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50 years ago, I was heading into my senior year at Oral Roberts University. Growing up we attended Redeemer Lutheran Church. After three years at ORU taking Bible classes, going to chapel twice a week and attending many different churches in Tulsa on Sunday mornings, I had quite a few questions about God and the Bible. Some of those questions were about things I never heard talked about in the LutheranChurch.
So, where are the answers? Who has the Truth? Do pastors always speak the truth? They do when they are reading scripture. What about when they use words that are never found in scripture to define who God is and who Jesus is. How do we know that what they are saying is true? And, how do we separate truth from error? Is there anything wrong with being like the Bereans in Acts 17? "...they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Many of them therefore believed,..."
"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15
I have no agenda but the truth. The truth that Jesus spoke and the truth of God's awesome word. Is there anything wrong with Sola Scriptura and Tota Scriptura? Sola Scriptura teaches that Scripture is the only infallible authority for Christian faith and practice. Other authorities such as church traditions, creeds, councils, and teachers may be helpful, but they are subordinate to the Bible and can be corrected by it. Tota Scriptura means that Christians should base doctrine on the entirety of Scripture, not merely favorite passages or selected portions. It emphasizes the full scope of scripture revealed across all the books of the Bible. We can let scripture speak for itself. Why should we have to invent words and use terminology that is not anywhere to be found in the Bible to define who God is? As if he did not do a good enough job in his written word.
"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." Hebrews 4:12
According to Jesus: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."
According to Jesus, his words were not his own.
“I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.”
“My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me.”
“I have not spoken on my own… the Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and what to speak.”
This is fulfillment of Deuteronomy 18:18 "I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him."
The Creed of Jesus: "The Lord Our God, the Lord Is One" was recorded by Moses in Deuteronomy 6:4 over 1400 years before Jesus quoted it in Mark 12. Jesus repeated this verbatim:
"The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord." (Mark 12:29)
The scribe responded:
"There is one God; and there is none other but he." (Mark 12:32)
Jesus commended his answer:
"Thou art not far from the kingdom of God." (Mark 12:34)
Thus the foundation of Jesus’ teaching begins with the teaching that God is one person, the Father according to Jesus in John 17:3.
The expression "my God" appears on the lips of Jesus before his death:
Matthew 27:46: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
Mark 15:34: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
After His resurrection (God raised him from the dead):
John 20:17: "I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God."
And, after his ascension and exaltation to the right hand of God:
Revelation 3:2: "I have not found thy works perfect before my God."
Revelation 3:12: "The temple of my God""the name of my God""the city of my God""which cometh down out of heaven from my God"
Jesus speaking in Mark 10:18 and Luke 18:19: "No one is good except God alone."
Answering Thomas, Jesus said: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. You heard me say to you, 'I am going away, and I will come to you.' If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe." John 14:5-6, 28-29
Is it possible that the words Jesus spoke in John 14 give insight into Thomas's confession when he finally believes in John 20:28? Is it possible he came to know God through Jesus?
Ephesians 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Ephesians 1:17: “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom…”
2 Corinthians 1:3: “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…”
1 Peter 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…”
Romans 15:6: “That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
2 Corinthians 11:31: “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore…”
We will do well if we come to know the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Mark Rohde can be reached at marklrohde@icloud.com.