Heresies 5: The Authority of God's Word

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B: 2 Tim. 3:14-17

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Opening

DON’T FORGET THE BUMPER!

Good morning! It’s a joy to get to worship our Lord and Savior together, and thanks for being here for Family Worship at Eastern Hills, whether you’re online or here in person. Thank you, praise band, for leading us in our musical worship and praise this morning.

Can you believe that today is already the last day of January? As such, this is the last day that you can give toward this year’s goal for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions. Remember that this special offering of our International Mission Board accounts for half of the financial support that our Southern Baptist missionaries overseas receive each year. We have already crushed our church goal of $26,000, but you can still give toward this goal today. We’ll give you all a final total for our church next Sunday.

Today is the last message in our series Heresies. In Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary, he defines heresy as: “A fundamental error in religion, or an error of opinion respecting some fundamental doctrine of religion.” We have taken this month to look at some different heresies that the church has dealt with, including errors in our thinking about the humanity and deity of Jesus Christ, the Person of the Holy Spirit, and the doctrines of sin and justification. Next week, we will begin a new series. For this morning, though, let’s stand in honor of the Word of God as we read our focal passage—2 Timothy 3:14-17:

2 Timothy 3:14–17 CSB

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed. You know those who taught you, 15 and you know that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

PRAY

We’re going to play a little game this morning to open up our message. I’m going to give you a statement. You’re going to decide if you think that each statement is something that the Bible teaches, and if you have ever taught that or thought that or lived by that before. We’re not going to do a show of hands or anything like that. You’re just going to keep track in your own minds. Ready?

“God helps those who help themselves.”

Not in the Bible. I think the idea here is supposed to be one of taking responsibility, but it twists that in a bad way and basically says that God isn’t going to do anything until we do something first. This is actually completely antithetical to the Gospel, which tells us that we are actually helpless and in need of rescue, and our salvation in its entirety is initiated by God because of His love, and we bring nothing to the table when we are saved except our need for salvation:

Romans 5:6–8 CSB

6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. 8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Ok, so that one’s not in Scripture. How about this one:

“God won’t give you more than you can handle.”

We get the idea for this from 1 Corinthians 10:13:

1 Corinthians 10:13 CSB

13 No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it.

And I’m sure that this came from someone wanting to comfort someone else going through a difficult time, but this is not what this verse says. It’s not true. In fact, this statement is completely false. God will necessarily give us more than we can handle so that we will rely on Him instead of ourselves. So that He can do God-sized things through us and in us. Because He loves us. God won’t give us more than HE can handle. This verse is really saying that we will never face a situation where our temptation will be so great that we will have NO CHOICE but to sin.

So, also not Scripture. This one is a little tougher:

“Money is the root of all evil.”

We think we’re quoting Scripture here, and we kind of are, because these words are in this exact order in the King James Bible. However, when we say this, we’re actually misquoting Scripture. It comes from 1 Timothy 6:10:

1 Timothy 6:10 CSB

10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Notice that money in and of itself is not the root. If that were the case, any of us who have any money at any time are constantly playing with sin. No, the LOVE of money is this “root” we are referring to. And in the context of this passage, the love of money is the root of all the evils Paul has just mentioned back in verses 4 and 5: things like envy, quarrelling, slander, evil suspicions, etc… because the people he is talking about think that “godliness is a way to material gain,” and because “those who want to be rich fall into temptation.” (verse 9). So close, but not exactly Scripture.

How about this one:

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Sometimes, heresy isn’t us saying something that isn’t true, but us misapplying or misinterpreting something that the Bible actually says so that it means something else.

This comes from Philippians 4:13:

Philippians 4:13 CSB

13 I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.

We tend to take this to mean that we can get or achieve whatever we want because we’re Christians: that God will enable us to win the game, to pass the test, to get the promotion, or to beat the disease—that because of Jesus, God will give us success in what we want. And don’t get me wrong: He MIGHT. But what if what I want is to leap tall buildings in a single bound? If I can do ALL things through Christ, does that mean that because of my faith in Christ, then I can “name it and claim it” and head for the nearest skyscraper in tights and cape? Of course not. While this is what the Bible “says,” in context it’s not saying that through Christ we can succeed in whatever we want. It’s saying that if we have Christ, we can be content in whatever circumstances we find ourselves in, whether those circumstances are easy or difficult, because we have what (or more precisely WHO) is most important. Look at it with verses 11 and 12 before it:

Philippians 4:11–13 CSB

11 I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. 12 I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. 13 I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.

