Sola Scriptura
May 2, 2004
2 Timothy 3:16-17
4th Sunday of Easter
Galena-Warwick United Methodist Charge
Warwick & Galena, Maryland
Rev. Dr. Lawrence D. Jameson
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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.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
One of the goals our congregation has this year,
(and in fact our number one goal)
is to “remember who we are”
as we write a mission statement.
Part of the identity of this congregation
is tied to the fact
that we are Protestant Christians.
I feel led to preach five sermons
that point to basic concepts
shared by Protestants.
The Protestant movement is over 500 years old,
and these ideas have been around for a long time.
So in order to tie my sermons in
with Church history,
I’m going to use Latin titles. (Please be impressed!)
The titles are:
Sola Scriptura only the Scriptures
Sola Fide by faith alone
Sola Gratia by grace alone
Soli Christo through Christ alone
Soli Deo Gloria to God alone be the glory
Have you ever wondered what the difference really is
between Catholics and Protestants?
Both groups love the Lord Jesus Christ.
We both:
worship on Sunday,
have ordained clergy,
build churches that look the same,
worship, preach, baptize, confirm, distribute the sacraments.
We live and work together,
not just in the same communities,
but even our core families
are made up of Catholics and Protestants.
A big part of my family is Roman Catholic,
and no doubt
the same is true for you.
We agree with Ephesians 4:4 which says:
There is one body and one Spirit--
just as you were called to one hope when you were called--
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all.
In God’s eyes, Catholics and Protestants are ONE
because we are disciples of Jesus Christ.
When I visit door-to-door
and I find out that someone is a Roman Catholic Christian,
I encourage them to stick with their church.
This is not just a sales technique. I really think that way!
Mt Olivet / Olivet Church
is not trying to proselytize
or steal sheep from another congregation.
Down in my heart I truly feel
that the Roman Catholic Church
is a great place to be a Christian.
It isn’t for me, because I’m a Protestant.
That’s OK.
Perhaps the most healthy approach to this issue is to say:
Roman Catholics should strive to be
the best Roman Catholic Christians they can
and
Protestants should strive to be
the best Protestant Christians they can.
In the mean time, we are called to love each other
and to work together,
that the world may we won for Jesus Christ.
One day, a kindergarten teacher at Millington Elementary School
gave her class a "show and tell" assignment
of bringing something to represent their religion.
The first child got in front of the class and said,
"My name is Benjamin and I am Jewish
and this is the Star of David."
The second child got in front of the class and said,
"My name is Mary. I'm am Catholic
and this is the Crucifix."
The third child got in front of the class and said,
"My name is Tommy and I’m Methodist
and this is a casserole."
It’s good to laugh at our differences,
and to be unafraid of who we are.
As United Methodist Christians,
we stand with Martin Luther,
John Calvin, and the reformers of the 1500s
on the principle of Sola Scriptura.
Sola Scriptura is a phrase in Latin
which means "only the Scriptures".
When we use the phrase Sola Scriptura
we are saying
that the Bible – nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else
has infallible authority for us.
Sola Scriptura!
This is one of the key differences
between Roman Catholics and Protestants.
The Roman Catholic Church teaches
that there are two sources of infallible special revelation:
Scripture and church tradition.
For our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters,
Tradition is equal to Scripture.
That is why the Roman Catholic Church
teaches its members
doctrines that are not in the Bible,
such as:
the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary,
purgatory,
veneration of saints,
and the infallibility of the Pope.
Protestants say no.
If it isn't in the Bible,
we don't have to believe it.
Sola Scriptura!
United Methodists have embraced the concept of
Sola Scriptura.
We have written it into our Articles of Religion.
The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church 2000,
paragraph 103 (page 67), says:
We believe the Holy Bible, Old and New Testaments,
reveals the Word of God so far as it is necessary for
our salvation. It is to be received through the Holy
Spirit as the true rule and guide for faith and
practice. Whatever is not revealed in or established
by the Holy Scriptures is not to be made an article
of faith nor is it to be taught as essential to
salvation.
This is a very Protestant idea.
That’s sola Scriptura.
It is part of who we are.
INSPIRATION
QUESTION:
Why can't I just base my life
on the traditions of the Church?
ANSWER:
Because only Scripture is the inspired Word of God.
The Bible says:
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.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
The word "inspired" is based on the metaphor of breath.
We inhale and exhale air when we breath.
The term for the Holy Spirit in the New Testament is
hagios pneuma holy wind.
The idea here is that God breathed his own Holy Spirit
into the people that wrote the Bible
and in a very special way
guided them to record his messages for the world.
