Five Eternal Gifts from God - Scripture 5

Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone) means that Scripture alone is the believer’s preeminent authority.  It is the final influence by which the Christian’s conscience is bound.  It is the believer’s understanding and commitment that anything besides Scripture including feelings, passions, church traditions and teachings, along with personal convictions are secondary to God’s Word being the ultimate authority within the believer’s life.  Dr. Michael Horton writes, “Scripture not only has the final say, but it is the formal principle of everything we believe about doctrine and conduct” (Sola Scriptura xvi).

The student of Scripture not only witnesses this testimony concerning Scripture’s authority in the Old Testament but also in the New Testament.

In the New Testament Gospels, Jesus emphatically supported the Scripture’s ultimate authority when He quoted them during His battle with Satan (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-4). He also preached, in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, that He came to fulfill Scripture. In Matthew 5:17-18 He stated, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (English Standard Version 810).

In 2 Peter 1:19-21, the text states: And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of men, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. 

Revelation 22:18-19 – “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”

Throughout the Scriptures, God reveals Himself to mankind. Biblical revelation is authoritative. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 declares:  All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.