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Delighting in the Truth: The Word of God, by Pastor Charlie Handren

By Anonymous
     From January to March, we are offering a series of devotionals on our Membership Affirmation of Faith. Our aim in this series is to help Glory of Christ grow in our understanding of truth, our love of the God of truth, our love of one another, and our love of unbelievers. The Affirmation is made up of eight articles of faith, the fifth of which is entitled “The Word of God” and reads as follows:
We believe that the Bible, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, is the infallible Word of God, verbally inspired by God, and without error in the original manuscripts. We believe that God’s intentions, revealed in the Bible, are the supreme and final authority in testing all claims about what is true and what is right. In matters not addressed by the Bible, what is true and right is assessed by criteria consistent with the teachings of Scripture. (II Timothy 3:16; II Peter 1:20-21; 3:16; 1 Corinthians 2:13: 14:37; Mark 13:31; John 8:31-32; 14:26; 16:13-14; 17:17; 20:31; Acts 20:32; Matthew 22:29, 43-44; 24:35; Numbers 23:19; Proverbs 30:5; Psalm 12:6; Hebrews 6:18; Titus 1:2)
     When we say that the Bible is “infallible,” we mean that it cannot fail in its purposes or effects simply because the God who gave the Bible cannot fail. When we say that it’s “verbally inspired,” we mean that God breathed out every word of the Word by the Holy Spirit, although he did not dictate every word to every biblical author. That is, out of the overflow of his love for creation, he lavished truth upon all peoples through the personalities of his chosen authors so that the truths communicated are precisely what he wants and the way these truths are communicated reflect the personalities of the authors. When we say that the Bible is “without error in the original manuscripts,” we mean that a perfect God who spoke an unfailing word cannot lie or be mistaken.
     Since these things are true of the Bible, we should heed the admonition to “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Col. 3:16).
     As you reflect on the Word of God, take some time to ponder the following questions, preferably along with other believers: (1) How can a better understanding of the Word of God help us to worship him? (2) How can a better understanding of the Word of God help us to love other believers? (3) How can a better understanding of the Word of God help us to gain a greater passion to share the gospel with unbelievers near and far?


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