Musick-al note # 196
If you really desire eternal life, the only book one needs to study is the Bible, especially the New Testament and urge you to study it carefully and follow it alone. This means not only to learn about Jesus but to learn how to obey Him, how to worship Him and what name one must wear to be pleasing to Him. We have need of no more than this. The study booklets we sent were designed to help you understand the Word of God and nothing more. You need no more than God’s Word to please God. Let us, therefore, understand some qualities or characteristics of the Bible which make it impossible to properly use other books as our standard or authority. The Bible is complete and all sufficient (2 Tim. 3:16-17, 2 Pet. 1:3, Rev. 22:18-19) It does not make errors. Since it is God’s Word, and God does not lie (Heb. 6:18, John 10:35), it is clear that there are no errors in the original text of the Bible. Itis inspired. This means it is “God-breathed” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). The men who wrote it were guided by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21, John 14:26). It is therefore authoritative. Men must not take from or add to the word (Deut.4:2, Rev.28:18-19, 2 John 9-11). Men must not pervert the word (Gal.1:6-9).
This means that when we study it and understand it properly, it will tell man everything he needs to know about ultimate reality, how to gain peace of mind and meet the difficulties, temptations and stresses of life, how to improve the society in which we live by reforming the members of that society, and what is man’s normal spiritual condition (lost) and how to remedy that condition (be saved). Then it is sufficient to show men how to live a faithful Christian life after he has been saved from his sin. It shows all that God requires for man to live in love, purity, humility, sacrificially and in submission to God’s will. Thus, the Bible makes clear that ONLY THE BIBLE is needed to show a man how to obey the gospel and become a CHRISTIAN. The Gospel–“the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27) was preached in the first century. If the “faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3) and “all things that pertain to live and Godliness” (2 Peter 1:3) were sufficient then, they are sufficient now! There is only one way to eternal salvation – in Christ (Acts 4:12, Hebrews 5:9).
Gordon Musick
Musick-al Notes 