Bavinck on Sola Scriptura

The following paragraphs from Herman Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics: Volume I come after a discussion of how the theologian must function within his local church and use his confession. Here is a sentence explaining Bavinck's point. "Dogmatics [theology] is possible only for one who lives in the fellowship of the faith with one Christian church or another." He goes on to say that theologians/dogmaticians must stand on the shoulders of previous generations and not just those in their particular line of theology, but other lines as well. Lutherans begin within their own confession, but then move on to study and learn from other branches of the church, such as Presbyterian and Baptist. He also argues that none of us begin without presuppositions. We all have been taught something and from that deposit we then do theology. But there is a logical question that follows: Doesn't this build our theology on the foundation of our confessions and our church instead of God's Word? If we cannot do theology outside of a church and must have human teachers does that make our church and those teachers the source of our theology? If theology must be done in the church does that make the authority of our theology the church and her teaching? Here is Bavinck's answer to that question. Whenever you see dogmatics, etc. just substitute theology or theologian. I have removed a few Latin phrases.

This is not to elevate the history of dogma and the confession of the church to a position of infallible authority. There is a difference between the way in which a dogmatician is shaped and the primary principle from which dogmatics receives its material. In every branch of learning, the practitioner begins by living from the tradition. He always gains his first acquaintance with the field from an authority. He must first absorb the history of his discipline and attain a knowledge of the present state of the field; then he can go to work independently and acquire his own insights into the object of his research. But no one in his right mind will, for that reason, view the tradition, which was pedagogically [it taught him] so important to him, as the source of his discipline. It is no different for the dogmatician. Pedagogically the church is prior to Scripture. But in the logical order Scripture is the sole foundation of church and theology. In case of conflict between them, the possibility of which can never be denied on a Reformational view, church and confession must yield to Scripture.

Not the church but the Scripture is self-authenticating, the judge of controversies, and its own interpreter. Nothing may be put on a level with Scripture. Church, confession, tradition-all must be ordered and adjusted by it and submit themselves to it...The Reformed, though deeming a confession a necessity in this dispensation of the church in order to explain the Word of God, to turn aside heresies, and to maintain the unity of the faith, denied with the utmost emphasis that the confession had any authority apart from Scripture. Scripture alone is the norm and rule of faith and life. 

Jesus & The Bible

Jesus is not the Bible. We do not bow down to the book on the table, as if it contains Jesus. However, we cannot find Jesus outside of the Bible. For humans, God has given us the Scriptures as the only way we know Jesus. Jesus is in Heaven and we can pray to Him there. But we cannot hear the voice of Christ outside of the Scriptures. We cannot know Christ's character outside of what read in the Scriptures. How do we know the work in our lives is the Spirit of Christ and not the Devil? The Bible.  The Bible is where we find Jesus. There is no Jesus in church tradition unless He is the Jesus of the Bible. There is no Jesus in your heart unless He is the Jesus of the Bible. The preacher is not preaching Jesus unless he is preaching the Jesus of the Bible. When someone believes they can find Jesus outside of the Scriptures they have left the anchor of God's Word for either a church tradition, whether written (Roman Catholic) or spoken (celebrity preacher) or some personal experience where they met or heard Jesus. If we seek to find and follow Christ outside of the Scriptures we have shifted the foundation for our worship of Christ and walk with Christ from the words of God to the words of men.

The Danger of Hearing God's Word

God's mercy is great, but it is not endless. In the life of a man, a church, a denomination, a community, or a country a place can be reached where even God's mercy cannot be found.  II Chronicles 36:15-16 describes one such a circumstance: 

The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, until there was no remedy. 

God loved His people, Israel. He loved them enough to send them prophets and messengers. He loved them enough to send them messengers early and late or as the ESV says, "persistently." He sent Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, Hosea, Amos, and others. They came and they preached and they preached and they preached. They risked death and ridicule to bring them God's Word. Why? God loved His people.

But the people would not hear. They mocked, despised, and scoffed at the prophets. They killed them, ran them out of town, threw them into pits, ignored them, and laughed at them. They continued to worship idols, commit adultery with the nations, oppress the weak and poor, commit sexual immorality, and ignore God's law......Until there was no remedy. Look at that sentence. Let it sink in. "Wait," we say, "Isn't God's mercy always there for the taking whenever I need it?" No. There was a point of no return. There was a line where God's wrath could no longer be stayed. His mercy did not just keep coming and coming. Eventually His mercy dried up. Then He sent the Babylonians and they besieged Israel, burned her, led her best men away as prisoners, left the land ravaged, and killed her women and children.

Whenever we hear the Word preached it is God's mercy to us. He is being kind to all, but especially to the hard-hearted. He is saying, "Here is my Word one more time. Now repent and turn." He is saying, "Don't take advantage of my patience. Don't wait. Turn and be saved."  

Sitting under God's Word week after week, month after month is only good if we are repenting and pushing on to greater obedience. Hearing God's Word without seeing the holiness of God, our own depravity, the wonderful provision of Christ, and the need to be forgiven will lead to hearts of stone, eyes that glaze over when the Word is preached, and a life that is not conformed to Christ. Often the hardest hearts in the world are those who hear the Word of God over and over and yet do not repent.

God's compassion can run dry. A man who sits under the preaching of God's Word week after week, but does not turn and change will find himself crying out for help and it will not come (Proverbs 1:28-29).  A denomination that tolerates sin despite the prophets in her midst will find her gates battered and the sheep slaughtered.  A church that allows grievous sins in her midst to go without rebuke and without discipline will find Jesus striking her with sword of His mouth (Revelation 2:16). There comes a point where there is no remedy, where the only option left is judgment. This idea is echoed in Hebrews 6:1-8 and in James 1:21-27, as well as numerous other passages throughout God's Word.

II Chronicles 36:15-16 is a warning for all of us who enter God's house week after week. Hearing is not enough. We must pray that the Spirit will work through the Word to change us. We must strive for holiness and the death of sin in our lives (Romans 6:12). Where we fail we must confess our sins and throw ourselves upon the mercy of Christ. Where we grow in holiness we must give thanks to the One who has begun a good work in us (Philippians 1:6). Otherwise we will find ourselves looking for a remedy when there is none. And we will be cast out with those who mocked God's messengers.

Similar Posts:
Are You Embarrassed? 
Two Types of Preaching
Questions on Repentance

Reading is Not Enough

Every year the elders at our church give a recommended Bible reading schedule that will get someone through the Scriptures in a year. Some of our congregation follow this schedule. Some follow another schedule. As a pastor I know that my congregation cannot grow without a regular steady diet of God's Word.

But what about when people read God's Word, but do not grow?  How can someone read the Bible day in and day out, often for years and not become more holy or not see significant spiritual growth? How can someone read the Bible daily, attend sermons weekly and be a spiritual infant? We all know people who have read God's Word repeatedly and know it well, yet are still spiritually immature or are even drifting further and further from the faith. How does that happen?

