Word of God

We are starting a new series this week titled Conviction- What we believe.

Do Christians have nonnegotiable beliefs, and if so, what are they?

This eight-week series looks at eight key topics in evangelical theology that all Christians agree about. Our faith will be challenged as we ask ourselves, “When it comes to my beliefs, what is important and why?”

This morning we will be looking at our first of this 8 topics.

So if you have your bible please turn to 2 Timothy 3:16-17 or you can follow along on the screen in a few minutes.

Before we look at the passage and topic for today. I have a question for you. So think for a moment.

What in your faith is negotiable?

Do you have anything that you can say is not that important. Or is everything important.

If something happened would it shack your faith or would your faith just keep moving forward.

This series we will be talking about nonnegotiable truths of the Christian faith those central convictions we share as believers. It ’s important to have a foundation to build those truths on. This is important so that people do not simply decide for themselves what is right and wrong, but rather are in agreement with one another and more importantly, with God. The place to start all such studies is the Bible.

You might be asking why is this the first thing we are looking at and why is this a nonnegotiable truth that is central to our beliefs.

Join me as I read 2 Timothy 3:16-17

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.

All Scripture

Fortunately, we have an authority on what is true. We have a rule for our life. We have a word from the Lord, the Word of God. The Bible is the Word from God.

That’s what we mean when we say that the Bible is inspired. We believe that this Bible, though written over a span of generations that stretch out hundreds of years, and though produced by specific people in vastly different cultures, gives a message—the overall story, the beginning middle and end—that remains amazingly cohesive. And all of it is inspired (2 Timothy 3:16)!

“All Scripture” means all Scripture. Not just the red-letter words. The violent passages in Judges and the beautiful poems in Psalms, the encouragement in the Gospels and the judgment in the Prophets. “All Scripture is breathed out by God.” God, in the life giving power of his Spirit, gives birth to the words of the various authors of the Bible.

This book is not a human invention—

It is a gift from God

Because of this, we can trust that it is not defective. It isn’t broken. That’s what we mean when we say that the Scripture is inerrant or infallible

Is there anything more irritating than receiving a gift, opening it, reading “batteries not included,” and realizing that you have to go out and purchase something else to make the gift actually work? God hasn’t given us his Word in some sort of condition that we have to improve it so that we can actually use it. It is sufficient on its own. It stands on its own.

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.

Inspired by God

So why did God inspire Scripture in the first place? Paul addresses this in 2 Timothy 3:16–17. Do you see what he said? Reading and engaging with Scripture is profitable. We are taught, and this means Scripture is a vessel of learning. There is conviction because God’s Word has a way of capturing our hearts. There is correction because the Bible tells us what’s right and wrong. Scripture provides us with training in righteousness; like on-the-job training, we grow as we learn about the righteousness of Christ. Scripture does all of this so that we are “complete” and “equipped”: ready to live out our faith.

Why do we have the bible?

two reason

First, the Bible should be the standard by which we judge all claims of truth, whether religious or social.

Second, Scripture should be our primary tool for hearing the voice of God

The final question I have you this morning is

Is the the bible negotiable for you?

are you one to pick and chose things out of the bible that fits into your view of who God is. Or will you allow God word to be living and breathing in your life.

Will you say that only the Red letter mater and nothing else. The red letter being everything that Jesus says.

Or that the old testament is no worth study because it doesn’t apply to us today.

Is the bible negotiable for you.

My hope is that you would say “no it is not negotiable” and that I can rely on it because God inspired it.