The Authority of Scripture

WCF Chapter I
IV. The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man, or church; but wholly upon God (who is truth itself) the author thereof: and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God.

This section was written as a rebuttal to the RCC's claim to ultimate authority, and therefore authority over the Scriptures. The authority of God's word does not depend upon man or upon the church. It depends upon God Himself whose word it is. There can be no higher authority than God and His word! If God says it, that settles it!
God's word therefore ought to be received, believed, and obeyed. Since it is the ultimate authority, it demands ultimate submission and it governs all things. All human authority is derived from Scripture alone.
Eg. The authority of the husband as head of the house is derived from Scripture.(Ephesians 5) The authority of the civil magistrate; those who rule in the State is derived from Scripture (Rom 13). The authority of Elders to rule in the church is derived from Scripture. (1Peter 5)
Not only does the authority to rule come from the Scriptures, but those who rule must rule by the Scriptures. One of our core values at Unity states:
6. We are committed to the development of godly leaders who meet the qualifications of Scripture and who lead according to the standards of Scripture.

Our Lord Jesus Christ never appealed to tradition as authoritative; (every time He mentioned tradition it was only to denounce it) nor did He ever appeal to the church or its leaders as authoritative. Jesus always and only appealed to the Scriptures as the final authority in all matters.

Simply put - there is no authority higher than God's word. Scripture must be the axiomatic starting point.

The Bible, in many places, claims to be the inspired, infallible word of the living God. Why then do some believe it and some do not?
Calvin - "Those who are inwardly taught by the Holy Spirit, acquiesce implicitly to Scripture."
In other words, the reason a person believes is because, "the Spirit produces belief in the minds of the elect." (Crampton)

WCF
V. We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the church to an high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scripture. And the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole (which is, to give all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man's salvation, the many other incomparable excellencies, and the entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God: yet notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts.

Can we prove that the Bible is the Word of God? Can we use apologetics and bring in evidences that will prove the truth of Scripture? No, not really. The ultimate persuasion that the bible is the word of God comes only from the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit only gives this persuasion as we go to Scripture. Some would call that circular reasoning, but we call it Biblical reasoning.
But aren't there evidences that help us in some way? Yes, these evidences are useful and though they cannot prove the truth of the Bible, they do two things:
1) They help us refute the arguments of skeptics and show the fool his folly. The skeptic says the Bible is not historically accurate. We show him that it is and we remove that argument he has against the Bible. We haven't proved the truth of Scripture, but we have proven the falsity of his argument.
2) These evidences help us as believers to demonstrate the truth of what we believe. We say we believe the Bible is the Word of God. We would therefore expect that there would be consistency in all its parts and that is exactly what we find. Etc., etc. We do not believe that there are any real contradictions in Scripture and that is what we actually find when we interpret it correctly.

Can the church assist us in coming to understand and have respect for the Word of God? Yes. Most of us were led by the church and it's teachers to an understanding of Scripture and respect for it. But we do not believe based upon the testimony of the church.

Can "The heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, and the majesty of the style", cause us to give praise to God and be in awe of Him? Yes, but by themselves, these do not infallibly persuade.

There are many ways in which the Scripture evidences itself to be the Word of God, but proof can only come from the Spirit of God. Faith is a gift of God which He works in us by His Spirit. God chooses us and causes us to see and believe that His word is truth.

Gordon Clark:
"Logically, the infallibility of the Bible is not a theorem to be deduced from some prior axiom. The infallibility of the Bible IS the axiom from which doctrines are themselves deduced as theorems. Every religion and every philosophy must be based on some first principle. And since a first principle is first, it cannot be 'proved' or 'demonstrated' on the basis of anything prior. As the catechism says, 'The Word of God is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him.'"

Robert Reymond put it this way:
"The authority of the Word of Scripture is the only ground sufficiently ultimate to justify all human truth claims."

In other words, the only means by which we know anything is true is by the truth of Scripture. Unless a system of thought or idea is based somehow upon the truth of God's word, then there can be no authority and no real basis whatsoever for that idea.

You've heard the expression "The Buck stops here." The Buck stops at the Bible. You cannot go beyond it or above it or deeper than it in order to prove it. No - it is the basis to prove all other truths, including the truth that the Bible is the word of God.