There is no one size fits all when it comes to this. There are many reasons why someone reads the Bible and yet does not grow. However, having observed this pattern over the years there are a couple of reasons that consistently show up when this occurs.

Outside Authority
Reading the Bible only produces growth and maturity if the Bible is the absolute authority in one's life. If there is another authority that trumps the Bible then reading it will produce change when it lines up with that other authority. The authority is what rules a person's heart, not God's Word. That authority can be tradition, family, friends, data, anti-naturalistic presuppositions, modernistic individual ideas, Netflix, pleasure, etc. This list is almost endless. Most of us think the Bible is our authority. But when we are confronted with an unpleasant truth from the pages of Scriptures we appeal to someone or something else that allows us to continue as we are. I am not encouraging a me and my Bible only mindset. We need other input. But all other input must be subordinated to the Word of God. We do not grow if there is an outside authority that often confirms our biases and allows us to read the Bible, but not really change.

Reading It for Others 
If I was to pinpoint one main reason why people read the Bible and yet do not grow it is this one. Too many people read the Bible for other people. They read it with the sins and problems of those around them in mind instead of their own. Reading is mainly about teaching others instead humbling ourselves. We prepare a meal for others, but refuse to eat it. Of course, this is a great failure of pastors and teachers. We study, but not for ourselves. We mine the riches of God's Word, with an eye to the holiness of our people, but not to personal holiness. But it is also a problem among Christians who are not pastors or teachers. We read the Bible so we can teach our spouse or our children. We read it so we can evangelize. We read it so we can confront members of other denominations or confront members of our own churches. We read it to defend certain doctrines. None of this is inherently wrong. But it must not be first. First we should read for ourselves. What does the Lord want to teach me today? Where have I gone astray from his paths? Where has my zeal gotten weak? Has my love for Christ gone cold? Is there a specific sin the Lord is bringing to my attention that I need to repent of? Is there some part of His character he wants me to examine more closely? David uses the word "I" dozens of times in the Psalms. Why? David knew his walk with God was the priority. As we take those truths and apply them we will be fit to teach others with not just our words, but our lives.

Lack of Ongoing Practical Obedience
The Bible is not a magic pill we take to become more holy. To grow in Christ and holiness we must keep pressing. Too often we are like a 40 year old who was a star athlete in high school, but is now overweight and can barely run a 40 yard dash. He talks often his feats in high school not realizing that he has not grown since then. We too look back to previous greatness but are stuck in neutral, coasting through our Christian life. We keep up appearances, but there is no growth happening. One reason we can read and not grow is that we are not pressing forward. We read the Bible last year. We will read it again this year and gain next year. We look back with fondness on growth that occurred 5 years ago or 10 years ago. But we are no longer maturing. We don't weep over our sins much.  We check the boxes, but do not examine our lives.  We don't address our specific sins. We don't cultivate those virtues we are weak in. Sin has taken root and we are too lazy to get in the dirt and pull it out. Holiness is too hard so we read the Bible and talk about the Bible, but don't obey it. What is interesting about this problem is that when we work hard to grow the Bible comes alive to us. Passages that were dead leap to life.  We stop reciting the same verses over and over and find new ones. Books of the Bible that we thought were irrelevant but read because we had to now become more interesting.  Our eyes are opened to sins we did not see before. We come to love God more and people more. But this does not happen by remembering past battles we have won. It happens because we are still fighting, still on the front lines. It happens because we take God's Word and push it into the corners of our lives. All the Bible reading in the world will not compensate for laziness in our walk with Christ.

I would encourage reading the Bible over and over again. It is our life. It tells us about our great God, the Son He sent, and the Spirit who now indwells us. It tells us about our sin and the remedy for it. It tells us about the world God made and how to relate to the people in it.  Read and read again. But reading is not enough.  If we don't believe it is our absolute authority, don't read it personally, and don't constantly seek new ways to apply it to our lives we will find that we know the facts of the Bible well, well enough to convince others we are mature. But the reality is we are still spiritual infants.

The Supreme and Infallible Judge

Francis Turretin's section on Scripture, his 2nd topic, is marvelous, wonderful, invigorating, and Biblical. I recommend it for all who are interested in the Protestant view of Scripture. The 20th question in the Topic is:

Whether the Scriptures (or God speaking in them) are the supreme and infallible judge of controversies and the interpreter of the Scriptures. Or whether the church or the Roman Pontiff is. We affirm the former and deny the latter against the papists. 

He then says:

This is a primary question and almost the only one on account of which all the other controversies about the Scriptures started. From no other cause is either that authority of Scriptures called in question by the papists or their integrity and purity attacked or their perspicuity and perfection argued against, than to prove the Scriptures cannot be the judge of controversies and the necessity of having recourse to the tribunal of the church. 

He then gives seven reasons why Scripture is the supreme and infallible judge.

First, "God in the Old and New Testaments absolutely and unconditionally sends us to this judge."

Second, "The practice of Christ and his apostles confirms this for in controversies of faith they appeal to the Scriptures."

Third:

A supreme and infallible judge is one who never errs in judgment, nor is he able to err; is uninfluenced by prejudice and from whom is no appeal. Now these requisites can be found neither in the church, nor councils, nor pope, for they can both err and often have erred most egregiously.

Fourth:

Man cannot be the infallible interpreter of the Scriptures and judge of controversies because he liable to error. Our faith cannot be placed in him, but upon God alone from whom depends the sense and meaning of the Scriptures and who is the best interpreter of his own words. 

Fifth:

If there was such a judge as the papists maintain: (a)  it is a wonder that the Lord never mentions this interpreter who is so essential; (b) that Paul in his epistles...does not inform them even by a single word of so great a privilege; (c) that Peter in his catholic epistles did not arrogate this as about to be transmitted to his successors, much less exercise it; (d) that the popes were neither able nor willing by that infallible authority to settle the various most important controversies which the Romish church cherished in her own bosom (i.e., between the Thomists and the Scotists, the Dominicans and the Jesuits, the Jesuits and Jansenists, etc.). 

Sixth:

The church cannot be regarded as the judge of controversies because she would be a judge in her own cause and the rule of herself.  For the chief controversy is about the power and infallibility of the church, when the very question is whether the church is the judge, or whether the church can err. 

Seventh, "the ancients here agree with us." Turretin then goes on to quote church fathers who agree that the Scriptures are the final judge.

Here are a couple of other quotes from this section and the next, which is on what authority the church fathers should have in the church. All parentheses are his.

When we say that the Scriptures are the judge of controversies, we mean it in no other sense than that they are the source of divine right, and the most absolute rule of faith by which all controversies of faith can and should be certainly and perspicuously settled. 

The orthodox (although they hold the fathers in great estimation and think them very useful to a knowledge of the history of the ancient church, and our opinion on cardinal doctrines may agree with them) yet deny that their authority, whether as individuals or taken together, can be called authoritative in matter of faith and the interpretation of the Scriptures, so that by their judgment we must stand or fall. Their authority is only ecclesiastical and subordinate to the Scriptures and of no weight except so far as they with them. 

