The Scriptures
By Jerry Batson, Th.D.
Special to The Alabama Baptist
The opening words of the Baptist Faith and Message statement cited last week, “The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired,” continues with the additional statement, “and is God’s revelation of Himself to man.” So along with the conviction that the Bible is divinely inspired we add the companion conviction that it also is God’s self-revelation. This confession sets forth the conviction that God Himself is the main subject matter of the Bible. It is His Holy Word about Himself. Therein, He has been pleased to reveal Himself to people of faith. The very term revelation carries at its core the meaning of something disclosed that was previously unknown or only imperfectly, partially or inaccurately known. Thus believers conclude that knowing God is not a process of human discovery but one of divine disclosure. Without His revelation God would remain hidden.
Christians historically have thought of God’s self-revelation in two broad categories: general revelation and special revelation. General revelation refers to ways God makes Himself known universally such as through nature, history and conscience. Special revelation refers to how God makes Himself known redemptively. We can surmise His existence through general revelation and thereby know something about God, such as His divine nature and eternal power (Rom. 1:20).
However, we can only know God in personal experience through His special revelation given through sending Christ the living Word whom we meet in the pages of the written Word which is the only truthful and trustworthy source of knowing God and His plan for His creation. God’s final and complete self-revelation in Christ is to be found in the totality of Christ — His person, words, work, as well as His life, death, resurrection, ascension and promised return.
The ultimate purpose of divine revelation is more than making intellectual awareness possible. It includes the establishing of a personal relationship between believers and our Creator. God’s ancient promise to His chosen people Israel is to the point: “I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people” (Lev. 26:12). Divine revelation is more than the disclosure of truth; it is the communication of life in which believers pass from death unto life, a life that knows God and experiences fellowship with God. As the songwriter expressed it, He walks with us and talks with us and tells us that we are His own.
Personal Fellowship
It was at this very point of personal fellowship with God that Christ prayed the evening before His crucifixion, saying to the Father, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent” (John 17:3). Only through knowing Christ in a saving relationship with Him do we really know God. Thus, 1 Corinthians 1:9 attests, “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” It is as Jesus said to some who refused to trust Him, “If you had known Me, you would have known my Father also” (John 8:19b).
The fact of the divine inspiration of the Scriptures assures us that it is a book that can be trusted. It also compels us to view the Bible as a book to be treasured, for only therein do we find the way to know God and enjoy fellowship with Him in time and eternity.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Jerry Batson is a retired Alabama Baptist pastor who also has served as associate dean of Beeson Divinity School at Samford University and professor of several schools of religion during his career.
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