The Bible Only (1)
Tim Haile, for the Parkway church of Christ
Tim Haile, for the Parkway church of Christ
Religious people are often heard proclaiming their allegiance to the Bible. We hear it from Protestants and Catholics, denominationalists and nondenominationalists. And while we rejoice that people respect the Bible enough to make such a claim to its guidance, the reality is that many religionists do not limit themselves to the Bible for their religious authority. They do not speak only “where the Bible speaks,” and they are not “silent where the Bible is silent.” Along with the Bible, they have incorporated their personal opinions, human traditions and religious creeds.
God has chosen to direct and restrict human behavior in certain ways. Humans are not permitted to merely do as they please in these areas. In order for us to be right with God, we must “please Him” (1 Thessalonians 4:1; Hebrews 11:6) and not “ourselves” (Romans 15:1). God’s infallible word, the Bible, is where we learn how to “walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, to be fruitful in every good work, and increase in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:10).
The Bible commands us to “find out what pleases the Lord” (Ephesians 5:10). Thankfully, we are shown how this is to be done. Acts 17:11 describes the Berean Jews as being more “noble-minded” than the Thessalonian Jews. And what had they done in order to receive such a compliment from the Holy Spirit? Two things: They “received the word with all eagerness,” and they “searched the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” It seems almost too simple, doesn’t it? In fact, it is simple: God is honored when people care enough about what He says to read and examine His word. Great care must be taken to find out what pleases God, for failure to do so will result in eternal misery and doom (1 Thessalonians 2:15, 16; 2 Thess. 1:7-9). Our next article will examine Bible passages that stress the importance of our using only the Bible as our religious guide.
Special Announcement: The Parkway church of Christ will be conducting a gospel meeting at our building, April 14-18, at 7:00 PM nightly. We hope you can come!
View past articles at http://parkwayarticles.blogspot.com. Please join us for worship and Bible study at our building located at 125 Hilltopper Ave, Bowling Green, KY 42101. We meet each Sunday at 10:00AM and 6:00PM for worship, and Sundays at 9:00AM and Wednesdays at 7:00PM for Bible study. Our radio program is aired each Sunday morning at 8:00AM on the WKCT 930AM band. Phone: (270) 842-2049 – Email: timhaile@mac.com.
