We Believe - The Holy Scriptures

Greetings and Intro

Doubts took root in my early twenties

Repressed them ....allowing them to grow. Sin had also crept in my life....which I believe is the ultimate reason why people reject the authority of God’s Word.

Mark Goodwin - God can handle your doubts. You must deal with them. Suggested a couple of books to read. Mere Christianity had a profound effect on me.

I settled it, surrendered my life to him, and laid all my doubts before him.

Church of the Nazarene Article of Faith on the Holy Scriptures

Let’s take a look at the Church of the Nazarenes’ Article of Faith on the Holy Scriptures. Let’s read it together.

We believe in the plenary inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, by which we understand the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, given by divine inspiration, inerrantly revealing the will of God concerning us in all things necessary to our salvation, so that whatever is not contained therein is not to be enjoined as an article of faith. (; ; ; ; ; )

As I studied this Article of Faith, I began to see that its structure answeres four important questions. What is included in the Bible and who made that determination? What gives the Bible its authority? What is its purpose? How do we interpret it? As you can see, each of these questions could be its own sermon, and although I was tempted to make an executive decision in Pastor Joe’s absence and declare we’d be spending four Sunday’s on this Article of Faith, and let Joe tackle the last ones, I realized I’m only a part-time Pastor and can’t make that determination in Joe’s absence. Therefore, I will try to highlight the main points for each of these.

According to the constitution of the Church of the Nazarene, which is included in the Manual, the General Assembly is responsible for making any changes to our doctrine, also known as the Articles of Faith.

According to the constitution of the Church of the Nazarene, which is included in the Manual, the General Assembly is responsible for making any changes to our doctrine, also known as the Articles of Faith.

This Article of Faith has only been changed three times. The last time it was changed was in 1928. H. Orton Wiley was the author of the version adopted by the General Assembly. Wiley was a teacher, evangelist, college president and editor of the Herald of Holiness. His three volume systematic theology entitled Christian Theology, is one of the most widely used Wesleyan theological resources.

Luke 24:44–47 ESV

44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

John 10:35 ESV

35 If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken—

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 ESV

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

2 Timothy 3:15–17 ESV

15 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. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

1 Peter 1:10–12 ESV

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

2 Peter 1:20–21 ESV

20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

History of the Holy Scriptures

History of the Holy Scriptures

We believe in the plenary inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, by which we understand the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, given by divine inspiration, inerrantly revealing the will of God concerning us in all things necessary to our salvation, so that whatever is not contained therein is not to be enjoined as an article of faith.

So let’s tackle the first question.

As a protestant church, we have affirmed that the Bible is made up of 66 individual books that were written over a period of 2000 years, by forty authors, in three different ancient languages. Even though there was a diversity of of authors and genres (including history, biography, poetry, genealogies, letters, prophecy, wisdom literature, , there is an irrefutable unity of purpose. It was born out of oral tradition, the recorded and compiled across hundreds of years.

Old Testament Officially Ratified by the Council of Jamnia in A.D. 90

27 books of the New Testament were confirmed by the Council of Carthage in A.D. 397

By the time of Christ, the books of the Old Testament were universally accepted and were officially ratified by the Council of Jamnia in A.D. 90.

The 27 books of the New Testament were officially recognized by Athanasius in the fourth century and were officially confirmed by the Council of Carthage in A.D. 397.

The fourth Article of Faith, acknowledges that we recognize the 66 books in the Old and New Testament recognized by Athanasius are the inspired Word of God.

The Authority of Scripture

We believe in the plenary inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, by which we understand the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, given by divine inspiration, inerrantly revealing the will of God concerning us in all things necessary to our salvation, so that whatever is not contained therein is not to be enjoined as an article of faith.

The second question we want to answer is where does Scripture get its authority. We can answer that question by looking at 2 Timothy 3:16-17

English Standard Version Chapter 3

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

The NASB translated “breathed out” with the word “inspired”. God inspired the authors as they wrote the different books of the Bible, and we also believe that when we say that Scripture is inspired or God breathed is to affirm that God brings life, energy, renewal, and transformation through the Scripture. We believe the very life-giving breath of God is at work in the Bible.

You may be asking, if Scripture is “God-breathed” was there any human element that was present in the authoring of the different books.

There are two theories. The first is called “mechanical or dictorial”. In this theory, the authors were just physical conduits of God’s Words. They were almost in a trance, writing the words dictated by God.

The second theory is called “dynamical”. In this theory God inspired the author and he was using the author’s own words as the author thought out the truth and made it their own.

There is evidence that the Biblical authors used both of these methods.

Although there is not agreement on whether any of the Biblical authors used the mechanical method of inspiration, However, in his systematical theology book, H. Orton Wiley claimed there are over 3,000 times that the Biblical authors used the phrase Thus saith the Lord, or The word of the Lord came. This is often how the Prophets prefaced the oracles they gave. In addition, in it says,

“Then God spoke all these words, saying,” then he listed the Ten Commandments.

