no expectations in those days, we must not regard these things as faults when we find them in Bible writers."

"When total precision of a particular
kind was not expected nor aimed at, it is no error not to have achieved it. Scripture is inerrant, not in the sense of being absolutely precise by modern standards,
but in the sense of making good its claims and achieving that measure of focused truth at which its authors aimed."

"The truthfulness of Scripture is not negated by the appearance in it of irregularities of grammar or spelling, phenomenal descriptions of nature, reports of false statements (e.g., the lies of Satan), or seeming discrepancies between one passage and another. It is not right to set the so-called "phenomena" of Scripture against the teaching of Scripture about itself. Apparent inconsistencies should not be ignored. Solution of them, where this can be convincingly achieved, will encourage our faith, and where for the present no convincing solution is at hand we shall significantly honor God by trusting His assurance that His Word is true, despite these appearances, and by maintaining our confidence that one day they will be seen to have been illusions."

"Inasmuch as all Scripture is the product of a single divine mind, interpretation must stay within the bounds of the analogy of Scripture and eschew hypotheses that would correct one Biblical passage by another, whether in the name of progressive revelation or of the imperfect enlightenment of the inspired writer's mind." 

"Although Holy Scripture is nowhere culture-bound in the sense that its teaching lacks universal validity, it is sometimes culturally conditioned by the customs and conventional views of a particular period, so that the application of its principles today calls for a different sort of action."

MORE TOMORROW....

P6 Understanding Inerrancy in its relationship to Christ's Authority & the Bible

Job 23:12 “I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food."

Introduction & Review

For the past five posts we have explored the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy with the aim to better understand what Biblical inerrancy is and is not. Today's post continues by taking this subject and understanding it in the broader scheme of the Bible's major themes and parts. Such a study is crucial for pastors, Bible teachers and anyone who aims to know the inerrant Lord Jesus Christ through His inerrant Word. Below is the next section of the document that aims to give an exposition or unfolding of how Biblical Inerrancy is relevant to the major themes and sections of scripture. The link for today's post and the entire document of the "Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy" can be found at: http://library.dts.edu/Pages/TL/Special/ICBI_1.pdf  May these series of posts prove informative and edifying to readers. 

THE CHICAGO STATEMENT ON BIBLICAL INERRANCY

Exposition (-continued)

AUTHORITY CHRIST AND THE BIBLE
"Jesus Christ, the Son of God who is the Word made flesh, our Prophet, Priest, and King, is the ultimate Mediator of God's communication to man, as He is of all God's gifts of grace. The revelation He gave was more than verbal; He revealed the Father by His presence and His deeds as well. Yet His words were crucially important; for He was God, He spoke from the Father, and His words will judge all men at the last day."

"As the prophesied Messiah, Jesus Christ is the central theme of Scripture. The Old Testament looked ahead to Him; the New Testament looks back to His first coming and on to His second. Canonical Scripture is the divinely inspired and therefore normative witness to Christ. No hermeneutic, therefore, of which the historical Christ is not the focal point is acceptable. Holy Scripture must be treated as what it essentially is - the witness of the Father to the incarnate Son."

"It appears that the Old Testament canon had been fixed by the time of Jesus. The New Testament canon is likewise now closed in as much as no new apostolic witness to the historical Christ can now be borne. No new revelation (as distinct from Spirit-given understanding of existing revelation) will be given until Christ comes again. The canon was created in principle by divine inspiration. The Church's part was to discern the canon which God had created, not to devise one
of its own." 

"The word canon, signifying a rule or standard, is a pointer to authority, which means the right to rule and control. Authority in Christianity belongs to God in His revelation, which means, on the one hand, Jesus Christ, the living Word, and, on the other hand, Holy Scripture, the written Word. But the authority of Christ and that of Scripture are one. As our Prophet, Christ testified that Scripture cannot be broken. As our Priest and King, He devoted His earthly life to fulfilling the law and the prophets, even dying in obedience to the words of Messianic prophecy. Thus, as He saw Scripture attesting Him and His authority, so by His own submission to Scripture He attested its authority." 

"As He bowed to His Father's instruction given in His Bible (our Old Testament), so He requires His disciples to do not, however, in isolation but in conjunction with the apostolic witness to Himself which He undertook to inspire by His gift of the Holy Spirit. So Christians show themselves faithful servants of their Lord by bowing to the divine instruction given in the prophetic and apostolic
writings which together make up our Bible."

"By authenticating each other's authority, Christ and Scripture coalesce into a single fount of authority. The Biblically-interpreted Christ and the Christ-centered, Christ-proclaiming Bible are from this standpoint one.
As from the fact of inspiration we infer that what Scripture says, God says, so from the revealed relation between Jesus Christ and Scripture we may equally declare that what Scripture says, Christ says."

