I was going along in this Surprised by Truth book pretty good until I hit the fifth conversion story. This guy just made me crazy. I was reminded of reading the Church of Christ conversion book – Muscle and Shovel. In both instances I just wanted to talk to the guys. Mainly to understand what they really meant by some of their statements. Please note I stated “some” of their statements.
One good thing about words making you crazy, it makes you read more, ask questions, and seek answers. One of those areas I began seeking answers – sola scriptura. I asked two people about the topic and tried not to jade their responses by my question. I do not think there is a verse that says “the Bible is your authority”. So where does this idea come from? And what if anything does the Bible say about authority?
We can probably agree that God is the authority. And in the Bible God tells us things like “obey my word” and “obey my voice” and “listen to my voice”. These are things that God tells His people over and over in the Bible. The Bible is God’s Word and voice (if you write the voice down). I am not 100% sure if God says “obey someone else” or “listen to someone else” or not but I do not believe He does. God is God. And God is the authority. This would make God’s Word authority.
Does this in turn make man an authority? Or the church made up of men? There are so many nuances mixed up in this idea. How do we determine true doctrine if everyone interprets God’s Word their own way so they can have their own power base? I know it is strange but can we?
In the past, prior to God saving me I cared a lot about things that do not matter because I was religious. There are things I will “die” for like Jesus was both God and man but there are many things like infant baptism that do not matter that much. If God saves you, then you want to teach others about Him, His Son Jesus, and how we are rescued through Him to the best of your ability. If you learn something that changes your mind on a topic later, then the truth is you just did not have all the information and God opened your eyes to something new. But was this an attempt to deceive others and send them to an eternity in hell? I want to say that people who are truly saved do not have this desire in them – the desire to send people to hell. I believe that is universal.
Again the nuances of this idea are quite intense and these few words are not sufficient to fully explore or explain the idea but it is a wonderful idea to think upon. I recommend more thinking!