There is also ample evidence the authors were inspired by the Spirit of God as they expressed His truth using their own words. The Gospels and the Epistles are excellent examples of this.

There is also ample evidence the authors were inspired by the Spirit of God as they expressed His truth using their own words. The Gospels and the Epistles are excellent examples of this.

H. Ray Dunning, wrote a Wesleyan systematic theology entitled Grace, Faith, and Holiness. In his discussion on the dynamical theory, he said that it implies there is a historical character of biblical language. The author is using words they understand what they mean, within their given context. They are historically conditioned by the writer’s intellectual, cultural, and social environment. They are even limited by their factual knowledge or lack of it. This is why interpretation is so important, which we will touch on a little later.

To sum up, I want to quote Frank Moore, from an article in Holiness Today, in 2018.

“As we see it, all authority comes from God. Scripture gives us the self-revelation of God to humanity. This revelation begins with baby steps of understanding in Genesis. It then grows across the years to the ultimate revelation of the incarnation of Jesus Christ.” - Frank Moore

Purpose of the Holy Scriptures

We believe in the plenary inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, by which we understand the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, given by divine inspiration, inerrantly revealing the will of God concerning us in all things necessary to our salvation, so that whatever is not contained therein is not to be enjoined as an article of faith.

This brings us to the purpose of the Holy Scriptures. We see this in two different places in our Article of Faith. The first is the use of the word “plenary” and the second is the phrase “inerrantly revealing the will of God concerning us in all things necessary to our salvation,”

Let’s first look at the word plenary. H. Orton Wiley said that our use of the phrase “plenary inspiration” was meant to convey that the whole and every part is divinely inspired. Roger Hahn, a professor of New Testament at the Nazarene Theological Seminary said in reference to the use of the word plenary, that Nazarenes are declaring their belief that Scripture is completely inspired by God — not just “sort of Inspired — and that all 66 books of the Old and New Testament are inspired. Hahn also tied this word to the debate of mechanical or dynamical. He said that plenary inspiration acknowledges the important and influential role of the human authors but also affirms that this human process was the means by which God communicated the message He wanted to communicate.

Let’s now turn our attention to the phrase, “inerrantly revealing the will of God concerning us in all things necessary to our salvation.” This phrase is declaring that we believe that the purpose of the Holy Scriptures is to bring us into a right relationship with God and each other. Its purpose is not to teach us science, although it contains science, it’s not to teach us history, although it contains history, and it’s not to teach us manners, although it does teach us how we ought to live. I was trying out this section on my husband, and he said, Terry Ballew is going to be upset because you left out Math, and I, as a former English teacher am upset because you left out English…and I thought, you know what, it isn’t a math book, but it contains math and it isn’t an English book, but it is full of beautiful literature. Then I thought, isn’t it just like God to use the four core academic subjects to help tell his story of salvation!

Jorge L. Julca, the rector of the Nazarene Seminary in Buenos Aires, Argentina, said it this way, “We believe that God’s main purpose throughout Scripture is to offer humanity the hope of redemption from sin and death. Along with that purpose there is perfect harmony between the prophets, the words of Jesus, and the apostles around the Bible’s essential message.” Jorge L. Julca

This year, I have been teaching through the book of Acts, and I have detected a pattern in the different speeches that are included in Acts, both those by Paul and the other apostles. The focus of these speeches, is always on three things; the Deity of Christ, his death, and his resurrection. Paul wants to make it clear that Jesus is the Son of Man, who is now seated at the right hand of the Father. As Joe pointed out last week in his sermon on the Trinity, Christ had the same characteristics as God. He did things that only God could do. And his death and resurrection were a fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies, which is why Paul often alluded to or quoted Old Testament passages when he spoke in the synagogues in the cities and towns he visited on his missionary journeys.

The book of Acts and the Epistles reveal to us the theology of the early Christians. The purpose of Scripture was clear to them. It tells how paradise was corrupted by sin, resulting in all sorts of evil. And the creator God loved us so much that most of the narrative that unfolds in Scripture has him searching for his lost children. This search starts in Eden’s garden when He asked Adam and Eve, “Where are you?” (). The search continues over the pages of Scripture until we hear the invitation in :

“The Spirit and the Bride say Come!” And let the one who hears say: “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wants it take the water of life free of charge. ( NET)

And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say: “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wants it take the water of life free of charge. (NET)

The story of God searching for the lost, grabs more than our attention; it grabs our allegiance and takes control of our lives. We recognize the authority of Scripture because it accomplishes its purpose of bringing us into a close, personal relationship with our God. It tells us all things necessary to salvation.