MORE TOMORROW...

P5 Understanding Inerrancy in its relationship to Creation, Revelation and Inspiration

Job 23:12 “I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food."

Introduction & Review

For the past four posts we have explored the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy with the aim to better understand what Biblical inerrancy is and is not. Today's post continues by taking this subject and understanding it in the broader scheme of the Bible's major themes and parts. Such a study is crucial for pastors, Bible teachers and anyone who aims to know the inerrant Lord Jesus Christ through His inerrant Word. Below is the next section of the document that aims to give an exposition or unfolding of how Biblical Inerrancy is relevant to the major themes and sections of scripture. The link for today's post and the entire document of the "Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy" can be found at: http://library.dts.edu/Pages/TL/Special/ICBI_1.pdf  May these series of posts prove informative and edifying to readers.

THE CHICAGO STATEMENT ON BIBLICAL INERRANCY

Exposition
"Our understanding of the doctrine of inerrancy must be set in the context of the broader teachings of the Scripture concerning itself. This exposition gives an
account of the outline of doctrine from which our summary statement and articles are drawn."

"Creation, Revelation and Inspiration
The Triune God, who formed all things by his creative utterances and governs all things by His Word of decree, made mankind in His own image for a life of communion with Himself, on the model of the eternal fellowship of loving communication within the Godhead."

"As God's image-bearer, man was to hear God's Word addressed to him and to respond in the joy of adoring obedience. Over and above God's self-disclosure in the created order and the sequence of events within it,
human beings from Adam on have received verbal messages from Him, either directly, as stated in Scripture, or indirectly in the form of part or all of Scripture itself."

"When Adam fell, the Creator did not abandon mankind to final judgment but promised salvation and began to reveal Himself as Redeemer in a sequence of historical
events centering on Abraham's family and culminating in the life, death, resurrection, present heavenly ministry, and promised return of Jesus Christ. Within this frame God has from time to time spoken specific
words of judgment and mercy, promise and command, to sinful human beings so drawing them into a covenant relation of mutual commitment between Him and them in which He blesses them with gifts of grace and they
bless Him in responsive adoration."

"Moses, whom God used as mediator to carry His words to His people at the time of the Exodus, stands at the head of a long line of
prophets in whose mouths and writings God put His words for delivery to Israel. God's purpose in this succession of messages was to maintain His covenant by causing His people to know His Name - that is, His
nature - and His will both of precept and purpose the present and for the future. This line of prophetic spokesmen from God came to completion in Jesus Christ, God's incarnate Word, who was Himself a prophet - more than a prophet, but not less - and in the apostles
and prophets of the first Christian generation." 

"When God's final and climactic message, His word to the world concerning Jesus Christ, had been spoken and elucidated by those in the apostolic circle, the sequence of revealed messages ceased. Henceforth the Church was to live and know God by what He had already said, and said for all time."

"At Sinai God wrote the terms of His covenant on tables of stone, as His enduring witness and for lasting - accessibility: and throughout the period of prophetic and apostolic revelation He prompted men to write the
messages given to and through them, along with celebratory records of His dealings with His people, plus moral reflections on covenant life and forms of praise and prayer for covenant mercy. The theological reality
of inspiration in the producing of Biblical documents corresponds to that of spoken prophecies: although the human writers' personalities were expressed in what they wrote, the words were divinely constituted." 

"Thus, what Scripture says, God says; its authority is His authority, for He is its ultimate Author, having given it through the minds and words of chosen and prepared men who in freedeom and faithfulness "spoke from God
as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" 

(1 Pet.1:21). Holy Scripture must be acknowledged as the Word - of God by virtue of its divine origin."

More tomorrow....

P4 The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy - Articles of Affirmation and Denial (12-19) that further define inerrancy

2 Peter 1:20-21 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

Introduction:

In order to specifically assert what inerrancy is and is not, the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy drafted 19 articles of affirmation and denial.  Today's post will feature the remaining articles (12-19).  The aim of this section of the statement is precision in making certain to readers what constitutes Biblical inerrancy and infallibility.  Such a section is important to combat other positions that attempt to view the Bible as being anything but the Word of God.  Again I commend the reader to explore the link for the below articles at the link: http://library.dts.edu/Pages/TL/Special/ICBI_1.pdf

From the document "The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy"

ARTICLES OF AFFIRMATION AND DENIAL

Article XII

We affirm that Scripture in its entirety is inerrant, being free from all falsehood, fraud, or deceit.

We deny that Biblical infallibility and inerrancy are limited to spiritual, religious, or redemptive themes, exclusive of assertions in the fields of history and science. We further deny that scientific hypotheses about earth history may properly be used to overturn the teaching of Scripture on creation and the flood.

