On the Word of God
The complete and proper subject of preaching is the Word of God. "They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them" (Luke 16:29). "The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' seat, that is, they teach the doctrine of Moses, which they claim to uphold. Whatever they tell you to observe, therefore, observe and do" (Matt 23:2-3).
The Word of God is the wisdom of God concerning the truth that leads to godliness, coming down from above. "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure" and so on (Jas 3:17). "Paul, a servant of God, according to the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness" (Titus 1:1).
The excellence of the Word is remarkable, and it shows itself in two ways: through its nature and through its effects.
The excellence of its nature consists in two qualities: its perfection and its eternity.
The perfection of Scripture has two aspects: its sufficiency and its purity. Its sufficiency means that the word of God is so complete that nothing belonging to its proper purpose may be added to it or taken from it. "The Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul" (Ps 19:7). "Whatever I command you, be careful to do it; you shall not add to it or take from it" (Deut 12:32). See also Rev 22:18-19.
Its purity means that Scripture remains whole in itself, free from deception and error. "The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times" (Ps 12:6).
The eternity of the word means that it stands inviolable and cannot pass away until everything it commands has been fully accomplished (Matt 5:18).
The excellence of Scripture's operation means that it is endowed with power: first, to search the human spirit. "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Heb 4:12). Second, to bind the conscience. "There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy" (Jas 4:12). "The Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King; He will save us" (Isa 33:22). To bind the conscience is to compel it either to accuse us or to excuse us of sin before God.
The word of God is found in Holy Scripture.
Scripture is the word of God written in a language suited to the Church by men who were directly called to serve as the clerks and secretaries of the Holy Spirit. "For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Pet 1:21).
It is called "canonical" because it functions as a canon, meaning a rule or line used by the master craftsman, by which truth is both first discovered and then tested. "And as many as walk according to this canon or rule" (Gal 6:16). For this reason, the supreme and final authority in settling the controversies of the Church belongs to Scripture alone.
The sum of Scripture is contained in a syllogism (that is, a form of reasoned argument) that runs as follows: The true Messiah will be both God and man, born from the line of David; He will be born of a virgin; He will bring the Gospel forth from His Father's heart; He will fulfill the Law; He will offer Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the faithful; He will conquer death by dying and rising again; He will ascend into heaven; and in His appointed time He will return to judge. But Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Mary, is exactly this person; therefore He is the true Messiah.
In this syllogism, the major premise is the central thrust of all the writings of the Prophets, while the minor premise is the burden of the writings of the Evangelists and Apostles.
Scripture consists of two parts: the New Testament and the Old.
The Old Testament is the first part of Scripture, written by the Prophets in Hebrew, or at least in Aramaic, and it unfolds primarily the old covenant of works. "He began with Moses and all the Prophets, and interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things written about Him" (Luke 16:29).
It is organized into books, which fall into three categories: historical, doctrinal, and prophetic.
The historical books are accounts of events, written to illustrate and confirm the doctrine set out in the other books. "Now all these things happened to them as examples, and were written to warn us" (1 Cor 10:11). "For whatever was written in former times was written for our instruction" (Rom 15:4).
These books number fifteen.
1. The book of Genesis, which is a history of creation, the fall, the promise, and the state of the Church preserved within private families.
2. The book of Exodus, which is a history of the Israelites' deliverance from the Egyptians, their departure from Egypt, the giving of the Law, and the construction of the Tabernacle.
3. The book of Leviticus, which contains an account of ceremonial worship.
4. The book of Numbers, which is a history of Israel's military march toward the land of Canaan.
5. The book of Deuteronomy, which is a commentary that revisits and explains the laws found in the preceding books.
6. The book of Joshua, which describes Israel's entry into and possession of the land of Canaan under Joshua.
7. The book of Judges, which covers the corrupt and troubled condition of the Church and commonwealth of Israel from the time of Joshua to the time of Eli.
8. The book of Ruth, which is a history concerning the marriages and descendants of Ruth.
9. The first and second books of Samuel, which tell the story of events under Eli and Samuel the priests, and under Saul and David the kings.
10. The first and second books of Kings, which give an account of what took place during the reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah.
11. The first and second books of Chronicles, which offer a structured history of the rise, growth, and ruin of the people of Israel, serving to trace and clarify the lineage of Christ.
12. The book of Ezra, which contains a history of the people's return from captivity in Babylon and the beginning of the restoration of the city.
13. The book of Nehemiah, which deals with the completion of that restoration.
14. The book of Esther, which is a history of how the Jewish community in Persia was preserved through Esther.
15. The book of Job is a historical account dealing with the causes of trials and suffering, along with Job's many conflicts and, finally, his happy resolution.
The Doctrinal books are those that teach and set out the content of Christian theology.
There are four of these.
1. The book of Psalms, which contains sacred songs suited to every condition of both the Church and its individual members, and which are to be sung with grace in the heart (Col 3:16).
2. The book of Proverbs, which is a guide to Christian conduct, teaching reverence toward God and right dealing toward one's neighbor.
3. The book of Ecclesiastes, which exposes the emptiness of all human pursuits when they are lived out apart from the fear of God.
4. The Song of Songs, which speaks of the mutual communion between Christ and the Church through the allegory of a bridegroom and his bride.
The Prophetical books are predictions of either God's judgments on the sins of the people or the deliverance of the Church, which would be completed at the coming of Christ.
