Paul and the other apostles wrote with authority, not only because of their commission as apostles, but also because of their confidence in the veracity and power of God’s revealed truth through Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6). So as the apostles wrote letters to the early church it was regarded as divine truth to be brought to bear upon each person’s life.
Explaining the authority of the New Testament in his book Truth and Power, J.I. Packer points out, “By setting the apostolic writings above all other tradition, the early church was consciously guarding the gospel against its perverters. In ascribing to those writings divine authority, it was both bracketing them with the Old Testament as ‘able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus’ (2 Tim. 3:15) and aligning itself with the New Testament congregations whose obedience to the apostolic message had actually brought them salvation.”
This authoritative and sufficient communication from God was regarded as objective truth, meaning it was anchored in history (reality) and came to us from outside of ourselves. This light coming into our darkness enlightens and protects us from three grand human errors. To begin with, God’s objective Word protects us from the error of the individual as authority. Our inherent self-preeminence compels us to be our own reference point. Practically speaking, that means I am born believing that the universe revolves around me. That is the folly that parents are tasked to rescue their children from. When they are not delivered from such folly, they grow up to be fools and scoffers governed by their passions instead of wisdom and understanding.
This is the second error that God’s objective word protects us from – reason, emotion, and intuition without any anchor. Human reason and passion without a foundation of objective truth is like a kite with no one holding the string. Faulty and wayward at best, humans are prone to pride rather than humility. Striving through self-effort alone will not lead us to an accurate transcendent truth.
The third error that God’s objective truth protects us from is the prospect of just anyone creating an authoritative word – ostensibly divine – that is expected to be authoritative over people’s lives. History bears out that this only creates confusion through competing, relative “truths.”
Indeed, a loving God communicates. Brad Scott in Streams of Confusion says it well: “God, who has made us verbalizers in His image, relational creatures who love and want to be loved, has provided a way, Scripture, for us to understand Him and His will, a way more certain than intellect, intuition, or passion. If He hadn’t provided this means of communication, how could we say that He cared personally about our relationship with Him and His creation? A loving God wouldn’t require that we muddle along, fending for ourselves.”
So, what is the aim of God’s self-disclosure to us? Peter instructs us “As new born babes, desire the pure milk of the word that you might grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2). In Living by the Book, Howard Hendricks puts it this way, “Please note, it is not that you may know. Certainly, you can’t grow without knowing. But you can know and not grow. The Bible was written not to satisfy your curiosity but to help you conform to Christ’s image. Not to make you a smarter sinner but to make you like the Savior. Not to fill your head with a collection of biblical facts but to transform your life.”
You can count on this: the more completely your heart and mind are controlled by Scripture, the fuller your freedom and the greater your joy. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.
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