BY REV. ABRAHAM PARK (DECEMBER 2, 2012)
'Why do we need to return to the Bible? We need to have the apostolic confession of faith. We need to return to the Bible. "The Lord is Christ. He is the son of the living God." That was the confession. It is the confession that says our faith is returning back to Christ. Jesus asked the disciples, "What do the people say?" They said, "Oh, they say you're a prophet, John the Baptist, Elijah..." Would such answers satisfy Jesus? Jesus answered, "Who do you say that I am?" and Peter, who's always in a hurry, he said, "You are the Christ, the son of the Living God." That is the apostolic confession of faith. And the Bible is the Word of God that God Himself recorded for us. The Bible is the only book that points us to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Bible is the book of faith that teaches us we must believe in Jesus. The Bible says that when we believe in Jesus, that we will surely be saved. When we believe and trust in Jesus, then nobody is perished. In Isaiah 42 it says, "If you believe Jesus and you perish, then you can sue me", God says. Who will sue God? There is no one, right? 2 Timothy 3:15 to 17 says 'And from child that you have known, the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that lead you to salvation through faith which is in Jesus Christ.'
See, the Bible will equip us to be an adequate man of God. And it will equip us for every good work. Only the Bible could do this. Shouldn't your sons and daughters flourish and do well?
According to Colossians 1:26, the Bible is the administration of mystery that has been hidden before the ages and generations:
Colossians 1:26-27 that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. See also Romans 16:25-26.
The mystery of God is Jesus Christ, as in Colossians 2:2.
Colossians 2:2 that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself
Only the 66 books of the Bible are the absolute Word of faith, the Word of salvation, the Word of eternal life from God. We must not believe in anything else beside the Old and New Testaments. We must only believe in the Bible. It is flawless. It's spotless. It's infallible and inerrant. The Word of salvation. The Bible has divine authority which comes from its self-attestation. We must not interpret the Bible ourselves, either. It is the Word by Holy Spirit. So the Bible can be interpreted only by itself. Only by faith alone, the reformed faith says "only the Scriptures!"
The reformed faith requires reestablishment of the view of the Bible. We need to preach only through the Bible. We need to meditate only upon the Bible. And within the Bible, we need to experience the Holy Spirit, and pray through the Bible. Only then can we have proper preaching, and proper thoughts. It has to come through the Bible and through the work of the Holy Spirit. When we read the Bible, the work of the Holy Spirit will surely take place.
What are the three elements of the protestant reformation? Only the Bible: Sola Scriptura. We read John 5:39, right? Only the Bible, Sola Scriptura. Secondly, only grace: Sola Gratia. When Jesus came, He came in grace and truth in John 1:14. The word became flesh and Jesus is the only One who came in grace and truth. Only the Bible, only grace, and only faith: these are the three aspects of the religious reformation. The Bible, grace, and faith. This is how we can return to Jesus Christ. The revelation of Jesus Christ is the Bible. And only Jesus Christ can be the object of worship and faith. And that's the motto of reformation for our life today.
For our homes to be reformed, for our family, our children, our husband, our spouses to live in peace, we need to return to the Bible. We need to trust only the Word of God. And we need to eat and live according to the Word. And I pray that all of you will have that kind of faith. No matter what anyone else says, by faith, the Word of God has come to our Pyungkang Church. By faith the Word is in us. Don't trust in anything else besides this. The Bible is our salvation. The Word will take full responsibility for us. Our husbands and wives, our parents and children, our sons and daughters-in-law, whoever it may be, only the Word of God will take care of them. I pray in the name of the Lord that our Pyungkang Church believe in the Bible and give thanks, and that whether we are awake or asleep, eating or drinking, wherever we are, we will cherish only the Bible.
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