Therefore we gather that the fathers neither can nor ought to be regarded as judges in our controversies, but as witnesses who (by their wonderful consent) give testimony to the truth of Christianity and prove (by their silence or even by weighty reasons) the falsity of the doctrines introduced by the papists beyond and contrary to the Scriptures. Their writings must be respectfully received and read with profit. Yet at the same time they cannot have any other than our ecclesiastical and human authority (i.e., subordinate and dependent on the Scriptures. 

Bavinck on Scripture's Clarity

"The doctrine of the perspicuity [clarity] of Holy Scripture has frequently been misunderstood and misrepresented, both by Protestants and Catholics. It does not mean that matters and subjects with which Scripture deals are not mysteries that far exceed the reach of the human intellect. Nor does it assert that Scripture is clear in all its parts, so that no scientific exegesis is needed, or that, also in its doctrine of salvation, Scripture is plain and clear to every person without distinction. It means only that the truth, the knowledge of which is necessary to everyone for salvation, though not spelled out with equal clarity on every page of Scripture, is nevertheless presented throughout all of Scripture in such a simple and intelligible form that a person concerned about the salvation  of his or her own soul can easily, by personal reading and study, learn to know the truth of Scripture without the assistance and guidance of the church and the priest." 

(Reformed Dogmatics, Volume 1, p. 477)

Turretin on the Clarity of the Scriptures

One of the big issues plaguing the church is the failure to believe the Scriptures are sufficient and clear. Almost any debate today from evolution, to women's roles, to sodomy, to Protestants jumping to Eastern Orthodoxy or Roman Catholicism are at least in part arguments about Scripture's sufficiency (evolution) and/or Scripture's clarity (Roman Catholicism).  So in the spirit of keeping the debate going here are some of Francis Turretin's questions and answers under his Second Topic: The Holy Scriptures. The way Turretin has set up his Elentic Theology is that he asks a question then gives a quick answer to the question. That is then followed by several paragraphs defending and proving his answer.  Obviously, I have not included his defense of his answer in this blog post. There are 21 total questions on this topic. I have only included the ones that I thought were most pertinent to the clarity of the Scriptures.

Turretin's Questions

Are the Holy Scriptures truly authentic and divine? We affirm.

Do real contradictions occur in Scripture? Or are there any inexplicable passages which cannot be explained and made to harmonize? We deny. [Turretin spends several pages addressing various apparent contradictions.]

From what source does the divine authority of the Scriptures become known to us? Does it depend upon the testimony of the church as to itself or as to us? We deny against the papists.

Have the original texts of the Old and New Testaments come down to us pure and uncorrupted? We affirm against the papists. [How many Christians would deny this today?]

Are the Hebrew version of the Old Testament and the Greek of the New the only authentic versions? We affirm against the papists.

Do the Scriptures so perfectly contain all things necessary to salvation that there is no need of unwritten traditions after it? We affirm against the papists. 

Are the Scriptures so perspicuous in things necessary to salvation that they can be understood by believers without the external help of oral tradition or ecclesiastical authority? We affirm against the papists. 

Can the Scriptures be profitably read by any believer, and ought he to read them without permission? We affirm against the papists. 

Whether the Scriptures are the supreme and infallible judge of controversies and the interpreter of the Scriptures. Or whether the church of the Roman Pontiff is. We affirm the former and deny the latter against the papists. 

Are the writings of the fathers the rule of truth in doctrines of faith and in the interpretation of the Scriptures? We deny against the papists. 

Observations
First, there is a lot of similarity between Roman Catholics (papists) and Pentecostals when it comes to the Bible. Both believe that you need something besides the Scriptures, tradition or special revelation, to help you know and obey God. For that matter, many Evangelicals do as well. Therefore the sufficiency of Scripture must be fought for on two fronts.

Second,  clarity on matters related to salvation is both implicitly and explicitly taught in Scriptures. Without this we are left with only a human authority to guide into truth and no way to check that human authority.

Third, reading this section in Turretin I realized that most questions have been asked and answered before. For example, Turretin address textual criticism, why we need various versions of the Bible, why pastors need to appeal to the original languages, the role the Septuagint, etc. Turretin is not the last word on these things. He is wrong in some areas. But too often we assume when we hear a question for the first that it is the first time it has been asked and answered

Finally, what I love here is that Turretin believes the Word is powerful, sufficient, and clear. It is all we need. He is not opposed to preachers, the ministry, reading the church fathers, or the creeds, but none of these are God's Word. God's Word must be held out above all in both theory and practice.

The Means of Grace Par Excellence

Here is Herman Bavinck on the difference between the way Roman Catholics and the Reformed explained the relationship between the Word of God and the Church.

Protestants construe the relationship between Scripture and the church entirely differently than Rome. According to the latter, the church proceeds Scripture, the church was not built upon Scripture, but Scripture proceeded forth from the church. Therefore, the church in terms of its essence and existence does not need Scripture, but Scripture needs the church for its origin, collection, preservation, and interpretation. The Reformation reversed that relationship by placing the church upon the foundation of Scripture and by exalting Scripture above the church. Not the church, but Scripture as the Word of God became the means of grace par excellence. Even the sacrament was subordinated to the Word and apart from the Word it has no meaning or power. (Saved by Grace, p. 79)

Are You Willing to Hear?

The end has come. Jerusalem is about to go down in flames. Babylon has already deported or killed thousands of Israelites. Israel, the nation of David and Solomon, is now a laughingstock. Jeremiah is the preacher of God’s word during this time of terror and fear.  Gedaliah, the governor the Babylonians installed, has been assassinated by Ishmael the son Nethaniah (II Kings 25:22-26).  The people in Israel are afraid that Babylon will now bring more vengeance upon them because of the killing of Gedaliah.

At this point in Israel’s history a group, led by Johanan the son of Kareah, approach Jeremiah the prophet. They wanted Jeremiah to ask the Lord if they should stay in Israel or go down to Egypt (Jeremiah 41:17, 42:1-6). They swear in Jeremiah 42:6 that whatever the answer is they will obey. So Jeremiah prays for ten days (Jer. 42:7) and comes back with the answer. They should stay in Israel. If they leave the Lord will follow them and bring with Him the sword, famine and pestilence (Jeremiah 42:17).  

They reject Jeremiah's answer. They hoped Jeremiah would sign off on what they had already decided to do, but he didn't. God sent back the wrong answer. In Jeremiah 43:2-3 they accuse Jeremiah of wanting them to stay in Israel so they might be captured by the Babylonians. They wanted to look holy. They went to the prophet with sincerity. "Please let us know the will of God. We will go wherever He commands and do whatever he asks." Yet, they were lying. They went down to Egypt anyway. They made the choice to go to Egypt because  in Egypt "we shall not see war or hear the sound of the trumpet or be hungry for bread, and we will dwell there." In other words, they went to Egypt because they thought things would be easier there. God swore he would destroy them for this choice (Jeremiah 44 & 46) and he did.

