Articles
06 Restoration of Faith in the Bible
06 Restoration of Faith in the Bible
Mike Willis
The Discipline of the Methodist Church (1908), “Articles of Religion V” reads as follows:
The Holy Scriptures contain all things necessary to salvation; so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man that it should be believed as an article of faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation. In the name of the Holy Scriptures we do understand those canonical books of the Old and New Testament of whose authority was never any doubt in the Church.
After making a similar statement about the Bible, the Westminster Confession of Faith, list the books belonging in the Bible, and adds this line, “All which are given by inspiration of God to be the rule of faith and life” (p. 3).
Many of the mainstream Protestant denominations no longer believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God. Since they do not believe that the Bible is inerrant, they disagree with what the Bible teaches on anything in the Bible they judge to be wrong. In this respect, the final authority for religious beliefs and practices has shifted from what the Bible teaches to what the religious group and individual judges to be right or wrong. For example, the Bible condemns in no uncertain terms practices that are accepted in twenty-first century America (homosexuality, divorce and remarriage for any reason, fornication, etc.). One can hold membership in many churches in America while co-habiting with someone outside the marriage bond, one can marry one of the same gender, one can divorce his mate because he no longer loves that mate and marry another and still hold membership in many Protestant churches.
So, how can these churches make statements that leave the impression that they believe in and respect the authority of Scripture? When Scripture agrees with them, they respect the authority of Scripture, but when Scripture states and teaches things they do not believe, they chose to follow their own wisdom rather than the Bible! Because evolutionary theory has dominated the educational system for about 100 years, most Americans believe that the first chapter of the Bible is mistaken when it teaches that God created the heavens and the earth in six days! Which should one believe and teach?
If one believes the Bible is what it claims to be, the inspired Word of God, then obviously God’s word should be believed over man’s word in every area of conflict. If we are ever going to have Bible morals and an orderly society, sinful acts of violence must be punished and moral standards be upheld; we must go back to the Bible to determine what is right and what is wrong!
I make many mistakes in my life. I wish it weren’t so, but the fact of the matter is that I have sinned often. I am not the standard by which men should live. The standard is the truth that is taught in the words of Scripture and the model of obedience to that Word is not myself, but the Lord Jesus Christ, the only human ever to live a sinless life. You and I are called upon to accept the Bible as the moral authority in life and do our best to live in obedience to it, repenting of our transgressions against that standard and ceasing the practice of those sins, calling upon the name of the Lord to forgive us our transgressions. Let’s go back to the Bible to build a life lived in accordance with God’s word, to build families built on the solid moral foundations provided in Scripture, and our society will automatically improve.
