The Enduring Word: A Call to Stewardship
Five hundred years after the first printed English New Testament (1526): William Tyndale’s consuming conviction reminds us of both God's soveriegnty and our stewardship.
We are grateful to Crossway for producing a documentary on the life and work of William Tyndale, tracing God’s providence from Tyndale to the English Standard Version. The documentary is available for free on YouTube, and we encourage you to watch it and share it with others.
We also encourage you to consider how you can be a steward of the Word in your own life and in your community. Whether it is through personal study, teaching, or supporting the work of Bible translation and distribution, we can all play a part in ensuring that God's voice continues to be heard through His enduring written Word.
Stewards of Sacred Scripture
We thank God for William Tyndale and the priceless gift that he gave his life to give us. As we celebrate this gift on its 500th anniversary, we look to the text itself in Paul’s charge to Timothy:
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:14–17
The sacred writings are God’s written Word, not the accumulated opinions of prelates and councils. Tyndale died to establish that distinction.
They are able to make one wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Tyndale did not translate to distribute information. He translated so that sinners would meet Christ. Every part of Scripture, he said, terminates on Him.
All Scripture is breathed out by God—and therefore stands over kings, bishops, and tradition alike. The Word is before the congregation.
And Scripture is profitable, equipping the man of God for every good work. Tyndale would not let anyone divide grace from obedience. His own formulation of the order is worth memorizing: “God’s mercy maketh my faith; and my faith, my love, and my love, my works.” Let us, therefore, read, listen, study, memorize, and meditate on Scripture to this end. Not merely out of duty but out of love.
Five hundred years on, the plowboy has his Bible. He has it in a dozen translations, on a device in his pocket, at no cost and no risk. Tyndale offered his body to torture and death for a bare text in English. We have everything he asked for and more. The question this puts to us is not whether we admire the man who died for the book, but whether we learn, live, and love through it.
soli Deo gloria
