The Scriptures
By Jerry Batson, Th.D.
Special to The Alabama Baptist
In the prior two weeks Theology 101 has drawn attention to the first sentence in the Baptist Faith and Message statement which sets forth the truth of the Bible as the divinely inspired word of God and as God’s self-revelation. The second sentence of this statement declares that we believe the Bible to be “a perfect treasure of divine instruction.”
Thus, we believe the Scriptures are not only to be trusted and treasured, but also to be obeyed as God’s instruction about the kind of life that pleases Him.
This will not come about unless we possess a holy hunger for the Bible’s truth for life.
The admonition of 1 Peter 2:2 uses the illustration of a baby to say, “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby.” Whence comes a baby’s craving for milk? Does it not come hand in hand with the baby’s birth? Babies normally do not have to be schooled or cajoled into craving milk. Thus, might the analogy instruct us that a person who has been spiritually born possesses an innate desire for God’s word, unless we have misdirected that craving by seeking to satisfy it with other than God’s revealed truth?
The absence of desire for the word of God might well be a warning flag for one to examine the reality of having experienced a spiritual birth.
Paul’s missionary companion Timothy serves as a case study at the point of the Holy Scriptures being the source of divine instruction. Timothy was born into a family that knew the influence of at least two generations of Christian faith, according to 2 Timothy 1:5, which says, “I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice.”
Thus, later the older apostle could admonish Timothy about the importance of receiving instruction from the Scriptures: “You must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” To this is added, “All Scripture … is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and for instruction in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:14–16).
To take the analogy of birth and babyhood craving for milk further, we might say that what is the case in the natural realm is also true in the spiritual one.
Craving biblical nourishment
With all things being healthy and normal, the creative intention in the natural realm is that the one who gives birth also supplies the milk needed for healthy growth.
In the spiritual realm, we are told that Christians have been born again “through the word of God which lives and abides forever” (1 Pet. 1:23). Our analogy would then tell us that what gave us life is also that which nourishes us unto spiritual growth. Namely, the instruction of God’s word.
As we grow in Christ, the analogy of desiring the milk of the Word gives place to ingesting its solid food. At this point, issue was taken with some believers over the fact that they had remained spiritual infants having not matured so as to receive and digest instruction from the divine Word, as to become strong in faith, convictions and conduct (1 Cor. 3:1−2). In a practical way, for the Bible to be nourishment for our souls, we must crave it, ingest it, digest it and practice it in order for growth to occur.
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