So, how did we do? Have we fallen for these ideas that actually turn out to be heresies? Heresies? Yep. They are “fundamental errors” in our understanding about what the Scriptures teach us about our faith. Now, don’t worry that we’re going to run around labeling anyone who’s ever said, “God helps those who help themselves,” or, “Money is the root of all evil,” a heretic. My point is that it’s easy for us to fall into heresy if we don’t think properly about the Scriptures themselves.

This is why for this last message in our Heresies series, we’re looking at the authority of the Bible.

1) Scripture is part of God’s special revelation of Himself.

Have you ever heard the B.I.B.L.E. acronym? Not the song, that’s just spelling. I’ve heard the acronym two ways: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth, and Basic Instructions Before Living Earth. I like the first one better, personally. While cute, both of these acronyms make the Bible seem like it’s just an instruction book that we need to make sure we have mastered before we die (or before we live). And while it does function in some ways as a useful “manual” of sorts for the Christian life (as we will see in our third point this morning), this isn’t the primary purpose behind God’s giving of the Bible itself.

Instead, the primary purpose of the Bible is to be a part of God’s special revelation of Himself to humanity. What do I mean by that? Well, there are two categories by which God reveals Himself: general revelation and special revelation. General revelation is what is available to everyone, everywhere, at all times. It’s how God reveals Himself in His creation: the vastness of the universe, the majesty of the Earth, the organization of the solar system, and the design of life, just to name a few. According to Scripture, God has given these so that mankind has some idea about who He is: the fact that He is vastly powerful and that He is beyond any of us. And also, so that no one will be able to stand before Him and declare that He was absolutely and completely unknown. Romans 1 speaks to this:

Romans 1:18–20 CSB

18 For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, 19 since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse.

This is still God “revealing” Himself to us by His choice and design. But God’s special revelation is something deeper. It’s where God directly interacts with His creation in a personal manner. First of all, it’s God stepping into history by interacting with His people, ultimately culminating in the Gospel of Jesus Christ: that God took on flesh and bone and came as a perfect man in order to save imperfect mankind. More on that in a moment. Then, it’s God’s written word, our holy Scriptures, given to us by inspiration of God through men who wrote what God led them to write.

Read only 16a:

2 Timothy 3:16 CSB

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness,

And finally, special revelation is God working in our hearts and minds through His present Holy Spirit to illuminate that word to us as we read. I spoke about this last week.

David S. Dockery puts it this way:

“The primary purpose of revelation [both general and special] is not necessarily to enlarge the scope of one’s knowledge about God but to know God personally.”

-- A Theology for the Church, David S. Dockery

So God’s revealing of Himself to humanity is not merely so we know about Him, but so that we know Him. Think about it this way: if I sent you my resume for a job, you would know some things about me. But when I came to interview for that job, you would know me (not completely, but you get the picture).

And Scripture is the second part of God’s special revelation of Himself to mankind, so that we can know Him in personal relationship. It’s not merely a bunch of rules jotted down to keep us happy or safe or moral. It’s God shining the light of truth, based on His own character, into the dark places of our lives, so we can see His plans, His purposes, and His ways.

2 Peter 1:19–21 CSB

19 We also have the prophetic word strongly confirmed, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet’s own interpretation, 21 because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

God worked in the lives of the people who penned our Scriptures so that what was written down is perfect and exactly what God wanted said. It’s a beautiful unity, even though it was written over thousands years on three continents by dozens of authors from various political, social, and economic positions. But from the beginning, it paints a picture not of rules and regs, but of a glorious God who lovingly creates people in His image, a people who turn away from Him after their own glory instead, how He still personally interacts with them to bring them to reconciliation with Himself, and how He will one day make everything right again.

The whole story of Scripture is about knowing God. Not about knowing about God. And the centerpiece of that story is the Gospel.

2) Scripture leads us to faith in Christ.

The centerpiece of the message of Scripture is the Gospel. And the central figure of that incredible cosmic reversal is Jesus Christ. Sometimes it’s hard to see how it all goes together. But consider what Paul said in our church reading from yesterday, 1 Corinthians 15:

1 Corinthians 15:1–8 CSB

1 Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. 6 Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time, he also appeared to me.

