Basic Text: Psalm 19

Daily Reading

M – 2 Peter 1:16–21 – Moved by the Holy Spirit

T – Amos 2:1–8 – Thus says the Lord

W – Acts 4:23–31 – Through the Holy Spirit

T – Psalm 19:7–14 – The law of the Lord is perfect

F – 2 Timothy 3:14–17 – Inspired by God

S – Matthew 5:17–20 – Not one iota or one dot

S – Luke 24:44–49 – Everything written about me

INTRODUCTION

“Do you believe that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God and the only rule of faith and practice given by him to his Church?”

This is one of the questions that a believer must answer when he formally declares his faith before the church.

The Holy Scriptures are God’s self-revelation and “chiefly teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man” (answer to Question 5 of the Westminster Larger Catechism “LC”).

Thus, before beginning this study, we want to make clear that, although we follow the articles of the Apostles’ Creed, our purpose is to study the Holy Scriptures. For this reason, we consider it important to state our attitude toward them. In full agreement with the doctrinal standards mentioned above, we confess without hesitation: “The Holy Scriptures—the Old and New Testaments—are the Word of God, the only rule of faith and obedience” (answer to Question 3 of the Larger Catechism).

I. WHAT IS THE BIBLE?

It is a collection of books that God himself commanded to be written. He chose a group of men to carry out this important work, all possessing one qualifying credential: “holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21). The books of the Bible were “given by inspiration of God to be the rule of faith and practice” (Westminster Confession of Faith, I.II).

The best way to understand the term “inspiration of God” is to examine how God communicated his Word to these holy men. God promised both Moses and Jeremiah: “… I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak” (Exodus 4:12; Jeremiah 1:9). There are other biblical texts that also help us understand the matter of inspiration. The prophets frequently used the expression: “Thus says the Lord” (1 Kings 21:19; Isaiah 30:15; Jeremiah 2:5; Ezekiel 13:3; Amos 2:6; Obadiah 1:1; Haggai 1:7; Zechariah 8:20, to cite only a few examples). The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews, before quoting an Old Testament passage, says: “… as the Holy Spirit says” (Hebrews 3:7); in the book of Acts, after Peter and John, who had been released from prison, joined the church, they prayed: “Sovereign Lord … who said through the Holy Spirit by the mouth of our father David” (Acts 4:24–25), making it clear that although David wrote Psalm 2, it was God who spoke to him through the Holy Spirit. We can summarize the matter with the following definition:

Inspiration was the act by which God, through the Holy Spirit, moved and guided the sacred writers so that they recorded, faithfully and without error, all of his divine will.

“Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4). Therefore, when we read the Bible, it is as though we were hearing the words from God’s own mouth.

II. Translations of the Scriptures

Faithful translations of the Scriptures are to be received as the very Word of God, in the same sense in which the Scriptures in the original languages are received, although divine inspiration belongs to the originals, written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Without hesitation, the apostle Paul used the Old Testament text translated from Hebrew into Greek, because the language of his Gentile hearers was Greek. Everyone has the right to read the Bible in his or her own language. Therefore, we support and uphold the work of Bible societies whose mission is to distribute a correct translation of the Bible in a language people can understand.

III. The Revelation of Nature

The psalmist could observe: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). The apostle Paul added: “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” (Romans 1:20). A human being cannot excuse himself by claiming that he did not obey God because he did not know the Bible, for he is already condemned for failing to glorify God, whose glory is displayed in nature.

We must obey God because there is a law, a basic knowledge, engraved upon our hearts, with the conscience also bearing witness to that same law (Romans 2:11–16).

IV. The Necessity of the Scriptures

The revelation of nature, however, is incomplete because it does not teach us about God’s will for our lives. Therefore, we need the Scriptures. God’s Word guides us according to his divine purposes.

This need to know God’s will has always been evident. From the first man until Christ’s first coming, God revealed himself in a special way, verbally, speaking through angels and prophets (Genesis 16:7–12; Hebrews 1:1). But he revealed himself fully in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, when he came into the world (Hebrews 1:1–3; Colossians 2:9). Everything God had to offer humanity was entrusted to his Son (John 3:35). Therefore, we reject all later revelations through tongues, visions, dreams, or prophecies.

The conclusion of Scripture is: “In these last days, [God] has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things” (Hebrews 1:2). The biblical teaching is this: “… therefore the Lord was pleased (…) to reveal himself and declare to his Church that his will (…) and he was likewise pleased to have it written down in its entirety. This makes the Holy Scripture indispensable, since those former ways of God revealing his will to his people have ceased” (WCF, I.I).

The revelation given in Christ was written down, and thus we have the New Testament. The Word of God, in its written and unchanging form, is so complete that we can, without any fear, place all our trust and hope in it. God has spoken; it is for each person to say confidently: “Amen. I believe.”

V. The Books of the Bible

The next step is to examine which books the Bible contains. The Jewish community in Christ’s time recognized only the 39 well-known books of the Old Testament. The Christian Church, from its beginning, adopted the same standard. But with the revelations brought by Jesus Christ, more books were written, giving us the 27 books of the New Testament and thus bringing divine revelation to its completion. The only Bible recognized by evangelical Christians is the one containing 66 books. This is the Bible published by most Bible societies.

There may be a question concerning the Apocryphal books (not recognized as inspired). For cultural reasons, these books were translated into Greek along with the Old Testament in the second century BC. But they were not recognized as Holy Scripture. They were not part of the Bible Jesus used.

In the fourth century AD, Jerome translated the Scriptures into Latin. He knew that these books were not part of Scripture, but he translated them anyway and left them in the collection—as he explained in the introduction to his work—out of respect for their antiquity and historical value.

When the religious Reformation took place in the sixteenth century, the Reformers denounced the improper presence of those books in the sacred collection and published translations of the Scriptures that contained, naturally, only the inspired books. But the Catholic Church responded at the Council of Trent (1546), officially including the Apocrypha among the canonical books.

VI. Reading the Bible

Question 157 of the Larger Catechism asks, “How is the Word of God to be read?” It should be read every day as a spiritual exercise. Consider the answer provided by the same Catechism: “The Holy Scriptures are to be read with an high and reverent esteem; with a firm persuasion that they are the very Word of God, and that he only can enable us to understand them; with desire to know, believe, and obey the will of God revealed in them; with diligence and attention to the matter and scope of them; with meditation, application, self-denial, and prayer.”

Conclusion

The Bible teaches us everything we must believe concerning God, but it also teaches about humanity’s moral responsibility. The Ten Commandments continue to be valid as a moral and spiritual standard for all people.

Christ’s word is this: “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). And above all, each person’s duty is found in John 6:29: “That you believe in him whom he has sent” (cf. John 3:16). For “there is salvation in no one else (…) for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Application

Do you truly believe that the Holy Scriptures are the only rule of faith and practice? How should we regard the so-called “prophecies” of our day?

We should believe the Bible with the same determination with which the apostle Peter responded to Jesus after he commanded them to let down the nets, following several unsuccessful attempts: “At your word I will let down the nets” (Luke 5:5).