Our Constitution -- The Bible

(Overcomer Wu)

Even as the constitution of the United States of America is the ultimate authority that governs the life and conduct of the citizens of America, likewise the Bible governs is the ultimate authority that governs the life and conduct of the citizens of God's kingdom. On what basis do we derive at such a claim? Well, there is a long version of showing this and a concise version. Obviously, since all of us are Christians on this forum, there is no need to present the elaborate and lengthy version of proving this. In short, as Christians we in the Bible as the inerrand, infallible and incorruptible (1 Pet 1:23) Word of God. 2 Timothy 3:16 asserts that all Scripture is inspired by God, as His Spirit led over 40 different men to write this inerrant Book over the course of approximately 1,500 years. And amazingly there is no conflicting accounts (which cannot be explained and clarified) and the topical harmony is found throughout the all these books in the Bible!

Now of course the authority and the credentials of a resource is judged not only on the content that is presented, but also on the credentials of the author. With that in mind, let us consider the qualifications of the author of The Book -- the Bible. Well, we can find no better author for the Bible than God Himself. Besides 2 Tim 3:16 that we quoted above, we also have 2 Peter 1:20-21 confirming to us that the Scriptures was not written by the will of man, "but men spoke from God, being borne by the Holy Spirit."

The Bible as the very Word of God, spoken to His messengers, passed down through time, and relevant to every generation, is our Constitution. And as our Constitution, the Bible is the standard that governs the life and conduct of all Christians and all of the church's teachings and practices; Hence, Joshua 1:8 also says, "This book of law (referring to the Bible) shall not depart out of your mouth... THAT YOU MAY OBSERVE TO DO ACCORDING TO ALL THAT IS WRITTEN THEREIN...."

On the balance, 1 Corinthians 2:10-14 says that it is the Holy Spirit who reveals the truths in His Word to us and enables us to understand it. Apart from God's Spirit, we simply cannot comprehend spiritual things. For this reason, the apostle Paul prayed that we may be granted "a Spirit of wisdom and understanding in the full knowledge of Him" (Eph 1:17). Thus, we need both the Spirit and the Word as a balance. This was the start of the most significant portion of the recovery of the Church with the Brethren Assembly (which many including Watchman Nee believe depicts the most healthy and the model "church in Philadelphia" in Revelations 2), back in the 19th century. In fact, they had a popular slogan: "Back to the Spirit, and back to the Word."

Some people, however, do not believe in the Bible's authority. In fact, there are many Christians who selectively choose what parts of the Bible to believe and what parts to ignore. We cannot break up God's Word to make it fit our concepts or our preferences. We must accept it in its entirety, from beginning to end. God never said anything by accident, so we must understand that every word in the Scriptures is relevant to our lives and only by our taking the whole Bible into account can we practice the church life in a healthy and balanced way.

We have seen that 2 Timothy 3:16 reveals that all of Scripture-every single iota of it is inspired by God or God-breathed (literally). There is no part of Scripture that was written without a specific significance or purpose. Thus, we cannot select only to accept and teach portions of the Scriptures that we like and omit the rest.

To 'pick and choose' what parts of the Bible you want to believe and follow is the dangerous path that leads to heresy and an imbalanced practice of many a cultic groups. The formation of many cults are not necessarily due to the teaching of heresies, but due to overemphasis on only some specific portions of the Scriptures according to their likings. For us believers in Christ Jesus, this is simply not an option. God did not give us an incomplete Word. Rather, it contains the complete divine revelation of God and His eternal plan such that we are warned at the end of the Bible in Rev. 22:18-19 that "if anyone shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophesy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."

He gave us a perfect Constitution that must be accepted in its entirety. Practically, this means that it is crucial that we constantly check our teachings and our practices against the Word of God, our Constitution. Only then will we be safeguarded from heresies and erroneous practices that may be damaging to the Church of God. Thank the Lord for this magnificent and complete Constitution, the most reliable and complete resource we will ever need for our spiritual life. Thus, many have called the Bible, "the Life Manual of a Christian Life" and I might add "and of the Church Life."