The Necessity of the Bible (WCF 1.1-3)

Teaching Note

The Westminster Confession starts with the Word because Sola Scriptura, the necessity and supremacy of the Word, is a central pillar of the Christian faith that was known for centuries and re-discovered during the Reformation. What we see here is the utter necessity of God’s divine revelation of Himself if we would have any hope of salvation. By specifically listing the sixty-six canonical books and rejecting the Apocrypha, the Confession forces us to recognize that we cannot safely rely on God’s Word for salvation if we don’t know exactly what is His Word and what isn’t.

Scripture Verse

Romans 1:19–20

“For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse,”

WCF Text

Westminster Confession of Faith 1.1-3

1. 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 unexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of his will, which is necessary unto salvation. Therefore it pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in divers manners, to reveal himself, and to declare that his will unto his church; 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: which maketh the Holy Scripture to be most necessary; those former ways of God’s revealing his will unto his people being now ceased.

2. Under the name of Holy Scripture, or the Word of God written, are now contained all the books of the Old and New Testaments, which are these: Of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I Samuel, II Samuel, I Kings, II Kings, I Chronicles, II Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, The Song of Songs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. Of the New Testament: The Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, John; The Acts of the Apostles; Paul’s Epistles to the Romans, Corinthians I, Corinthians II, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians I, Thessalonians II, to Timothy I, to Timothy II, to Titus, to Philemon; The Epistle to the Hebrews; The Epistle of James; The first and second Epistles of Peter; The first, second, and third Epistles of John; The Epistle of Jude; The Revelation of John. All which are given by inspiration of God to be the rule of faith and life.

3. The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of divine inspiration, are no part of the canon of the Scripture, and therefore are of no authority in the church of God, nor to be any otherwise approved, or made use of, than other human writings.

Teaching Content

• Natural Revelation: Creation testifies clearly that there is a God and that He is skillful, wise, and good, but this sort of Natural Revelation does not allow us to know God savingly. We can know of Him, but not truly know Him from creation alone.
• Special Revelation: To truly know God He must condescend to us and reveal Himself to us. This came to His church in various means: prophets, dreams, visions, but has now been written down for us in the Scriptures.
• Superiority of the Word: He wanted us to know Him savingly and so He first revealed Himself and then caused that revelation to be written down for us and preserved so that we could hear it preached and read it ourselves and know that it is reliable, accurate, trustworthy and true. 2 Peter 1:19-21 speaks of the written scriptures as the “the prophetic word more fully confirmed.” It is better for the church to have the written Word than to have continuing prophets.
• No Continuing Revelation: Christ is the center of history, all of the Old Testament points forward to the coming Messiah and the New Testament speaks of Christ’s life, death, resurrection, ascension, and His creation of His church. As such, we have all that we need in it for faith and godliness and we will get no more special revelation until Christ comes again.
• Authority of Scripture: If the scripture are the only rule of faith and practice, then we have to know which books are scripture and which aren’t. There are many books written by the church that are helpful and good, including some of the Apocrypha, but if they are not the Word then they have no authority to regulate the Christian life.
• Canon of Scripture: The history of the church shows that there are 66 books of the Bible. 39 books in the Old Testament, as has always been affirmed by the Jews in the Old Covenant, and 27 books in the New Testament as was recognized by the church very early on. To be clear, at no point did the church choose which books were scripture and which weren’t, they only recognized and formalized what God had made clear to His people.

Discussion Questions

• If creation clearly reveals God’s existence and power, why isn’t that enough for salvation? What is missing from what nature can tell us?
• God revealed himself through prophets, dreams, and visions for centuries. Why is having it written down actually better for the church than continuing revelation would be?
• Some Christians today claim to receive new revelation from God. What is the theological problem with claiming continuing revelation?
• Why does it matter which books are in the Bible?
• The church recognized the canon rather than choosing it. What is the difference, and why does that distinction matter?
• Why do you think God chose to have his revelation written down rather than simply passed on through trusted teachers and oral tradition?

The Authority of the Bible (WCF 1.4-6)

Teaching Note

The Scriptures have authority over the church because they are the Word of God. He has spoken and we, as His people, must listen. The church plays an incredibly important role in the life of the believer, but ultimately the officers of the church are only stewards of what God has revealed with no power to impose their own will upon believers. Thankfully, the Lord has given us everything that we need for life and godliness in His word!

Scripture Verse

2 Peter 1:19–21

“And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit,”

WCF Text

Westminster Confession of Faith 1.4-6 4. The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man, or church; but wholly upon God (who is truth itself) the author thereof: and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God.

5. We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the church to an high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scripture. And the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, 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, the many other incomparable excellencies, and the entire perfection 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.

6. 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: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men. Nevertheless, we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the Word: and that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and government of the church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature, and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed.

Teaching Content

• Other Evidences for the Scripture: The church can and does affirm the beauty and utility of the scriptures, the content of the Word itself makes it clear that it fits together in a way that no human authors could ever achieve, and it has been proven by generation after generation of believers. Yet, none of those things are why we believe it is the Word of God.
• Authority of Scripture: The process that the church went through to recognize the canon is still, in part, happening in the hearts of believers today. Ultimately we believe the bible is the Word of God because the Holy Spirit works in our hearts to make that fact plain to us.
• The Sufficiency of Scripture: The Word of God contains everything that we need for this life and the life to come. Everything that a man or woman must know about God and himself to repent, believe, and walk in Christ is either made explicit in the Word or can be figured out based on the clear things the Word does say. On account of this it is unnecessary and foolish to maintain the church can or should add anything to the Word.
• The Work of the Holy Spirit: Without the Work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts we will not only not recognize the scriptures as the Word of God, we also won’t be able to understand them.
• Sanctified Wisdom: The Word doesn’t tell us everything we might want to know. We are commanded to worship the Lord on Sunday, but we aren’t told what time the service should be. In light of that the elders of the church are called to use their knowledge of the Word, their God given wisdom, and their understanding of their flock to determine things like service times. In doing so they are not able to make authoritative declarations and must give much grace to other sessions who made different decisions.

Discussion Questions

• What about the bible strikes you as clearly more than a human book?
• Why is it important that our ultimate assurance of Scripture’s authority comes from the Holy Spirit rather than from arguments or evidence?
• What is the difference between the Holy Spirit illuminating Scripture for a believer and someone claiming the Spirit gave them new revelation?
• If everything necessary for salvation is already in Scripture, why do so many Christians feel they need extra guidance beyond the Bible?
• The Confession says truth can be deduced from Scripture by “good and necessary consequence.” Can you think of an example of a doctrine that works that way?
• What would it mean practically for a church if its officers believed they had authority over Scripture rather than under it?
• If someone says “the Holy Spirit told me something that contradicts the Bible,” how would you respond using what the Confession teaches here?

References