Article XIII

We affirm the propriety of using inerrancy as a theological term with reference to the complete truthfulness 

of Scripture. 

We deny that it is proper to evaluate Scripture according to standards of truth and error that are alien to its usage or purpose. We further deny that inerrancy is negated by Biblical phenomena such as a lack of modern technical precision, irregularities of grammar or spelling, observational descriptions of nature, the reporting of falsehoods, the use of hyperbole and round numbers, the topical arrangement of material, variant selections of material in parallel accounts, or the use of free citations.

Article XIV

We affirm the unity and internal consistency of Scripture.

We deny that alleged errors and discrepancies that have not yet been resolved vitiate the truth claims of the Bible.

Article XV

We affirm that the doctrine of inerrancy is grounded in the teaching of the Bible about inspiration.

We deny that Jesus' teaching about Scripture may be dismissed by appeals to accommodation or to any natural limitation of His humanity.

Article XVI

We affirm that the doctrine of inerrancy has been integral to the Church's faith throughout its history.
We deny that inerrancy is a doctrine invented by Scholastic Protestantism, or is a reactionary position postulated in response to negative higher criticism.

Article XVII

We affirm that the Holy Spirit bears witness to the Scriptures, assuring believers of the truthfulness of God's written Word.

We deny that this witness of the Holy Spirit operates in isolation from or against Scripture.

Article XVIII

We affirm that the text of Scripture is to be interpretedby grammatico-historical exegesis, taking account of its literary forms and devices, and that Scripture is to interpret Scripture.

We deny the legitimacy of any treatment of the text or quest for sources lying behind it that leads to relativizing, dehistoricizing, or discounting its teaching, or rejecting its claims to authorship.

Article XIX

We affirm that a confession of the full authority, infallibility, and inerrancy of Scripture is vital to a sound understanding of the whole of the Christian faith. We further affirm that such confession should lead to
increasing conformity to the image of Christ.

We deny that such confession is necessary for salvation. However, we further deny that inerrancy can be rejected without grave consequences, both to the individual and to the Church.

More tomorrow....

P3 Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy: Articles of Affirmation and Denial 1-11 that define inerrancy

2 Peter 1:20-21 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

Introduction:

Happy New Years to every reader who comes on this blogsite today! We have been in a study of the most comprehensive statement regarding Biblical inerrancy in modern times: "The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy". The group who drafted this document: "The International Council on Biblical Interrancy" (ICBI), desired to express in the clearest terms possible what Biblical inerrancy is and is not. In order to accomplish this purpose, The ICBI drafted 19 articles of affirmation and denial.  Today's post will feature the first eleven of those articles.  The aim of this section of the statement is precision in making certain to readers what constitutes Biblical inerrancy and infallibility.  Such a section is important to combat other positions that attempt to view the Bible as being anything but the Word of God.  Again I commend the reader to explore the link for the below articles at the link: http://library.dts.edu/Pages/TL/Special/ICBI_1.pdf

From the document "The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy"

ARTICLES OF AFFIRMATION AND DENIAL

Article I
We affirm that the Holy Scriptures are to be received as the authoritative Word of God.

We deny that the Scriptures receive their authority from the Church, tradition, or any other human source.

Article II
We affirm that the Scriptures are the supreme written norm by which God binds the conscience, and that the authority of the Church is subordinate to that of Scripture.

We deny that Church creeds, councils, or declarations have authority greater than or equal to the authority of the Bible.

Article III
We affirm that the written Word in its entirety is revelation given by God.

We deny that the Bible is merely a witness to revelation, or only becomes revelation in encounter, or depends on the responses of men for its validity.

Article IV
We affirm that God who made mankind in His image has used language as a means of revelation.

We deny that human language is so limited by our creatureliness that it is rendered inadequate as a vehicle for divine revelation. We further deny that the corruption of human culture and language through sin has thwarted God's work of inspiration.

Article V

We affirm that God's revelation in the Holy Scriptures was progressive.

We deny that later revelation, which may fulfill earlier revelation, ever corrects or contradicts it. We further deny that any normative revelation has been given since the completion of the New Testament writings.

Article VI

We affirm that the whole of Scripture and all its parts, down to the very words of the original, were given by divine inspiration.

We deny that the inspiration of Scripture can rightly be affirmed of the whole without the parts, or of some parts but not the whole.

Article VII

We affirm that inspiration was the work in which God by His Spirit, through human writers, gave us His Word. The origin of Scripture is divine. The mode of divine inspiration remains largely a mystery to us.

We deny that inspiration can be reduced to human insight, or to heightened states of consciousness of any kind.

