God’s Word - our rule

'God’s Word - our rule'

— 2 Timothy 3:14-17

The only King in Zion is Christ, God’s anointed King. The only Head of the church is Christ, God’s exalted Head. The only Lawgiver in Israel is Christ, God’s appointed Prophet. And the only voice of authority in the church of Christ is the Word of God, the Holy Scriptures. If ever you prosper under the blessings of God, you must learn this lesson. The church of the New Testament is not a democracy where ‘every man does that which is right in his own eyes’. It is a kingdom under the dominion of the sovereign Christ. Therefore I urge you to put away your customs, traditions, by-laws and opinions, and bow down in reverent submission to the Holy Scriptures. Be no longer satisfied with a form of godliness, built upon religious tradition, but void of power. Seek, rather, to submit to the Word of God, seek the power of God and seek the presence of Christ. Let me give you these reasons for submitting all things to the Word of God.

1. The Scriptures alone are given by divine inspiration. In every word and phrase, ‘holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Spirit of God’.

2. The Scriptures alone reveal the way of salvation and life through faith in Christ. It is only through the declaration of God’s Word that sinners are brought to salvation, trusting the merits of God’s Son, our Substitute.

3. The Scriptures alone are authoritative and profitable. Our doctrine must arise from the plain statements of Scripture. All righteous reproof, correction and instruction come from the faithful exposition of the Word of God.

Let us examine ourselves and our churches by the Word of God. There should be nothing in the church today that was not established in the church by our Lord and his apostles. Any addition is a subtraction. The law of church government, according to the Scriptures, is love and trust. The business of the church is the preaching of the gospel and the purpose of the church is the glory of Christ.