Upon what authority should you accept the Bible as the word of God? The authority of God alone grounds the authority of Holy Scripture and although this authority manifests itself and is recognized among men, only by the Spirit of God can man accept and appreciate the self-authenticating Scriptures.
The authority of Scripture is the next topic in our series on the Confession and it comes to us in two paragraphs, which read as follows:
4 The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself), the author thereof; therefore it is to be received because it is the Word of God.
(2 Pet 1:19-21; 2 Tim 3:16; 1 Thess 2:13; 1 John 5:9)
5 We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the church of God to an high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scriptures; and the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, and the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole (which is to give all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man’s salvation, and many other incomparable excellencies, and entire perfections thereof, are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God; yet notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth, and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts.
(John 16:13-14; 1 Cor 2:10-12; 1 John 2:20, 27)
The Confession addresses two kinds of evidence put forth in defense of the authority of Scripture, followed by the work of the Holy Spirit, who persuades us and provides assurance for us that Scripture is the authoritative word of God. This article explores the Confession’s first set of reasons for believing that Holy Scripture is authoritative: the nature and work of God.
Scripture is norma normans non normata, the norming norm that is not normed. It is the rule that rules all rules and is ruled by no rule. It is the final authority, the final court of appeals, and the foundation upon which all religious authority rests. The source of this authority and the reason that man should believe this authority cannot be found in any man, church, or even the church.
The Confession argues that one should not believe in the authority of Scripture because of man. Neither the sword wielded by governing authorities, nor the mystical and subjective experience of man—even if he claims to have a further divine revelation—nor the reason of an individual can ground the authority of Holy Scripture upon which it is to be believed. The testimony of man may be yourself or another individual; regardless, the authority of God’s word does not rest upon the testimony of man.
Further, the testimony of the church, whether one considers the Roman Catholic Church or the true church that has endured through the ages, cannot serve as the grounds upon which one should accept Holy Scripture as authoritative. The Confession later admits that the church can serve to move or induce someone, but Scripture does not depend upon Christ’s bride for its authority. Herman Bavinck reasons simply, saying, “We have to make a choice: either Scripture contains a witness, a teaching about itself, its inspiration and authority, and in that case the church simply accepts and confirms this witness; or Scripture itself does not teach such an inspiration and authority, and in that case the church’s dogma about Scripture stands condemned for a Protestant,” (Reformed Dogmatics, I.458).
But Scripture does provide us with a doctrine of inspiration; these words and no other words are God-breathed. The Confession cites four proof texts, two of which describe the nature of Holy Scripture. Second Peter 1:19-21 and 2 Timothy 3:16 argue that Scripture, not its authors, are inspired. Men wrote the words of God as they were moved along by the Spirit of God. The will of the human authors did not produce the text that is from God; rather, God moved the human authors to write the words He willed to give to humanity.
Our doctrine of inspiration is important if we wish to uphold Scripture’s authority. To uphold an authoritative word from God, we must deny that the authors merely wrote out of a religious instinct, or because they were given a unique insight into religious truths by the Holy Spirit, or that their writings are mere reflections of a religious experience. Nor did God take the words of man and appropriate them as His own.[1] In no way does Scripture become God’s word because of the work of man. These views of inspiration rest upon a creaturely foundation and deny that God is the immediate author of Scripture, shifting the grounds of authority off the being of God and placing it on the motives of man.
Scripture is God’s word because it is God-breathed. When we open the pages of Holy Scripture, we affirm, “Thus saith the Lord,” for these are the words that come to us from the mouth of God in the servant form of human language. Every word of Scripture and all the words of Scripture are God’s because He spoke them. He is the ultimate Author and Truth itself.
The other two proof texts found in the Confession describe the perfection of God’s testimony as the grounds upon which Scripture is to be received. Consider the example of those in Thessalonica, of whom Paul says, “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers,” (1 Thess 2:13). Although the church of Thessalonica heard the word from man, they did not accept it as the word of man but as the word of God, its author. The Apostle John argues that the testimony of God is greater than man’s testimony (1 John 5:9), therefore, man ought to search for the authoritative testimony where God has clearly expressed Himself, in Holy Scripture. As Bavinck states, “There is in fact only one ground on which the authority of Scripture can be based, and that is its inspiration,” (Reformed Dogmatics, I.462).
Since Scripture is inspired, the Confession contends that Scripture is to be received on the authority of the One who gave it. Neither the creature nor a created institution supplies the authoritative testimony needed for one to accept Holy Scripture. No higher ground and no surer foundation can be found than Scripture’s Author who testifies to His authority in and through His word.