FROM THE PASTOR
Christians believe the Bible is God’s Word
In Sutherland sometimes I walk past a church that has a little sign out the front that says, “We are a Bible Believing Church”. And of course I usually come up with a different question every time I see that message; like, “Do they really?”, “What do they believe about Baptism and Holy Communion?”. And the parts of the Bible and sayings that are too difficult to fathom – and what about those events too repulsive to speak of? (I certainly won’t give examples here) – then I, like many others would wonder why were they ever written? Other Bible passages too can be rather confusing – I mean, why would Jesus tell of a story that praises the actions of a dishonest and shrewd business manager? Still, to the above theme, we Christians believe the Bible is God’s Word.
We know the word of God because God spoke to the apostles and prophets through Jesus (the Word who came in human flesh), so God has also given us his written word; the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. The Bible is a library of books. It is the written word of God. Written in human words. Written by human beings. The number of library books differ between the Protestant churches (i.e. non Roman Catholic) with 66 books and the Roman Catholic church which includes the apocryphal books.
The Bible is fully human and fully Divine – obviously human because God used people and their personalities and skill to write. It would be fair to say, at a general observation, these writers had faith-life experience of God, knowledge of nature, culture, language and literary skills, and so on. Yet, the Bible is also Divine. The Bible is a Divine book because it’s written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (God as the Divine author – see 2 Tim 3:16 and 2 Peter 1:21). How can we say the Bible is human and Divine? We can say this, only by faith. It’s something that cannot be fully understood. It’s the same with Jesus Christ, as we accept Jesus as both fully human and fully Divine by faith, so we accept scripture the same; in faith. More about this in upcoming newsletters.
Most importantly, Christ is the very heart and centre of the Bible. If there was anyone who ever lived on God’s good earth that could see Christ in virtually every Bible verse, it was the great man Martin Luther. So much so, that even the most obscure verse from scripture, Luther would somehow make it point to Jesus Christ! In fact, Luther had once said that if the Bible is not seen in the Light of Christ, the Bible is an ordinary book, open to misinterpretation and all its teachings mean nothing. The Bible is Christ-centred. Jesus said to his hearers that the scriptures testify to him (John 5:39) and Jesus also explained the scriptures, to his disciples on the road to Emmaus, in relation to himself; Luke 24:35-27.
We’ll continue on with this theme in September. So I’ll finish on this note – scripture is clear in its message of salvation; through faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible doesn’t use mysterious and secret language, however as I wrote above, this doesn’t mean that all Bible verses are clear, or make sense. Like St Paul, after writing a lengthy discourse on trying to unravel God’s ways, once he realises he can’t, he just breaks out in praise and writes, “Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgements and his paths beyond tracing out” (Rom 11:33). So whatever we read, some passages and even some books of the Bible, there will always remain a puzzle; there’s a fair bit of mystery going on in the book of Revelation, as one example). But this one thing remains – The Holy Spirit, brings to us the clear message of all that we need to know for our salvation, and that is enough.
God bless you as you read God’s word and remember the helps from July.
We Pray:
† For the upcoming LCA National Synod in October.
† For he church and its journey of faith in the wilderness of the world.
† For the body of Christ and the gifts of God for the building of the body.
† For Australian Lutheran College, and its lecturers, students, and staff.
† For the countries and communities in the world that forbid Christianity, that they would open their hearts and eyes to the grace of God in Christ and allow his people to worship freely.
† For organisations that provide food for the hungry – local and worldwide.
In Sutherland sometimes I walk past a church that has a little sign out the front that says, “We are a Bible Believing Church”. And of course I usually come up with a different question every time I see that message; like, “Do they really?”, “What do they believe about Baptism and Holy Communion?”. And the parts of the Bible and sayings that are too difficult to fathom – and what about those events too repulsive to speak of? (I certainly won’t give examples here) – then I, like many others would wonder why were they ever written? Other Bible passages too can be rather confusing – I mean, why would Jesus tell of a story that praises the actions of a dishonest and shrewd business manager? Still, to the above theme, we Christians believe the Bible is God’s Word.
We know the word of God because God spoke to the apostles and prophets through Jesus (the Word who came in human flesh), so God has also given us his written word; the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. The Bible is a library of books. It is the written word of God. Written in human words. Written by human beings. The number of library books differ between the Protestant churches (i.e. non Roman Catholic) with 66 books and the Roman Catholic church which includes the apocryphal books.
The Bible is fully human and fully Divine – obviously human because God used people and their personalities and skill to write. It would be fair to say, at a general observation, these writers had faith-life experience of God, knowledge of nature, culture, language and literary skills, and so on. Yet, the Bible is also Divine. The Bible is a Divine book because it’s written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (God as the Divine author – see 2 Tim 3:16 and 2 Peter 1:21). How can we say the Bible is human and Divine? We can say this, only by faith. It’s something that cannot be fully understood. It’s the same with Jesus Christ, as we accept Jesus as both fully human and fully Divine by faith, so we accept scripture the same; in faith. More about this in upcoming newsletters.
Most importantly, Christ is the very heart and centre of the Bible. If there was anyone who ever lived on God’s good earth that could see Christ in virtually every Bible verse, it was the great man Martin Luther. So much so, that even the most obscure verse from scripture, Luther would somehow make it point to Jesus Christ! In fact, Luther had once said that if the Bible is not seen in the Light of Christ, the Bible is an ordinary book, open to misinterpretation and all its teachings mean nothing. The Bible is Christ-centred. Jesus said to his hearers that the scriptures testify to him (John 5:39) and Jesus also explained the scriptures, to his disciples on the road to Emmaus, in relation to himself; Luke 24:35-27.
We’ll continue on with this theme in September. So I’ll finish on this note – scripture is clear in its message of salvation; through faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible doesn’t use mysterious and secret language, however as I wrote above, this doesn’t mean that all Bible verses are clear, or make sense. Like St Paul, after writing a lengthy discourse on trying to unravel God’s ways, once he realises he can’t, he just breaks out in praise and writes, “Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgements and his paths beyond tracing out” (Rom 11:33). So whatever we read, some passages and even some books of the Bible, there will always remain a puzzle; there’s a fair bit of mystery going on in the book of Revelation, as one example). But this one thing remains – The Holy Spirit, brings to us the clear message of all that we need to know for our salvation, and that is enough.
God bless you as you read God’s word and remember the helps from July.
We Pray:
† For the upcoming LCA National Synod in October.
† For he church and its journey of faith in the wilderness of the world.
† For the body of Christ and the gifts of God for the building of the body.
† For Australian Lutheran College, and its lecturers, students, and staff.
† For the countries and communities in the world that forbid Christianity, that they would open their hearts and eyes to the grace of God in Christ and allow his people to worship freely.
† For organisations that provide food for the hungry – local and worldwide.