We don't believe in a mechanical dictation theory of
Biblical inspiration.
The authors of the Bible were not passive robots.
They were real people, with real personalities.
Their personalities come through in the text.
God intended this to be so.
Protestants and Roman Catholics have substantial agree about this:
the Bible is the inspired Word of God.
The Roman Catholic Church however,
maintains that church tradition
is also inspired by the Lord,
and that church tradition can be a guide
to what we should believe and how we should act.
Protestants respectfully disagree.
We say Sola Scriptura.
Only the Bible has the information we need
to live a successful Christian life.
We don’t discount the importance or helpfulness of tradition.
Protestants accept tradition!
We are free to pick and choose the traditions that we follow.
We just don’t believe that tradition is an infallible guide
for doctrine and ethics.
INERRANT & INFALLIBLE
QUESTION:
Why can't I just base my life
on the traditions of the Church?
ANSWER:
Because only Scripture is inerrant and infallible.
I used to be afraid of these two words,
infallible and inerrant,
but I am not afraid of them any more.
I embrace these words
and I attribute them to the Bible.
Let's take a look at what they mean.
Here is an example.
Suppose you give me a spelling test.
You sit me down at a desk and ask me to correctly
spell 20 words.
Let's just say that I get all 20 words right,
a 100% score. (Unlikely, but let’s just say)
That would be an inerrant test.
I spelled all the words correctly
with no mistakes.
What does the test prove?
It proves that I know how to spell those 20 words.
There are thousands of other words
I might not be able to spell.
Now someone who does something
(like taking a spelling test, or stacking a pile of wood)
and does it perfectly with no mistakes
is inerrant.
But someone who cannot make a mistake
is infallible.
God inspired the Bible,
and that is why we say
it is both inerrant and infallible.
Does that mean that the Bible is an infallible guide
for biology?
No. It wasn't written as a science book.
That wasn't it's purpose.
Does that mean that the Bible is an infallible guide
for geography and history?
No. It wasn't written as a geography or history book.
(Although it is very accurate in these ways.)
That wasn't it's purpose.
The infallibility and inerrancy of Scripture
is in its ability to
lead you to Jesus Christ,
and teach you how to live a Christian life.
In that area it just cannot fail.
As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:10-11
God gave us his Word, the Bible
and it is not going to return to him empty.
It will accomplish the purpose
of helping you be a victorious Christian.
The Bible is infallible and inerrant
because it comes from God.
Christian tradition is a great thing,
but it isn’t in the same league with the Bible.
Sola Scriptura!
PERSPICUITY
QUESTION:
Why can't I just base my life
on the traditions of the Church?
ANSWER:
Because only Scripture can give you
the clear simple message
of how to be a Christian.
The Bible is perspicuous ( pur - spick - you - us ).
It has perspicuity ( pur - spick - you - ity ).
It is clear and simple enough
for you to understand
so that you can accept Jesus
and get to heaven.
Now you might say,
“I’ve read the Bible, and a great deal of it was not clear at all!”
That’s true. It’s not all clear,
but the important parts are plenty clear enough.
There are things in the Bible
that I may not understand
until I get to heaven
and God explains it to me face to face.
But the important parts ARE CLEAR (per spic u ous).
One theologian put it this way,
he said: “The main things are the plain things,
and the plain things are the main things.”
Norman Geisler
Roman Catholics and Evangelicals
Agreements and Differences
Baker Books, 1995 Page 178
I like the story about Nick Lachey & Jessica Simpson
when they were newly married.
Nick decided to buy his wife a gift
so he went to the mall
and got her a cell phone.
The next day Jessica went shopping,
so he rang her up.
"Hi hun," he said "how do you like your new phone?"
"I just love it,” she said. “It's so small
and your voice is clear,
but there's one thing I don't understand."
"What's that, darling?" said Nick.
"How'd you know I was at Wal-Mart?"
Cell phones can be difficult to figure out,
and you may not understand
all the features,
but if the call goes through,
THAT’S what you want.
Dear ones,
God’s Word, the Bible, is per-spic-u-ous.
It works.
Sola Scriptura!
PRAYER
Thank you, dear God, for our part in the church,
the body of Christ.
We are Roman Catholics and Protestants,
young and old, rich and poor.
Our differences are real, and our theologies are at odds,
but at the core, we are together, because we are family.
Lord help us to be
the best Protestant Christians we can possibly be.
And we pray the same for our Catholic sisters and
brothers.
Revive your church, O Lord,
and let the revival start with my heart.
In the name of Jesus Christ we pray.
Amen.