Sunday

Day 2: The Holy Scripture, part 1

Audio Introduction Day 2

Yesterday we learned that Man's Chief End is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
But how do we do that? The Bible explains how.

Shorter Catechism Q.2 - Larger Catechism Q.3

The Shorter Catechism
Q. 2. What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?
A. The word of God, which is contained in the scrip­tures of the Old and New Testaments,c is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him.d

c 2 Tim. iii. 16. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for in­struction in righteousness.
Eph. ii. 20. And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone.

d. 1 John i. 3. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. Ver. 4. And these things write we unto you, that our joy may be full.


The Larger Catechism
Q. 3. What is the word of God?
A. The holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the word of God,e the only rule of faith and obedience.f

e 2 Tim. iii. 16. All scripture is given by inspiration of God.
2 Pet. i. 19. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts : Ver. 20. Know­ing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. Ver. 21. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man ; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

f Eph. ii. 20. And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner­stone.
Rev. xxii. 18. For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: Ver. 19. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this pro­phecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Isa. viii. 20. To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not accord­ing to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
Luke xvi. 29. They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. Ver. 31. If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.
Gal. i. 8. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. Ver. 9. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. 2 Tim. iii. 15, 16. [See in letter a.]

Wesminster Confession, Chapter 1, Section 1


THE

CONFESSION OF FAITH,

Agreed upon by the assembly of divines at Westminster: Examined and approved, Anno 1647, by the general assembly of the church of scotland ; and ratified by acts of parliament 1649 and 1690.

CHAP. I.—Of the Holy Scripture.


I. ALTHOUGH the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence, do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable;a yet they are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of his will, which is necessary unto salvation:b therefore it pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in divers manners, to reveal himself, and to declare that his will unto his Church;c and afterwards, for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the Church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing;d which maketh the holy scripture to be most necessary;e those former ways of God's revealing his will unto his people being now ceased.f

a Rom. ii. 14. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Ver. 15. Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another.
Rom. i. 19. Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them: for God hath shewed it unto them. Ver. 20. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.
Ps. xix. 1. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handy-work. Ver. 2. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. Ver. 3. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.
Rom. i. 32. Who, knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. With Rom. ii. 1. Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.

b 1 Cor. i. 21. For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
1 Cor. ii. 13. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. Ver. 14. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God : for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

c Heb. i. 1. God, who at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets.

d Prov. xxii. 19. That thy trust may lie in the Lord, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee. Ver. 20. Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge; Ver. 21. That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee ?
Luke i. 8. It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, Ver. 4. That thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed.
Rom. xv. 4. For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning; that we, through patience and comfort of the scriptures, might have hope.
Matt. iv. 4. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Ver. 7. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God. Ver. 10. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan : for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Isa. viii. 19. And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead ? Ver. 20. To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not ac­cording to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

e 2 Tim. iii. 15. And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
2 Pet. i. 19. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts.

f Heb. i. 1. God, who at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Ver. 2. Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.

6 comments:

  1. These questions seem fairly straight forward.

    SQ2 What standard has God given us to show how we may glorify and enjoy him?
    SA2 The word of God, in the scrip­tures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only standard to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him.

    LQ3 What is the word of God?
    LA3 The holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the word of God, the only standard of faith and obedience.

    On to the Confession of Faith... Yow! That "paragraph" is one sentence. I thought I wrote run on sentences. Well, here's my Paraphrase.

    Creation, man's relationship to creation, and God's relationship to creation show God's wisdom, power, and goodness so completely that there is no way to deny that God exists. But, creation alone can not tell us enough about God and our relationship with God to restore our relationship with Him. So, throughout history God chose to reveal himself at many times and in various ways to show his will to his Church. Later, God's revelation of Himself was written down so the truth could be preserved and shared, and so the Church would be more secure against the corruption of the flesh and the malice of Satan and the world. This is why the Bible is so important, because it is how God reveals himself to the world now.

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  2. As an exercise, paraphrasing the Westminster Standards can strengthen you. But to say "I'm going to paraphrase the Westminster Confession" is like saying "I'm going to impersonate Fred Astaire." Or maybe Michael Jordan. The artistry of the original is better appreciated than imitated.

    Keep in mind that I'm a harsh taskmaster and a tough grader, but I would give you a B+.

    One great feature of the original Westminster is that many of the phrases are straight out of the Bible. The student of Westminster becomes a student of the Bible without trying.

