Westminster Confession of Faith 2.1 – What is God?

In our previous look at the Wesminster Confession of Faith we completed the first chapter “Of the Holy Scriptures” with highlighting how Scripture is to be the supreme judge in matters of religious controversy. This week we commence the second chapter of the confession which is entitled “Of God and of the Holy Trinity”.

I. There is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute, working all things according to the counsel of His own immutable and most righteous will, for His own glory, most loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him; and withal most just and terrible in His judgments; hating all sin; and who will by no means clear the guilty.

In this first part of the chapter we are presented with a number of truths. Firstly we are presented with the fact that there is only one true and living God. The framers of the Confession spend no time proving the existence of God. God is, and it is the fool who denies his existence (Psalm 14:1). Besides, His works and Word testify to Him most clearly as the framers of the Confession discussed in chapter 1.

Next, we are presented with the attributes of God. Theologians often draw a distinction between incommunicable and communicable attributes. Those which are incommunicable are attributes of God alone (such as eternity or immutability) and those which are communicable are attributes that his creatures can share to a lesser degree, such as being and wisdom. We won’t explore all of them, but a smattering will suffice for today’s post.

God is described by the framers as infinite in being and perfection. What does this mean? His existence is free from any limitations. Unlike us, He is everywhere present fully. He is a ‘most pure spirit’, which as the catechism puts it means ‘he has not a body like men’. He is invisible, which is why Russian cosmonauts shouldn’t be surprised they don’t find him in space. His being is pure spirit and when described in Scripture as having a strong arm or eyes, we are merely being given metaphors to help us understand Him. So as a spirit, we can say He is invisible and has no body or parts. But what does it mean that He has no passions? Does it mean that God is emotionless? Clearly the Scriptures do not support this picture of God. We see God rightly expressing compassion, love, wrath and forgiveness. A great little discussion on this term is found here. Essentially what is meant is that “God is not passive, not acted upon or overruled by any other power or influence.”

Listed next are some of his attributes. Immutable means God is unchanging. Change would suggest becoming better or worse and clearly, this cannot apply to the God of the Scriptures. In Him “there is no variation or shadow due to change“(James 1:17). Incomprehensible means that God is not like us. We cannot comprehend him apart from his gracious revelation of himself to us, and even in that, He condescends to the level of our finite understanding. Almighty is what we sometimes describe as omnipotent. God is not constrained and can do as He pleases. Most holy reminds me of the throne room scene in Isaiah’s vision where the seraphim are proclaiming God’s holiness over and over. This highlights his infinite purity and utter transcendence.

The phrase ‘working things to the counsel of His own immutable and most righteous will, for His own glory‘ reminds us again that God is almighty. He has a will which is righteous and not tainted by sin, and he works all things (yes that means all, even the bad and even the insignificant) so that his perfect will is done and glory is brought to His name.

Towards the end of this first section, we are reminded of God’s love, grace, mercy, patience (long-suffering) and his willingness to forgive sin and reward those who diligently seek Him, but conversely, his just judgment and hatred of sin. He will by no means clear the guilty, which is precisely why His Son Christ had to bear our guilt. These words ought to be a reminder to all to diligently seek God through His son Christ to find forgiveness and his grace and mercy.

Westminster Confession of Faith 1.10 – Scripture is the Supreme Judge

Things have been rather busy for Sojournal writers, and I see that it has been almost 2 months since our last WCF post. There we saw how Scripture interprets Scripture. Where the meaning of Scripture is not grasped easily, we ought to see use Scripture where it speaks more clearly to help us to interpret tricky passages. Today we complete the first chapter of the Confession (on the Holy Scripture) with the principle that Scripture is our supreme judge.

X. The supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined; and in whose sentence we are to rest; can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture.

Obviously, there is a historical situation that is being addressed here. The Roman Catholic Church saw itself as having the power and authority to interpret infallibly the Scriptures. The framers of the Confession begged to differ. Their point here seems to me to flow out of the authority of Scripture which they highlight in sections 1.4 and 1.5 of the Confession.

