Spring has come early with robins flittering about our yards amid grass turning green. I am sure most of you look forward to longer days and warmer temperatures, as well as all the outdoor activities that come along this time of year with the possible exception of cutting ones grass.
An annual ritual takes place in Florida and Arizona as pro baseball teams get ready for the coming season with spring training. Players take to the field every day for hours to do drills over and over. Some to the players have done these drills {bunting, fielding, throwing, etc.] for many years, yet they know to perform at the highest level they must have the fundamentals of the game down. In a similar way, God’s people need to make sure they know the basics of the Christian life so they can best live as God has intended for His people to live.
Over the next weeks I plan to go over the fundamentals of our Presbyterian beliefs. Just as the Westminster Confession of Faith opens with a chapter titled “Of the Holy Scripture”, so I am obligated to begin with our view of the Bible. If we do not get this right, nothing else will be correct. The Bible is our “only rule of faith and obedience.” These concise words for Larger Catechism Question 3 speak clearly. Only from the Bible do we determine what we are to believe and how we are to live.
As with every fundamental of the faith, we will find this teaching rooted in Scripture. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 states, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” I cannot overstate the importance of basing everything that you believe on the Bible. To be blunt, if truth in not based on God’s inspired Word, by what authority do you think and live?
Sadly the vast majority of people reject this fundamental of the faith. The reasons vary. Some says the Bible is too old. Others say it has many errors or inconsistencies. Yet when they hear that there is more evidence for the Bible than many much more recent works of literature their minds do not heed reason. When asked about possible errors, they usually point out things that can be easily answered. They succumb to Satan’s sly question, “Did God really say?”
Just like a young child who learns his ABCs so he can then learn to read, so we must knows the basics of the faith, so we may live to the glory of God. Value the Bible. Know its incredible message. Then, by God’s grace, live out its eternal truth.
Delighting in His Word with you,
Pastor Gillikin