Authority of Scripture
Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. Matthew 7:24-25
Biblical religion says that God completely transcends the grasp of human senses; we cannot find him, contain him, or exhaust him. Human reason does not have the capacity by itself to locate and explain God. We need a revelation from God himself if we ever are to know who God is. Our searching merely produces sterility and illusion.
The initiative must come from God’s own side; the Creator must reveal himself to his creation. If he does reveal himself, we know he is a giving God who discloses himself not only to our hearts but to our intellects as well. This is the reason that Scripture is so crucial to our faith.
The Bible is the record of God’s revelation of himself to humanity. Without it, we have neither religious certainty nor any other security, for if we are not sure about our foundation, then we will wobble on everything else.
Wherever the Scriptures have been seen as the Word of God, there has come into the hearts of many people an assurance that one can not only know what God is like, but also personally know him.
Scripture must be absolutely authoritative for Christians as we begin the third millennium from the time of Christ’s birth. The Bible is the record of God’s personal revelation of himself to us.
—Dennis Kinlaw,
This Day with the Master
Robert Louis Stevenson told a story about a storm that threatened to dash a ship against a rocky coast, that would spell certain doom for its passengers. In the midst of the terror, a daring young man made the dangerous trip up onto the deck and to the wheelhouse, where saw the pilot at the helm and calmly steering the ship against the currents, safely to sea. The pilot saw the young man watching him and smiled. Then, the daring passenger returned below and encouraged his fellow passengers: “I have seen the face of the pilot and he smiled. All is well.”
At regular intervals of our spiritual journey, we need a glimpse at the pilot’s face to reassure us that we’re okay. Making the solitary journey, every so often, to the wheelhouse, to sense God’s sovereignty, authority, and faithfulness afresh, is soul nurturing and nourishing. A break in the schedule, a season of solitude before the Lord, is that trip to the wheelhouse. To enter into solitude and silence with the Lord is to take your spiritual life seriously. It is to take seriously your need to quiet the noise of your life, to pause, in order to give God your undivided attention. In solitude, God begins to free us from the rat-race and remind us that he is “the One in whom we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). In solitude our thoughts and our desires are reoriented towards God, so we become less entangled with lesser affections, so as to be more deeply responsive to God’s desires for us. Let us take the time today, and every day, to allow God’s word to wash over us, refreshing our spirits with His fullness and grace. —DH
—David Hoskins, Founder & Care Guide, Sanctuary Clinics