I want to echo something that Pastor Joe said last week. That Jesus Christ is the Living Word of God, God’s revelation to humanity. Frank Moore also said in the Article titled, The Authority of Scripture: A Wesleyan Perspective, that rather than seeing the Bible as a book of Truth statements or rules, for life, we should see it as a narrative of God’s story, and it’s not just a historical narrative but a love story of the creator God searching for his lost children. This search started in Eden’s garden when He asked Adam and Eve, “Where are you?” (). The search continues over the pages of Scripture until we hear the invitation in :

“Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.”

In my research for this sermon, I ran across an article written by Jim Fitzgerald in Holiness Today, who is now the chair of the the department of Theology and Ministry at Southern Nazarene University. In it he talked about the differences between the original wording of the Church of the Nazarene’s Article of Faith on Scripture written in 1908 and the one written by Wesley for the Methodist Episcopal Church in the U.S.

If you have every written or participated in writing a mission or vision statement for an organization, you now how you can agonize over how you phrase a sentence.

In this section of the Article of Faith, Fitzgerald pointed out that Wesley phrased it this way: “containeth all things necessary to salvation.” Our founders chose to phrase it differently. They used the phrase, “revealing the will of God” instead. The Wesley version speaks of what Scripture contains, and ours speaks of what Scripture does.

In this section of the Article of Faith, Wesley phrased it this way: “containeth all things necessary to salvation.” Let’s compare it with how the founders of our church affirmed the purpose of Scripture: They wrote “all things necessary for salvation”, you should also notice that The Wesley version speaks of what Scripture contains, and ours speaks of what Scripture does.

“containeth all things necessary to salvation”

“revealing the will of God concerning us in all things necessary to our salvation”

The former speaks of Scripture in passive terms; our language speaks of Scripture in “active” terms. Scripture is not like a backpack, in which someone rummages through it looking for something. Scripture does something. It makes God’s purpose clear to us. He seeks the lost, so that they may be found.

Scripture’s primary purpose is not to inform us, but rather to transform us.

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

The Greek word for correction is epanórthōsis. It means to set right again, correct, to make straight. Look at the root word in the middle of the word. It is the word “orthos”, which is the root word for orthopedist and orthodontist. Both of these types of doctors straighten something. One straightens bones, another straightens teeth. When we read the word “correction” we tend to think of it as someone correcting us, telling us that we have done something wrong. However, that is not exactly the concept that is being conveyed here. Scripture is straightening out the way we think, the things we believe, just as an orthopedic surgeon straightens out something bent.

epanórthōsis

We are so inundated with a false sense of reality, of cultural norms that are harmful, that we tend to begin to build our life’s philosophy around these false beliefs. Reading Scripture helps us straighten out our thinking. It aligns our thinking with God’s truth. (Speak your own truth). You often see in Scripture where we are admonished to open our eyes, and open our ears. These references are talking about our spiritual eyes and our spiritual ears. Scripture enables us to see reality as God sees it.

John Wesley said, “The Spirit of God not only once inspired those who wrote the Bible, but continually inspires, super naturally assists, those that read it with earnest prayer.”

On Friday, Tim Keller posted this statement on Twitter, “How do you change your behavior? Change what you worship.” How do you change what you worship, by changing what you think and believe. How do you change what you think and believe, by reading and studying Scripture.

If you get anything from this sermon this is what I want you to hear, the Holy Spirit moved through the authors of Scripture and is still working through his Word when you read and study it.

John Wesley said, “The Spirit of God not only once inspired those who wrote the Bible, but continually inspires, super naturally assists, those that read it with earnest prayer.”

Personal story of “I don’t know how, ......

I don’t have time

I don’t know how

I’m not sure where to start

Much of it confuses me

Although I had been a Christian for most of my life I had not yet developed a habit of systemically studying God’s Word until 2003.  I attended church three times a week.  Over the course of my lifetime I had heard thousands of sermons, hundreds of Sunday school lessons, and participated in many small group discussions.  During the four years I attended Bethany Nazarene College, I earned nine credit hours in Christian education, of which six were in New and Old Testament studies.  None of this, however, enabled me to move beyond a very basic understanding of God’s plan of redemption. 

Some years ago, John Piper tweeted the following:

Make sure that you are growing—that you don’t plateau at your eighth-grade Sunday-school-level understanding of the Bible—and you’re dealing with graduate level challenges to the Christian faith. Keep the one growing with the other. Read substantial Christian books. Know theology.”

At the age of 47 I realized I had hit a plateau with a very surface-level understanding of who God is, what He is capable of doing, and what He is calling me to do.  I had confessed my sins and accepted Christ as my Savior. I said all the right things. I tried my best to do the things I thought were right and abstain from the things I thought were wrong.  The problem was that I kept hitting a brick wall in overcoming long-held sinful habits.  I had a critical spirit and I desperately wanted to please people more than pleasing God. I tried to overcome these destructive patterns but I wasn’t able to do it on my own.  I repeatedly asked God to help me but I was too lazy to read and study the very book that would provide the means to transform my character.

