Grace Life Baptist Church

“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 complete, equipped for every good work.

II Timothy 3:16 – 17

When considering what would be the first post for this blog I was struck by the following question, “When did everything change?” For much of my ministry it was clear what I was to do, what I was to say, and what I was to promote. However, several years ago I began to question those three things. During this time of self-inspection, I was challenged by a series of sermons from a conference by the National Council of Family Integrated Churches on the Sufficiency of Scripture. I was intrigued by the title since I had no doubt about the inspiration of Scripture or its preservation. After listening to several sermons, this question formed in my mind, “Yes, I believe in the inspiration and preservation of Scripture, but do I believe Scripture alone to be sufficient for life and ministry?” I was so settled into the way ministry “had always been done” and what the expectations of the movement I belonged to were that I never considered whether I truly believed that Scripture alone (absent from other books, preachers, and traditions) was sufficient for everything in life and ministry.

While believing in the sufficiency of Scripture does not mean one cannot glean insight and understanding from books, preachers, and traditions, it does mean that we first learn from Scripture and interpret that Scripture absent from books, preachers, and traditions. Much of how the church functions today is based on traditions, while also being infiltrated by humanistic philosophy instead of Scripture Alone. Soon after this idea began to take root in my life I was began a series on the family. I did not have a curriculum or an end goal in mind. I just felt impressed to begin in Genesis and see what Scripture said about the family. I could not get past Genesis chapter three without knowing I was in trouble. My entire philosophy about marriage, dating, child bearing, and culture was being ripped apart. Each Sunday night for the next year I studied and taught about the family’s structure and practice with the idea that Scripture Alone is sufficient for this institution. This was the beginning of what I termed the “stranded on a tropical island” mentality. Simply put, if my church were shipwrecked on a tropical island (might as well be warm) with only a Bible, would we develop the same philosophies and traditions that govern much of what we believe and practice currently.

Since that time, I have inspected many of my other long-held philosophies and practices through the lens of Scripture Alone. It is a constant struggle to not bring my presuppositions into my exegesis of Scripture. It is also difficult to not rely on the traditions that have been an anchor in my life. It is never easy to stand in front of my congregation and say, “I think I have gotten this one wrong.” However, the church is in need of a modern reformation, and I pray that it will center around these questions, “Do you believe the Bible is sufficient alone to direct your theology, traditions, and philosophies?” and “Are you willing to submit everything to the authority and sufficiency of Scripture?”

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

II Corinthians 10:3 – 5

It is the purpose of this blog and Grace Life Baptist Church to rest on the Scriptures Alone for all practices, traditions, and philosophies. Ask yourself these questions:

• Is that what the text actually says?
• Is that what was meant by the text when it was written?
• Is that interpretation what God meant when He inspired it?
• Is my practice and philosophy truly in line with the text?
• Why am I making excuses or dismissing what is clear in the text?

Join with us at Grace Life as we strive to uphold the authority of Scripture by believing that the truths taught in Scripture are sufficient for all we do in life and ministry.