Having pondered the precise meaning of WLC Q4 in a previous lecture, we would do the same for WLC A4 in this.

Question 4. How doth it appear that the Scriptures are the Word of God?

For a refresher, recall that 1) “the Scriptures” designate the Bible alone, with its 66 OT and NT books; 2) “the Word of God” implies the divine authorship of Scripture’s content, implying both verbal and plenary inspiration; 3) the present tense verb “are” insinuates that the biblical message continues to be God’s living and objective voice to man, regardless of human faith; and, 4) “how doth it appear that” requires our understanding that the catechetical authors believed it is perfectly obvious to the unprejudiced mind, when acquainted with the relevant facts, that the Bible actually is the Word of God. In other words, Scripture is self-authenticating.

The remaining questions are, How is this obvious? What are the internal evidences of Scripture’s identity as the Word of God? And how is it that only some people come to embrace the Scriptures as the Word of God, while others remain skeptics despite these plain evidences? These are the very questions answered in WLC A4, to which we now turn our attention (without its proof texts).

Answer. The Scriptures manifest themselves to be the Word of God, by their majesty and purity; by the consent of all the parts, and the scope of the whole, which is to give all glory to God; by their light and power to convince and convert sinners, to comfort and build up believers unto salvation: but the Spirit of God bearing witness by and with the Scriptures in the heart of man, is alone able fully to persuade it that they are the very word of God.

This complex sentence presents two major topics joined by a conjunction of contrast, “but.” This is similar to WLC 2A with its “plain declaration” and “saving declaration.” The topics of WLC 4A are
1) Scripture’s self-authentication and 2) the Spirit’s persuasion. Now let’s consider each of this answer’s parts and their relationships. Like WLC #2, WLC #4 is an ocean of truth with a stunning clarity and brevity, and patient meditation will help us appreciate this increasingly.

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D. Scott Meadows

The Westminster Larger Catechism, Q4, raises the second most fundamental question of the Christian faith. The first is, “How doth it appear that there is a God?” (Q2), or what is the basis for our belief in the real existence of God? The second is like it, with the identity of Scripture as the object of consideration.

Question 4. How doth it appear that the Scriptures are the Word of God?

The one who thoroughly believes and understands the truth about these two great questions has moved toward great competence in defending the Christian faith before skeptics and comforting weak believers. Once the former skeptic grants that the true and living God of the Bible really does exist, and that the Bible really is His holy Word, the apologist may with much greater ease lead the opening mind, using Scripture, to all the other doctrines of biblical Christianity. These two truths (God is, and Scripture is God speaking) are the theological foundation for the remaining theological superstructure.

Before WLC A4 can be fully appreciated, we must be absolutely clear on the meaning of WLC Q4. Careless thinkers may think the question’s language is so plain as to be self-explanatory, but it needs careful delineation because it is so important and it covers doctrinal ground which is ever subject to the assaults of Satan and his human agents-atheists, agnostics, heretics, and less deviant false teachers within the church.

The catechetical context ofWLC #4 is WLC #3 which asks, even more simply and fundamentally,

Question 3. What is the Word of God?

Considering the answer to this question, we know its intent was approximately, “Where can the Word of God be found today?,” because otherwise the answer is too narrow. As the epistle to the Hebrews says,

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds (Heb 1.1-2).

Throughout biblical history, God’s Word came to humanity at many times and in many differing ways, and much of what He said has been lost to us, but it was no more or less the Word of God than what we have now in the OT. Further, the climax of God’s Word to humanity was seen in the person of Jesus Christ, and conveyed to the church by His authoritative representatives called apostles, who wrote the exact words of the New Covenant (NT) after Jesus had ascended to heaven.

Therefore, WLC A3 identifies the Word of God in these words (proof texts omitted):

Answer. The holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the word of God, the only rule of faith and obedience.

