Written by David T. Crum | Photo: Adobe Stock
What does it mean to be a Bible-believing Christian? Do we follow Jesus or the Scriptures? Can you follow both?
Though most people in America still adhere to an ultimate belief in God, once the authority, reliability, and inspiration of the Scriptures become the center of the discussion, the alleged belief in God takes a drastic turn.
Several Founding Fathers claimed the title of deist, affirming a deity but denying a personal God. Today, people might adopt the terms spiritual, religious, or agnostic. These classifications attempt to provide protection, acknowledging God without claiming the Bible is infallible. Really, such logic is not new. Skeptics, nominal and cultural adherents have always existed. The danger extends to creating a false god in one’s mind, which ultimately leads to deciphering the purpose of life and what sins or evil actions are justified or unjustified.
Soon, the assertion that “nobody is perfect” or “thou shall not judge” becomes the focal point of their belief, as their attempt to create a religious justification for their actions, lives, and ideas falls apart outside the righteousness and ways of the Lord.
Many quote Jesus, even those who deny the reliability of the Bible. This confuses believers, most notably those new to the faith. At the center of such controversy is sin. Doubters may point to a particular transgression and argue that Jesus never explicitly spoke out against it. Once we enter this realm of discussion, we have greatly errored.
History matters, as does theology. First, to accept any saying from Jesus, we must understand why He was crucified. Jesus claimed He was God and held the same authority as the ultimate Creator of the Hebrew Bible. In fact, Jesus declared He was the sole Creator (John 10:30-38).
Christians hold firmly to the idea of the Trinity, a sentiment that God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are equally God. Even though genuine Christians unite in such faith, most Jews of Jesus’ time did not. The Jewish teachers were enraged by Jesus’ claims of equality with the Father, calling it blasphemous and labeling Jesus a false prophet. Obviously, they were wrong in their claims and denied the Messiah.
Theological understanding matters. Jesus taught His divinity and showed His power by performing miracles, forgiving sins, and defeating death through crucifixion and resurrection. In order to quote Jesus, we must admit that His words are the Scriptures. Martin Luther wrote:
If you desire to advance in life without danger to your conscience, abstain from speculating and twisting every sense with your own reason. Independently of His Word and His Son, God cannot be found. Learn to know God as He is described in the Holy Scriptures.[1]
The foundation of the Protestant Reformation was nothing less than the authority and divine nature of the Scriptures. To acknowledge the Person of Jesus Christ, one must realize His communication was not limited to four Gospels or red letters. His relevance to the Scriptures is His place in the Christian Trinity. His presence remained with Moses, David, Paul, and other authors. Before we quote Jesus, we must fully understand who He was and what He declared.
If someone denies one book of the Bible, they have rejected the Lord. Commonly heard today are the constant attacks against Paul. Though we often forget, Paul, too, experienced a regeneration of the soul and communicated directly with Jesus:
And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. (Acts 9:4-5)
Why would we accept the books of the four Gospels but deny texts composed by Paul? Paul lived among the original disciples of Christ. The disciples acknowledged his place in Christ and joyously accepted his conversion and teachings.
To acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the Author, Maker, and Creator of all things, including the Holy Scriptures, requires faith. We will not gain such an understanding unless, as Paul experienced, we encounter a spiritual regeneration and a deliverance from sin at the hands of the Lord Himself. The Lord must choose us and renew us through the Holy Spirit for us to appreciate and fathom His place in the Scriptures.
To accept only some sayings of Jesus Christ and deny the Scriptures is a serious error and the denial of the Christian faith.
”Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8).
[1] J.H. Merle D’Aubigne, The Authority of God: Four Discourses, (Harrisonburg: Sprinkle Publications, 2008), 94.
