Scripture Alone - Sola Scripture

Reformation Matters

2 Timothy 3:10–16 ESV

You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

All throughout the month of October we celebrate the Reformation.

October is the month we celebrate the reformation because October 31st was the day that Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the door at Wittenberg.

To nail a document on the door meant you desired to debate.

And a whirlwind from there took Luther to the point of standing before a council that condemned him a heretic.

During that time Luther went into hiding.

While he was in hiding he did several significant things.

It’s important to remember that there were NOT wide spread Bibles in the language of the common people.

Luther was German.

The Germans did not have a reliable Bible in their language.

Luther worked on translating the NT into German.

So influential was Luther’s work that some have estimated that by the time of his death in 1546 more than a half million copies of his Bible were in the hands of the people!

Also the song we sang this morning was written by him during that time.

His work in this area demonstrates that Luther not only affirmed sola Scriptura but practiced it as well. At the time, the work of Bible translation was far from innocent. Luther knew that it could be a cannonball blowing a hole right through the wall of the infallible authority of the pope. Luther was committed, even in the face of persecution, to seeing the Word of God translated into the vernacular so that the people of God could read it for themselves and see the gospel truths that had so transformed his own life.

The Bible became a jewel in the hands of the Reformers not because it was a “handbook for happy living” or a “primer of metaphysics about God,” but because in it the Christian possessed the “the swaddling clothes in which Christ lies.” By devoting himself to Bible translation, Luther was sending a loud message to the German people that the Bible holds supremacy over all human traditions.

According to Scripture alone we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ aloneto the glory of God alone.

The Church’s One Foundation

In 2 Timothy 3, Paul compares the godlessness that is coming in the “last days” to the kind of uprightness that he expects to be true of Timothy.

Timothy has seen his life and practice and Paul expects him to follow this practice in the days ahead.

This makes how he concludes chapter 3 and begins chapter 4 as critically important to remain faithful to the end.

2 Timothy 3:1 ESV

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.

The “last days” are those days that have been ever since the departure of the Lord Jesus.

Notice where the difficulty comes from..

2 Timothy 3:2–4 ESV

For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

Notice the common theme between these traits that Paul lays forward: pride.

These kind of people are optimized in two nemesis’s in the OT.

Do not associate with these kinds of people.

2 Timothy 3:8 ESV

Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.

“Jannes and Jambres” are two of Pharaoh’s magicians who opposed Moses when the people of Israel were trying to flee Egypt.

These were the men who came tried to deceive the people of Egypt with their magic.

They tried to imitate Moses’ and Aaron’s staff that was thrown down and became a serpent.

They were able to imitate Moses and Aaron by their own “secret arts”.

They directly challenged God by challenging Moses.

The question we should ask with these kind of men are simply: where does the power reside?

For Jannes and Jambres they were able to mirror the signs and wonders that God produced.

Their signs they lacked power when we see Moses’ serpent consume the others.

But where do we see this in our own day?

Simply by asking the same question: where does the power reside?

If the power resides in a person, then it becomes like Jannes and Jambres who are imitating God’s power.

We see this with many “signs and wonders” healers of our own day.

They have the magic sauce and they themselves have the power to heal others.

Reason above Scripture

This is the modern man.

The is the enlightened man.

This view represents the modern view that man has.

Where does the power reside?

In Man.

To say, “I will wait until I feel like this is right till I believe it!”

is to place our emotions over the authority of Scripture.

“I wonder what's here and what I ‘have’ to believe to be saved.”

Rather than saying that…

Believing the authority of scripture is coming to the Bible and saying "I wonder what's here and I'm eager to believe it."

It is as one theologian once said “Faith seeking understanding.”

Not, I’m trying to understand so I can believe.

Scripture = Tradition

The Reformation is foundational because it rejected the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church.

The RCC taught that Scripture and Tradition were on the same plane.

In this view, Scripture is God’s Word and very important.

But the teaching of the Pope is equal with Scripture.

You can see the problems with this view.

Where does the power reside?

In the Bible....

And the Church.

Whatever the Pope says, it is just as important as the Bible.

WE AFFIRM that the Holy Scriptures are to be received as the authoritative Word of God. WE DENY that the Scriptures receive their authority from the Church, tradition, or any other human source.

CSB

Bare (Naked) Scripture

Nuda Scriptura is latin for Naked (Bare) Scripture and it sees the use of other historical creeds and confessions as unhelpful.

They would avoid looking at other histories because they want to have the BIBLE ALONE.

Tradition was never viewed by the reformers as a negative thing.

Tradition was actually seen as a positive thing.

The reformers were guided by tradition.

I would argue that a Bare Scripture understanding leads us into extremely dangerous waters.

If we have the BIBLE ALONE without any reference to the past we are on uncharted waters.

If you’re reading the Bible and find something there that nobody has ever seen before, I can almost guarantee you its a heresy.

Where does the power reside?

Ultimately the power resides in the interpreter.

Scripture Alone

“If the early church helped form the church.

The medieval church deformed the church.

The reformers helped reform the church.” (Steven Lawson)

This doctrine sees the Bible as the final authority.

This does not remove tradition from the equation.

Rather it sees tradition as the guardrails for us to understand the bounds of orthodoxy (right doctrine).

Where does the power reside?

Upon the Word of God alone!

Which is founded upon the apostles and prophets.

Ephesians 2:20 ESV

built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,

Notice even the way Paul shows this to Timothy…

2 Timothy 3:10 ESV

You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness,

The connector here of “but you”, represents a comparison to these false teachers that Paul has commanded that he avoid.

“You on the other hand need to live differently than the false teachers.”