Four Lessons

First, you must enter corporate worship ready to hear God's word to you. Our desire to look holy, but not actually be holy is stronger than we imagine. We often attend worship and preaching not so God will rebuke us, drive us to repentance, and change us but so he will sign off on our lifestyle. We sit in the pews hoping God will confirm all of our beliefs and justify all our actions. We don't want the pastor to rebuke us. We want him to stroke us. Ask yourself, "Do I appreciate a pastor who gets under my skin?" Or "Do I appreciate a pastor who rebukes others, but lets me alone?" If it is the latter, then repentance is in order.

Second, you should privately read God's Word with an eye to how the Lord wants to change you. Often we read God's Word in order to change others. Are you reading it for your neighbor, for your child, for your spouse, for your community? If so, then your attitude is the same as the Israelites who came to Jeremiah. God's Word is there first for your sanctification. It is there to tell you go this way. Don't go that way. If you view God's Word as a tool to change others instead of God's scalpel in your own life then repentance is in order.

Third, are you ready for God's answers to your prayers? Some prayers we know he answers a certain way. When we confess our sins, he will forgive us. When we pray for sanctification, he will answer. But many of our prayers, we do not know how he will answer them. When we pray for a spouse or for a job or for healing or for the salvation of friend, we are not sure how God will answer. Do we pray, "Not my will, but your will be done?" Or do we pray as these people did, "My will be done or else?"

Finally, we refuse to hear God's Word because often obedience is hard. Johanan and his people wanted the ease and comfort of Egypt.  And so do we. Like Israel in her desire to return to Egypt instead of press on to the Promise Land (Exodus 17:3), like the soil with roots that cannot endure persecution (Matthew 13:21), and like Demas who loved this world (II Timothy 4:10), we often choose the comfort of disobedience over the hardship of obedience. But as this story suggests that is an illusion. Disobeying the Lord always ends in destruction. 

Praying Scripture for One Another

In a previous blog post, I encouraged you to pray for one another using Scripture.  In this post, I want to give a few suggestions for doing this.

It is important as we pray to understand where we are at in redemptive history. For example, it would not be right for us to pray that God would allow to drive all of our enemies out of the land using the sword.  That was right for Joshua to pray, but wrong for us to pray. But we are at a different stage in redemptive history. Daniel's prayer in Daniel 9:3-19 has a very specific context. Israel is in exile. Daniel remembers Jeremiah's promise that God would only leave them there seventy years. Then God gives Daniel a specific answer to his prayer (Daniel 9:20-27). In other words, we cannot pray the exact the same thing as Daniel. Finally, using a New Testament passage, in Matthew 10:5-42 Jesus sends out the twelve on a mission trip to the nation of Israel. Many of the specifics in the passage do not apply to modern missionaries.  As we pray, we need to remember our context. We live in the New Covenant age.

There are many passages that can be prayed word for word. Many of the Psalms fit that category. There is nothing in Psalm 1 that should not be the prayer of every believer in every age. Proverbs contains great truths that apply to all of God's people. Paul's prayers, while written to a specific congregation, are generic enough to be applicable to all Christians. The Ten Commandments fit this as well.

But how do we take passages from different times in the history of God's people and use them as a guide for prayer today? The key is to find some principles in the passages that do apply to all of God's people at all times. There are always principles we can glean (Romans 15:4, I Corinthians 10:11). For example, while we should not pray that God will drive out our enemies using the sword, we can pray that God would use His Word to drive out our enemies or convert them. We can trust that as God promised Joshua he would have victory, the greater Joshua will give us victory (Matthew 28:18-20). We are not in exile like Daniel. Yet we should be confessing our sins, the sins of our people and looking to the promises in God's Word like Daniel did. We are not the twelve going to Israel.  Yet we should pray that our missionaries will not be afraid (Matthew 10:26), will preach the word faithfully (Matthew 10:27), and remember there is a reward (Matthew 10:40-42). Finally, we are not Thyatira (Revelation 2:18-29), but we can still pray that we would not compromise with sexually immoral false teachers (Rev. 2:20) and that will keep the works of Christ to the end so that we might rule with Him (Rev. 2:26-28).  In any passage that does not directly apply to you find the principles that you can apply and then pray them. 

Another suggestion, especially when praying the Ten Commandments, is to use a catechism to help you get beneath surface sins. For example, here is the Heidelberg Catechism's explanation of the sixth commandment, "You shall not murder." 

Q: 105. What does God require in the sixth commandment?

A: That neither in thoughts, nor words, nor gestures, much less in deeds, I dishonor, hate, wound, or kill my neighbor, by myself or by another: but that I lay aside all desire of revenge: also, that I hurt not myself, nor willfully expose myself to any danger. Wherefore also the magistrate is armed with the sword, to prevent murder.

Q: 106. But this commandment seems only to speak of murder?

A: In forbidding murder, God teaches us, that he abhors the causes thereof, such as envy, hatred, anger, and desire of revenge; and that he accounts all these as murder.

Q: 107. But is it enough that we do not kill any man in the manner mentioned above?

A: No: for when God forbids envy, hatred, and anger, he commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves;  to show patience, peace, meekness, mercy, and all kindness, towards him,  and prevent his hurt as much as in us lies;  and that we do good, even to our enemies. 

In other words, don't just pray that you, and your brothers and sisters in Christ would not murder. But pray that all envy and hatred would be driven out of our hearts. As you intercede for others get beneath outward action to inward desires, thoughts, and emotions. Also pray for that God would help the positive virtue grow in people. In this case, pray that we would do as much good to those around us as we can, including doing good to our enemies. 

Finally, when I suggested praying through Scripture I do not mean something like "Dear Lord please help Jim be filled with the knowledge of your will. Help Sally to be more patient. Help Jack to not be bitter. Amen." Fill in the gaps with your knowledge of the person. "Lord, help Jim to be filled with knowledge of your will so he can guide his family during this difficult time. Keep him from wandering from your path. Help him to hold fast your word." Do not make the Bible passage you are praying through into a mantra that you repeat. Put flesh and bones on the passage as you pray through it. Fit the passage to the person you are praying for. 

25 Passages to Guide Intercessory Prayer

Last Sunday I preached on  Colossians 1:3-12. I focused on praying for one another through out the year, in particular, praying Scripture for one another. Too often our prayer requests revolve around things like jobs, pregnancies, health, money, etc. These are not bad things to pray for. When Christ tells us to pray, "Give us our daily bread" he is telling us that all the "mundane" things in our life matter to our heavenly Father. Paul says the same thing in Philippians 4:6-8. Those do matter to the Lord.

But too often this is where our prayers begin and end. We spend all of our time praying for our daily bread or the daily  bread of our brothers and sisters. Paul is good corrective to this. He begins many of his letters with prayers. All of these prayers focus on the spiritual life of the congregation he is writing to. Here is his prayer from Colossians 1. I cut out middle section.