Article VIII

We affirm that God in His Work of inspiration utilized the distinctive personalities and literary styles of the writers whom He had chosen and prepared.

We deny that God, in causing these writers to use the very words that He chose, overrode their personalities.

Article IX

We affirm that inspiration, though not conferring omniscience, guaranteed true and trustworthy utterance on all matters of which the Biblical authors were moved to speak and write.

We deny that the finitude or fallenness of these writers, by necessity or otherwise, introduced distortion

or falsehood into God's Word.

Article X

We affirm that inspiration, strictly speaking, applies only to the autographic text of Scripture, which in the providence of God can be ascertained from available manuscripts with great accuracy. We further affirm

that copies and translations of Scripture are the Word of God to the extent that they faithfully represent the original.

We deny that any essential element of the Christian faith is affected by the absence of the autographs. We further deny that this absence renders the assertion of Biblical inerrancy invalid or irrelevant.

Article XI

We affirm that Scripture, having been given by divine inspiration, is infallible, so that, far from misleading us, it is true and reliable in all the matters it addresses.

We deny that it is possible for the Bible to be at the same time infallible and errant in its assertions. Infallibility and inerrancy may be distinguished, but not separated.

More Tomorrow....

P2 The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy - Practical reasons for understanding Biblical inerrancy

2 Timothy 3:16-17 "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."

Introduction and review
Yesterday we introduced the historic and comprehensive doctrinal affirmation of Biblical inerrancy called: "The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy".  We saw the reason why the the document was drafted, why inerrancy matters to the Christian life and practice and why studying such a document can prove edifying to the Christian.  The reader may also had noticed the citation of the Baptist faith and Message 2000 definition of the Bible's character as the inerrant and infallible Word of God.  This citation was given to show where this blogger stands on this vital issue, and thus why the "Chicago Statement" is important for all Christians to know about in a day and age that wholesale rejects the authority of Scripture. 

Two practical benefits for gaining a better understanding of Biblical inerrancy Before we continue, a few words are in order as to why Christians need to understand the Biblical doctrine of inerrancy.  First, all preaching that aims to unfold the Bible one word, one verse or one chapter at a time assumes Biblical inerrancy.   When it comes to the Bible, the Christian can rest assured that the Bible that is preached, taught or heeded is without error, will never fail and is always trustworthy.  As a preacher myself, I have absolute confidence that the words of scripture that supplies the basis for my less than perfect preaching are inerrant words.  The same Holy Ghost who inspired the inerrant, infallible words of scripture is the same One Who applies them to the hearts of listeners. 

A second major important reason for considering Biblical inerrancy has to do with the practice of the Christian faith. Thankfully the Christian has nothing to fear when it comes to the scriptures. The scriptures are the inerrant, infallible Words of God that are sufficient for the church's and Christian's standard of faith, life and eternity. 

With those two thoughts, in today's post we continue on looking once again at the Chicago Statement by observing its "Short Statement" on what it means when it states the Bible to be the inerrant and infallible Word of God.  Again I urge the reader to look at the following link to see the entire text of the statement at:  http://library.dts.edu/Pages/TL/Special/ICBI.shtml

A SHORT STATEMENT (from the document: "The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy)

"1. God, who is Himself Truth and speaks truth only, has inspired Holy Scripture in order thereby to reveal Himself to lost mankind through Jesus Christ as Creator and Lord, Redeemer and Judge. Holy Scripture
is God's witness to Himself."

"2. Holy Scripture, being God's own Word, written by men prepared and superintended by His Spirit, is of infallible divine authority in all matters upon which it touches: it is to be believed, as God's instruction, in all that it affirms; obeyed, as God's command, in all that it requires; embraced, as God's pledge, in all that it promises."

"3. The Holy Spirit, Scripture's divine Author, both authenticates it to us by His inward witness and opens our minds to understand its meaning."

"4. Being wholly and verbally God-given, Scripture is without error or fault in all its teaching, no less in what it states about God's acts in creation, about the events of world history, and about its own literary origins under God, than in its witness to God's saving grace in individual lives."

"5. The authority of Scripture is inescapably impaired if this total divine inerrancy is in any way limited or disregarded, or made relative to a view of truth contrary to the Bible's own; and such lapses bring serious loss to both the individual and the Church."

More tomorrow....

P1 Introducing The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy: Why Biblical Inerrancy Matters

2 Timothy 3:16-17 "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."
Introduction:
When it comes to characterizing the nature of scripture's composition, contents and character, two terms stand at the head of the list: "inerrancy" and "infallibility". The SBC statement of faith: "The Baptist Faith & Message 2000", defines scripture in its first article: "The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation."http://www.sbc.org/bfm/bfm2000.asp#i

Such a definition summarizes beautifully what the scriptures are and how they function.  The importance of how Scripture's inerrancy functions for Christians in today's world cannot be over-estimated .  In today's post this blogger would like to introduce readers to what is the most extensive statement ever produced on the subject of Biblical inerrancy: "The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy".  