Paul says that it is by the Gospel we are being saved, and that the Gospel that he shared with the church at Corinth is “most important:” that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and then that he appeared to many of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

This is the message of the Gospel: that the perfect Son of God took our place in death— the death that we deserve because of our sin— taking our punishment in our place, so we can be reconciled to God— brought back to a relationship of peace with God instead of enmity. He was buried, and then on the third day, He rose again, defeating death, and ascending to His place at the right hand of the Father. And if we surrender our lives to Him in faith, trusting in His finished work to save us, then not only do we have peace with God, but we receive victory over death as well because of what Jesus has done. This is why Paul went on to say at the end of chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians:

1 Corinthians 15:57 CSB

57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

The Bible doesn’t make any excuses or apologies for the Gospel. It says that: Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life; His is the only name given under heaven by which we must be saved; He is the one who knew no sin but became sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God; He is the one at whose name every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father; He is the second and perfect Adam; the firstborn from among the dead; the precious cornerstone of our faith. He is Lord, and the message about Him throughout all of Scripture is the most important message there is.

But many don’t believe that the Bible is really true. In Statement 14 of The State of Theology by Ligonier Ministries and Lifeway Research, over half of those who responded agreed with this statement: “The Bible, like all sacred writings, contains helpful accounts of ancient myths but is not literally true.” If the Gospel is a myth, then it’s not actually helpful at all, and in fact Paul said as much in 1 Corinthians 15:

1 Corinthians 15:17–19 CSB

17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. 19 If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.

But the message of the Gospel IS true! And it is in this message that we discover how much God loves us, and all that He has done to save us. We find this message in the pages of Scripture. And it is to that message that we are to cling in faith, trusting in the Lord to save us and sanctify us and glorify us.

This is why Paul wrote to Timothy:

2 Timothy 3:14–15 CSB

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed. You know those who taught you, 15 and you know that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

So the Scriptures present the great picture of the Gospel— God’s plan to reconcile fallen humanity to Himself through the death of His Son, and our total need of His grace. The Bible has authority. It tells us who God is, who we are in light of who He is, what is wrong with us and the world, and what God has done about it. And it also tells us what the Christian life actually looks like:

3) Scripture is our authority for living in Christ.

Since the Bible is the inspired word of God, its words have authority over our lives. But sadly, many are simply biblically illiterate. We don’t know the Scriptures, we don’t see the story of Scripture, and we can’t figure out how to apply the Scriptures to our lives. So we fall into heretical thinking because we don’t know what orthodoxy (right thinking) actually looks like. In his explanation of his definition of heresy, which I read at the opening, Noah Webster added this:

“The Scriptures being the standard of faith, any opinion that is repugnant to its doctrines is heresy.”

— Webster’s 1828 Dictionary

Let me be transparent. Sometimes I still struggle in my own little world of heresy by this definition, because sometimes I hold opinions or desires that are repugnant (I love that word here) to the Scriptures. I wish that I had all of my thoughts and opinions at every moment completely captured and made obedient to Christ, as Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 10:5. I long for the day when my flesh will not do battle with the Spirit of God living within me, as Paul wrote to the Galatians in chapter 5 of that letter. I’m a constant work in progress, which is exactly why I need to read and study and apply the Word of God to my life day by day by day, and why you do as well. While the Bible is not just a book of rules, it is the guidebook for the Christian life, with commands and admonishments that tell us how we are to live.

In the State of Theology study, Statement 25 said: “The Bible has the authority to tell us what we must do.” This one came down about 50/50. About half of respondents disagreed with this statement or weren’t sure (which means they disagree, if you think about it). And about half agreed. But here’s the really strange part. Statement 32 said: “The Bible is the highest authority for what I believe.” 62% agreed with this, and no one was left in the “not sure” category. So there are those who responded to Statement 25 either negatively or not sure, who then went on to say that the Bible is the highest authority in their life.

So, where is the disconnect? I think it’s that while many agree that the Bible is conceptually the Word of God, we don’t act like it is practically. There’s an old joke about preaching that says that congregations enjoying biblical preaching, but as soon as the pastor preaches about something personal to our sin, he’s gone from preaching to meddling. Do we treat the Bible the same way? Do we see it as being the highest authority in our lives, so long as the words we find in it don’t call for us to repent, surrender, or actually change?

Let’s let our passage make it clear for us this morning:

2 Timothy 3:16–17 CSB

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

We’ve already addressed that all Scripture is inspired by God. But Paul goes on to say that it is “profitable,” beneficial, or useful, for four things:

TEACHING: for giving instruction, or even, providing doctrine. Are we engaged in learning the Scriptures? Do we read them, study them, memorize them?