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven...And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 

How many of our prayers sound like this? How many of our prayers focus on the character of our brothers in Christ, instead of their specific situation? One of the ways I have found to correct this focus on circumstances is to pray for my brothers in Christ using a Scripture passage. Here is what I do:

I get a list in front of me of all the people I want to pray for. We have a church directory. I also have a list of pastors, family, and other friends I pray for. I work through these lists over several days.

Print out a Scripture passage I want to use as a guide for prayer. I put this in the front of my Bible.

Pray for my fellow Christians with the Scripture passage in front of me, using the language of the passage. I use the same passage for about two weeks. This allows me to pray the passage for everyone on my list and helps me become familiar with the Scripture passage.

You do not need to follow my pattern exactly. But I would encourage you to find a way to pray more Scripture. Here are 25 passages you can use to lift your fellow believers up before the throne of grace. Of course, there are many more, but these are the ones that came to mind. Almost any of the Psalms will work for this exercise. I just mention a few in the list.

Exodus 20:1-17
Psalm 1
Psalm 15
Psalm 23
Psalm 66 (A great Psalm for those who are suffering.)
Psalm 90
Psalm 104
Psalm 105 (These are both long and could be broken up.)
Psalm 112
Any section of Psalm 119.
Psalm 146
Proverbs 3
Daniel 9, Ezra 9, and Nehemiah 9
Ezekiel 34 (For pastors and other leaders.)
Matthew 5:3-12 (And the rest of the Sermon on the Mount.)
Matthew 10 (For missionaries and evangelists, especially.)
Romans 6 and 12
Galatians 5:7-26
Ephesians 1
Philippians 1:3-11
Colossians 1:3-12
Hebrews 13
I Peter 1:22-2:25
I John 4:7-21
The letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2:1-3:22

Remember the focus here is on intercession for our brothers and sisters in Christ, particularly interceding for their spiritual growth. We should be giving thanks to God for our fellow Christians, as well as for God and his works. However, thanksgiving is not the focus in this post. Not all of these passage can be prayed exactly as they are. In another post I will address how we should pray these different passages.

What I Pray Before the Bread and Wine

We do weekly communion, which means that there are two prayers that I come up with each week: one before the bread and one before the wine. When I began preaching and leading worship I decided to structure these communion prayers a particular way. Here is how I do it. Before the bread I use a portion of the Old Testament to structure my prayer. Before the wine, I use a corresponding portion of the New Testament. From Advent through 1st Sunday of Trinity these prayers follow the church year. For example during Advent, I use Daniel, John the Baptist, Isaiah, and Revelation (2nd Advent). When the Trinity/Pentecost season begins I start with creation and work through Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon, Hezekiah, Josiah, Ezra, and Nehemiah, as well as some others. These prayers are the same every year, though I would like to eventually have a two year set. Here are my prayers for the 2nd Sunday of Trinity.

Bread: Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, it truly, right and good and our duty that we should at all times and in all places give You thanks and magnify Your Holy Name, therefore with the Angels, the Archangels and all the company of heaven we praise You saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of Your glory. 

We praise you Father for the world you have made. For the sun, moon and stars which declare your glory. For the winged creatures that soar in the sky.  For the beasts that run upon the ground. For all the creeping things that crawl on the ground and for the fish that swarm the sea. For all these we give you thanks and praise. We know that you have placed these things under our feet that we might use them to your glory.  As we eat this bread strengthen us in Christ that we might go forth and take dominion.  In the name of Christ we pray. Amen!

Wine: O Lord you are worthy of all blessing and honor for you sent your only begotten Son into the world to deliver your people from sin and the Devil. We praise you Almighty God that you did not leave this world to be ravaged by Satan, but instead reconciled us to Yourself through Jesus Christ. Indeed we are new creations in Christ, old things have passed away and all things have become new. O Lord as we drink nourish us upon Christ. Help us to be separate from the unbelieving world that we might truly be your sons and daughters. For the sake of Christ and His Kingdom. Amen!

Here are my prayers for Ascension Sunday:

Bread: Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, it truly, right and good and our duty that we should at all times and in all places give You thanks and magnify Your Holy Name, therefore with the Angels, the Archangels and all the company of heaven we praise You saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of Your glory. 

Everlasting Father, we praise you for King David for when the uncircumcised Philistine stood up and defied the armies of the Living God, he gather his courage and the stone sank in the giant’s head and David cut off his head with his own sword. We praise you that as you delivered David from the bear and the lion so you delivered him from the giant. For the battle belongs to You O Lord.. We praise you that the one who born of David is the true King. We praise you that his body was broken that Satan’s head might be crushed. We ask now that you would grant us strength as we eat  to fight as David fought. Go before us O Lord as you went before David and scatter your enemies before our faces and that all the kingdoms of the earth might belong to Christ. In His Name we ask all this Amen!

Wine: O Lord you are worthy of all blessing and honor for you sent your Son that he might be our great high priest. He ascended on high where he makes intercession for us.  He promised that we would receive the Holy Spirit and that we would be his messengers to the ends of the earth. We also praise you that one day he will return just as left. As we drink the wine this morning grant us grace through Christ’s shed blood that we may be faithful witnesses to Him and that we might look with joy to the day when our Lord will return on the clouds of heaven. We pray this for the sake of Christ and His Kingdom Amen! 

Here are the prayers for this coming Sunday, the 1st Sunday of Christmas

Bread: Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, it truly, right and good and our duty that we should at all times and in all places give You thanks and magnify Your Holy Name, therefore with the Angels, the Archangels and all the company of heaven we praise You saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of Your glory. 

We praise You for the prophet Isaiah, he saw the glories of the coming Messiah. He knew the virgin would bear a Child and the government would be upon His shoulders and He would be called Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace and of His Kingdom there would be no end. We are grateful he preached of the great comfort the Messiah would bring by bearing our griefs and carrying our sorrows. We pray now as we eat that You would feed us upon this glorious Christ that Isaiah saw and fill our mouths with praise for the work He has done. Amen!

Wine: Blessed are You Lord God for no one can restrain Your hand. Herod the King sought to slay Your Son. Yet you thwarted Him by sending dreams to the wise men and to Joseph. Your Son was then protected in the land where Israel was once in bondage, Egypt. Lord we, like Christ, are plagued on every side by rulers that hate and seek in every way to destroy Your Kingdom. We pray that you would nourish us as we drink and protect us from all our enemies that might live quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and reverence. Amen!

The prayers are not perfect. I revise them on a regular basis. Some of them sound too "high" and not like a normal prayer. Some are too long or the sentence structure is awkward. One of the most common revisions is shortening the prayer or shortening sentences within the prayer. There is still work to be done. Having prayed them for several years now, I rarely read them. I often use them as a guide to lead our people to the Lord's Supper. Sometimes I ignore these prayers all together and pray something else the Lord has laid on my heart. Using these prayers for many years has made me more confident in praying off script. 

