Following his admonitions related to joy, prayer, and thanksgiving, the Apostle Paul presses the believers at Thessalonica to be open to the present day ministry of the Holy Spirit, but he warns them that they must test everything by God's infallible Standard of Truth, the Bible.
Only the Bible is completely trustworthy. Scientific theories change, our understanding of history changes, denominations and churches change. People will let you down and give you bad counsel. But the Bible never errs. The Bible is the ONLY rule for how we ought to believe and how we ought to live.
The Bible is God's yardstick, his "canon," and every sermon, every "word" from Christian sisters and brothers, every piece of medical advice, every "finding" of science, as well as every creed, confession, and catechism has to be measured by Holy Scripture. |