Speaking out: Peter Francis

BIBLICAL AUTHORITY – A PRIORITY OR A NECESSITY?

In the early 1990s an idea began to grow in popularity among many in the business world and beyond. The idea, perhaps first popularised by Thomas Leonard, an American financial planner, was to find someone who could serve you as a “life coach”. The “life coach” was someone who would help you think through the bigger questions of life, not just your financial strategies for safeguarding your future, but someone who would help you organise and prioritise your life’s goals and activities. In many ways, the task of the “life coach” was to help you set the whole trajectory of your life.

But long before the latest fad of “life coaches” came along, we Christians already had a coach to show us how to live, and where our lives should be heading. That coach came, not in the form of a series of DVDs and training manuals, or the counsel of a professional “life coach”. It came in the form of a book which, in His grace, God has preserved for us down through the millennia. That book is the Bible, the Word of God, which Paul reminds us is God-breathed, or inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16).

I have recently returned from a week-long Bible Conference in which I was asked to share in the Word of God at the SIL (Summer Institute of Linguistics) bi-annual conference in Vanuatu. This was a particularly precious time as, over the course of the week, we worked our way through Peter’s second, and final, letter to first century believers. In this letter Peter, in one sense, serves as a life coach as he reminds believers about the foundations of their precious faith— foundations which are grounded in

10 FEB/MAR 20 QB.ORG.AU the Word of God. Peter wants his readers to understand how vitally important it is that they are firmly established in the truth of God’s Word. And, towards the end of chapter one, Peter wants them to understand that this Word is not just the product of “cleverly invented stories” (v.16), nor is it just a collection of opinions from prophets of a bygone age. Peter, in this letter, makes three great appeals to the veracity and value of God’s Word.

1. He draws attention to the witness of the apostles of Jesus.

These are the men who had been there with Jesus, who had seen what He did, heard what He taught and had witnessed His manner of living. Indeed, Peter reminds his readers that some of them had witnessed His glorious transfiguration (vs. 16-18). They heard the voice from heaven saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (ref Matt 17:5). They had also witnessed His life, death and resurrection. But it is not just their own first-hand witness to which Peter appeals.

2. He draws attention to the witness of the Old Testament prophets.

Peter is careful to remind his readers that the prophets did not simply speak of their own accord, offering their own opinions about life, the origins of the universe and the meaning of life. Peter tells us that these prophets spoke as they “were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (v.21). While men may have penned the words, God breathed or inspired the words they wrote.

It is this same word, recorded by the prophets and the apostles, inspired by the Holy Spirit, which serves as our “life coach”, teaching us how to live, love and serve God with the entirety of our lives. It is this word that reminds us that we should not live with the same kind of shortsighted temporal view of life shared by the world. It is this Word that reminds us that we should “seek earth where only righteousness dwells (3:13). This is the blessed hope which Paul speaks of in Titus 2:13. So, in light of the certainty of Christ’s return, Peter asks the question, “what kind of people ought you [we] to be?” (3:11). He says, “[We] ought to live holy and godly lives.” This book, which serves as a life coach, reminds us that as God’s people we are to live lives of hope and holiness.

first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matt 6:33), that we should live not for ourselves but for Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. This Word lets us know why we are here, where we are headed and how we should live right now today!

3. He speaks about the certainty of Christ’s return

Towards the end of Peter’s letter, he speaks about the certainty of Christ’s return and the unpopular topic of God’s coming day of judgment. But Peter reminds us, as does Malachi, that for those who have trusted in Christ, we actually “look forward” to that day—that day in which sin will finally and forever be done away with, and God will usher in a new heaven and new As I shared with the SIL team, we should remind ourselves of the importance of immersing ourselves daily in the Word of God. For the members of this team it is, in one sense, their daily task as they translate the Scriptures into a range of languages and dialects from across the islands. But we were also reminded that the study of God’s Word must not be merely intellectual. We must let the Word sink deeply into our hearts. We need to allow the Word to continue challenging and transforming us from the inside out. And so, as we concluded, we revisited Colossians 3:16 which calls us to “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.”

I thank God for the privilege of sharing amongst a fabulous team of men and women who have dedicated their lives to translating the Scriptures into the languages of others, so that they too may allow the word of Christ to dwell in them richly. Many of these missionaries have been living in tough and isolated islands for years as they have sought to learn the local languages and then begin the arduous task of translation. One of these couples is Adam and Hester Pike, who went out from the church in which we first ministered, Cleveland Baptist. For the past 16 years this precious couple, supported significantly by Cleveland, Victoria Point and Eastside Baptist churches, has poured their lives into the translation of the Scripture into the Merei language. Over this time, they have translated 80% of the Scriptures into this language!

But, why have they done this? Because they believe that the Word of God is not only a priority, but a necessity in the development of faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. Their desire is to see every person in their language community being shaped and developed by the power of the Gospel and the power of God’s Word. The writer to the Hebrews reminds us that “this Word” is “living and powerful” (Hebrews 4:12).

In 2019, our Annual Assembly set six Priorities to guide our QB Movement for the next 5 years. The first of these priorities concerns biblical authority. It states that:

“The truth of Scripture centred in Jesus is fundamental to all our beliefs and practices. We study the Bible, we teach and preach the Bible, we submit to Scripture and we live its truth. We expect Scripture to direct and change our hearts and minds as it is enlivened by the Holy Spirit. (2 Tim. 3:16; John 16:13)”

The priority of this Word is not just for missionaries who have devoted their lives to Scripture translation. It is for all of us. In a world that shouts at us and to us from all directions, a world that beckons us to pursue the temporal and fleeting pleasures of self-indulgence and sin, we each need to know what it is to immerse ourselves in God’s Word. And the truth is, the more we get into God’s Word, the more God’s Word will get into us.

So, here’s the unashamed sales pitch! If you have never contemplated it before this, why not consider enrolling in a course of study at Malyon Theological College? You can study for credit or simply as an audit student. You can study fulltime or part-time. You can study in class or online. But, either way, you will be well assured of a deep and solid grounding in the Word of God.

Peter Francis Principal, Malyon peter.francis@malyon.edu.au