On Sunday November 17 we explored how section 5 of Living Faith (The Bible) and considered: What is the Bible? How can it be God’s Word for us today? What does it mean to say that the Bible has ‘authority’?
This is the seventh in a series on Living Faith, one of the faith statements of the Presbyterian Church. Our guiding scriptures for this week are Psalm 19 and John 1:1-18
This message reflects on Living Faith section 5.
Chapter Five – The Bible
5.1 The Bible has been given to us by the inspiration of God to be the rule of faith and life. It is the standard of all doctrine by which we must test any word that comes to us from church, world, or inner experience. We subject to its judgment all we believe and do. Through the Scriptures the church is bound only to Jesus Christ its King and Head. He is the living Word of God to whom the written word bears witness.
5.2 The Holy Spirit gives us inner testimony to the unique authority of the Bible and is the source of its power. The Bible, written by human hands, is nonetheless the word of God as no other word ever written. To it no other writings are to be added. The Scriptures are necessary, sufficient, and reliable, revealing Jesus Christ, the living Word.
5.3 Both Old and New Testaments were written within communities of faith and accepted as Scripture by them. Those who seek to understand the Bible need to stand within the church and listen to its teaching.
5.4 The Bible is to be understood in the light of the revelation of God’s work in Christ. The writing of the Bible was conditioned by the language, thought, and setting of its time. The Bible must be read in its historical context. We interpret Scripture as we compare passages, seeing the two Testaments in light of each other, and listening to commentators past and present. Relying on the Holy Spirit, we seek the application of God’s word for our time.
You can find the full text of Living Faith here: https://presbyterian.ca/wp-content/up…
Minister: Rev. John T. Read