Woven into these predictions, however, is the doctrine of repentance, and the prophets almost always offer consolations in Christ to those who turn back to Him.
It was also their custom, to help their hearers remember and understand, to present their sermons in condensed form after having delivered them at length. As we read: "Moreover the Lord said to me, take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary pen" (Isa 8:1), and "Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, so that a runner can read it" (Hab 2:2).
The Prophetical books are divided into the Greater and the Lesser Prophets.
The Greater Prophets are those that deliver their predictions in greater fullness and detail: the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel.
Also belonging to this category are the Lamentations of Jeremiah, which concern the suffering of the Jewish people around the time of the death of Josiah.
The minor prophets are those books that treat more briefly or selectively the things they foretell, covering either all such matters in condensed form or only some of them. These include the prophecies of Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.
That covers the Old Testament.
The New Testament is the second part of Scripture, written in Greek by the apostles or at least approved by them, and it sets out clearly the teaching of the new covenant: "built on the foundation of the prophets and apostles" (Eph 2:20).
Peter approved the Gospel of Mark, which was written by Mark at his prompting and direction, as Nicephorus maintains (Book 2, Chapter 45). John, who wrote his own Gospel, also approved the Gospel of Luke. The claim reported by Eusebius carries little weight: namely, that two passages (2 Tim 2:8 and Rom 2:16) show Paul to be the author of what we call Luke's Gospel. Paul is not referring in those passages to any single book, but to his entire ministry, since he goes on to say, "in which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains" (2 Tim 2:9).
The New Testament contains two kinds of writing: histories and epistles. The histories are:
1. The four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which together form a narrative account of the life, deeds, and teaching of Christ as He came into the world, running from His conception through to His ascension into heaven.
There are four writers: two who heard Christ directly, and two who saw Him with their own eyes, so that the historical record would rest on the strongest possible foundation of testimony.
The Evangelists differ from one another in the following ways: Matthew lays out the teachings that Christ delivered. Mark records the history briefly, though he did not simply abridge Matthew's Gospel, as Jerome supposed. Mark begins his account differently and proceeds in a different order, treating some things at greater length and introducing new material along the way. Luke aims at a complete history, arranged in a deliberate sequence. John is almost entirely devoted to revealing the divine nature of Christ and the benefits that flow from that divinity to us.
Jerome distinguishes the Evangelists by their opening passages. He says Matthew resembles a man, because he begins with the humanity of Christ. He likens Mark to a lion, because Mark opens with the preaching of John, which rang out like the roar of a lion. He compares Luke to an ox, because Luke begins with the priest Zechariah offering his sacrifice. He compares John to an eagle, because John soars upward, as it were, and opens with the divinity of Christ.
2. The Acts of the Apostles is a structured history, focusing especially on the deeds of Peter and Paul, preserved as a model for governing the church (2 Tim 3:10-11).
3. Revelation is a prophetic history concerning the condition of the church from the age in which the apostle John lived to the end of the world.
The Epistles. First, the thirteen Epistles of Paul:
1. To the Romans, covering justification, sanctification, and the duties of the Christian life.
2. The first to the Corinthians, addressing the reform of abuses within the church at Corinth.
3. The second to the Corinthians, dealing primarily with Paul's defense of himself and his apostleship against his opponents.
4. To the Galatians, on the subject of justification by faith apart from the works of the Law.
Which confirm the churches in doctrine and in the duties of Christian life:
5. To the Colossians
6. To the Philippians
7. To the Ephesians
8. The first to the Thessalonians
9. The second to the Thessalonians
Which prescribe the proper ordering of the church:
10. The first to Timothy
11. The second to Timothy
12. The Epistle to Titus, on ordering the church of the Cretans.
13. To Philemon, on receiving Onesimus.
The Epistle to the Hebrews, concerning the person and offices of Christ, and faith bearing fruit in good works.
The Epistle of James, concerning works joined to faith.
The first and second Epistles of Peter, touching sanctification and the works of new obedience.
The first Epistle of John, concerning the signs of fellowship with God.
The second Epistle of John to the elect lady, about perseverance in the truth.
The third Epistle of John to Gaius, concerning hospitality and consistency in what is good.
The Epistle of Jude, on holding firm to the faith against false prophets.
With this, we have surveyed the full scope of canonical Scripture. Now there are very strong proofs showing that Scripture alone is the word of God, and nothing else besides it.
Among these proofs, one kind produces certain knowledge through inward persuasion, while the other kind merely declares or testifies to that knowledge through outward marks.
Of the first kind there is only one: the inward testimony of the Holy Spirit speaking through the Scriptures. He does not merely whisper within a person's heart; He effectively persuades that person that these books of Scripture are the word of God. "My Spirit, that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth from henceforth even for ever" (Isa 59:21).
How persuasion works is as follows: the elect, having the Spirit of God, first recognize the voice of Christ speaking in the Scriptures. They then affirm what they recognize, and what they affirm they believe. Finally, in believing, they are (as it were) sealed with the seal of the Spirit: "In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit" (Eph 1:13).
The Church may also bear witness to the canon, but it cannot produce genuine persuasion. If it could, the voice of the Church would carry more authority than the voice of God, and the entire basis of human salvation would rest on human beings. It is hard to imagine anything more precarious than that.
