SOLA SCRIPTURA

Every serious student of the Word of God intentionally surrounds himself or herself with a collection of helpful resource volumes that have been provided by the scholastic efforts of others.  All readily acknowledge the indispens-able value of a good Bible encyclopedia or dictionary, a concordance, select commentaries and a few other choice reference tools.  All of these contribute greatly in enhancing and expanding our comprehension of The Book of books.

Preachers’ libraries are filled with lots of good reading, - - profitable to any and every conscientious student of the Word.  It would be an act of foolishness to ignore the well-studied writings of others, which can aid us greatly as we attempt to dig a little deeper into the Word of Truth.  One of last request of the apostle Paul was penned while im-prisoned:  when you come bring the cloak which I left at Troas with Carpus, and THE BOOKS, especially the parchments (2Tim.4:13).  Yet, having said this, our plea remains sola Scriptura.  Scripture alone!  Nothing quite compares with THE SACRED WRITINGS (2Tim.3:15).  They and they alone constitute the oracles of God (1Pet.4:11).  Only in the Holy Bible does one encounter words delivered by men who spoke and wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (2Pet.1:21).  In no other volume is one able to  uncover and recover God-breathed words (2Tim.3:16).  Standing sola Scriptura amounts to a claim that affirms that God’s Word is unique.  It is one of a kind, belonging to a genre all to itself.  Truly, there is nothing else like it in all the writings of mere men.  In fact, all other writings pale in comparison to The Word.

               Sola Scriptura  also means that Scripture alone is all that is needed to return men and women to God, redemp-tively speaking.  A profound truth is contained in that old motto, “No creed but Christ, no book but the Bible.”  Sacred Scripture alone, when implanted in the minds and hearts of human beings, has the power to save souls (Js.1:21).  The gospel is the power of God for salvation… (Ro.1:16).  Any and all attempts to elevate or equate the writings of non-inspired men with those of God must be seen as an insult to God Almighty (1Thess.2:13).   God is so “other”.  Even the best of the best from the pens of men cannot rival the inspired Word.  It is a grave mistake to think that man’s words are on a par with those of the Eternal God.  While we may deeply appreciate the writings of a particular individual, we dare not classify such as “sacred” or “holy”.  We may hold in high esteem the inscriptions of some men, but they are never worthy of utter reverence.  That kind of respect belongs only to the Word of the Lord.  “Give me the Bible” ought always be the cry of seekers of truth.  All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass.  The grass withers, and the flower fades, but THE WORD OF THE LORD ABIDES FOREVER (1Pet.1:24-25a).      

                                                                                      Terry Siverd / Cortland Church of Christ