“Sola Scriptura” (SS) states that the Bible teaches that God’s
words must prevail over all other words or statements of truth or moral
imperatives. His words must take precedence over everything. In the NT, Jesus
responded to Satan, “Man does not live by bread alone but by every Word that
proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). However, this was a teaching that
Jesus had drawn from God’s instructions to the Israelites:
·
“The whole commandment that I command you today
you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and
possess the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers. And you shall
remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in
the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your
heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and
let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your
fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread
alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” (Deuteronomy
8:1-3)
We find in both Testaments that life and well-being were a
matter of keeping God’s every Word, as God’s commandment to Adam revealed:
·
And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You
may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall
surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17)
The first couple’s welfare depended on whether or not they
would put God’s Word above everything else, above every temptation and every
fear. This doctrine of SS didn’t mean that they couldn’t learn from other
sources, like their observations and feelings, but God’s Word would have to
take precedence over everything else.
Abraham passed this test when he placed God’s Word even
above the life of his son, Isaac, and was ready to sacrifice him, according to
God’s commands. And God rewarded him for his obedience (Genesis 22:15-18). Previously,
God had revealed that all the wonderful promises he had made to Abraham
depended upon his response to the Word of God:
·
For I have chosen him, that he may command his
children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing
righteousness and justice [God’s commands], so that the LORD may bring to
Abraham what he has promised him.” (Genesis 18:19)
The imperative to follow all of God’s commands had
characterized Israel’s relationship with God. If they would love God by
following them, He would bless Israel; if they turned away from them, they
would be cursed (Deuteronomy 28, 29). This is what had defined their entire
history. The Lord had sent many prophets to His people to warn them of the
consequences of their rebellion against His Word:
·
The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent
persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people
and on his dwelling place. But they kept mocking the messengers of God,
despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD
rose against his people, until there was no remedy. (2 Chronicles 36:15-16)
Israel’s response to the Word of God meant life and death.
It was also an expression of Israel’s faithfulness to their Redeemer. It
therefore had to be protected against any alterations or additions at the
threat of death (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32). Even a worker of miracles had to be
put to death if he was preaching a message contrary to the Word Israel had
already received (Deut. 13:1-5; 18:20-22). How was Israel to know which
prophets came with God’s Words? His prophecies had to be fulfilled 100% of the
time (Deut. 18:22).
The NT validated the
fact that the OT Prophets were the Words of God:
·
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. (2 Peter 1:20-21)
John invoked the OT warning against tampering with God’s
Words:
· I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy
of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues
described in this book. (Revelation 22:18)
As was the case in the Hebrew
Scriptures, God’s Word was to judge everything else, while nothing was to judge
His Words. Scripture had to sit in judgment over all other truth claims:
- The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Cor. 10:4-5)
Scripture was also meant to give God’s people
everything they needed in order to relate to Him.
· All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for
teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man
of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Tim. 3:16-17)
Therefore, Paul reasoned that the Church should not
go beyond what had already been given them in the Scriptures:
- Learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other. For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? (1 Cor. 4:6-7)
This too was the message of the OT. All truth claims had to
be consistent with God’s Words. There was nothing higher or more authoritative.
Scripture was the Supreme Court where the buck stopped:
- When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? Consult God’s instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn. (Isaiah 8:19-20)
In regards to the things that Scripture taught, it was the
brightest light and the source of blessing. In view of this, God had
commissioned Joshua:
- Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. (Joshua 1:7-8)
God warned Joshua that his response to His Word would
determine blessing and curse. If he failed to follow it, he and Israel would
suffer, if he meditated on it to do it, he would prosper. There was no other
activity that could compete in importance with Israel’s response to the word of
God. It occupied an unrivaled position. No amount of philosophizing, painting,
poetry writing, or practicing spiritual disciplines could even come close.
Scripture was in a league of its own. This was the uniform teaching of
Scripture, not just a handful of verses.
All the Apostles recognized that God worked through the
understanding of His word to accomplish great things (Psalm 1). Paul therefore
recited this benediction over the Ephesian elders:
- “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” (Acts 20:32)
How do we please God? We abide in His word above all else.
Peter insisted that:
- If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God... so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 4:11).
Our church traditions should never be in competition with
God’s word. This was the problem with the religious leadership of Jesus’ day.
They valued their own traditions above Scripture. Against this lethal tendency:
- Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?... Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’” (Matthew 15:3-9)
Our traditions or institutions cannot be placed on par with
Scripture. The resulting worship is of no
value! God had always intended for His Word to rule over all else. Jesus had
been totally sold out for the Scriptures, claiming that it could “not be
broken” (John 10:35). Everything else could be changed but not Scripture
(Matthew 24:35). It stood over everything else – sola scriptura! Even Jesus would
not do away with Scripture:
- “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:17-19)
Because Scripture came from God, it could not just be set
aside. Instead, our standing in the Kingdom depended upon our response to
Scripture. However, Jesus would fulfill it, according to Divine intention.
Jesus had such a high regard for Scripture that He
continually brought His disciples back to this wellspring of blessing. When
Jesus encountered His disheartened disciples after His crucifixion, He could
have spoken His own words to encourage them, but instead, He pointed them back
to Scripture:
- “Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. (Luke 24:26-27)
Scripture is so central to our lives that Jesus opened their
minds to understand it:
- He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. (Luke 24:44-45)
Never once do we see any indication that Jesus regarded
Scripture as merely a human document. Instead, He copiously quoted Scripture, always as maximally authoritative.
Besides, because Scripture is God’s authoritative word, we
are not free to interpret it in any manner we choose:
- Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:20-21; 1 Corinthians 2:12-13)
Although under both covenants, God had ordained teachers to
teach His Words, it was also intended to be so plain that all would be held to
account for violating it:
·
“For this commandment that I command you today
is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you
should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may
hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who
will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’
But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that
you can do it.” (Deuteronomy 30:11-14)
The Word was so approachable that no one had an excuse to
not perform it. Paul even quoted these verses to demonstrate the continuity
between the Old and the New Covenants (Romans 10:6-8) and that God’s Word had
to be at the center of the life of God’s people. There is nothing higher than
Scripture. Consequently, we never are free to not obey it:
·
Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will
keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our
home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word
that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me. (John 14:23-24)
To love Him is to place His Word above all else. This is the
message of “Sola Scriptura” in both covenants. This should lead us to ask the
question, “Why do religious Jews venerate the Talmud, the collected writings of
their rabbis, above their own Bible?” I will try to address this question later
in this book.
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