LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
The Authority of Scripture
“He that believeth hath the witness in himself” (1 John 5:10, KJV).
It is absolutely essential to the enjoyment of settled peace that the heart should rest solely on the authority of Holy Scripture. Nothing else will stand. Inward evidences, spiritual experiences, comfortable frames, happy feelings, are all very good, very valuable, and very desirable; indeed we cannot prize them too highly in their right place. But, most assuredly, their right place is not at the foundation of the Christian position. If we look to such things as the ground of our peace, we shall very soon become clouded, uncertain, and miserable.
The reader cannot be too simple in his apprehension of this point. He must rest like a little child upon the testimony of the Holy Ghost in the Word. It is blessedly true that “He that believeth hath the witness in himself.” And again, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.”
All this is essential to Christianity; but it must, in no wise, be confounded with the witness of the Holy Ghost, as given to us in Holy Scripture. The Spirit of God never leads anyone to build upon His work as the ground of peace, but only upon the finished work of Christ, and the unchangeable Word of God; and we may rest assured that the more simply we rest on these the more settled our peace will be, and the clearer our evidences, the brighter our frames, the happier our feelings, the richer our experiences.
In short, the more we look away from self and all its belongings, and rest in Christ, on the clear authority of Scripture, the more spiritually minded we shall be; and the inspired apostle tells us that “to be spiritually minded (or, the minding of the Spirit is life and peace.” The best evidence of a spiritual mind is child-like repose in Christ and His Word. The clearest proof of an unspiritual mind is self-occupation.
It looks like piety, but it leads away from Christ - away from Scripture - away from God; and this is not piety, or faith, or Christianity. (C.H. Mackintosh).