Oct 25 - 2 Timothy 3:15

 

All Scripture is God-breathed 

and is useful for teaching, 

rebuking, correcting and 

training in righteousness. 

2 Timothy 3:15

 

Do you know how I grew up reading the Scriptures? Do you know what I was essentially taught in Seminary? 

 

Well, there's a philosophy that essentially goes like this ...

 

·         Since we all know that humans - like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Peter, Paul, John, and King David - wrote the books of the Bible …

·         Therefore, the proper way to view Scripture is: godly people writing godly words from their own time, place, context, and perspective. 

·         But we live in a different time, place, and context …

·         Therefore, we godly people today need to seek what God is saying to our generation.

 

Now, that might sound wise. It may sound deep. And it does for many. But do you see the hole?

 

Yesterday, we drew a series boxes. They described the primary worldviews operative in our culture today. One of two primary worldviews sees God as transcendent. He is above the box. He created the box. And He is active within the box.

 

The traditional view of Scripture fits this worldview. The God who is above the box revealed himself (through the Word) to those within the box. 

 

·         Jesus himself is "the Word." (In other words, the God of heaven stepped into the box and revealed himself – see John 1:1-14). 

·         Furthermore, the Holy Scriptures are also God's revealed Word (God revealed - breathed - his Truth, his Light, his Word into the world). 

 

This worldview acknowledges that, yes, humans (like Amos, Hosea, Matthew, Mark, and Luke) definitely "put pen to paper," but it was God who was speaking in and through them. And even more gloriously ... our Lord continues to speak in and through the pages of these revelations!

 

And Scripture reveals timeless truth … because the God who speaks never changes. We change. He doesn’t. Our values shift, our cultures vary, our priorities change … but God never does. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

 

And all of that is the traditional view of Scripture. 

 

The second (more modern) view of Scripture doesn't really look to a transcendent God. It says that God doesn’t really speak - at least not timelessly, authoritatively, or unchangingly. Rather, revelation is ultimately subjective. It is personal. Back in Bible times, it was a handful of human writers who determined what was godly in the past ... but now it's up to who to determine what's godly now? Us? Modern humans? But what happens when your "truth" disagrees with my "truth"? Is truth really subjective?

 

But … this second, more modern view of Scripture and revelation forgets something big: Sin. Every generation does, indeed, have to figure out how God is speaking to us now. But ... what we really need to figure out is how culture's confusion – plus our wants and desires and wanton sin – keep us from hearing God's timeless truths. 

 

Our culture is lost. And it’s time to admit that the true compass isn't ourselves. It’s not our times. It’s not our culture. It’s not the current Zeitgeist – “the spirit of the times.” Rather … the compass is God. He is eternal and unchanging. His Truth doesn't vary with time and places. Indeed, God transcends cultures. Therefore, he gave us his Word. Why? Eternal and unchanging, he wanted us to know the True North. 

 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who was lost

until he found True North

(I'll tell you more about 

that on another day)