GodReflection: Power Words

. . .the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. . .All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness . . .     -Paul

I find myself in a struggle to put into my own words my comprehension of God’s purpose for Scripture.

I don’t doubt in the least the inspiration of Scripture—or its authority.

The Holy Bible places the message of God in my hands. My task is to figure out what God wants me to know and get it into my heart.

I find it interesting that only Daniel uses the word ‘Scripture’ within Old Testament Writings. When I look at the New Testament—with the possible exception of one occurrence—I notice the other fifty-two uses of the word ‘Scripture’ all refer to the Old Testament.

The one exception I find is in the second letter of the Apostle Peter where he writes to the churches: . . . just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

By equating Paul’s letters with ‘other Scriptures,’ Peter supports the origins of the New Testament. God inspired writings over the first century became what I know today as New Testament Scripture.

Again, I fully accept the inspiration and the authority of both Old and New Testament Scripture.

That is a lot of books and letters for a mere human to digest. How does God want me to use them and what is the message He wants me to burn into my heart?

Here are a couple of ideas as I see it.

I don’t believe God gave me His Holy Scripture to use against other believers in defense of Him. If God is sovereign—He doesn’t need me to defend His Holiness, especially directed at other followers.

I would suggest that to find someone who doesn’t agree with my interpretation of Scripture, then line up random chapter and verse arguments is a misuse of the purpose of Scripture. Like others, I am a meager mortal who makes a feeble attempt to grow toward the holy.

I now see a different emphasis on Scriptures’ power in my life.

God’s purpose for Scripture is to communicate His love to me. He seeks my heart.  He loves me to the extent of His sacrificial gift of the one and only Son. That gift is personal. It is for me.

He raised Jesus from three days in the tomb to eternal life. He asks me to believe the resurrection as a sign that I too can have life eternal.  He presents evidence over a period of 40 days to help me believe.

To obtain His gift—that offers full restoration of fellowship with my Creator—He requests all that I have. I must surrender my heart fully to King Jesus.

If I answer His request in the affirmative—I receive a cleansed heart no longer in need of rules and regulations.  The human heart that connects to Jesus’ heart will live on the plane of the above.

All Old Testament Scripture points to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus while all New Testament Scriptures helps me learn how to receive the gift and how to allow Jesus to live to His fullest in my life.

God-breathed Scripture is directed at me. It teaches me, rebukes me, corrects me, and trains me as I learn to be what Jesus wants me to be.

Thus, Scripture is an ever-present power in my life.

If my life reflects the power of Scripture—the gift of Jesus—I am equipped fully to reflect God’s grace before those I encounter.  There will be no need to blast Scripture toward a fellow believer.

Stay tuned.

Dr. Gary J. Sorrells – A GodReflection on the Power of Scripture.

Gary@GodReflection,org