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Become an approved workman! Let God encounter you from His word!
“The Old and New Testaments, inerrant as originally given, were verbally inspired by God and are a complete revelation of His will for the salvation of people. They constitute the divine and only rule ofChristian faith and practice.” The Alliance statement of faith.
Above is my preaching bible –many sermons have come out of it. In the Alliance we push you to study the bible for yourself and we fight biblical illiteracy among North American evangelicals. Part of this illiteracy is due to living in a relativistic culture –that is – truth is relative and it is up to each person to decide what is true for them. Instead, we believe there is absolute truth – found in many places through the course of life, but particularly in the bible.
The apostle Peter said: “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” 11 Peter 1:20,21. The apostle Paul said: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” 11 Timothy 3:16. The writers of the bible claim over 2600 times that it is God speaking and not them.
Before 1949 the oldest copies of the bible we had were from @1000AD. Then in a Zealot cave by Qumran in Israel a great cache of scrolls of the bible were found that dated around 100AD – 900 years older! There were few differences on minor matters. The bible we read today is reliable.
This doesn’t mean that we understand it all! Nor does it mean that everything is totally clear (just ask people about their view on end times!),but we do seek to interpret the bible as it was intended. We read and act on what is plain. Paul tells us to “study to show yourself approved unto God – a workman that needs not to be ashamed – rightly dividing the word of truth” 11 Timothy 2:15. We seek to know the context; culture; history; meanings of words; backgrounds of the writers and cross references to other parts of the bible.
The bible is more than a book – it is God’s word – it is living – it has authority. The Holy Spirit who inspired it will guide you through this book. So don’t read books about the bible until you have read the bible. Don’t seek opinions until you have sought the bible. Become an approved workman! Let God encounter you from His word!
Pastor Leon Throness
