Systematic Navigation: Sufficient Application
“Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments. I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules.” Psalms 119:5-7 (ESV)
Over the year I have been writing some Freedom Fighters that are based in those things that I have be picking up from a really thick book I started reading back in January. This book, “Systematic Theology” written by Wayne Grudem has been a down to earth read. I really thought I would have a hard time understanding it but that is not the not the case. My problem is taking what I have read, processing it and then getting back into it. Yes you can say it…procrastination. However, the last thing I wrote about was the sufficiency of God’s Word and we all better agree that God’s Word should be THE moral compass in our daily walk. AMEN?
So what of the practical applications of the sufficiency of Scripture? Well one thing is that it should encourage us as we try to figure out what God would have us think about a particular issue (possibly doctrinal) or to do in a situation. We may not get all the answers we are looking for directly, the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but God does provide us with the Holy Spirit for guidance. If you go to Scripture frequently enough, keep up the practice of searching Scripture for guidance and do this as a lifelong process, you will find “growth in the skill of rightly understanding the Bible’s teaching and then applying them to specific questions.” (Yep, borrowed that line from Grudem)
Scripture’s sufficiency will show you that there is no modern day revelations from God that are to be placed on a level equal to Scripture in authority. If you are watching/listening to a television/radio preacher and all of a sudden he announces that he just got a message from the Almighty Himself and He said that you need to sow your seed by signing a check, you may wanna run that though Scripture before you find your bank account emptied. We need to insist to ourselves that God does not require us to believe anything about Himself through the mouth of these preachers unless we can confirm it by Scripture. Also a thing to be mindful of is when we find that there are those who would have some extra-biblical Christian writings (Gnostic Gospels for example) to place alongside Scripture there is a danger of deemphasizing the Bible’s teachings as well as teaching something contrary to Scripture.
But what with regard to living the Christian life? The sufficiency of Scripture will remind you that “nothing is sin that is not forbidden by Scripture either explicitly or by implication.” There had been moments deep in Biblical history where there was unneeded rules, either written or implied, that became a burden to maintain. We had those Corinthians with the issue of eating meat offered to idols. Even in these modern times we have our unnecessary and unspoken violations like being caught at a Yankees game with your son or maybe it is wrong for you to be seen at a Justin Bieber concert with your daughter. Just for the record, Justin Bieber’s music really should be outlawed, banned or something (it’s horrible) and the Yankees…well maybe I’ll just leave that alone being a Phillies fan and all.
There are four other issues that Grudem covered and they were, add nothing to Scripture, do not believe in any redemptive work not found in Scripture, nothing is required of us other than what is found in Scripture and “emphasize what Scripture emphasizes and be content with what God has told us in Scripture.” And that last part is key to getting that “the secret things belong to the Lord our God.” I will close with a question from Grudem’s book…”If the Bible contains everything we need God to tell us for obeying Him perfectly, what IS the role of the following in helping us to find God’s will for ourselves: advice from others; sermons or Bible classes; our consciences; our feelings; the leading of the Holy Spirit as we sense him prompting out inward desires and subjective impressions; changes in circumstances; the gift of prophecy (if you think it can function today)?” I would like to hear your answers. – Chris Hughes is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and regular Freedom Fighter contributor
GPS – God’s Positioning System: 2 Kings 18:1-8; Psalm 5; Proverbs 6
Compass Pointers: “God’s instructions were explicit. If the ground was too rocky to gather up a mound of earth for an altar, stones could be fashioned, or polished with a tool. Nor could the altar be elevated. Not one step must be climbed to reach it. There must be no illusion that man could contribute anything by his own efforts to his salvation. God Himself is the only One who can save man, and salvation must be a gift of His grace. Such is the Gospel consistently presented from Genesis to Revelation.” The Non-Negotiable Gospel – Dave Hunt
Navigation Rules to Memorize: Level 1: Proverbs 27:1; Level 2: Proverbs 27:17-22
Anchored to the Rock: I have so much to do today that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer. Martin Luther
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