Over the next several weeks my aim will be to focus in on a major area of heresy that really undergirds almost all heresies. An essential element to the true and saving faith is the authority, the inerrancy, the clarity, and the sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures. 2Tim. 3:16-17 declares – “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Without this bedrock understanding everything else crumbles, because it is through the Scriptures that we have God’s own words that declare what is true and what is not. His word declares who He is, who we are, how we can be saved, and what His will is for our lives. Without His word on these matters everyone is left to postulate for themselves – And who would like to have to wager their eternal well-being on their own speculations?
But sadly that is what most people do. In either ignorance of the Scriptures, or in rejecting its clear witness, people decide that they themselves are the best judge of what is right and true (at least for themselves). These would do well to heed the words of the proverb – “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” (Pr. 14:12) But, those who reject the Word of God, often take things a step further than mere unbelief. They are not truly content in their own misguided thinking, but many feel the need to justify their position by undermining the Scriptures themselves. There are not too many new or novel ways to do this anymore, and so people will often adopt some common existing heresy about the Scriptures, that has already been disproven and rehashed for centuries.
For instance, on one end of the spectrum, there are countless bright-eyed and proud individuals who diminish the Scriptures by arguing that the Bible is either insufficient or incomplete. Some will even go so far as to say that it is still being written, and that God is still giving new revelation today. But this claim is nothing new, it was the very same error of Montanism that was denounced as heresy dating back to the 2nd century. Those who hold this view presume that the Bible needs more in it to be sufficient, and that whatever “new” revelation people supposedly receive from God bears the same authority as His Scriptures.
Well, on the other end of the spectrum, far from thinking the Bible needs more revelation, there are those who apparently think the Bible contains too much as it is. There are some whose beliefs could be best described as "Red-Letterism," because they claim to only adhere to the specific words of Christ Himself, and not His Apostles after Him. They claim Christ’s speech is authoritative and that the Apostles merely gave their best opinions on matters pertaining to the day in which they lived. But this too is nothing new, wicked men have always sought to discredit the works of the Apostles and to create a false separation between what they taught and what the Lord said. But this is ludicrous because Christ Himself commissioned them to this task, and guided their inspired writings through the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). 2Pet. 1:20-21 declares – “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” Clearly then, although the New Testament was penned down under Apostolic authority, it was not these Apostle’s “own interpretation” but rather the expressed will of God revealed to them by the Holy Spirit.
We could go on and on in this same vein: Ancient Marcionism rejected the books of the Old Testament and only affirmed 11 books in the New Testament. The Gnostics affirmed all sorts of other spurious writings and believed them to be inspired Scriptures. The point is, there are numerous ways people have sought to add to, or take away from, the Holy Book. And if you hold to some variation of one of those viewpoints, then don’t flatter yourself by thinking you have some novel new way of seeing these things. Your errant beliefs about the Word are the same old heresies, that have been denounced as being damning to souls throughout the centuries. My prayer is that over the next few weeks, as we consider the veracity of the Scriptures in contrast to the prevailing heresies that abound concerning them, that you will come to see THE Word of God for what it is – The only reliable source for truth that is worthy of your full attention and devotion.
Comments