    Here's a version of the Confession in modern English. It actually improves slightly over the original by saying "without excuse" rather than "unexcusable" (compare Romans 1:20). But IMHO even "unexcusable" brings out the meaning of Romans 1 better than your "no way to deny." Obviously millions DO deny that God exists. But they don't do so rationally, or with true integrity. And God will not excuse them for this.

    Another key line is "to commit the same wholly unto writing." The idea here is that EVERYTHING God wanted us to hear from ALL that the prophets spoke is in the Bible. A lot of cults deny that. You left out the word "wholly," or some substitute, and that lets a lot of cults in the door.

    But, hey, you're working all alone, while the Westminster Assembly consisted of about 150 of the greatest Biblical scholars of the day, all comparing each other's drafts, everyone contributing to the final product. And I'm sorry to tell you this (since I know this was going to be your next project) but they already created a translation in Latin.

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  3. So ... your saying ... I'm a B+ Michael Jordan impersonator! Hee hee hee.

    I agree "no way", and "no excuse" are not the same thing. So I would change my first sentence to:

    Creation, man's relationship to creation, and God's relationship to creation show God's wisdom, power, and goodness so completely that there is no excuse for denying God exists.

    Also, I did overlook the word wholly. But your comment raises a question. The bible documents the revelations that God wanted to document in the way God wanted to document them. But it seems reasonable that there are details of the revelations that are not in the bible. So is wholly really the correct term? (I think the Michael Jordan thing is going to my head.) I equate wholly with entirely. Are they saying they committed Gods revelations of him self entirely into writing? [I need to think about this more.]

    I would't say you are a "harsh" taskmaster. I would say you are a "strict" taskmaster. I am doing this as an exercise, and any strict corrections are very much appreciated.

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  4. Michael Jordan, B+ . . . OK, maybe I'm too easy a grader.

    Food for thought: why would you say "there is no excuse for denying God exists" rather than "there is no excuse for not believing God exists," or even further (and more in line with what Romans 1 is saying), "there is no excuse for not obeying God."

    But it seems reasonable that there are details of the revelations that are not in the bible.

    What makes this assumption reasonable? For example, we know that the letter we call "Second Corinthians" is actually Paul's third or fourth letter. The Old Testament speaks of things "written in the Book of Jasher" (2 Samuel 1:18), which isn't in the Bible. But what reason is there to assume that the content of some revelation of God that might have been in the Book of Jasher or in another letter of Paul are not to be found in the books that we do have in the Bible? Section 6 of this chapter of the Confession says

    The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man's salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture:

    In other words, maybe in the Book of Jasher God revealed that Socrates is mortal. But if God revealed that all men are mortal in 1 Chronicles and then revealed through Jeremiah that Socrates is a man, we don't really need the line from the Book of Jasher, because we can deduce from Scripture that Socrates is mortal. This conclusion, in fact, is "necessary." John 1:1 says that Jesus is the LOGOS, the logic of God, so any necessary conclusion is part of God's revelation.

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  5. Re. Food for thought point 1: I don't know why I focused on atheism rather than obedience. I should say there is no excuse for disobeying God.

    Re. Food for thought point 2: I was struggling with the idea that the bible committed the *whole* revelation to writing. When I used the word detail I had the idea that the *whole* revelation couldn't be written down in the bible. But, I was confused. The unimportant details aren't in the bible but the important details, the *whole* of what God wanted to reveal, is in the bible.

    One other point: While re-reading the passage over and over to figure out what the whole revelation meant, I found the word "that". Apparently I completely missed it. I think the "that" is referring to the Lords pleasure to reveal himself. So, that means He declared revealing God was His will for his church. I completely missed that.

    Since I'm not going to get to day three today, I will correct my first statement of my understanding of part one of chapter one of the Westminster Confession of Faith.

    Creation, man's relationship to creation, and God's relationship to creation show God's wisdom, power, and goodness so completely that we have no excuse for disobeying God. But, creation alone can not tell us enough about God and our relationship with God that we can have a proper relationship with Him. So, throughout history, God chose to reveal himself at many times and in various ways. He also declared that his will for his church was to reveal himself. Later, God's revelation of Himself was completely written down so the truth could be preserved and shared, and so the Church would be more secure against the corruption of the flesh and the malice of Satan and the world. This is why the Bible is so important, because God does not reveal his will to the world the way he used to.

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  6. I have a feeling, though I'm not sure, and certainly can't prove it at this time, that you're doing something "modern" with an old English use of the word "that." I think it's redundant the way they used it in that 1648 sentence. Consider the word "that" in 1 Cor. i. 21, up above, omitted in most modern translations. It may not be the exact same grammatical rule, but I wouldn't build a doctrine on it.

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