The particular group of Bible-believing scholars that produced this statement and subsequent others like it was named: "The International Council for Biblical Inerrancy". The group disbanded in the late eighties and transferred all of their documents to Dallas Theological Seminary.  What follows derives from the following link: http://library.dts.edu/Pages/TL/Special/ICBI.shtml.  May these series of posts prove edifying and informative to the Christian reader. 

THE CHICAGO STATEMENT ON BIBLICAL INERRANCY

Preface
"The authority of Scripture is a key issue for the Christian Church in this and every age. Those who profess faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are called to show the reality of their discipleship by humbly and faithfully obeying God's written Word. To stray from Scripture in faith or conduct is disloyalty to our Master."

"Recognition of the total truth and trustworthiness of Holy Scripture is essential to a full grasp and adequate confession of its authority. The following Statement affirms this inerrancy of Scripture afresh, making clear our understanding of it and warning against its denial. We are persuaded that to deny it is to set aside the witness of Jesus Christ and of the Holy Spirit and to refuse that submission to the claims of God's own Word which marks true Christian faith. We see it as our timely. duty to make this affirmation in the face of current lapses from the truth of inerrancy among our fellow Christians and misunderstanding of this doctrine in the world at large."

"This Statement consists of three parts: a Summary Statement, Articles of Affirmation and Denial, and an accompanying Exposition. It has been prepared in the course of a three-day consultation in Chicago. Those who have signed the Summary Statement and the Articles wish to affirm their own conviction as to the inerrancy of Scripture and to encourage and challenge one another and all Christians to growing appreciation and understanding of this doctrine." 

"We acknowledge the limitations of a document prepared in a brief, intensive conference and do not propose that this Statement be given creedal weight. Yet we rejoice in the deepening of our own convictions through our discussions together, and we pray that the Statement we have signed may be used to the glory of our God toward a new reformation of the Church in its faith, life, and mission."

"We offer this Statement in a spirit, not of contention, but of humility and love, which we purpose by God's grace to maintain in any future dialogue arising out of what we have said. We gladly acknowledge that many who deny the inerrancy of Scripture do not display the consequences of this denial in the rest of
their belief and behavior, and we are conscious that we who confess this doctrine often deny it in life by failing to bring our thoughts and deeds, our traditions and habits, into true subjection to the divine Word."

"We invite response to this statement from any who see reason to amend its affirmations about Scripture by the light of Scripture itself, under whose infallible authority we stand as we speak. We claim no personal infallibility for the witness we bear, and for any help which enables us to strengthen this testimony to God's Word we shall be grateful."

Note to reader: The original document is located in the Dallas Theological Seminary Archives." Link: http://library.dts.edu/Pages/TL/Special/ICBI.shtml

More tomorrow.....

Why Christianity needs the Canon of scripture

Exodus 31:18 "When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God."

What is meant by the term "canon"
When we talk about the canon or canonicity of scripture, of what do we speak? Dr. Wayne Grudem defines the term canon or canon of Scripture as: "The canon of scripture is the list of all the books that belong in the Bible".1 Grudem goes onto say later: "The precise determination of the extent of the canon of Scripture is therefore of utmost importance. If we trust and obey God absolutely we must have a collection of words that we are certain are God's own words to us. If there are any sections of Scripture about which we have doubts whether they are God's words or not, we will not consider them to have absolute Divine authority and we will not trust them as much as we would trust God Himself."2

Another scholar, Dr. Norman Geisler, states: "The first link in the chain of revelation "From God to Us" is inspiration, which concerns what God did, namely, that He breathed out (spirated) the Scriptures. The second link in the chain is canonization, which relates to the question of which books God inspired. Inspiration indicates how the Bible received its authority, whereas canonization tells how the Bible received its acceptance. It is one thing for God to give the scriptures their authority, and quite another for men to recognize that authority."3

With the above thoughts in mind, I would like to explore today why we need the Canon of the Old and New Testaments. Perhaps this is something you have never thought of or have taken for granted.  However there are specific reasons why we must continue to stand by the 39 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament, otherwise known as "The Canon".  So why does Christianity need to the Canon of scripture?

We need the Canon of scripture to proclaim the Gospel
As Christian people we need to have an absolute standard by which know which God is the true God, the salvation He offers, to understand the world in which we live, the lives we are to practice, the eternity which awaits and how to know where we will go once we live this world.  The question of knowing what the authority is and determining its contents, boundaries and applications are all covered under the issue of the canon of scripture. 