This superb answer addresses three very important issues:

• biblical “canonicity,” which books are the recognized canon, rule, or standard for being the Word of God;
• biblical “authority,” possessing divine power to bind our conscience for beliefs and conduct; God alone is Lord of the conscience, and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are, in any thing, contrary to His Word; or beside it, in matters of faith, or worship (WCF XX.2).
• biblical “sufficiency,” that no other standard exists besides the Holy Scriptures to dictate our beliefs and conduct; i.e., that the Bible is ultimately sufficient all by itself to impart to us all the knowledge we need to be saved and live godly; cf. 2 Tim 2 Pet 1.3-4.

The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man`s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit or traditions of men (WCF 1.6).

With this background, we are ready to grasp the significance of WLC Q4. We would do this by elaborating on its critical words and phrases.

I. “The Scriptures.”

This phrase is clearly intended to designate “the Old and New Testaments” (WLC A3). Further, the same authors ofthe WLC explain exactly what they mean by listing the composite biblical books in WCF 1.2, and that list is the same in your Bible’s table of contents, Genesis through Revelation, excluding the so«called “apocrypha” (lit., hidden), which appear in the LXX and the Latin Vulgate and are falsely called canonical by the Roman Catholic Church, as explained further in the Protestant confession:

The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of divine inspiration, are no part of the canon of the Scripture, and therefore are of no authority in the Church of God, nor to be any otherwise approved, or made use of, than other human writings (WCF L3).

II. “The word of God.”

The catechetical authors intended by this phrase the message of which God is ultimately the Author, and a message which is His down to the individual words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, chapters, books, letters, history, poems, prophecies, and other types of biblical literature.

This is not to be construed as a denial that God used human authors by which to commit His Word to writing in a process called divine inspiration. That the very words, and not just the thoughts, were given by God Himself is called verbal inspiration, and that the whole of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation is to be considered, equally in all its parts, the Word of God, is called plenary or full inspiration. That is, the soaring flights of eloquence seen in 1 Cor 13 are no more inspired than the long genealogies of 1 Chron 1-9.

Also, in its strictest sense, this phrase is restricted to the original “autographs,” the very documents written by the hand of those human instruments of divine inspiration, the exact wording of which is now preserved for us in the plethora of manuscript evidence multiplied in the good providence of God.

The Old Testament in Hebrew (which was the native language of the people of God of old), and the New Testament in Greek (which, at the time of the writing of it, was most generally known to the nations), being immediately inspired by God, and, by His singular care and providence, kept pure in all ages, are therefore authentic (WCF I.8a).

The Westminster divines understood the need for and encouraged translation of these Scriptures into language understood by the masses.

But, because these original tongues are not known to all the people of God, who have right unto, and interest in the Scriptures, and are commanded, in the fear of God, to read and search them, therefore they are to be translated into the vulgar (common) language of every nation unto which they come, that, the Word of God dwelling plentifully in all, they may worship Him in an acceptable manner; and, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, may have hope (WCF I.8b).

Notice the insinuation that even relatively poor translations (true translations, not paraphrases) into the vulgar language of the Word of God may also be called the Word of God with all propriety. The AV translators had explained this well about 30 years before WCF was written:

We affirm and avow, that the very meanest translation of the Bible in English, set forth by men of our profession, (for we have seen none of theirs ofthe whole Bible as yet) containeth the Word of God, nay, is the Word of God. As the King’s Speech which he uttered in Parliament, being translated into French, Dutch, Italian, and Latin, is still the King’s Speech, though it be not interpreted by every translator with the like grace, nor peradventure so fitly for phrase, nor so expressly for sense, everywhere. For it is confessed, that things are to take their denomination of the greater part: and a natural man could say, Verum ubi multa nitent in Carmine, non ego paucis offendor maculis, [dubious translation by DSM: truly, much radiance may be in a poem though it is not lacking flaws]. A man may be counted a virtuous man though he have made many slips in his life, (else there were none virtuous, for in many things we offend all) also a comely man and lovely, though he have some warts upon his hand, yea, not only freckles upon his face, but also scars. No cause therefore why the Word translated should be denied to be the Word, or forbidden to be current, notwithstanding that some imperfections and blemishes may be noted in the setting forth of it.¹

Thus we have sufficiently identified the Word of God.

