You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. It is these that testify about Me. You are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have eternal life. John 5:39-40
All scripture is inspired by God. It is His revelation. His Spirit illuminates it.
So wonderful is the portal into God’s mind that it is easy for scripture to become the focus.
Jesus reorients me back to Himself. The scriptures are wonderful because they testify about Jesus. When I come to the scriptures, the purpose should be to come to Jesus.
To come to the scriptures, to search them, as an end to itself, may be well intentioned, but is to miss the real purpose. It is to focus on the love letter rather than the lover.
Jesus challenges that I am unwilling to come to Him. Why? Coming to Jesus is to have life.
Am I unwilling because
- I fear judgment? Jesus said coming to Him means life, not judgment. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
- I have become infatuated with the scriptures? Remember their purpose – to testify about Jesus.
- I love the intellectual exercise of bible study? This is arrogance. The purpose of bible study is to be changed. To be built up, not puffed up.
Jesus’ call is clear and simple: Come to Me
Every time I am in the scriptures, I should ask: what is the testimony about Jesus in this passage?
And I should never let bible study be a substitute for coming to Jesus.
Jesus said come to me, all you who are burdened and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Jesus bids me to come boldly into the throne room of grace to find help in time of need. Jesus says to come to Him is to have life.
Let me lay aside fear of coming to Jesus, or incomplete measures of searching scriptures for their own sake. Lord Jesus, I come to you. Change me. Let Your abundant life be given to me, and through me to others.
~~~
Well sure.
Jesus as Word. In the beginning was the Word…was God
Eucharist as New Testament. Jesus says at the last supper, This is the blood of the new covenant…
Jesus appointed leaders to continue His work. Calling of disciples, specific instruction for the inner circle (cf general instruction in the parables). You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church.
But of course, I don’t believe in sola scriptura, as you probably know. I consider it a 16th century invention, and since the written New Testament is a collection without an index, it neither tells us what is in the bible written, nor that it is the sole authority on matters of faith and morals. In fact, it specifically tells us that the Church is the ground and pillar of truth (1 Tim 3:16). So our existence as a Body is the key continuity of Jesus’s body (his earthly presence). But in order that there not be chaos He has appointed leadership (something I seem to recall you have spoken about on numerous occasions).
Historically we have to hope that the leadership of the Church were profoundly guided by the Holy Spirit, or they might have gotten in wrong in formulating Trinity, Dual nature of Christ, which book to include what came to be known as the NT (versus the gnostic ones they rejected for example).
So, since our faith is grounded in history (we trust eg that Jesus death and resurrection were actual), then we cannot ignore the authority of sacred Tradition, of which the New and Old Testaments are a part.
When Martin Luther was pressed to give reasons for his claim to changing standing Christian doctrine and argued for sola scriptura at the Diet of Worms, he was challenged about notions like Trinity. He was aware that some of his more zealous followers (some anabaptists) were throwing out doctrines like Trinity and sacraments because these are allegedly “not in the bible”. He knew he had a major dilemna on his hands, so his response…he accepted the findings of the first 5 ecumenical councils. Pretty arbitrary, but at least it kept him within sight of the Great Tradition. The history demonstrates clearly that some of the anabaptists degenerated into socinians (unitarians) whose successors most of us consider to have gotten outside the circle (LDS anyone?)
In conclusion, I think there is plenty of new testament authority for these views, but it’s rarely about whether it’s in the bible or not. The argument normally rests largely on how one interprets scripture, and that is a direct function of which interpretive authority one chooses, and has almost nothing to do with the content of scripture itself.
Respectfully,
Jim
Hi Duane,
I was just thinking about this last evening, as it happens… specifically that it’s about Jesus, the Word of God primarily and only secondarily about the collection of books we refer to as the Word of God. In fact, unless I am mistaken, we have no evidence that Jesus even intended that there be a written “new testament”. As far as Jesus is concerned, the new testament is the chalice of blessing in His blood (in other words, the Eucharist).
Rather than commissioning a book to be written, Jesus appointed leaders of His Church (and one in particular, according to the book 🙂 ). Rather than more scrolls, He evidently preferred a Living Witness. Seems that He didn’t want His messengers to be sitting around writing, but rather that they be out and about preaching, travelling beyond His tiny homeland, announcing the amazing news of God’s incarnation in Jesus, but more particularly of His death and resurrection as the incomparable source of our true freedom.
Of course, we cherish that as the Movement flourished and the first generation of messengers were being martyred for their bold testimony to the King other than Cesar, it made sense for them to commit the Tradition to writing. But even then it was the Living Voice of the next generation of leaders, guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit, who continued to announce the good news and protect the integrity of that news, as a plethora of written accounts emerged.
A prayer.
Father in heaven, thank you for the living testimony of Duane and for others leaders in your Church. May your Holy Spirit continue to empower them to proclaim Jesus as the incomparable Word of God, that many may receive Him and experience life in His Name.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be,
world without end,
Amen.
PS: Happy Assumption of the BVM day!
Hi Jim. Always a pleasure to hear your perceptive comments. In this instance, do you have scriptural support for these views? Cheers.