City Church Seven Hills

The next section our doctrinal statement identifies our church as “evangelical.” This is a somewhat ambiguous phrase that covers large swaths of the conservative church in America. It carries many connotations, quite a few of them not so good. But there are positive doctrinal points connected with the evangelical movement as well. So even as we may not embrace every corner of the movement, we do accept the categorization for these key areas of doctrine. The one we’ll discuss today is the idea of the Bible as the inspired Word of God. Next will be the method of interpreting Scripture with a historical, contextual, literal approach. And finally there is the emphasis on individual response to the Gospel.

The first point appears in our doctrinal statement like this:

We believe that the Bible is inspired by God and useful for the teaching and equipping of the church. (2 Timothy 3:16-17, Matthew 4:4)

Let’s take those two passages and look at each of them a bit closer, starting with 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Our statement comes almost directly from these verses but we’ll still put the actual words from the NLT in front of us:

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

We draw two primary ideas from this passage; first, the Bible is inspired by God. Other translations say that Scripture is God-breathed, conveying the idea that the words in the Bible come directly from God. Though He did not physically write them, he inspired the men who did, putting His Word and message in them in order to communicate to the world. It’s important to note that this does not mean that each and every word in the Bible is a direct quote from God. Our next post will go into more detail about how we interpret Scripture but for now it’s enough to say that all Scripture comes from God for a specific purpose.

That purpose is the second idea we get from 2 Timothy 3:16-17. The Bible is useful to teach and equip us. All of those stories and laws and poems and sermons and letters that fill the Bible are there to teach us and equip us for what God wants us to do. The Bible teaches us what is true about God and points out the wrong things in our lives. But it’s not just empty information to fill our heads. It is used to equip the people of God for good works. If the Bible is not transforming you, you’re not reading it right.

This point can’t be stressed enough. The Bible is used by God to prepare us for His purposes in our lives. Too often, we get stuck on that first part of knowing what is right and wrong. You may notice, this is one of (perhaps the) oldest pitiful man has fallen into. The temptation in the Garden was to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Knowledge is a dangerous trap if we make it an end in itself.

We do learn right and wrong from the Bible, but that’s not the purpose. The purpose is to allow the Bible to correct the wrong in us then prepare us and equip us for good works. The knowledge is a means, the good works are the end. Don’t stop too soon.

This leads to our next passage: Matthew 4:4. Jesus, quoting Deuteronomy 8:3, says that,

People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Jesus reveals another layer of the purpose of God’s Word. Not just the words  that have been written but the Word that He continually speaks. The Word of God is our source of life and nourishment. It is so much more than words on a page, so much more than knowledge of right of wrong. Even more than power that equips us for good works. It is life. And it is something that continually comes from the mouth of God, now just as much as thousands of years ago. While the written Word is vitally important, we must not limit the concept of God’s Word to that which has already been spoken and written. He continues to speak to us and those Words from His mouth are our source of life.

This strong emphasis on the Bible as the inspired Word of God paired with the ongoing reality of the spoken Word is a crucial component of what makes City Church Seven Hills evangelical.