The Authority of the Bible • The ultimate concern in a discussion of the Bible is its authority. This article will treat the authority of the Bible and its rightful role to command obedience. The Bible's authority in contemporary challenges, as well as in ethics and decision making, will be noted. The importance of personal and corporate application will conclude the discussion. ~ by David S. Dockery

The Bible — Sufficient! • Southern Baptists have long been strong advocates of the authority and sufficiency of Scripture. And while there may be little debate in our churches over the Bible's authority, on a practical level we may be subtly tempted to overlook the sufficiency of Scripture — as it is effectively taught and applied — when it comes to equipping our members for service and life. There are so many competing resources, trends, and strategies available today that we can be tempted to rely upon man's devices, rather than God's Word, for the training of God's people. However, a review of Paul's instruction to Timothy reminds us that His Word truly is sufficient in this regard. ~ by Kenneth S. Hemphill

The Bible — Effective! • Years ago, I was sitting by a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention listening to a major convention address. The speaker moved the crowd with his stories, illustrations, and vocabulary. All in all, it was a better than average message from a capable leader. As the message drew to a close, the former president turned to me and said: "It cost us so much to recover the authority of the Bible. When are we going to use it?" ~ Katherine Kipp

God—Personal Reflections on the Person of God • Our Baptist Faith and Message (BF&M) is divided into eighteen articles, reflecting the common and helpful practice of systematizing our theology. The BF&M describes God this way: "There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being." ~ by Morris H. Chapman

God — The Father • Nineteenth-century Protestant liberal theologian Adolf von Harnack described the Christian faith as "the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man." But today even this liberal theologian would be accused of using sexist language and pressed to revise his statement to something like "the motherhood/parenthood of God and the family of humanity." ~ by Terry L. Wilder

God The Father — All Powerful, Knowing, Loving, and Wise • In the Baptist Faith and Message (Article II.A.), Southern Baptists confess that God is all of these things: "all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise." We believe these attributes properly describe the character of God, because that is how the inspired Bible presents Him. Unfortunately, some people have downplayed or denied one or more of these attributes of God. They have difficulty reconciling the Bible's presentation of God with their own limited and uninspired observations. ~ by Malcolm B. Yarnell III

God The Father, History — His Story • My three-year-old son was sitting on my lap as I told him a story — the story of how his mother and I met. He looked up at me with a curious expression as I told him of how my cousin kept telling me about her friend, and how she wished I would give her a call. I told him how I hadn't been interested in tracking down a "blind date" with some unknown high school senior (I was a sophomore in college). My cousin had stopped nagging me about it, until one day sitting in biology class I just decided to scratch out a note asking my cousin to set up a time for me to meet this girl. I stamped the letter and took it to a curbside post office box. I hesitated at first, and almost pulled back the letter, before letting it fall into the mailbox. It was too late. I couldn't retrieve it. And my whole life was changed. ~ by Russell D. Moore

God The Son: Jesus Christ — The Eternal Son Who is Fully God • The Person and work of Jesus Christ is continually belittled in this post-postmodern age. Cults and sects would reduce Him to a created being, and an increasingly secular society dismisses Him altogether. But the identity of Jesus Christ is absolutely essential for a genuine Christian Gospel. To preach or believe in any other than the biblical Jesus is eternally fatal. ~ by Steven A. McKinion

God's Son — Born of a Woman • In every generation, the virgin birth of Jesus comes under attack, both from those within and those without the church. At the dawn of the 19th century (1799), Friedrich Schleiermacher, trying to make Christianity palatable to its "cultured despisers," placed belief in the virgin birth and the resurrection on the same level, holding that one need not believe either to still have "faith." A century later, in 1892, German Lutheran pastor Christopher Schrempf refused to use the Apostle's Creed in baptism because of his disbelief in the virgin birth. When a group of his followers consulted with Adolf Harnack, Harnack affirmed Schrempf's discrediting of the Apostle's Creed by attacking its historicity. ~ by Roger S. (Sing) Oldham

God the Son — His Humanity • Recently, a church member approached me hesitantly. He looked half afraid that I would accuse him of heresy once I heard what he was about to utter. Then he said, "I love God the Father. Don't get me wrong. But I really feel close to Jesus. What do you think of that?" ~ by David Roach

SBC LIFE is published by the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention • 901 Commerce Street, Nashville, Tennessee 37203, 615-244-2355, E-mail: jrevell@SBC.net

Morris H. Chapman, President and Chief Executive Officer • Roger S. (Sing) Oldham, Executive Editor •
John Revell, Editor • Rick Boyd, Art Director/Designer

SBC LIFE is published ten times per year and distributed to pastors, ministers of education, ministers of music, full-time denominational workers, chaplains, missionaries, and vocational evangelists of the Southern Baptist Convention. Workers retiring from any of these groups may continue to receive the magazine upon request. Subscription price to others is $14.95 per year. Bulk subscriptions are available at reduced prices.

All scripture is from the Holman Christian Standard Bible unless noted otherwise.

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SBC LIFE (ISSN 1081-8189), ©2009 Southern Baptist Convention, Executive Committee