The Shorter Catechism - Q # 2

Q2: What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him?

A2: The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him.

1. Why do we need a rule to direct us in glorifying God? Because as sinners we are ignorant of His will and His ways. General revelation is not enough – we need the special revelation of Scripture.

Ephesians 4:18 “having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.”

Romans 1:21 “although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

Psalms 119:130 "The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple."

2. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the “Word of God.” They are God-breathed, therefore infallible, inerrant and authoritative. When the Catechism says that the Word of God is “Contained in the Scriptures”, it simply means that every word in the Bible is the Word of God. The Scriptures are the only place the Word of God is found today, “those former ways of God's revealing his will unto his people being now ceased.” (WCF)

2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”

2 Peter 1:21 “for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”

3. All doctrine and practice must be judged by the Scriptures.

Isaiah 8:20 “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”

1 Thessalonians 5:21 “Test all things; hold fast what is good.”

1 John 4:1 “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

4. “All synods or councils”, such as the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms, “may err; and many have erred. Therefore they are not to be made the rule of faith, or practice; but to be used as a help in both.”
The “Bible alone” or “Sola Scriptura” is a foundational teaching that was recovered by the Protestant Reformers. Holy Scripture alone is our infallible authority for all matters of faith and practice.

5. Why are the Scriptures said to be the “only rule” to show us how to glorify God? Because only God can show us how he himself wants to be glorified. Anything else is “will worship.” God must teach us how to glorify Him.

Psalms 86:11 “Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name.”

Mark 7:7 “And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

The Shorter Catechism - Q # 1

Question 1: What is the chief end of man?
Answer 1: Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever.

A couple of thoughts -
1. Our chief end ought to be the glory of God, because it is God's chief end in creating, preserving and redeeming us. Proverbs 16:4 says, "The LORD has made all for Himself." 1Cor. 6:19, 20 "You are not your own; for you are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

2. We are commanded plainly in Scripture to seek God's glory in all that we do. 1 Corinthians 10:31 "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

3. On account of sin, we fail to give God the glory due His name. Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

4. As sinners, we begin to glorify God only when we repent and trust in Christ as our Lord and Savior. Hebrews 11:6 "Without faith it is impossible to please him."

5. Having believed in Christ alone for eternal life, our faith "works through love." Jesus said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." (John 14:15) We glorify God by obeying His commands. There is no other way to do so.

6. Just as God made us for His own glory, He also created us to enjoy fellowship with Him. How do we begin to enjoy God? We enjoy Him only as we glorify Him. When we aim at His glory, we find our happiness in Him.

7. As Scottish preacher James Fisher said, we enjoy God especially "In all the ordinances of his worship, public, private and secret; such as the word read and heard, the sacraments, prayer, meditation, fasting, thanksgiving, and the like."

8. Since God is eternal and has also given eternal life to His children, we will enjoy Him forever. The best is yet to come! It is the presence of God that will be the joy of heaven.

"Thou God seest me."

“And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, ‘Thou God seest me.’” (Genesis 3:16) These words were spoken to Hagar, who had just been banished from Abraham’s household. She went out into the desert, pregnant and vulnerable, not knowing the Lord. John Calvin said that “Hagar, who had before been of a wild and intractable temper, begins now at length to acknowledge the providence of God.” At that moment she realized that God’s eye was on her wherever she was and that He saw all that she did. The author of Hebrews says, “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:13) The unbeliever who is constantly on the run from God needs to realize how futile it is to try and hide from the all-seeing eyes of God. David said, in Psalm 139:7, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?” His own answer was, “If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.” If you are reading this and you are uncertain of your relationship with God, then now is the time to repent – to turn around and instead of running away from God, run to Him. Jesus said, in Matthew 11:28 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” In John 6:37 He said, "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.” Why not turn to God and put your faith in Jesus Christ and be saved today? There is no better time than the present to settle the matter between your soul and God. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved” – today. ( for more information read the following very helpful message - Two Ways to Live )

If you are a believer in Christ, then take heart – the presence of God is with you wherever you go and in whatever circumstances you are in. His eyes are on you at all times and He is working all things together for your good. Being constantly aware of the presence of God is a great encouragement to believers as we go through difficult times. The awareness of God’s presence is also a helpful reminder to us when we are being tempted. We will live a holy life when we understand that His eyes are always on us. “Thou God seest me.” Take this thought with you throughout the coming year and you just may experience renewal in your relationship with the Lord.

Market-Driven Christianity by Don Fortner

"Am I now trying to win the approval of men--or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men--I would not be a servant of Christ." Galatians 1:10

Religion in America is big business. Scads of money, powerful personalities, huge egos, and positions of prominence, influence, and recognition are at stake in the business of religion, just as they are in any other business. There was a time when the concern of churches and preachers in this country was the glory of God and the truth of God. Today, like any business, the concern is for success.