III. “Are”

This present tense verb of being might be passed over too hastily, though it deserves careful consideration because it expresses a very profound truth. The Scriptures ARE (not only were) the Word of God-that is, they continue to be His voice speaking to all who read and hear them. God has not only spoken long ago to people far away from us, but He NOW speaks by the Scriptures to His people and sinners alike. This depends not on our faith in the Scriptures, any more than you doubt it is really your wife if she should speak with you on the telephone. If she is speaking, your skepticism does not overthrow her identity as the source of the words she says.

Repeatedly and impressively, the Bible makes this claim for its message-that it is God actively speaking word-revelation. Notice the biblical writers interchangeably say, quoting the OT, that “it says,” “Scripture says,” and “God says,” as B. B. Warfield has pointed out in great technical detail, citing among many other Scriptures Gal 3.8 (cf. Gen 12.1-3); Rom 9.17 (cf. Exod 9.16); and Matt 19.4-5 (cf. Gen 2.24).²

IV. “How doth it appear that.”

Just as in WLC Q2, this is tantamount to asserting, “It does appear that the Scriptures are the Word of God.” That is, it is perfectly obvious to the impartial observer that the OT and NT are what they claim to be, namely, God’s Word. They are self-authenticating, bearing His own traits in many respects-e.g., holiness, truth, and glory. The remaining questions are, How is this obvious? What are the internal evidences of Scriptures identity as the Word of God? And how is it that only some people come to embrace the Scriptures as the Word of God, while others remain skeptics despite these plain evidences?

These are the very questions answered in WLC A4, our consideration of which must await another lecture.

Notes:

1. “The Translators to the Reader,” original preface ofthe Authorized (Kingjames) Version, available at:
http: / / www.trinitarianbiblesociety.org/ site/ articles/ tm-rdr.asp#answer

2. B. B. Warfield, Revelation and Inspiration, p. 246.

D. Scott Meadows

LECTURE 3: ON THE EXISTENCE OF GOD (ANALYSIS of WLC A2)

The first thing we must do to appreciate the magnificence of WLC A2 as a defense of God’s existence is to know both what it says and what it means by what it says, and then its biblical support. All this will require intense thinking on our part, because it involves many propositional statements and the application of grammar and logic for interpretation and explanation. The greatest commandment in all of Scripture calls you to love God with all your mind and all your strength (Mark 12.30). That means you must apply all your mental might to know God and His truth. This kind of love is “more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Mark 12.33).

Now let us analyze WLC, Answer 2, first, without Scripture proofs. Two major parts are separated by a semicolon:

The very light of nature in man, and the works of God, declare plainly that there is a God; but his word and Spirit only do sufficiently and effectually reveal him unto men for their salvation.

It appears that there is a God in two fundamental ways: first, there is a plain declaration, and second, there is a saving revelation.

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D. Scott Meadows

Westminster Larger Catechism (WLC)
Question 2. How doth it appear that there is a God?

Answer. The very light of nature in man, and the works of God, declare plainly that there is a God; [Rom 1.19-20; Psa 19.1-3; Acts 17.28] but his word and Spirit only do sufficiently and effectually reveal him unto men for their salvation. [1 Cor 2.9-10; 2 Tim 3.15-17; Isa 59.21]

WLC #2 instructs us that God’s real existence is apparent. That much is intimated by the question, “How doth it appear that there is a God?” This is tantamount to asserting, “It does appear that there is a God.” The only question is how. How does God manifest His existence to us?

The word “appear” in this context is an example of figurative language, because God by nature is invisible (1 Tim 1.17; John 1.18).

