Statement #3: On The Scriptures

“I will submit to the Word of God (the Bible) as my ultimate authority and qualifier in life and ministry. Man’s thoughts and opinions are secondary to the foundation of scripture.”

At RRBC we value the thoughts, opinions, and feelings of others, however, as men and women committed to truth and the glory of God, we are not a people who allow these to be foundational and placed in higher importance/honor over the authority of scripture in our life and ministry as a church (Acts 17:11, 1 Corinthians 13: 4-6, 1 Timothy 3: 15, 2 Timothy 3: 16-17, Hebrews 4:12).

Which is to say, the Bible does not seem overly concerned with mankind’s personal thoughts, opinions, or feelings in relation to God’s own desire, lordship, and supremacy in His word. Concerning this J.D Grear has written:

“God is not ‘ours.’ He is His own. He’s not a salad bar where we take the items we have an appetite for and leave the others we do not. He’s not the Burger King God, where you ‘have him your way,’ or a Build-A-Bear God, where you assemble the deity you like best or find most comfortable. When God appeared to Moses, he declared, ‘I Am who I Am.’ I Am who I Am is not ‘I am whoever you want me to be.’” – “The pivotal question of faith is whether we are willing to accept God as he presents himself. Do we approach God listening for his ‘I Am,’ or do we quickly declare to him, ‘You should be…’? One way we can tell if we’ve remade God in our own image is by how often our ‘God’ contradicts and offends us. If our God only affirms what we already like and think [whether through our thoughts, opinions, or feelings], we’re probably not listening to him and instead deifying our own convictions.” [emphasis mine]

God reveals Himself and His gospel through His word, the Bible.  At RRBC, the focus of all our preaching is rooted in and flowing from the text of scripture. As a church we establish the word of God as our supreme authority in all matters of faith, worship, life, and witness as is declared in 2 Timothy 3:16-17: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

The early church had a deep love and passion for the word of God, and they devoted themselves to the knowing, teaching, and proclaiming of it. It was the wholehearted foundation for all they did. Therefore, it must become ours as well. As a church we cannot truly understand how to honor Christ and serve Him apart from His Word. Again, while our own personal thoughts, opinions and feelings are important, they are not God. God is God and He has spoken.

Here at RRBC, we not only believe that the Word of God (the Bible) is inerrant, however, we also believe that it is sufficient!

Helpful Article: https://au.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-real-meaning-of-sola-scriptura/