Sola Scriptura

Sola Scriptura: The Erosion of Authority

Scripture alone is the inerrant rule of the church's life, but the evangelical church today has
separated Scripture from its authoritative function. In practice, the church is guided, far too
often, by the culture. Therapeutic technique, marketing strategies, and the beat of the
entertainment world often have far more to say about what the church wants, how it
functions and what it offers, than does the Word of God. Pastors have neglected their
rightful oversight of worship, including the doctrinal content of the music.

As biblical authority has been abandoned in practice, as its truths have faded from Christian
consciousness, and as its doctrines have lost their saliency, the church has been
increasingly emptied of its integrity, moral authority and direction.
Rather than adapting Christian faith to satisfy the felt needs of consumers, we must
proclaim the law as the only measure of true righteousness and the gospel as the only
announcement of saving truth. Biblical truth is indispensable to the church's
understanding, nurture and discipline.

Scripture must take us beyond our perceived needs to our real needs and liberate us from
seeing ourselves through the seductive images, cliche's, promises, and priorities of mass
culture. It is only in the light of God's truth that we understand ourselves aright and see
God's provision for our need. The Bible, therefore, must be taught and preached in the
church. Sermons must be expositions of the Bible and its teachings, not expressions of the
preachers opinions or the ideas of the age. We must settle for nothing less than what God
has given.

The work of the Holy Spirit in personal experience cannot be disengaged from Scripture.
The Spirit does not speak in ways that are independent of Scripture. Apart from Scripture
we would never have known of God's grace in Christ. The biblical Word, rather than
spiritual experience, is the test of truth.

Thesis One: Sola Scriptura
We reaffirm the inerrant Scripture to be the sole source of written divine revelation, which
alone can bind the conscience. The Bible alone teaches all that is necessary for our
salvation from sin and is the standard by which all Christian behavior must be measured.

We deny that any creed, council or individual may bind a Christian's conscience, that the
Holy Spirit speaks independently of or contrary to what is set forth in the Bible, or that
personal spiritual experience can ever be a vehicle of revelation.