No one has ever seen God, John writes, as if to remind his readers not only of a commonplace of judaism, but also of the fact that in the episode where Moses saw the Lord’s glory (Exod 33-34), to which allusion has just been made (1.14), Moses himself was not allowed to see God (Exod 33.20). . . . The fact remains that the consistent Old Testament assumption is that God cannot be seen, or, more precisely, that for a sinful human being to see Him would bring death. . . . Apparent exceptions are always qualified in some way.¹

The modern axiom, “seeing is believing,” thinks it is warranted, then, to doubt His existence, but the axiom itself, while expressing a truism, is badly applied in the realm of theology. Essentially, it simply acknowledges that sometimes we remain skeptical about the truth of an assertion until we behold the evidence for it with our own eyes.

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D. Scott Meadows
LECTURE 1: INTRODUCTION

The foundation of our entire Christian faith consists of two great and interrelated truths: the existence of God and the existence of His Word. God is, and God has spoken. More specifically, the God who really exists has actually spoken words to men, and these are only preserved in the Holy Bible. Once these truths are received, the theology and practice of the Christian faith flow from an intellectual and spiritual apprehension of what the Bible teaches.

Hence the Christian faith’s enemies often insinuate doubts or openly attack God’s existence and the divine authority of Scripture. Atheism and agnosticism have many adherents today, and among theists, including professing Christians, relatively few hold to a high view of the Bible as infallible, inerrant, and sufficient Word of God. Many if not most of false religion in this world either attacks the existence of the true God, or feigns loyalty to Him while undermining the authority of His Word. if they would repent of their skepticism toward the God of the Scriptures and the Scriptures of God, they would have taken giant strides toward Christian orthodoxy. Therefore, real Christians must be ready to defend the biblical faith on these two great battlegrounds, if they would defend the faith at all.

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Dr. Robert P. Martin

These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full (John 15:11).

Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language defines joy as “a very glad feeling.” That is not very helpful, because it is so incomplete a definition of joy that it little serves our need. The Oxford English Dictionary is better. It defines joy as “a vivid emotion of pleasure arising from a sense of well-being or satisfaction; the feeling or state of being highly pleased or delighted.” In that definition, the emotion of joy (Webster’s “very glad feeling”) is traced to a source, i.e., to “a sense of well-being or satisfaction.” Webster’s 7th New Collegiate Dictionary is even more helpful. It defines joy as “the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires.” This definition is helpful, because it traces joy not just to a present satisfaction with what one possesses, but also to “the prospect of possessing what one desires.” As we will see, these ideas are helpful to understanding the joy that is distinctively Christian.

The Greek word χαρὰ is used twice in vs. 11. It is derived from the verb χαίρω which means “to rejoice.” These words are used in the New Testament to express the doctrine of Christian joy. And they are used to speak not only of the joy that arises because of our present possession of God’s blessings but also of the joy that comes from a well-grounded hope of possessing (in the future) all that God has promised to us in his word.

Of course, the New Testament connects Christian joy to specific truths and to specific things that are experienced by the Christian. Here I will make no attempt at comprehensiveness. What follows is merely suggestive, as I take up only a few things. There is, of course, much more that may be said on the theme of Christian joy. I invite the reader to use a concordance to search out words like joy and joyful, rejoice and rejoicing, glad and gladness, etc. By paying close attention to the connection that these words have to other biblical themes, you will be blessed richly by such a study. In what follows, however, in order to see what is central to our present concern, notice how certain things are illustrated in Christ’s own experience of joy!

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Dr. Robert P. Martin

The Loving Exhortation (John 15:9)

“Abide in my love”

It is important that we begin our consideration of these words by noting what they do not mean. When Jesus says in the next verse, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love” (15:10), he is not saying, “You must do certain things in order to enter into my love.” He loved us before the world began. This love stands behind our predestination to the adoption as sons (cf., Eph. 1:4-5). Also, Jesus is not saying that we must do certain things in order to warrant his ongoing love for us, i.e., things apart from which his love for us will diminish or perhaps cease altogether. Having loved us with an eternal love, having committed himself to do everything that is necessary to our ultimately being glorified with him, nothing will be able to separate us from the love of Christ (cf., Rom. 8:28-39).

