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May We Never Move Off God’s Word

Brothers and Sisters, 

This past Lord’s Day from 2 Kings 2:22 we reflected on the power and potency of God’s Word. There we learned that it was not Elisha’s throwing salt into the spring of water that brought life – that was simply the visible sign which attended the miraculous work of Word of the Lord. It was the Word of the Lord that brought healing and life. And Elisha spoke that Word of Yahweh. 2 Kings 2:22 does not say, “22So the water has been healed to this day, according to the salt that Elisha threw.” No, it says, “22So the water has been healed to this day, according to the word that Elisha spoke.” Elisha spoke the Word of the Lord. Elisha’s word was Yahweh’s Word, and Yahweh’s Word was Elisha’s word.

As we thought about this, we reflected upon the primacy of God’s Word in our lives individually and corporately. If we’re honest, we sometimes displace God’s Word. Here is what Stephen Nichols in his book, A Time for Confidence, says about when, how, and why we subtly move away from God’s Word:

As the standing of Scripture in culture is eroded, we can be subtly moved to look away from it. We begin to wonder if Scripture truly does have all the answers. We begin to wonder if all of Scripture’s answers are right. Maybe Scripture is not so sufficient anymore. Life in the twenty-first century is so complex. The problems we are dealing with are so complex that we need to look elsewhere, we might think. All of a sudden, we are affirming the authority of Scripture in our doctrinal statements while denying the authority of Scripture in our daily lives.

The temptation is to think the Bible has run its course. The temptation is to think it is helpful and inspiring, and to think that at certain times, in certain places, and on certain topics it is true. But not entirely true. We must consider one simple observation, however: Scripture cannot be partially inspired; neither can it be partially authoritative. The moment we speak of “partly,” we are the ones who decide which parts. We are setting ourselves over Scripture as the authority. The doctrine of the authority and inerrancy of Scripture is not like hand grenades or a game of horseshoes. Close does not count.

Since the Bible is the Word of God, we must take it seriously. We must take all of it seriously. We must listen to it, submit to it, and follow it.  [Stephen J. Nichols, A Time for Confidence: Trusting God in a Post-Christian Society, Fourth ed. (Sanford, FL: Reformation Trust Publishing, 2018), 62-63.]

May we never move off God’s Word. May we never close our ears or our hearts to it.

Warmly in Christ,

Mike