By PASTOR ALLEN MCCLURE
Covenant Church
For Christians, 2017 marks a milestone. Later this year, in October, Christians will mark the 500th year of the Protestant Reformation. Events are scheduled around the world and will vary in their “take” on it. All Christians were affected by this monumental event, and its ramifications still shape us today.
One undeniable result was the production of the Bible for everyone to read. Have you read it cover to cover? My challenge to you is to read the Bible in its entirety this year.
Christians will mark the event in October because that is the month when a German Roman Catholic monk named Martin Luther posted a list of 95 errors he thought the Roman Catholic church had made. His appeal was to the Bible, which he later translated for the German people.
The project of Bible translation continues to this day, but we who speak English have had it in our language since at least the 1500s. It is important to read because there is a danger the Bible tells us to avoid in our faith. It is the danger of “turning to the right hand or to the left hand” and departing in one way or another from what it teaches (Deuteronomy 17:11; Joshua 1:7, 23:6). Jesus scolded the religious leaders of His day for substantially the same thing, telling them they err “not knowing the Scriptures” (Matthew 22:29). Let this not be said of you!
It takes between 70 and 80 hours to read the Bible in its entirety at the out-loud rate we read from a church pulpit or lectern. There are many Bible reading schedules available on line so I will leave you to your own strategy as to how to accomplish the task. If you are stuck, I will be glad to help.
When you struggle to understand what you are reading, there are several things you can do. Even if you have never done so before, the first thing (and most important) is to say, “God please help me understand what I read.” The second thing is to remember the overall message of the Bible — human salvation from God’s wrath (Romans 5:9; Colossians 3:6; I Thessalonians 1:9-10; Revelation 6:17; 19:15). The first few chapters of the first book of the Bible, Genesis, explain how our race came under God’s wrath; the rest of the Bible explains the grace, mercy, love and forgiveness to be had by some.
A third help in understanding the Bible can be found in some documents easily available online. Among these documents are the Creeds (Apostle’s, Nicene, Athanasian — all before the 500s) and the Confessions of various Christians over the past centuries.
At Covenant Church, in our adult study time, we are studying the first statement of belief adopted in Massachusetts in 1648, the Westminster Confession of Faith. However, any document of human or church production is NEVER to be made the determination of truth. The Bible is its own interpreter and alone determines truth.
One final group of documents you may find helpful on the interpretation of the Bible is the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, produced in 1978, and two later documents produced by the same group of scholars in 1982 and 1986. These documents, I think, do a good job explaining how to take the Bible, interpret it and apply it to life.
A fourth help is to join a group of people serious about the Bible and interact with them along with the most important (asking for God’s help) and the beliefs of Christians across time, place, and cultures — you will find remarkable agreement.
My challenge, again, is this: Read the Bible through. Many New Year goals are forgotten after a few weeks, but it is always worth a try. The person who aims at nothing usually achieves nothing.
About Covenant Church
Covenant Church is confessional, reformed, and a member of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) located at 19 Bridge St., in Millers Falls. We are the only Presbyterian Church in Franklin County. Our history dates to 1872.
We have adopted the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms as a faithful expression of what the Bible teaches.
Our worship is traditional with organ, piano and hymns. Our pastor opens the Scriptures with expositional preaching. For more information, leave a message at 413-659-3430. You may also visit www.covenantchurchmf.org for more information and to hear our pastor’s current series. We have Sunday School for all ages at 9:45 a.m. and worship at 11 a.m.