How we know whether or not we are proclaiming the Gospel as it is supposed to be proclaimed is perhaps the most important issue when describing why we need to know which books are canonical, and which are not. For example, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." Which writings or scriptures I preach from is vital.  Why? Because if I preach from the wrong books (like the Quran or the Book of Mormon), then I preach a different Gospel and Jesus.  So we need the Canon of Scripture to preach the right Gospel, but notice a second related point...

We need the Canon of scripture to discern truth from error
Why did I make mention to the Quran and the Book of Mormon a moment ago? Consider what Paul writes in Galatians 1:8 "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!" Mormonism and Islam claim to be revealed religions whose founders received alleged angelic messages (Muhummad and the Quranic Gabriel and Joseph Smith and the Mormon angel Moroni). Those books present a completely different message and Jesus that is non-saving, and thus a different Gospel. There is a reason why historic Bible believing Christianity deems both those books to be non-canonical, because they are non-inspired.  They do not portray the same Jesus and salvation of the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments.  Therefore Christianity needs the Canon of scripture to proclaim the Gospel rightly and to discern truth from error, but notice thirdly...

The canon of scripture is needed for authority in practical everyday life
In our Christian life and growth we essentially have different types of authority, with only one being the absolute authority above all others: experience, tradition, reason and scripture. 

A norm called experience
Experience is important because by experience do we accumulate understanding in the realm of responses and behavior.  However experience and levels of understanding gained from it varies from person to person.  Whenever we attempt to equate experience with scripture, we run the danger of reducing Christianity to paganism.  Experience by itself is inadequate and requires the absolute norm of scripture to judge and measure its conclusions. 

A norm called reason
Reason is vital to making decisions, weighing facts and thinking through arguments and situations.  However reason by itself needs experience or something outside source to validate its conclusions. Faith and reason are not enemies, but brothers, with faith being the bigger of the two. Though Christianity asserts salvation by grace through faith alone apart from reason, nonetheless we are saved by a faith that is most reasonable.  To place reason above scripture divests the Christian faith of its supernatural power and character. 

A norm called tradition
Tradition refers to the historical ways of doing things that have been passed down from one generation to the next.  Tradition can include such things as creeds, confessions, doctrinal statements, denominational distinctives and the like. If a large segment of the Christian church is doing a particular practice it believes to correspond to reason, experience and ultimately scripture, on the one hand that tradition can oftentimes be more reliable than any individual assumptions.  However traditions are subject to error and need an outside source that is not just man centered, but God sourced. If a tradition attempts to bind the conscience or compel the individual to violate his or her conscience, the tradition must be set aside or rejected out of hand in favor of the scripture, which alone can shape and mold the Christian's conscience.

The one true norm or standard that regulates the other three - scripture
Whenever we say that the Bible alone is the Christian's standard or "norm" of faith, practice, life and eternity, we are not excluding the role of tradition, reason and experience. The Baptist Faith & Message 2000 itself states: "Baptists cherish and defend religious liberty, and deny the right of any secular or religious authority to impose a confession of faith upon a church or body of churches. We honor the principles of soul competency and the priesthood of believers, affirming together both our liberty in Christ and our accountability to each other under the Word of God.  Baptist churches, associations, and general bodies have adopted confessions of faith as a witness to the world, and as instruments of doctrinal accountability. We are not embarrassed to state before the world that these are doctrines we hold precious and as essential to the Baptist tradition of faith and practice." 3

With that said the BFM 2000 goes on: "It (The Bible) reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried." 4

Conclusion:
In today's post I wanted to lay out practical reasons why we need to uphold the Canon of the 66 books of our Bible.  In other words: why does Christianity need the Canon of Scripture? We saw three reasons:

A. We need to know what the Canon is to proclaim the Gospel rightly

B. We need to know the Canon of scripture to discern truth from error

C. We need to know the Canon of scripture to have authority for Godly, daily living

Endnotes:
1. Wayne Grudem. Systematic Theology. Zondervan. 1994. Page 54.

2. Wayne Grudem. Systematic Theology. Zondervan. 1994. Page 54.

3. Norman Geisler and William Nix. A General Introduction to the Bible. Moody Press. 1986. Page 203.
4. http://www.sbc.org/bfm/default.asp

5. http://www.sbc.org/bfm/bfm2000.asp#i

A church favored by God - 1 Peter 5

1 Peter 5:12-14  "Through Silvanus, our faithful brother (for so I regard him), I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it! 13 She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, and so does my son, Mark. 14 Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace be to you all who are in Christ."