I decided to join a a very indepth Bible Study in the fall of 2003. When I first began the process I completed the lesson to say that I completed the lesson. However, over time, God’s Word became very personal to me.  I found that as I wrestled with the meaning of a passage of Scripture, God spoke to me.  God was using His Word to let me know how much He loved me.  Not just “the world”, but me, Jennifer.  As I realized the depth of His love for me, I fell deeply in love with Him. This translated to my eagerly anticipating the next time I could get away to read and study His Word. It became less of a chore and more of a desire. After all, it was during the time I was reading and studying His Word that I felt the closest to God.  I found that my long-held addiction of watching T.V. became less attractive and spending time with God became something I looked forward to.  Less T.V. meant I freed up a lot of time, which could be devoted to studying His Word.

Consider the difference between a strong and a weak cup of tea. The same ingredients—water and tea—are used for both. The difference is that the strong cup of tea results from the tea leaves’ immersion in the water longer, allowing the water more time to get into the tea and the tea into the water. The longer the steeping process, the stronger the cup of tea.

In the same way, the length of time we spend in God’s Word determines how deeply we get into it and it gets into us. Just like the tea, the longer we are in the Word, the “stronger” we become.

Interpretation of the Holy Scriptures

That leads us to our final point. We must learn how to handle God’s Word .

says,

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15

I purposely spent most of my time talking about the purpose of Scripture because if you don’t grasp why you should spend time studying Scripture, you won’t be willing to do what it takes to be a student of God’s Word.

My best advice is to join a Bible study that includes homework that helps you learn the methods of sound Biblical interpretation. This is how I learned. I also have outlined a method that is called REAP on my website. You can find it at jenniferbergland.com and then look under the menu Bible Study Tips and Tricks.

Studying God’s Word is not magic.  It takes time and discipline but the reward has been an intimate relationship with Jesus that has had the power to cleanse and transform my character – something I wasn’t able to do on my own. My only regret is that I wish I had started years ago, when I didn’t think I had the time.

One of the main purposes of Biblical interpretation is to discover the original intention or understanding of the writer so as to accurately recover the truth that he was intending to convey and so determine what the text meant. Only then can we try to apply it to our lives.

Out example:

One of the main purposes of Biblical interpretation is to discover the original intention or understanding of the writer so as to accurately recover the truth that he was intending to convey and so determine what the text meant. Only then can we try to apply it to our lives.

Learning how to do discover the author’s original meaning ittenthis comes from practice. My best advice is to join a Bible study that as you study, you begin to learn some of the basic methods of Bible study. This is how I learned. I also have outlined a method that is called REAP on my website. You can find it at jenniferbergland.com and then look under the menu Bible Study Tips and Tricks.

In section that mentioned the purpose, Wesley’s phrase was “containeth all things necessary to salvation.” While you should notice that the founders of our church affirmed the purpose of Scripture to be “all things necessary for salvation”, you should also notice that The Wesley version speaks of what Scripture contains, and ours speaks of what Scripture does.

Plenary - guards against proof-texting…

“containeth all things necessary to salvation”

“revealing the will of God concerning us in all things necessary to our salvation”

The former speaks of Scripture in passive terms; our language speaks of Scripture in “active” terms. Scripture is not like a backpack, in which someone rummages through it looking for something. Scripture does something

prevents us from taking something out of context.

One of the main purposes of Biblical interpretation is to discover the original intention or understanding of the writer so as to accurately recover the truth that he was intending to convey and so determine what the text meant. Only then can we try to apply it to our lives.

Example: “Out”

John Wesley said, “The Spirit of God not only once inspired those who wrote the Bible, but continually inspires, super naturally assists, those that read it with earnest prayer.”

Consider the difference between a strong and a weak cup of tea. The same ingredients—water and tea—are used for both. The difference is that the strong cup of tea results from the tea leaves’ immersion in the water longer, allowing the water more time to get into the tea and the tea into the water. The longer the steeping process, the stronger the cup of tea.

In the same way, the length of time we spend in God’s Word determines how deeply we get into it and it gets into us. Just like the tea, the longer we are in the Word, the “stronger” we become.

Consider the difference between a strong and a weak cup of tea. The same ingredients—water and tea—are used for both. The difference is that the strong cup of tea results from the tea leaves’ immersion in the water longer, allowing the water more time to get into the tea and the tea into the water. The longer the steeping process, the stronger the cup of tea.

In the same way, the length of time we spend in God’s Word determines how deeply we get into it and it gets into us. Just like the tea, the longer we are in the Word, the “stronger” we become.