Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. Plenty of people claim to have answers and solutions to our problems.
Opinions are abundant wherever we look. But the Bible is different. It is, as D. Helm put it, the true and authoritative story of God as He enters human history. Biblical faith, far from being man-made, is a response to God's self-disclosure. He has turned on the light for us through His Word.
Scripture is reliable and trustworthy. It holds the answers for the greatest longings of our soul. Today we're tuning in to this message titled, Written Authority.
Let's listen in. This is part four of the message, which was first preached on August 6, 2025. It's part of a sermon series through 1 Peter titled, Live as People Who Remember.
If you want to hear the whole message or other sermons in this series, you can visit www.delightingrace.com. The Old Testament Scriptures were fulfilled in what Jesus did, in what the Church is doing. The gospel that Jesus died according to what? The Scriptures.
And that He was buried and that He rose again according to what? The Scriptures. See the authority there?
And even Jesus, when He was facing severe hardship in His life and He was tempted to take a shortcut so that He wouldn't have to trust God, He was tempted and He responded with three words. What are they? It is what? Written. Do you see the authority there? Authority over my life.
Not just authority about what I should believe, but authority in my life. Written authority. Trustworthy information.
So what? Number two. Number one, God's self-disclosure is trustworthy information. Number two, I must accurately handle the word of truth.
Listen, that's not just a command for Rich Powell when he's in the pulpit on Sunday morning. Are you a student of the Scriptures? Are you accurately handling the word of truth?
Do you sit down and brush over it and say, hmm, I wonder what this means for me today? Let me give you two tools. Now you're going to have to bear with me here, all right, because there's going to be kind of like theological jargon here, all right?
But I'm going to explain them to you. But you need to have these two tools in your toolbox for accurately handling the word of God. Because the word of God doesn't just mean anything I want it to mean. It has a particular meaning and interpretation to it.
And I'm going to borrow this first one from Kevin Van Hooser, an excellent scholar. The first tool is the sense of the literary act. Well, historically what we'd say is, do you believe the Scriptures literally?
And some people today would just absolutely balk at that, right? But we need to understand what believing the Scriptures literally means. It means the sense of the literary act. Because a lot of Scripture does have symbolism in it. There's a lot of prophecy in it. There's a lot of poetry in it. So what is the sense of the literary act? In other words, the main thing is the plain thing, and the plain thing is the main thing.
I can repeat that if you need me to. This as opposed to approaching the Scripture as if it's all some mystical script and has some mythical understanding to it, or it's just myth, or you know, this is what's written, but what does it really mean? And so we allegorize it. We can easily do that, you know, when we have our ideas of what Christianity ought to be, and then we go to Scripture to try to prove our point. For example, in John chapter 21 and verse 7, this is after the resurrection, Peter and some of the guys were out on the lake fishing, and Peter had stripped down for work, right? In John chapter 21 verse 7 says, Peter put on his outer garment for he was stripped for work. That does not mean that's why you should get dressed up to go to church. Now that has actually been taught by a preacher in a pulpit. Now if you want to dress up to go to church, fine, but it's not based on that verse. Okay? Just like Thomas, I see Thomas back there laughing.
We talked about him in ABF this morning, right? Because one of the Psalms says, the Lord does not delight in the legs of a man. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't wear shorts to church, okay? You don't do that to Scripture. Thomas, bless your heart.
I love you, brother. So the sense of the literary act. The Scriptures are literature. They are literature. So what is the sense of the literary act? Is it written as historical narrative? Then treat it as historical narrative. Is it poetry? Then treat it as poetry. Is it prophecy? Then understand it as prophecy. Is it clearly using symbolic language? Then understand it as symbolic language.
But what is the sense of the literary act? That's tool number one. Tool number two, don't get scared by this, alright? Tool number two is hermeneutical sufficiency.
I can repeat that for you if you need me to also. Hermeneutical sufficiency. What do I mean by that? Scriptures interpret Scripture.
You know what's funny? A theological term that means the clarity, the ability to understand Scripture. The theological term for it is perspicuity. I'm like, who came up with that word? To mean clarity, right? Anyway, I digress. The hermeneutical sufficiency. Scripture interprets Scripture. Let's use Dwight's phrase.
Ready? What is it? Context is king. Because you know what? If you take a verse out of its context, you can make the Bible say just about anything you want it to say. There's a lot of that going on today.
There's a lot of that going on today. What is the context of the verse, of the chapter, of the book? In history, what is the context?
What was going on? That's why I talk about. This is what was going on in Rome for the Christians. This is why Peter wrote these letters to the Christians.
And how does that compare and apply to what we are experiencing today as followers of Jesus Christ? It was so important for them to remember and to live as people remember. Why is it so important for us to live as people who remember? Remember what?
Remember the truth. That we can justify. We have a basis for this belief. That is why, you know, this hermeneutical sufficiency, that is why Philippians 4.13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, is not a promise to the athlete who is faithful at his devotions that he will win the championship. But that's how it's used so many times.
If I'm just walking right with God, I'm going to win a championship because I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And I'm over here puking my guts out. It's not what that means.
Anyway, boy that sounds like fun. Don't apologize. I love it.
It challenges the church to really focus. Whose kid is that anyway? Anyway, I'm just going to... Let's blame it on Adam.
He's not here, right? Alright, number three. So what number three? My life is bound to Scripture. My life is bound to Scripture. The Scriptures transform, they inform and transform my affections and my attitudes. The things I love and the way I think. Scriptures transform the things I love and the way I think. And when what I love and how I think is transformed, then the natural outflow of that is transformed behavior, actions. I am bound to Scripture.
And it's not just a checklist of do this, do that. It's a reality, it's a story of this is who God is, this is what He has done, this is who you are, this is what God has done for you. This is who you are in Christ. Those are the things we must remember and live as people who remember. Because those are the things that transform our affections and our attitudes.
And thereby transform our actions. John 17, 17 again, Jesus in the garden praying, Sanctify them, set them apart by your truth. What's the rest of the verse? Your word is truth. It is the word of God that transforms your life and mine. My life is bound to Scripture.
Not only does it transform me, but it develops discernment. So that I can recognize destructive truths. If I am not remembering what God has disclosed, then I will be susceptible to destructive truths. Things that are not truth, but claim to be true and will lead me down a path of self-destruction. That is exactly why Peter writes 2 Peter.
All of chapter 2 is about that very thing. Destructive truths. And Paul said it with authority, didn't he? If anyone, even an angel comes and gives you another gospel, let him be what? Cursed.
It's not true. So what number 4? The Scriptures most accurately, Scriptures is like a singular, okay? The Scriptures most accurately identifies and meets my needs. I'm sorry if that's a grammatical flub there, but The Scriptures most accurately identifies and meets my needs.
Psalm 19, the Scriptures do what? They revive the soul. That's my psychological needs.
It makes wise the simple. That's my spiritual needs. It rejoices the heart. That's my emotional needs. It enlightens the eyes.
That's my intellectual needs. They are more to be desired than gold that meets the needs of my deepest longings. And my deepest longings are satisfied through what's in Scripture. By them, your servant is warned. They communicate loving boundaries, guardrails for my success.
And in keeping them, there is what? Great reward. They lead me to my highest good and my deepest satisfaction. Thanks for joining us here at Delight in Grace. You've been listening to Rich Powell, the lead pastor at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. The Delight in Grace mission is to help you know that God designed you to realize your highest good and your deepest satisfaction in Him, the one who is infinitely good. We hope you'll join us again on weekdays at 10 a.m.
