The Centrality of Scripture

Preaching the Word imparts a certain passion to those consumed by it. John Piper has often felt this and passed it on in his messages. The following quotation comes from his sermon, "Building Our Lives On The Bible." You may want to check it out in its entirety. We have always needed the Scripture. Jesus affirmed in three locations that while heaven and earth will pass away [that which we know and unfortunately too much depend upon], his Word would NOT pass away (Matt. 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33). And twice we read in the closing words of Luke that Jesus emphatically taught that the Scripture MUST be fulfilled. It is not optional. It is not dated. And it cannot be thwarted! When we read and quote and teach and preach the Bible, we are not drifting into irrational flights of fancy; we are delving into foundational, rock-solid truth! WE MUST SEE THIS TODAY! Every revival reignited a passion in God's people for the Holy Book, God's Word. The protestant reformation recaptured the Scriptures from the Roman Catholic church, who'd taken the people hostage, disallowing them from reading and interpreting the Scriptures themselves. Today, protestants seem quite willing to surrender the centrality of Scripture themselves without any outside devilish machinations! Oh, we must not do this! Hear what Piper says:

We are a people of the Book. We know God through the Book. We meet Christ in the Book. We see the cross in the Book. Our faith and love are kindled by the glorious truths of the Book. We have tasted the divine majesty of the Word and are persuaded that the Book is God's inspired and infallible written revelation. Therefore, what the Book teaches matters…

There is no salvation from sin and guilt and condemnation and hell apart from faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12; Romans 10:13-17; 1 John 5:12). And there is no other authority besides the Scriptures to show you who Christ is and to give you his Word. So don't leave the Bible, children. Don't leave the Bible, young people. Don't neglect the Bible, dads and moms. Don't ignore the Bible, single people. Under God, the "sacred writings," the Scriptures, are the greatest treasure in the world. They alone make us wise unto salvation through Christ. O don't neglect this Book!

I close with this reminder from Paul to the Thessalonian Christians, commending them for HOW they took the Scriptures:

And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. (1 Thess. 2:13)

Go, and do likewise.