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Dr. Robert P. Martin

“That your joy may be full” (John 15:11)

At 15:9-11, Jesus continues with the subject of abiding in himself; and again he refers his disciples to his own example (cf., 13:34). The train of thought in these verses, as we move from one statement to the next, is such that one grand theme follows closely after another. There is, however, a unity of concern throughout the whole text, in which Jesus traces from its divine and eternal fountainhead a freely flowing blessing that is promised to all who abide in him.

The Divine and Eternal Fountainhead (John 15:9)

“As the Father loved me, I also have loved you”

Long before Jesus the Messiah came, his Father had said through Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delights (or, is pleased)”¹ (Isa. 42:1). Matthew, citing this text as fulfilled in Jesus, paraphrases it this way: “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen; my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased” (Matt. 12:18). The heart of these statements is the same, the differences between them notwithstanding. The Son is the object of the Father’s “delight.” He is his “beloved,” his “chosen one,” in whom his soul is “well pleased.” Twice during Christ’s earthy ministry, direct revelation of his Father’s love for him was expressed from heaven through his Father’s speaking with an audible voice. At his baptism, as he enters upon his public ministry, the Father dramatically confirms his love to him: “You are my beloved Son, in you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22). And at his transfiguration, as Jesus neared Calvary, the Father again speaks from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 17:5).

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Paul Christianson

Paul Christianson has a graduate degree in Ancient History.

Modernism, or theological liberalism, has had a tremendous impact on twentieth century Christianity, and often in such a subtle manner, that even evangelical Christians often fall prey to its influences. So pervasive is this apostasy and so attractive is its call, that even the bastions of conservative Christian thought have been touched, oftentimes falling into an insipid neutrality, refusing to take the offensive against this form of unbelief. Several quarters view such unbelief as the twentieth century’s main contribution to the history of heresy!

We who are often disturbed by modernism can take hope in the solid research of conservative scholars whom God is raising up to meet this crisis. God’s Word remains, as always, inspired and infallible in the truth it conveys to mankind, past, present, and future. No scholar, whether liberal or evangelical, can add or detract from the Word of God. “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever” (Is. 40:8). Scholarship remains only a tool to facilitate a better understanding of God’s Word, not an entity unto itself. Like any human work or invention it can be used for the glory of God, and as a help to fellow believers, or become a hindrance to understanding, and as such an instrument of Satan.

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Dr. Robert P. Martin

“My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away; and every branch that bears fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (15:1,2).

Having seen in some measure the relation of the vine and the branches, we will now consider the Father’s role as vinedresser. This part of our Lord’s imagery often is overlooked; however, it is important that we understand the role that the Father plays in our lives as Christians. As Carson says, “Although the Son’s role is central in these verses, the Father’s is not mere background: he trims and prunes the branches.”¹

Our Lord here likens his Father to a vinedresser. The word γεωργός properly means “farmer.” In the present setting, the translation “vinedresser” conveys the correct idea. The context in which γεωργός is used often tells us much about the person in view. In some cases, the farmer is a servant who labors for the landowner (cf., Jer. 52:16, LXX). In other cases, the farmer leases the land from the landowner, usually for a share of the produce (cf., Matt. 21:23). Neither of these images fits the case here. In still other cases, the farmer is the landowner, who works the land and receives all its fruits for his own use (cf., Gen. 9:20, LXX). This is closer to the image here, although the “revenue” produced by the fruitfulness of the branches to some degree returns to them, i.e., in the case that our Lord here has in view, blessedness also comes to the branches (his disciples) as the result of the vinedresser’s labors.

The church (the true Israel) is Jehovah’s vineyard. His Son is the vine, his disciples are the branches; but the Father is the vineyard’s owner and the vinedresser, whose diligent labors promote its optimum fruitfulness. This image of the Father is plainly suggestive of the vital role that he has in Christ’s thinking about the church and the individual disciples that comprise it.

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