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-40-
God Hath Spoken
Chapter 8
THE PRESERVATION OF SCRIPTURE
Let us look into the book of Psalms. In Psalm 12, note verses 6 and 7. "The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever."
The Necessity of Preservation The Laws for Obedience
In his Body of Divinity, Thomas Watson gives five laws regulating obedience. First, obedience must be according to the right rule which is the Word of God found in the Book of God. If the Bible contains errors, contradictions, and is otherwise unreliable, and untrustworthy, how can we be faithful to God if we follow its teaching? Obedience pertains to Scripture: we are obedient according to the degree we follow the precepts in the Scriptures. Therefore, obedience rests or falls according to the inerrancy and to the infallibility of Scripture. If the Bible is filled with errors, we better not obey it. Obedience must be according to the right rule, and that rule is the will of God revealed in the Bible.
Second, obedience must stem from the right root: that root is faith. This is the reason Solomon says, "The plowing of the wicked is sin" (Prov. 21:4). The sinner cannot do what is right because his obedience does not proceed from faith. Until a person is born again, he cannot obey in an evangelical sense: he obeys because he is afraid of punishment, but he cannot properly obey because he does not love God in faith.
Third, obedience must be for the right reason. We are to obey God not because we are afraid of what God will do to us if we disobey, but because we want to please Him. "Thou hast formed us for thyself," Augustine wrote, "and our hearts are restless until they rest in thee." And, as James Usshur coined, "The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever." This is the reason for man's existence.
Fourth, obedience must issue from the right heart. No one intends to be obedient who does not intend to be obedient in all things. The person who obeys by picking and choosing what he will and what he will not do, does not obey. So, our Lord Jesus Christ said that after we have done all that was commanded us to do, we should say, "I am an unprofitable servant, because I have only done that which was my duty to do."
In the last place, obedience must lie at right anchor: it must be a constant obedience or it is not sincere. If we are obedient for a week, or for a month, or even for years, only to forsake the will of God and to plunge into a godless life, we never had an obedient heart.
Obedience must be according to the Word of God. It must spring from faith, and it must be for the right reason—the pleasure of God. Evangelical obedience involves consistent obedience in all things. "Teach me thy statutes," David cried (Psalm 119:12).
If the Bible is not inerrant, and we are obedient to what it teaches, it is possible that we could be disobedient to the will of God while obeying the Word of God. Everything stands or falls on the inerrancy of Scripture. Therefore, in order to have the Word of God as our rule in matters of faith and practice, God has preserved it from generation to generation. The psalmist testifies, "The words of the Lord are pure words...Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever" (Ps. 12:6-7).
If the Bible we have is not infallible, that is, incapable of error, then it has no authority. If it is not inerrant, then it is not faithful to the original manuscripts. Then, it must not be perfect, and it is not trustworthy. But the psalmist says, "The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul" (Ps. 19:7).