Christianity 101: Week Three

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 (ESV)

The Holy Bible is God’s total Word and the final authority for our faith, life, and the church. God is the ultimate Author of the Holy Bible. Despite the Holy Bible’s long history and numerous translations, scholars have noted that the Holy Bible is inerrant (exemption from error), truthful, sufficient, and clear. God’s Holy Spirit inspired the writing of the Holy Scriptures, and the Holy Bible continues to be applicable today revealing God’s truth (e.g. see 1 Corinthians 2:10; 2 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 4:12; 2 Peter 1:20-21.)

The overall message of the Holy Scriptures coherently explains to all people (educated and uneducated) the way to salvation through Jesus Christ, God’s incarnate Word (John 1:1-5, 14; 2 Timothy 3:15). God’s people do not need any other holy book other than the Holy Bible to understand God’s way of salvation. Nevertheless, understanding the Holy Scriptures require our diligent observation, interpretation, application, and summary. Modern exegesis has a tendency to be ideological and gives more emphasis to reader’s response at the expense of the author’s original intent. To understand the Holy Scriptures, we must consider the author’s original intention, the Scriptures' plain meaning, and our response as the reader. God reveals Himself in special revelation (Holy Scripture) and general revelation (natural world). The true and living God graciously gives His Holy Spirit to illuminate and help people understand the overall message (eternal truth) of the Holy Bible.

In the end, God’s Holy Spirit illuminates the Holy Scriptures and provides the basis for our true interpretation. The Holy Spirit bears witness to the Holy Bible’s truthfulness and reliability. God’s Holy Scriptures are living and breathing and continue to our new realities each day (Hebrews 4:12). The sovereign, transcendent, and all-wise God is not bound by time; therefore, the meaning of the Holy Bible is unchanging.

References

McCartney, Dan. Let the Reader Understand (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presb. and Reformed Publishing, 2^nd Edition, 2002)

Schwab, George, Ph.D., Professor of Exegesis (Due West, SC: Erskine Theological Seminary, 2016).

Chicago Statement of Biblical Inerrancy (Chicago, Ill: International Council of Biblical Inerrancy, 1978.