Sola Scriptura and Radical Transformation in a Post-Modern Age

By -
  What is the single most important conviction that has arisen out of the Reformation? This is a difficult question to answer because so many wonderful truths were uncovered during this period. I would say, however, that the principle of sola scriptura or "Scripture Alone" is the greatest conviction coming from the likes of Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli. The idea that the Word of God is sufficient for us to have faith in God, know God, and walk with God seems to be accepted without debate among conservative evangelicals in orthodoxy but what about orthopraxy?
  Do we practice our faith in God believing that his Word is sufficient? More practically, do we study the Bible regularly because it is our spiritual food? Do we loyally exegete and preach from the Bible because it is sufficient for sanctification of the saints and for the radical conversion of the sinners? When we don't do these things, why don't we do them? Why don't we depend on the sufficiency of God's revelation to us? Perhaps John the Baptist has something to teach us in our orthopraxy. Who is it that is supposed to increase in our lives as Christians? Is it I who must increase while Christ decreases? Or is it Christ who must increase as I decrease? Perhaps the practice of our belief in the sufficiency of Scripture, or lack thereof, is the result of our own refusal to decrease.  
   So church, Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and many others who lived and died for Christ during the Reformation have left us with one unbelievably clear and convicting principle: Sola Scriptura!
   What will change the hearts and minds of a post-modern generation? What will lead to a radical transformation in the soul of that lost friend or coworker? Will it be you? Will it be me? No, it will be the Holy Spirit of God working through the Word of God! Consequently, we are left with an unbelievably clear and unarguably concise message: share God's Word and watch him work. What would happen if preachers, teachers, believers, and churches everywhere focused on this simple strategy? Do you suppose that the radical transformation we are waiting for would happen? I think so!

Preach the Word! Teach the Word! Believe the Word!
His Word is sufficient in providing the spiritual catalyst necessary for the saved and the lost!

"So Faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ." Romans 10:17

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Casting Lots and Determining God's Will

By -
What is the deal with casting lots in the OT and why is it used in the NT? Was this a valid way to determine the will of God? Can we cast lots today to determine God’s will for ourselves? When I first became a Christian and began to read through the Bible, This subject led to some very challenging questions that I could not find answers to. Recently, our pastor, David, has been taking the church through the book of Acts on Sunday nights and last Sunday we read about how the disciples used lots to decide who the replacement disciple would be for Judas Iscariot. This reminded me of my own question that I had before and how many others may also be questioning this as well. Why would believers use what would appear to be a system of chance in order to distinguish the will of God? To answer this question, let’s look at 3 things. First, we will need to understand just what “lots” is and what it was used for. Second, we will look at an OT passage in which it was used. Finally, we wil...
Read more

Inclusionist, Exclusionist, Pluralist...What do they all mean?

By -
While I was preparing this week to be on a panel for the discussion of theological issues I came across a very difficult question that pushed me to spend some time solidifying my own doctrine on a certain issue. The question came from a student in our youth group: "How can a person who has never been exposed to the gospel (through no fault of his own) be expected to come to a saving knowledge of Christ?" This simple question has been discussed for centuries and divided denominations since the first denomination was formed. Dr. Ken Keathley, now a professor at a Southern Baptist seminary wrote an interesting work on this very question. His paper delineates the differences between the three schools of thought on the issue presented. The excerpt presented below is from his paper titled, "None Dare Call it Treason: Is an Inclusivist a Paul Revere or a Benedict Arnold?" appearing in the Journal for Baptist Theology and Ministry, Vol. 1 No. 2. "Exclusivism holds that...
Read more

The Trinity and The Triple Point

By -
In our monthly theological discussion group, a group of men and I recently discussed the Trinity . We now understand the Trinity to be: The unity of God subsisting in three distinct persons. We reviewed the different views of the Trinity, how the concept is defined in the Bible, and how it has come to be accepted as the orthodox view currently. At the close of our discussion , we began to discuss the different analogies of the Trinity. Here are a few that we discussed through the direction of Millard Erickson's book "Christian Theology." First, we talked about the egg. The egg has the yoke, the surrounding liquid, and the shell. All of these make up the egg. The egg is like the Trinity in that it has three parts unified into one egg. This is obviously an incomplete analogy since each of the parts of the egg are not really completely separated and yet totally unified. Each part of the egg has a different nature. So the egg analogy fails. What about the human/humanity ana...
Read more