God’s Revealed and Inspired Word with J.T. English
How do we know the Bible is really God’s Word? And can we trust that it’s totally true? In this episode of Journeywomen, Hunter and J.T. English talk about God’s revealed and inspired Word. They cover the authority, inerrancy, and sufficiency of Scripture, and more! Our guest, J.T. English, is the lead pastor of Storyline Fellowship in Arvada, Colorado, and author of Deep Discipleship: How the Church Can Make Whole Disciples of Jesus (B&H, 2020). He’s also the co-host of one of our favorite podcasts, Knowing Faith! J.T. holds a PhD in systematic theology from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a ThM from Dallas Theological Seminary. You can find him on Instagram and Twitter.
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
Can you tell us a little about who you are and what you do?
How do we know that the Bible is God’s Word?
What is the Christian view of “revelation” and what are some rival accounts?
What does it mean when people say the Bible is the inerrant Word of God?
Are there any errors in the Bible we have today?
Why has inerrancy become such a contested topic?
Is the Bible enough for knowing what God wants us to think or do?
How does the Holy Spirit help us receive and respond to the Word of God?
How does growing in our understanding of God's Word impact our discipleship relationships?
What's the value in seeking out discipleship in the local church?
NOTEWORTHY QUOTES
“Those of us who are full of the Holy Spirit can simply recognize the self-authenticating nature of the Bible, why? Because it is also written by the Holy Spirit.”
“At some point you have to know what you’re going to trust - and that is a step of faith itself. Whether you’re trusting in science or rationalism or reason, you are ultimately extending out in faith. And those of us who have faith in Christ and are full of the Holy Spirit realize that the Holy Spirit wrote these words.”
“We come to it and those of us who have faith in Christ, we trust in faith that these are the words God has given to us because they are the Spirit’s words.”
“As Christians, one of the things that we should highlight the most is that one of the most stunning claims of Christianity is that God has made himself known. He is under no obligation to, he is under no necessity to, but in his love and in his condescending nature, he makes himself known both in Christ and in Scripture. And that is an act of love. Revelation is an act of love, of God actively making himself known.”
“Revelation is our ability to know God because of God’s action to reveal himself to us.”
“Inerrancy is saying, and this is very important, that in the original manuscripts the Bible is completely true.”
“The Bible itself is God’s inspired Word.” (2 Tim. 3:16)
“We don’t want to think of revelation as just a record of things in the past. We want to think about it as God’s ongoing communication with his people.”
“If the Bible is inspired, then its characteristics match that of its author. And its author is God. God is authoritative, God is perfect, therefore the Bible is inerrant. God is sufficient, therefore his Word is sufficient for us. Anytime you’re talking about the characteristics of Scripture, those characteristics really match the character of God because it’s God’s speech.”
“We can hold our Bibles and say with full confidence that this is authoritative, this is inerrant, this is sufficient, this is God’s work spoken to us, to his church.”
“Christians have nothing to fear in exploring the inerrancy of the Bible.”
“When we talk about the Bible’s sufficiency, it is a pretty narrow claim. It is sufficient for us to know God and live righteous lives in Christ. It’s not sufficient for us to learn how to bake a honeybaked ham or how to cook a Thanksgiving turkey. There is knowledge outside of the Bible that we would say the Bible is insufficient for. The Bible is sufficiently specifically to lead us to Christ, to help us to repent from our sin, to lead us to live lives of godliness and righteousness in knowledge of him. It is sufficient for what it was intended to do.
“It’s so easy for us to not trust the Bible, but to trust the way that we feel.”
“We end up dismissing the external authority of the Bible for an internal authority which is the self.
“God says, ‘The way you come to know me is by me speaking to you.’ It is God’s speech, therefore we know. We don’t want to deny our feelings, to deny our intellect, or to deny our experiences, but those things are subcategories in relationship to God’s spoken Word to us.”
“Think about the young man or woman who is under an unbelievable amount of shame and guilt for a previous sin. They’re believing ‘I feel, therefore it’s true.’ That’s the false story of knowing based on intuition or feelings. But they are in Christ, they have been bought with the blood of Jesus, they have died with him and been raised to new life. The reason biblical authority matters is because the Bible does speak a better word over them that isn’t shame and guilt but is righteousness. That doesn't mean we should deny those feelings or that we shouldn’t seek to bring healing to those feelings, but if you’re feeling guilt and doubt, the Bible speaks a more authoritative and inerrant word over you that you’re seated in heaven with Christ, you are in union with him, and you have been forgiven.”
“Maybe you struggle with the false story of rationalism: I think therefore I am, and you struggle with doubt. Well that’s okay, because there's a place for doubt in faith, but the Bible says that one day our faith is going to be made sight, which is great news.”
“Maybe you’re not experiencing this abundant rich life in Christ. The Bible says that one day you’re going to reign and rule with him forever.”
“So Biblical authority matters, not just because we want to talk with atheists or secularists and try to prove that the Bible is true, but because so many Christians also struggle with false ways of knowing and the Bible speaks a better word of righteousness in Christ over their lives.”
“Not only did God the Holy Spirit inspire his Word, but God the Holy Spirit also illumines his Word.”
“We, as disciples of Jesus, never graduate from God’s Word.”
“We can never learn enough about the beauty of God in Scripture.”
“The reason I think that discipleship and the local church is fundamentally different than any other environment… is because the local church is a fundamentally different type of family… In the context of the local church… there is an environment of charity, where the other person’s growth means as much as yours does.”
“If we are in the same local church, I want to be as passionate about you growing in your knowledge and love of God as I am about me growing in my knowledge and love of God.”
“If you’re struggling to open God’s Word because of doubt or because of suffering in your life, God still loves you. God still sees you. You’re not meriting anything by loving the Bible more or by loving him more. His affection for you does not change based on the quality of your Bible study. He just loves you.”
“You are saved by grace and by grace alone, and you will be persevered by grace and by grace alone.”
“It’s not so that he loves me, but because he loves me that I want to spend more time in Scripture.”
HYMN
RESOURCES
Deep Discipleship by J.T. English
Chicago statement on Biblical inerrancy
Fundamentalism and the Word of God by J.I. Packer and the article J.I. Packer on Biblical Authority with quotes from his book
Thy Word is Still Truth: Essential Writings on the Doctrine of Scripture from the Reformation to Today (a more heavy resource)
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
How do you know the Bible is God’s Word? How can you grow in this conviction?
How can you lean on the Holy Spirit to help you receive and respond to the Word of God?
How does growing in your understanding of God's Word impact your discipleship relationships?
How can you, by the help of the Holy Spirit, receive and respond to the Word of God?
What are you going to do or implement as a result of what you’ve learned this week?
IMPORTANT NOTE
Journeywomen interviews are intended to serve as a springboard for continued study in the context of your local church. While we carefully select guests each week, interviews do not imply Journeywomen's endorsement of all writings and positions of the interviewee or any other resources mentioned.
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