REBUKING: This isn’t really the idea of putting someone in their place. This is about correcting error, correcting heresy. Scripture helps us see where we are thinking incorrectly about God. But do we approach the Scriptures looking to have our thinking formed by them, or to read into them what we already think?

CORRECTING: This is the fact that Scripture is useful for correcting someone’s faults, showing them the error of how they live, for pointing out their sins. Again, how good are we at approaching Scripture that covers a certain sin in someone else’s life, “Oh, so-and-so really needs to hear this...” but give excuses or reasons that we can continue living in ways contrary to the Word of God?

TRAINING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS: This speaks to discipline, “strength training” in what is right and just in God’s eyes. This is the “heavy lifting” aspect of Scripture. Are we willing to “work out our salvation” by being trained in God’s righteousness through rigorous study of and reflection on God’s Word?

These things all speak to God using His Word to make a change in us, to mold us and shape us so that we look more like Jesus. It calls to mind what the author of Hebrews said in Hebrews 4:

Hebrews 4:12 CSB

12 For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

The word of God in the hands of the Spirit of God is a living word that acts like a scalpel in the hands of a surgeon. It gets to the heart of us. It has been said that not only do we interpret Scripture, but by the illumination of the Holy Spirit, Scripture interprets us: it judges our thoughts and intentions as well. And as it does, and as we surrender to that interpretation of our minds, our hearts, our actions, and our fortitude, we find our spiritual disease cut away, and new growth can begin.

And finally, why does Paul say that all Scripture is useful for these things? “So that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

It’s so that we are fully prepared to do the work that God would have us do. To love one another with God’s kind of love. To forgive one another as Christ has forgiven us. To serve those who need our service. To defend those who need our protection. To share the message of hope with those lost in darkness. This is what we are called to be, church: light in the darkness, salt of the earth, a city on a hill. And to do that, we need to engage the Word. We need to study it. We need to know it. We need to own it. And we need to live it.

Closing

Do you believe the Bible? Is it the highest authority for what you believe? It’s easy for us to sit in here this morning and affirm this. The question is: what happens when we leave? Will the Bible be the authority in our lives this afternoon? Will we cling to the Word tomorrow when we are at home, or work, or school? Will we see the Scriptures as precious the way the hymn writer John Burton, Sr. did when he wrote:

Holy Bible, Book divine, Precious treasure, thou art mine: Mine to tell me whence I came; Mine to teach me what I am.

Mine to chide me when I rove, Mine to show a Savior’s love; Mine thou art to guide and guard; Mine to punish or reward.

Mine to comfort in distress, Suff’ring in this wilderness; Mine to show, by living faith, We can triumph over death.

Mine to tell of joys to come, And the rebel sinner’s doom: O thou Holy Book divine, Precious treasure, thou art mine.

(The Baptist Hymnal 2008, Hymn #345: Holy Bible, Book Divine, words by John Burton, Sr.)

We must develop an appetite for the Word, Christian. And if we do not have that appetite, then we need to repent and get back into the Word, that we might know God more, and that we might know more of how He calls us to represent Him in this world as His ambassadors.

And for those here in the room who have never surrendered your lives to Jesus: today you have heard that the Scriptures are meant to bring us to faith in Him. Stop going your own way, give up, and trust in Christ to save you. If this is you today, please let me know about this decision so that we can help you as you start this new journey of faith. If you’re in the room, just stay in your seat and I will come and find you after most have left. If you’re online, send me an email to [e-mail].

And if you are in the Albuquerque area and believe that Eastern Hills is the church family that you should be a formal part of, and you’d like to talk about church membership, same thing: stay in your seat if you’re here in the sanctuary, or shoot me an email to set up an appointment to talk.

Donna is going to come and play our reflection song. You can also use this time to worship through giving online if you’d like to, or if you’d rather give in person this morning, you can do that using the plates by the doors as we leave.

PRAY

Closing Remarks

Bible reading: Last chapter of 1 Corinthians today, on to 2 Corinthians tomorrow. New plan available online.

As I mentioned in my opening, next week we start a new series called “DISCIPLE: Hope in the Book of Mark,” which will take us through Easter. I hope you’ll plan on being a part of Family Worship for that entire series.

Evangelism Conference: register at bcnm.com. It’s free. Hoffmantown on Feb 22-23. Evening on Monday, all day on Tuesday.

Instructions

Benediction:

Colossians 3:16–17 CSB

16 Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.