I am not sure where I came up with idea, but it has worked well for me. We pray through the all the major portions of Scripture as we work through the year. It also forces me to connect the Old Testament with both the Lord's Supper and the New Testament. It also helps me pray through the church year. My private prayer life includes more Scripture due to writing out these prayers.

True Joy: John Calvin on Psalm 19

The Word has become for me a joy over the years. There are times where it is dry. But the more I read the more delight I take in it. I used to think I took delight in the Word. And I did. But it was an immature delight, a true delight, but not a deep delight. Deep delight takes time coupled with effort. To love the Book in a moment is possible. To love the Book deeply takes a lifetime of hours sitting beneath it. I am starting to get there.  So I enjoyed reading Calvin's various comments on God's Word from his commentary on this Psalm 19:7-14. Here are some of my favorite quotes from this section:

If a man is duly instructed in the law of God, he wants nothing which is requisite to perfect wisdom. (Psalm 19:7)

When we give ourselves up to be guided and governed by the word of God, we are in no danger of going astray, since this is the path by which he securely guides his own people to salvation.(Psalm 19:7)

None are endued with right understanding until they have made progress in the study of the law. (Psalm 19:7)

We know how much every man is wedded to himself, and difficult it is to eradicate from our minds the vain confidence of our own wisdom.(Psalm 19:8)

Those who take delight in committing sin procure for themselves abundant matter of sorrow; but the observance of the law of God, on the contrary, brings to man true joy. (Psalm 19:8)

David shows that whatever men undertake to do at the mere suggestion of their own minds, without having a regard to the law of God as a rule, is error and falsehood. (Psalm 19:9)

By this commendation he distinguishes the law of God from all the doctrines of men, for no blemish or fault can found in it, but it is in all points absolutely perfect. (Psalm 19:9)

We do not esteem the law as it deserves, if we do not prefer it to all the riches of the world. (Psalm 19:10)

If we separate the law from the hope of pardon, and from the Spirit of Christ, so far from tasting it to be sweet as honey, we will rather find in it a bitterness which kills our wretched souls. (Psalm 19:10)

We should remember that we are not guilty of one offense only, but are overwhelmed with an immense mass of impurities. The more diligently any one examines himself, the more readily will he acknowledge with David that if God should discover our secret faults there would be found in us an abyss of sins so great as to have neither bottom nor shore...for no man can comprehend in how many ways he is guilty before God. (Psalm 19:12) 

There is also another useful lesson which we have here to attend to, namely,  that we ought never to pray for pardon, without, at the same time, asking to be strengthened and fortified by the power of God for the time to come, that temptations, in future may not gain advantage over us. And although we may feel in our hearts the incitements to concupiscence [Lust-Here used in the broadest terms to refer to all evil leanings, not just sexual.] goading and distressing us, we ought not, on that account, to become discouraged. The remedy to which we should have recourse is to pray to God to restrain us. (Psalm 19:13)

Women Deacons: Defining the Terms

Several months back a good friend of mine and I got in a discussion about women deacons. This lead to research and study on my part. I am going to blog on this topic here and there over the next few weeks. 

One of my pet peeves is people who write on a subject, but never really define what they are talking about, especially if the subject is controversial. I am sure I have been guilty of this in my writing. Insisting on precise definitions can seem tedious, especially in an age dominated by short blog posts. However, it is kind to the readers for a writer to give a clear definition of what he is talking about. I am about to embark on a series of blog posts exploring the issue of women deacons/deaconesses. Before I start I wanted to note what someone can mean when they say women deacons/deaconesses.  Here are the options when it comes to women deacons and deaconesses. If you can think of other options put them in the comments. By the way, I use the term office throughout this post to refer to both ordained and unordained positions within the church.

Summary of the Options
1. Ordained deacons, some male and some female, but with all having equal status and function.
2. Non-ordained deacons, some male and some female, but with all having equal status and function.
3. Male and female deacons with equal status, but different functions.
4. Ordained deacons with an office of deaconess, ordained or not ordained, under the authority of the deacons.
5. Non-ordained deacons with a non-ordained office of deaconess under their authority.
6. There is no office of deaconess/woman deacon at all.

Explanation of the Options
Option 1: All deacons are ordained. Women deacons can do everything a male deacon can do. Both men and women deacons have the same status, role, and function. There are not male and female deacons. There are just deacons. If there was a head deacon a woman could fill that role.

Option 2: The exact same as #1, except the deacons are not ordained.

Option 3: There are male and female deacons with equal status, but distinct roles and functions within the church.  These could be ordained or not ordained. I have not heard anyone endorsing this particular position, though it is possible.

Option 4: There are ordained men deacons. There is a separate office of deaconess (or even women deacons). These women could be ordained or not ordained, but either way they serve under the authority of the deacons. Deaconess is not equivalent to deacon in either status, role, or function, though is some overlap between the two offices. There are several possible ways for widows and deaconesses to relate under this position: 1) Deaconess and widow could be the same office, 2) Widows could be part of the deaconesses, but other women are included as well, 3) Widows and deaconesses could be distinct offices in the church, 4) Widow is not an office, but deaconess is.

Option 5: This is the same as option 4, except neither group is ordained. I have not heard this particular position put forth by anyone though it is possible. Usually a two office view, deacons and deaconesses, has either both ordained or ordained deacons only.

Option 6: There is no office of deaconess in the church. There are a couple of options here. One could say that widows, not deaconesses, are the only proper biblical office for women. This would be basically option 4.1 above but instead of calling them deaconesses they would be called widows. Or it is possible to say there are no officially recognized offices for women in the church.

Thoughts on the Options
For all practical purposes #1 and #2 are the same: one office with both genders included. Most people I have read who are advocating "women deacons" are advocating one of these options. They just are not as clear about it as they should be.

Those who hold to #1 or #2 should jettison the phrase "women deacons" and "men deacons." They should just have deacons. If the men and women have the same status, role, and function then they are equals. The whole point of 1 and 2 is that whether they are male or female is irrelevant to the tasks they can perform.

For all practical purposes #4 and #5 are the same: two distinct offices divided by gender. This group could have the office of "woman deacon" and not mean what #1 and #2 mean.

Option 3 is a bit of a wild card. I have not heard this exact position put forth.  It is an awkward position because it gives equal status, but not equal function. It would be like those who hold to a two office view (elders and deacons) saying that ruling elders could not preach while teaching elders can. I think some who are officially #1 or #2 function like #3. However, if a church has things women deacons cannot do, but men deacons can then they are not equal. For example, if a church has deacons that are men and women, but female deacons cannot visit a sick man in the hospital or cannot serve communion, but a male deacon can then they are not equal, at least not in function. My question would be, "Why give equal status, but not equal function?" That seems to be a contradiction. I am not saying deacons who are women must do everything men do in this type of a system. But if they are equal in status then they should be able to do everything men do. Otherwise you need two offices, not one.