Christianity today is market-driven. The goal of all marketing is to make both the buyer and the seller satisfied. Consequently, market-driven churches, in utter abandonment of God’s glory and God’s truth, in their insatiable quest for success and recognition--do whatever it takes to win customers and keep them.

Be warned! False doctrine and worldliness always go hand in hand. Worldliness usually leads the way. The early modernists did not aim at destroying biblical Christianity. They simply tried to make Christianity palatable to an unbelieving world. It cannot be done. When Christianity becomes acceptable to unregenerate people--it has ceased to be Christianity!

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing!" 1 Corinthians 1:18

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.

What Books Belong in the Bible?

What books or writings are to be considered as being the Word of God?
The very last statement of the WCF I, 1., implies the canon of Scripture is complete or closed. The former ways of God's revealing Himself through miraculous gifts of utterance have ceased. Now in the next two sections (2 & 3) the canon of Scripture is defined as containing only the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments. The books called the apocrypha are identified as uninspired writings.

The word canon simply means "rule", "standard" or "measuring rod." The canon of Scripture concerns exactly which books are inspired by God, and which are not. The WCF states in section 2 of chapter one that:

II. Under the name of Holy Scripture, or the Word of God written, are now contained all the books of the Old and New Testaments, which are these:
(then it lists the 39 books of the OT and 27 of the NT that you have in your Bible)
All which are given by inspiration of God to be the rule of faith and life.

These 66 books and these only are given by infallible inspiration of God. These only are to be the rule or canon for the church. These books only tell us what we must believe and how we must live. Only these 66 books are authoritative. Only these books are the Word of God.

In contrast to this view, the RCC states that though these 66 books of the Bible are the Word of God, so is the Apocrypha. They also define the Word of God to include the Roman Catholic Church's official tradition, which they say is an equally inspired interpretation of the Bible. That official interpretation must be believed by Catholics just as absolutely as the believe in the Bible. They will tell you that they do not add to Scripture at all, they simply explain it properly. But that tradition or the official interpretation of Scripture is equally binding on the conscience of the individual Roman Catholic.

The Protestant position is that the Bible alone can bind the conscience of a believer. Chapter 20 of the WCF says:
II. God alone is Lord of the conscience, and has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are, in anything, contrary to his Word; or beside it, if matters of faith, or worship.

The OT was completed around 400 B.C. with Malachi. 400 years later God began to speak again to His people. God spoke through the angel Gabriel to the shepherds & Mary, He spoke in dreams & visions, and through John the Baptist. Then in the fullness of time God sent His Son, who is the Word of God made flesh. Christ validated the existing OT canon of Scripture. He did not validate the Apocrypha. He quoted from virtually every book of the OT as being the Word of God, but there is no reference at all to the Apocrypha.

Therefore, Section 3 of the WCF says:
III. 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.

Christ then commissioned His apostles and "pre-authenticated" them (and a few other apostolic representatives such as Luke and Mark) as those who would be the agents of the divine revelation of the NT Scriptures. He gave the Holy Spirit to them and breathed out His Word through them. Of course they were endowed with miraculous gifts in order to confirm that their message was divine truth.

2 Peter 1:21 "no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God."

2 Timothy 3:16-17 "All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."

The later additions of books of mere human authorship and traditions of men are not necessary if Scripture alone is given that we might be complete and equipped for every good work. When the last apostle died, then the giving of special revelation ceased. The canon was closed.

What is the Apocrypha?
Seven extra books that the RCC includes in their Bible: Tobit, Judith, 1 & 2 Maccabees, the Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach (or Ecclesasticus), and Baruch
These were made a part of the Catholic Bible at a much later date than they were written. The books had all been written by the time of Christ, yet were not added to the Canon by the RCC until the Council of Trent in 1546. There is good reason to believe that they added them after the fact in order to support some of their heretical doctrines.

Rome added them because they believe that the RCC has the authority to establish the canon. Protestants would say, no - the church does not have the infallible authority to establish what the canon is, but the church does have the duty to recognize, accept and submit to those books that are inspired.
Why does the Protestant Church reject the Apocrypha?
These books were added to the OT because they were written before the time of Christ.

-The Jewish Historian Josephus did not include the apocrypha in his list of the Hebrew Scriptures. He said "they are not worthy of credit with the OT books." The OT as the Jews originally had it did not include the apocrypha.
-They were never part of the Palestinian Canon adopted by Jesus and the Apostles.
-The early church theologians did not view the apocrypha as part of the Bible, with the exception of Augustine, who later changed to a more Protestant position.
-Even Jerome, who translated the Bible into Latin did not accept the Apocrypha as canonical.
-Several of the books themselves disclaim to be inspired Scripture.
-Historical errors and falsehoods are found in the books.


The Bible is the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments alone.

Two Ways to Live

There are only two ways to live. Our own way or God's way. Our own way ends in eternal death. The other, eternal life. There is no in-between. 30 years ago God opened my heart and I turned from sin to trust in Christ alone as Savior and Lord. Life is short. Do you know for sure where you will spend eternity?

www.twowaystolive.com