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One would be dreadfully misunderstanding this book’s title to
think it supports the idea of a Christian absenting himself from
the body of Christ, rejecting biblical teaching about elders and
leaders, and perpetually sitting under a tree somewhere alone
with the Bible. While an individual believer may derive great
benefit from solitary contemplation of God’s truth in such a
context, it will always lead one back to service to his or her
fellow believers in the church and to ministry within the
context of being salt and light in the world. [15]
The same God who created all things, who upholds all things by
the word of His power, who made the mind and tongue of man, and
who works all things after the counsel of His will, is able to
decree both the ends (the final form of Scripture, to its very
text) and the means (the experiences and contexts and languages
of the men He used). Can
we record this divine process on film, chart it, demonstrate
it through some kind of electronic instrument? Surely not, but a
God who by speaking can create light itself is not beyond using
His creation in such a fashion. [72]
Without a reliable, inspired record of what Christ did, and the
reasons for His sacrifice, who can truly know what it means to
believe the gospel anyway? The certainty of the revelation is
foundational to the
proclamation of the gospel. Without inspiration and inerrancy,
the gospel of power becomes a suggestion of weakness. [77]
Everyone seemingly has the right to express individual feelings
about what he or she perceives the Bible is saying, as if these
ideas necessarily reflect what God inspired in His Word. While
we would never let anyone get away with treating
our writings like
this, we seem to think God
is not bothered and, what is worse, that our conclusions are
somehow authoritative in their representation of His Word. [90]
There are essentially two groups in the world: those who bow to,
obey, and love God’s Word, and those who do not. The details may
differ, but the foundation remains the same. [137]
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