Option 6 has the difficult task of explaining why throughout much of church history, including in Reformed churches, there have been offices for women.

Finally, it is odd to me that so much ink is spilled on I Timothy 3:11 and Romans 16:1, but so little ink is spilled on I Timothy 5:9-16.  Why is there not more discussion of whether or not the widow passage in I Timothy 5 should inform the office of deaconess/women deacons and if so how?

When discussing deacons, women deacons, and deaconesses, function (what they can do) and status (their office), both need to be considered, not just exegetical and historical data. A writer needs to be clear on what office is being given and what the functions of that office will be.

After posting this I thought of one more option: the reverse of #3, where there is not equal status, but there is equal function. Many of the same arguments brought to bear against #3 would be brought to bear against this position as well. Why allow women deacons/deaconesses to do everything men can do, but not give them equal status? Again this seems to be contradiction. 

Genuine Submission

Here is a wonderful quote from Stephen Clark's book Man and Woman in Christ: 

Christians are often tempted by a selective submission [to God's Word]. Some scriptural teaching is very attractive to them, and they find in themselves an admiration and a willingness to submit to it. Modern Christians usually  find it easier to be enthusiastic about Christian teaching on God's fatherhood or about love of others. Some scriptural teaching, however, contradicts their desires. Some may even repulse them. To be sure, often the difficulty is genuine uncertainty about how to respond to some part of scripture. Often a person may know that the scripture is saying something on a given subject, but can be uncertain how to understand or apply what is said. Despite some uncertainties, for most Christians there remains much scriptural teaching that is sufficiently clear, or could become sufficiently clear with more investigation, but which they find themselves unwilling to submit to. The genuineness of submission is tested precisely at these points. They prove their submission is genuine, and not a mere pretense, when they submit to the Lord in something which is personally difficult and which may lose them the respect of the world around him. (Emphasis mine)

SCAN

No, I did not make up the acronym  up myself.

Sufficient the Scriptures are.
Clear the Scriptures are.
Authoritative the Scriptures are.
Necessary the Scriptures are.

The Scriptures are Necessary

The Scriptures are sufficient, clear, authoritative, and necessary. I have given some quotes from great theologians of the past for the first three. I want to finish out with some quotes about the necessity of Scripture.

"Just as old or bleary-eyed men and those with weak vision, if  you thrust before them a most beautiful volume, even if they recognize it to be some sort of writing, yet can scarcely construe two words, but with the aid of spectacles will begin to read distinctly; so Scripture, gathering up the otherwise confused knowledge of God in our minds, having dispersed our dullness, clearly shows us the true God...At any rate, there is no doubt that firm certainty of doctrine was engraved in their hearts, so that they were convinced and understood that what they had learned had proceeded from God. For by his Word, God rendered faith unambiguous forever, a faith that should be superior to all opinion." (John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, I:VI:1, 2)

"We know him by two means: First, by the creation, preservation, and government of the universe, since that universe is before our eyes like a beautiful book in which all creatures, great and small, are as letters to make us ponder the invisible things of God: his eternal power and his divinity, as the apostle Paul says in Romans 1:20. All these things are enough to convict men and to leave them without excuse. Second, he makes himself known to us more openly by his holy and divine Word, as much as we need in this life, for his glory and for the salvation of his own."(Belgic Confession, Article II)

"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; yet they are 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 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 revealing his will unto his people being now ceased." (Westminster Confession of  Faith I:I)

"Was it necessary for God to reveal himself  by the word; or was the word of God necessary? For there were formerly (and are even to this day) various persons who believe that there is sufficient assistance in human reason to enable to live well and happily...But the orthodox church has always believed far otherwise, maintaining the revelation of the word of God to man to be absolutely and simply necessary for salvation." (Francis Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology, II:1:I, II)

"For this dispensation Scripture is not only useful and good, but also decidedly necessary for the being (esse of the church...Scripture is the only adequate means of guarding against the corruption of the spoken word and of making it the possession of all human beings. The sound of the voice passes away, but the written letter remains. The brevity of life, the unreliability of memory, the craftiness of the human heart, and a host of other dangers that threaten the purity of transmission all make the inscripturation of the spoken word absolutely necessary if it it to be preserved and propagated." (Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, Vol: 1 Prolegomena, p. 471)

"The written Word is, first, necessary for our relationship with God as our covenant Lord. We have seen that covenant is a relationship between the Lord and his servants or vassals, characterized  by the Lord's control, authority, and presence. In this relationship, the Lord speaks to his vassals, defining the covenant relationship...From this we see that the covenant is a verbal relationship, among other things...So if there are no written covenant words, there is no covenant, nor is there a covenant Lord." (John Frame, Doctrine of the Word of God, p. 212, emphasis his)

"This kind of statement [he has just quoted John Calvin, see above] on Scripture argues that we must identify Scripture as the necessary Word of God because without such a Word our knowledge of God would be insufficiently grounded, unreliable and even (we might say) too subjective...What has rarely been pointed out is that not only Calvin, but also many of his theological heirs, were primarily concerned with believers' assurance that their knowledge of God is knowledge of the true God, and not of an idol, and therefore their relationship with God was genuine and not a fantasy or a sham. This is the focus of the doctrine of the necessity of Scripture." (Timothy Ward, Words of Life, p. 99, emphasis his)

All these quotes are from Kevin  DeYoung.
"The one we need to know most cannot be discovered on our own."
"We need Scripture to live the truly good life."
"All truth may be God's truth, but all saving truth is revealed truth." (emphasis his)
"We need the revelation of God to know God, and the only sure, saving, final, perfect revelation of God is found in Scripture." (Taking God at His Word, p, 86, 87, 88, and 90)

The Scriptures are Authoritative

"Let this be a firm principle: No other word is to be held as the Word of God, and given place as such in the church, than what is contained first in the Law and the Prophets, then in the writings of the apostles; and the only authorized way of teaching in the church is by the prescription and standard of his Word." (John Calvin, Institutes, IV:VII:8)

"We believe that this Holy Scripture contains the will of God completely and that everything one must believe to be saved is sufficiently taught in it. For since the entire manner of service which God requires of us is described in it at great length, no one-- even an apostle or an angel from heaven, as Paul says- ought to teach other than what the Holy Scriptures have already taught us. For since it is forbidden to add to or subtract from the Word of God, this plainly demonstrates that the teaching is perfect and complete in all respects.  Therefore we must not consider human writings-- no matter how holy their authors may have been-- equal to the divine writings; nor may we put custom, nor the majority, nor age, nor the passage of time or persons, nor councils, decrees, or official decisions above the truth of God, for truth is above everything else. For all human beings are liars by nature and more vain than vanity itself. Therefore we reject with all our hearts everything that does not agree with this infallible rule, as we are taught to do by the apostles when they say, "Test the spirits to see if they are of God," and also, "If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house." (Belgic Confession, Article 7, emphasis mine)