A church favored by God

In today's post I want to briefly look at what it looks like when a group of God's people or a local church are favored by God.  To be favored by God is another way of saying that we have the Grace of God.  No doubt about it - Peter's aim is to encourage and exhort this church to stand firm in the grace of God.  In today's post I want us to consider the marks of a church that is favored by God.  What traits or qualities distinguish a local church that is relying upon and is empowered by God's favor or grace? 

1. Feeds on the Word.  1 Peter 5:1-4

1 Peter 5:1-2 states - "Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder andwitness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, 2 shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness." A church that is favored by God will be a church that loves to feed on the word of God.  Peter's commands to pastors is to "shepherd" or "feed the flock" the word of God.  Undoubtedly these words from Peter's pen echo what he heard from Jesus' lips some 30 years prior as recorded in John 21:16 "He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.”  Paul too gives similar instruction to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:28.  Why such and emphasis - because it is by the scripture that God has so ordained to cleanse the church (John 17:17; Ephesians 5:26); empower the church (Hebrews 4:12); enlighten the church (1 Corinthians 2:10-13) and mature the flock. (Ephesians 4:11-12; 1 Peter 2:1-2)  Christians who regularly feed on the Word of God will be those who exhibit maturity - knowing good from evil.  God's hand of grace will be on a church that feeds from the scriptures preached and taught by God-called men. But notice a second trait of a church favored by God...

2. Humility. 1 Peter 5:5-7

1 Peter 5:5-7 "You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you." Humility is the number one trait, next to love, that demonstrates Christ-likeness.  In the realm of our attitudes and actions humility is the most royal of virtues as it serves others. Passages such as Philippians 2:1-5 urges us to have this same mindset as was found in Christ Jesus - humility. When I yield myself over to another for the sake of relationship - I am demonstrating the communicable attribute of humility that is germane to God's own nature. A church body that serves others and has within it service to one another is a church that will abound in God's supernatural grace and power. So a church that has God's favor will be one that loves to feed on the Word and exercise humility, but notice thirdly...

3. Fights faith's fight.  1 Peter 5:8-11

1 Peter 5:9-10 states - "But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. 10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you."  In 1 Peter 5:9 the NASB renders the opening phrase as "stand firm in your faith". Though the pronoun "your" could very well be implied in the passage, other English translations handle this passage better in bring out the emphasis of "The Faith", objective Christian faith, the "capital 'F'" faith within which my "small 'f'" personal faith in Christ resides. The HCSB renders this passage as: "Resist him and be firm in the faith...", with the KJV and NKJV following suit.  The point of the matter is that whenever a church or a Christian is operating in the grace of God, they will want to fight the fight of faith.  The emphasis on "The Faith" reminds us of Jude 3 "Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints."  The Christian's personal faith rests in the gifting of faith granted by God in His grace and persists.  And so a church favored by God, or operating on the basis of His grace will be marked by feeding on the scriptures, humility and fighting faith's fight.  But notice fourthly...

4. Stand in God's Grace.  1 Peter 5:12-14

This brings us to the close of Peter's letter and the chief point for which he wrote it. The whole theme of Peter's first epistle is that of "standing firm in the grace of God." Certainly in the final few verses of Peter's letter we see God's grace weave its way throughout the verses. In 5:12 we see the command to stand firm in God's grace, followed by a challenging field in need of God's grace (Babylon) with a character who was restored as a result of God's grace (Mark).  

Mark's story, like Peter's, is a remarkable story of success, failure, and redemption.  We first meet Mark (possibly) in Mark 14:51 as an anonymous young man fleeing from the Garden of Gethesemane right after Jesus' arrest. Later on in Acts 12:12 we see Mark's house being used as a meeting place of the early church.  Mark's ascendancy within the Apostolic circles of the early church came to an abrupt halt when he deserts Paul in Acts 13. In Acts 15:37-39 Paul refuses to have Mark accompany him on his missionary journeys due to the earlier desertion by Mark of Paul and his companions in Acts 12:12. Barnabas chooses to take Mark under his wing as some sort of protege.  

It is years later in Colossians 4:10 and later again in 2 Timothy 4:11 that we learn of Paul and Mark having not only been reconciled, but somehow Mark is deemed highly useful.  Church history tells the story of Mark penning the self-named second Gospel by Divine inspiration as he listens to the Apostle Peter preaching in Rome out of Matthew and a then soon to be released Gospel of Luke.  Mark is a supreme trophy of God's grace who in becoming an aid to the Apostle Peter is actually named by the great apostle.  Truly every local church should be God's trophy case full of trophy's of grace who owe their existence and success to the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Conclusion

In today's post we walked through 1 Peter 5 with the singular question concerning what a church favored by God looks like. We discovered four main traits that marks such a church:

1. Feeds on the word.  1 Peter 5:1-5

2. Humility. 1 Peter 5:5-7

3. Fights faith's fight. 1 Peter 5:8-11

4. Stand's in God's grace. 1 Peter 5:12-14. 

1 Peter 4 The Crucified Mindset

1 Peter 4:1-2 "Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God."

Introduction: The crucified mindset taught by Jesus

Jesus taught his disciples in Luke 9:23-24 "And He was saying to them all, If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it."  This statement was Jesus' to call his disciples to exercise reckless abandonment of reliance upon the self and to complete reliance upon Him. 1  This mindset being taught by Jesus is what we can term "the crucified mindset". 

