MORE SURE - Part 2

Peter ends chapter one of 2 Peter by showing us how we got this prophetic word. He wants us to be reassured, once and for all, that we can trust our Bibles. He begins by making it clear where the Bible did not come from. The Bible’s origin was not by human interpretation nor did it come from an act of human will. In other words, it is not simply a book written by man. That’s the belief of many. Just recently I received an e-mail from someone in our community telling us that we as a church ought to be ashamed for following a book that was simply written by a bunch of men. Now there is a person who will be wide open to the threat of false teaching – and actually this person is fully immersed in just that. They have fallen for a false teaching, hook, line and sinker. And so will you unless you nail down the truth of the authority of Scripture.

If we are going to protect ourselves from false teaching we must understand that the Bible is much more than a book written by men. Yes, men were involved. But according to 2 Peter 1:20-21, these men spoke from God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. The word “moved” is the key word. It comes from the nautical world. It was used to describe a sailboat out on the water. Now a sailboat with no engine and no rudder is going to go what direction? Wherever the wind moves it, right? That is exactly what happened with the writing of the Bible. Men wrote it – yes. But they wrote it as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. Every word they penned was guided by the Spirit of God. They wrote only what God wanted them to write.

In fact, this is written as a present passive participle. In other words, it is a continual action. This is how every word they wrote took place. As the wind directs a sailboat over the waters, the Holy Spirit of God directed these men over every word they penned. It is not simply a book written by man. It is a book written by men who spoke from God. In 2 Timothy 3:16, Paul said that “all Scripture in inspired by God.” The word “inspired” means “God –breathed. This isn’t just a book. This isn’t just a book written by men. This is the very inspired Word of God. And if you are going to avoid false teaching you must be sure that you believe in the authority and the supremacy of the Bible.

This is why the Bible must be our chief authority as a follower of Jesus. When the Bible is in disagreement with our own human reason, we must follow the Bible. When the Bible is conflicts with the church and its traditions, we must follow the Bible. When the Bible goes against our own feelings and experiences, we must follow the Bible. And yes, my friend, when the Bible’s teaching differs with popes and preachers, we must follow the Bible.

The book of Acts called the believers that lived in the city of Berea “noble” because they searched the Scriptures daily to make sure that what the Apostle taught them was true. Now folks, if the Berean believers checked out everything that the Apostle Paul taught them to make sure it measured up to Scripture, don’t you think you ought to do the same thing with the truths you hear preached here at Grace? Don’t believe it just because I preach it. Please don’t do that. Take the time to check out everything I say with Scripture and if I ever teach you something different than what Scripture says – choose Scripture! Choose it every time. It is your view of Scripture that will best protect you from false teaching.