"The supreme Judge, by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinion of the ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest can be no other than the Holy Spirit speaking in Scripture." (Westminster Confession of Faith I.X)

"The authority of the Scriptures depends on their origin. Just because they are from God, they must be authentic and divine...The authority of Scripture is nothing else than the right and dignity of the sacred books, on account of which they are most worthy of faith with regard to those things which they propose to be believed and of our obedience in those things which they command us to omit or to do. (Francis Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology, II:4:1, 3)

"As the word of God it stands on a level high above all human authority in state and society, science and art. Before it, all else must yield. For people must obey God rather than other people. All other [human] authority is restricted to its own circle and applies only to its own area. But the authority of Scripture extends to the whole person and over all humankind. It is above the intellect and the will, the heart and the conscience, and cannot be compared with any other authority. Its authority, being divine, is absolute. It is entitled to be believed and obeyed by everyone at all times. In majesty  it far transcends all other powers. But, in order to gain recognition and dominion, it asks for no one's assistance. It does not need the strong arm of the government. It does not need the support of the church and does not conscript anyone's sword and inquisition. It does not desire to rule by coercion and violence, but seeks free and willing recognition. For that reason it brings its own recognition by the working of the Holy Spirit. Scripture guards its own authority. (Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, Vol 1, p. 465)

John Frame's mentions five points in relation to the authority of Scripture. These are all direct quotes.
1. God is the author of the whole Biblical canon.
2. That we live by all of it.
3. That God has the right to speak to us about anything at all.
4. That the purpose of Scripture is redemptive in a broad sense, not a narrow sense.
5. That the redemptive purpose of Scripture is so broad that no area of human life is excluded from its concern.
(John Frame, Doctrine of the Word of God, p. 166)

The doctrine of the authority of Scripture "states we believe all of this true, that the sovereign God has indeed authored Scripture this way and chooses to relate to us in this way through Scripture. It commits us to giving the Bible the sovereign place in our lives that must follow from its central place in relation to God and his actions. (Timothy Ward, Words of Life, p. 129)

"The Bible is never wrong on what it affirms and must never be marginalized as anything less than the last word on everything it teaches." (Kevin DeYoung, Taking God at his Word, p. 78)

Kevin DeYoung on Westminster Confession of Faith 1.7

Earlier I posted some quotes on the clarity of Scripture. Here is Kevin DeYoung's helpful analysis of Westminster Confession of Faith 1.7, which says,

"All things in scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear to all; yet those things which are necessary to be know, believed, and observed, for salvation are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned in a due use of ordinary means, may attain unto sufficient understanding of them." 

Here are Pastor DeYoung's comments: 

-Some portions of Scripture are clearer than others. Not every passage has a simple or obvious meaning.

-The main things we need to know, believe, and do can be clearly seen in the Bible.

-Though the most essential doctrines are not equally clear in every passage, they are all made clear somewhere in Scripture. 

-That which is necessary for our salvation can be understood even by the uneducated, provided they make use of the ordinary means of study and learning. 

-The most important points in the Scriptures may be not be understood perfectly, but they can be understood sufficiently. 

I wanted to make a couple of comments on this. First, the "ordinary means" mentioned in the Confession is not primarily about personal reading and Bible study. The Westminster Larger Catechism says:

Q154: What are the outward means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of his mediation? 
A154: The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to his church the benefits of his mediation, are all his ordinances; especially the word, sacraments, and prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for their salvation. (emphasis mine)

So the ordinary means points primarily to worship and preaching, though it would surely include private study. 

Second, I found DeYoung's last point the most helpful. There is no doctrine in Scripture which we could ever know everything about. God is too deep for us to ever reach the bottom. But that does not mean we cannot know a doctrine well enough to understand it and use it correctly in the Christian life. Jesus is our Savior. This truth is so deep that a 1,000 years of study could never exhaust it. Yet even a child can understand it sufficiently enough to be saved by Him. 

The Scriptures are Clear

Here are some quotes on the clarity of Scripture.  I particularly enjoyed Herman Bavinck's.

"You see, then, that the entire content of the Scriptures has now been brought to light [with Christ's coming], even though some passages which contain unknown words remain obscure,. Thus it is unintelligent, and ungodly too, to pronounce them obscure on account of those few obscure words. If words are obscure in one place, they are clear in another. What God has so plainly declared to the world is in some parts of Scripture stated in plain words, while in other parts it still lies hidden under obscure words. But when something stands in broad daylight also, it does not matter whether there is any evidence in the dark." (Martin Luther, Bondage of the Will, p. 71-72) One of Luther's key arguments against Erasmus in the book is that the Scriptures are clear.

 "All things in scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear to all; yet those things which are necessary to be know, believed, and observed, for salvation are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned in a due use of ordinary means, may attain unto sufficient understanding of them." (Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter I, Article VII)

"Are the Scriptures so perspicuous [clear] in things necessary to salvation that they can be understood by believers without the external help of oral tradition or ecclesiastical authority? We affirm against the papists." (Francis Turrentin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology, II:17)

"The doctrine of the perspicuity [clarity] of Holy Scripture has frequently been misunderstood and misrepresented, both by Protestants and Catholics. It does not mean that the matters and subjects with which Scripture deals are not mysteries which far exceed the human intellect. Nor does it assert that Scripture is clear in all its parts, so that no scientific exegesis is needed, or that, also in its doctrine of salvation, Scripture is plain and clear to every person without distinction. It means only that the truth, the knowledge of which is necessary to everyone for salvation, though not spelled out  with equal clarity on every page of Scripture, is nevertheless presented throughout all of Scripture in such a simple and intelligible form that a person concerned about the salvation of his or her soul can easily, by personal reading and study, learn to know the truth from Scripture without the assistance and guidance of the church and the priest." (Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, Vol. 1, p. 477)

"God is fully in control of his communications to human beings. When he intends to communicate with a human being, he is always able to do it successfully. But another name for successful communication is clarity. An unclear word is one that does not succeed, that fails to accomplish its purpose. But we know that God's Word always accomplishes its purpose (Isaiah 55:10-11). Therefore his word is always clear." (John Frame, The  Doctrine of the Word of God, p. 204) Frame is in agreement with the statement above by the Westminster Confession of Faith. His quote needs to be read in that light.

"We are right to trust that God in Scripture has spoken and continues to speak sufficiently clear for us to base our saving knowledge of him and of ourselves, and our beliefs and our actions, on the content of Scriptures alone, without ultimately validating our understanding of these things or our confidence in them by appeal to any individual or institution." (Timothy Ward, Words of Life, p. 127)

"The doctrine of the clarity of Scripture is not a wild assertion that the meaning of every verse in the Bible will be patently obvious to everyone. Rather, the perspicuity of Scripture upholds the notion that ordinary people using ordinary means can accurately understand enough of what must be known, believed, and observed for them to be faithful Christians." (Kevin DeYoung, Taking God at His Word, p. 59)