The crucified mindset commanded by the Apostle Paul

As one moves deeper into the New Testament, the crucified mindset and its radical call to radical followership of Jesus Christ is reinforced by the Apostle Paul. In fact to conceive of Christianity apart from the cross leads to an utter departure from what it means to be a Christian. 

Paul writes for example in Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." Paul's identification with the event of Christ's crucifixion is due to the fact that supernaturally and spiritually the Holy Spirit connected him to that event in saving faith and maintains that connection in his ongoing sanctification.2 Furthermore, the crucified mindset determines to regard the self (self sufficiency, self-reliance, etc) as dead, focus on Christ instead and thus move on ahead. 

In another passage Paul writes in Galatians 6:14 "But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."  Again Paul is stating the crucified mindset as it pertains to relating to the world or system of unbelief.  The self is the Christian's number one enemy as it pertains to the internal Christian life, and the world in turn is the Christian's chief opposition to the external Christian life.  Satan is the spiritual agent that drives the world system. (2 Corinthians 4:1-6) 

And so the crucified mindset refers to a radical resolve to follow Jesus, to die to self and die to the world in favor of singular focus on Jesus Christ. Not only is the crucified mindset defined, but also commanded. We will now turn to 1 Peter 4 to see how this mindset is explained and applied.

Peter explains the crucified mindset in relationship to the Christian's approach to their past, present and future

1 Peter 4 unfolds in detail how the crucified mindset is to be applied to the daily Christian life.  Peter writes in 1 Peter 4:1 "Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin." Peter's words here are a call to war against sin and against the flesh.  As you read on down through 1 Peter 4, the crucified mindset is the Christian's approach to how they view their past, their future and their present. Certainly retaining a mindset like Jesus is commanded elsewhere in the New Testament. (Philippians 2:1-5). So the question is: how does the crucified mindset aid the Christian in understanding their past, future and present?

1. Die to the past  1 Peter 4:1-6

Peter states in 1 Peter 4:2 "so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God."

2. Define life by Jesus' second coming. 4:7-11

1 Peter 4:7-8 sets the tone for this section - "The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. 8 Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins."

3. Depend on the Lord now. 4:12-19

1 Peter 4:12 and 4:19 reinforce the need to apply the crucified mindset as a constant, current reality.  1 Peter 4:12 "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you." Then 1 Peter 4:19 states: "Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right." 

Conclusion:
I close out today's post with this observation from the great commentator Albert Barnes on applying the crucified mindset to everyday life: "Armor is put on for offensive or defensive purposes of war; and the idea of the apostle here is, that that state of mind when we are ready to meet with persecution and trial, and when we are ready to die, will answer the purpose of armor in engaging in the conflicts and strifes which pertain to us as Christians, and especially in meeting with persecutions and trials. We are to put on the same fortitude which the Lord Jesus had, and this will be our best defense against our foes, and the best security of victory."3

Endnotes:

1. In the years before Jesus' public ministry there had been various men who would rise up in the regions of Galilee claiming to be the Messiah - among whom was one by the name of Judas the Galilean.  When Judas the Galilean made his claim, he convinced 2,000 other fellow Galileans to follow him and lead a revolt against the Roman empire.  Rome of course responded swiftly and had crosses erected along the roadsides of Galilee to send the message that if anyone followed a leader claiming to be Messiah or revolutionary against Rome - their fate would be the same as Judas the Galilean and his followers.  What Jesus was calling for would had been radical indeed, and the disciples would had been taken back to the days of Judas. 

2. All that Christ did and is in His humanity becomes mine in salvation.  The position of being declared "the righteousness of Jesus Christ" in salvation is what we call justification, and the power and person of Christ granted to us in justification is a result of the Spirit's baptism or uniting us to Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13) In saving faith I not only am granted the position of Christ's righteousness, but I am also granted the Person of Christ.  I have access to both His person and power, and He in turn is supernaturally united to me in fellowship.  Such a relationship and partaking of the Divine nature of Christ's person (2 Peter 1:3-4), as well as the human nature of Christ's person (Hebrews 2:11-14) is what the older Christians came to term "theosis". 

3. Albert Barnes. Notes on the New Testament. Kregel Publications. 1962. Page 1427