In worship this past Sunday, July 19, we focused on the historic Baptist distinctive: Bible Freedom. This was part three in our July series, We Hold These Truths, where we are reflecting on our identity as Christians who are Baptists, and our responsibility as people of the Book.”

We’ve been asking some questions about who we are as a church, particularly . . .

• What does it really mean to be a Baptist?

• How are we to live as Christians in a land where religious freedom for all people is guaranteed in the First Amendment to the Constitution?

• How do we live as citizens of heaven who are also loyal Americans? 

In his book, The Baptist Identity, Baptist historian, Walter Shurden reminds us that the Bible is authoritative—each individual is free to read, hear, and interpret the Bible. We have Freedom Of Interpretation guided by the Holy Spirit under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, our one and only King. (Shurden, p. 18)

We can read the Bible, and we should read the Bible.

But we must read with humility, expecting to be changed. Freedom of interpretation by each individual believer is fundamental to Baptist thought. 

We are free to read—but responsible to listen.

The right of private interpretation doesn’t mean that any or every interpretation is correct. We must do justice to the text. We must do our homework and bring our questions.

We ask questions like: 

• What was the original context or setting? 
• When was it written? 
• By whom and to whom? Under what circumstances? 
• What cultural and social patterns dominated the world of the writer? 
• What did Jesus say or not say about the issue? 

Doing our homework is hard work. Dr. Shurden laments, “But too many Baptists let others do their Bible study for them.” (Shurden, p. 20) Often, many don’t read it at all. 

Let’s read the Bible—until it lives in us, until its words are written on our hearts. May we be people of the Book!

What follows is the conclusion of the sermon, where I sensed the Holy Spirit connecting William Barclay’s commentary, a devotional from my quiet time, and a stop by our children’s Sunday School class before worship, where the children were putting together a jigsaw puzzle of Jesus and the little children. God is so amazing! 

In his book, Introducing The Bible, Scottish Bible scholar, William Barclay (1907-1978) writes:

The Bible is the book of love for each other, and love for God—and this is timeless and forever. The Bible is the one place where we find Jesus Christ. It is the only source book for the life and the words and teachings of Jesus . . . The Bible is ancient in years, but it is always relevant. In the Bible, we are confronted with the portrait (emphasis mine) of the One Person in heaven and earth in whom we become what we ought to be.

Next, from my devotional reading this past week (God’s Word for You Today):

Few things are more comforting than knowing that God is the One putting together the jigsaw puzzle of our lives. It was a London cartographer, John Spilsbury, who first commercialized the jigsaw puzzle around 1760. Puzzles come in all shapes and sizes—but the method has never changed.

You take oddly shaped pieces . . . and you fit them together. But the key is the picture on the box. Without it—you’re lost.

And that’s where many people are today. The pieces of life don’t seem to fit—circumstances don’t make sense—and we can’t see the finished picture. 

For Reflection: But the Bible reminds us of the portrait. The One Person in whom we become what we ought to be.

Jesus Christ is the picture on the puzzle of life. Without Him, we are lost. But in Him . . . we are complete. 

So today come to the One who holds the picture.

Trust Him . . . Follow Him . . . Give your life to Him. He gave us His! 

God’s blessings