You need to follow the example that the Apostle Paul has laid down for him.

Avoid them but you also need to follow Paul’s teaching, practice, goal of life, faith, patience, love, steadfastness, and persecution.

2 Timothy 3:14 ESV

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it

Timothy is to be different from the rest of the false teachers.

He is to be unique in the way he acts.

Normality is a failure.

Notice what else he tells him in verses 15-16.

2 Timothy 3:15–16 ESV

and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

Breathed Out by God

What is Scripture?

That word that is used for “God-breathed” can also be understood as “inspired by God.”

It comes from a compound word “Theos” which is God and “pneuma” which is Spirit given.

Essentially it is saying that when the Bible speaks, God speaks.

When the Bible says something, then we can bet that God is saying that.

The writings themselves are characteristic that they are “God’s Word.”

Example of a Dark Room without Light

Picture with me a dark room without any light.

Now in this dark room everyone is moving around and trying to find their way.

This is what humanity would be like without the LIGHT of God’s Word.

God Breathed reveals the Necessity of Scripture.

2 Timothy 3:15 ESV

and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

The logical implications is that the Scriptures are there to make Timothy wise about salvation.

WITHOUT this Word then there could not be

When Paul talks of Scripture, He doesn’t say that everyone will understand it.

Quite the contrary.

While everyone can see that God exists in the creation (Romans 1).

They need God’s special revelation to encounter Him.

This means that revelation is NOT something we come up with.

Revelation is NOT something we achieve.

Revelation is something that comes from God to us and is to be received.

It does not matter how much Scripture is accepted by other.

Revelation is NOT dependent upon other sources.

It is dependent upon God.

“What an important reminder this is to avoid the all-too-common temptation to think that divine revelation is God’s response to us....We do not find God. God finds us and makes himself known to us.

God is the speaker, we are the listeners. It’s not enough to say the biblical authors wrote about God or even wrote for God. We must say much, much more: God himself speaks! And he speaks for himself. His best word has come to us in his own Son, the Word.

In Jesus, God has a message for the world, a word that is meant for all people in all places. As the recipients, we are summoned to listen and embrace the good news of the Word with faith and repentance.”

God’s Word Alone—The Authority of Scripture (Chapter 4: God’s Word in the Economy of the Gospel: Covenant, Trinity, and the Necessity of a Saving Word)

God Breathed reveals the Sufficiency of Scripture.

2 Timothy 3:16 (ESV)

All Scripture is breathed out by God...

Sufficiency of the Scripture is like a light switch in that room.

There is only an ON and OFF.

Sufficiency is pretty black and white.

Do you believe the Bible is sufficient?

YES or NO.

God’s Word Alone—The Authority of Scripture What Is Sufficiency?

The sufficiency of Scripture means that all things necessary for salvation and for living the Christian life in obedience to God and for his glory are given to us in the Scriptures.

2 Peter 1:3 ESV

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,

God Breathed reveals the Authority of Scripture.

2 Timothy 3:16 (ESV)

All Scripture is breathed out by God...

If indeed all Scripture is from God, then it bears His authority.

Authority is like a dimmer switch.

Now if you have a dimmer switch wired into a light switch on the wall

You can’t just ask, is the Bible authoritative?

How much authority does it have?

Matthew 7:21–26 ESV

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

Profitable for Transformation

What does Scripture do?

2 Timothy 3:16 ESV

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

Scripture Teaches.

Scripture teaches us what we are to believe positively.

It shows us and instructs us to the truth and gives us sound “doctrine” or sound teaching.

If we did not have Scripture, we would not know what Jesus has said.

So when a person says, “I don’t need doctrine, I just need Jesus” you should ask them, “What do you believe about Jesus?”

The next thing that comes out of their mouths will be doctrine.

Scripture Rebukes.

2 Timothy 3:16 (ESV)

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof,

This is to guard a person from what they should not believe.

All great confessions need affirmations and denials.

We need to affirm what is true and reject what is false.

Scripture Corrects.

2 Timothy 3:16 (ESV)

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction,

This is to continue to build us in “improvement” (BDAG).

This idea of correction is the same idea seen in restoration of something.

When we begin to think that we can just have a me and Jesus version of Christianity, we are in trouble.

If we have a Jesus who never corrects us, we have MADE JESUS in our image.

We have a Jesus who looks more like Santa Claus than the RISEN and Reigning Christ.

Jesus would “never”

Scripture Trains Us.

2 Timothy 3:16 ESV

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

This kind of training is the same kind used in rearing children, “discipline” “upbringing” in righteousness.

We are not automatically preprogrammed to live righteously in the Christian life.

Though by faith we are given the righteousness of Christ, we are not preprogrammed to walk in obedience.

Actually we were never created as humans to live without God’s Word.

The Christian Counselor’s New Testament and Proverbs: Notes Chapter 3

Change involves four factors: teaching (a clear understanding of what God requires), conviction (an acknowledgment that one has not met those requirements), correction (confession, forgiveness and righting of wrongs), training (so that the new righteous ways are rehabituated into the life for the future). The Scriptures provide all that is needed to bring about such change.

Formed for the New Creation

What does Scripture create?

The Christian is primarily one who has been recreated.

One who has been changed from the inside out.

Scripture creates a complete person.

2 Timothy 3:17 ESV

that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

John 15:10–11 ESV

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

Scripture equips us to do the master’s work.

2 Timothy 3:17 ESV

that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Ephesians 2:10 ESV

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Parable of the Talents...

Matthew 25:14–15 ESV

“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.

Matthew 25:24–25 ESV

He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’

Matthew 25:29–30 ESV

For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’