Giants of the Reformation (8)

Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other. 1 Corinthians 4.6

Institutes of the Christian Religion
John Calvin (1509-1564)
“Let this be a firm principle: No other word is to be held as the Word of God, and given place as such in the church, than what is contained first in the Law and the Prophets, then in the writings of the apostles; and the only authorized way of teaching in the church is by the prescription and standard of his Word.”

Evangelicals insist on the primacy of the Word of God as source and touchstone for all teaching in the Church. This was a founding premise of the evangelical movement, and it has been reviewed, restated, and reinforced in many ways over the past many generations. But it’s one thing to say that we hold to sola Scriptura as our defining framework, and quite another to practice it consistently. In many churches today, preachers insist they are teaching the one, true Word, when, in fact, they are straying far from the path men such as Luther, Calvin, and others recovered. A hermeneutic of convenience obtains with many contemporary preachers and theologians, which accommodates the spirit of the age as much as the Spirit of God when it comes to how we understand the Bible. And, like Gresham’s Law, inevitably the bad drives out the good, and the true teaching of the one true Word is substituted for by other words, strange winds of doctrine, which have blown many churches off course in their pursuit of the Kingdom. The reformation bequeathed us sola Scriptura for the health of our faith and our churches. The question remains whether we can keep that bequest.

How would you summarize your approach to making sure that, in all your ministry, you do not go beyond what is written in God’s Word?

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.All quotations from John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, John T. McNeill, ed., Ford Lewis Battles, tr. (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1960), Vol. 2, Book IV, pp. 1012ff.