Sola Scripture

When Jesus was at the pinnacle of His ministry while alive, He had numerous people following Him. There were the 12 designated apostles, his mother and probably other family members, devout Jews, Gentile God-fearers, the lonely, the destitute, the rich; even people like Gamaliel, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. So many people of so many different types, and from different positions in the social and economic fabric of Israel and Palestine.

When Jesus spoke about "eating His flesh and drinking His blood" in John 6, many of these followers departed - they could not accept these deep teachings and spiritual nature of what discipleship to Jesus was all about.

After Pentecost and in the apostolic age, many more thousands chose to follow Him. And throughout the centuries, many of these people have written to encourage us and lift us to Him in faith and action.

Unfortunately, for too many, some of these writings have been elevated to being equal to sacred scripture. Joseph Smith and the Latter-day-Saints; Mary Baker-Eddy and the Christian Scientists; Jehovah's Witnesses and Charles Russell; and we also remember the cults of Jim Jones at Jonestown, David Koresh in Waco Texas, and even the Little Pebble here in Australia. They wrote a list of their preferences, and formed a band of people to follow their preferences, and made their own writings equal to Holy Scripture.

More than any other post-apostolic Christian leader, I respect Martin Luther and His writings, but neither He, the Lutheran Church, nor I declare His writings to be equal to scripture, nor proclaim Martin Luther as a special Christian of a higher order than other "normal" Christians. He is famous for the phrase Sola Scripture - that Christian life, faith and practice and our knowledge and understanding of God comes from the Bible alone. Luther determined that the Church submits to the scriptures, not the scriptures submit to the Church.

It is sad that so many people are so easily deceived, and people feverishly study the words of special leaders, as if it was the very Word of God.

Friends, read and study your bible and listen for God, and listen to God as you read it. Your life will change. And on your journey, read the writings of Luther, Calvin, Lewis, Bonhoeffer, Barth, Kierkegaard - they have insightful and significant commentary to make. But their writings are not the revelation of God and do not have this authority.

Read well. Study well. Live well.