The God Who Speaks get_app
If you hear words like “doctrine” and “theology” and start feeling overwhelmed; don’t. Doctrine is simply what we believe. Theology is simply the study of God (which should inform belief, which should in turn inform how we live). We all study God and the things of God to some degree, and we all have beliefs that we hold because of that study. The good news is that God has not left us in the dark when it comes to learning and believing what we ought but has revealed himself to us in Scripture. Because we have a God who speaks, we can learn about God (theology) and form proper beliefs (doctrine). This week we are going to take a look at the doctrine of Scripture, using The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 as a guide. (If you’re unaware of this document, it is the SBC’s confession of faith, stating what we as a denomination believe about key topics.)
Article 1 of The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 says:
"The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation."
Read
- What phrase begins each of the verses describing creation?
(And God said) - How do the people respond to Moses in
Exodus 24:3 ?
(All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do) - How does Hebrews say God has spoken?
(by prophets and by Jesus)
Scripture is full of these phrases like “Thus says the Lord.” It is full of prophets speaking on
behalf of God. It is full of God himself speaking directly to people (see
We have a God who speaks. God has revealed himself clearly and understandably in Scripture. He has made himself accessible through Scripture; and his Word is inspired, inerrant, authoritative, sufficient, necessary, and a testimony concerning the redemption that is found in Christ Jesus. We will look into each of these aspects of the doctrine of Scripture this week (there are others we will not have time to get to, i.e. eternality, immutability, infallibility of Scripture), but for now let’s meditate on the fact that our God has spoken. We have his Word that allows us to know him rightly and form proper beliefs about him and his creation.
Close in a time of prayer, thanking God for his Word.