It’s not that we should despise the opinions of the ancient writers (like the church fathers), or that people who claim that God has spoken to them are always wrong. It’s that we cannot judge disagreements over Scripture and the faith by appealing to these sources. While the early Christian writers have much good to say, at times it can be demonstrated from Scripture that they are just plain wrong. The framers of the confession were themselves a kind of council, so it’s not that they thought groups of people coming together to write statements of faith was a bad thing per se. It’s that individuals and councils can make mistakes. the Scriptures do not. Therefore “Reformed Christianity,” according to Williamson in his commentary on the Confession “refuses to allow the conscience to be bound by anything except the infallible Word of God itself.”

There is a danger in this. Scripture is the Supreme judge, so certain sectors of the evangelical church want ‘a verse’ for everything. For these people there has to be a proof text for everything. However, it pays to remember that Scripture is not an encyclopedia where were can look up things like “Women” and then find the section on careers and from there find a verse that justifies or condemns the practice. Scripture does not work that way. We need to be more sophisticated in our approach to Scripture as our only infallible rule of faith and practice. A lot of what Scripture teaches is not written in bald propositional logic. And incidentally, Scripture has a lot to say about career women if we are saturated in its story.

Westminster Confession of Faith 1.9 – Scripture Interprets Scripture

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The week has flown by and we are back to Wednesday again which means Westminster Confession of Faith day! Last week we focused on the authority of the original languages. While these are the final authority, we learnt that good translations in the language of ordinary people are good and necessary. Today we look at the penultimate point in the first section of the Confession ‘Of the Holy Scriptures’ and our key focus today is the way Scripture is its own interpreter.

IX. The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself: and therefore, when there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture (which is not manifold, but one), it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly.

What do we learn here? Firstly, that Scripture interprets Scripture. We have seen hints of this in WCF 1.7 where we learned of the perspicuity of Scripture. The “things which are necessary to be known, believed, and observed for salvation“ are clear to such a degree that ordinary people can by ordinary means of careful reading understand the Scriptures. The point made here is related. We do not need an authoritative Church to interpret Scripture for us. The Scriptures are authoritative and we look to them to understand them! Note for example how Paul charged Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15 to work diligently to be a man who rightly handles the Word of Truth. In Acts, the Berean Christians were noted for their noble-mindedness when Paul preached to them. What did they do? They examined the Scriptures daily to see if what Paul was teaching was what the Scriptures taught (Acts 17:11).

Secondly, we are informed in passing that there is one right and true sense of any Scripture. Wilkinson in his study of the Confession mentions that medieval scholars spoke of four levels of meaning in a text, and there was a tendency to allegorise Scripture which led to a twisting of Scripture by some to make it say whatever they already believed. This ought to be avoided. Even today, in some Christian circles the tendency to allegorise is a problem. I remember preaching a sermon on David and Goliath and after the service a man came up to me and explained to me the real meaning of the five smooth stones. The details are no longer clear in my mind, but I do remember him speaking of the smooth stones and the many aeons of water and physical weathering and hitting up against other rocks that made them ready to be used by David in his takedown of Goliath. God’s works in our lives to make us smooth stones ready for his use. What he said was not bad or evil, but clearly not what the passage is about.

How do we understand what a given Scripture is saying? We must interpret it in a literal manner. And here, Wilkinson is again helpful. Some of our godly brothers misunderstand the meaning of literal and take it to mean literalistic and they tend to approach Scripture in a wooden way. A literalistic reading might argue that the Scripture teaches the earth is flat because four corners of the earth are spoken of, or that people will literally have 666 written on their hands and forehead. What we mean by literal is taking into account the genre and understanding how language is used within this genre to determine what the author intended to say. It will not do to read, “He kicked the bucket” and assume a literalistic interpretation of a chap booting a poor defenceless bucket. A lot more could be said here, and perhaps in the future we will look at this in more detail.

Finally, we are given the well-known principle that we must let the places where Scripture speaks more clearly be our guide. Many have taken obscure passages out of context, misinterpreted them and made whole doctrines out of them. This will not do. We must let all of Scripture help us interpret any one Scripture, allowing the more clear to help us determine the meaning of the less clear.

Westminster Confession of Faith 1.8 – Original Languages Authoritative

Wednesday is Westminster Confession of Faith day! Last week we focused on the perspicuity of Scripture and found that while there are some sections of Scripture that are difficult to understand and can be twisted by a certain type of person, the things pertaining to our salvation are so clear that ordinary people by ordinary means of careful reading can understand them. Today we look at the issue of original languages and translations.

VIII. 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 authentical; so as, in all controversies of religion, the Church is finally to appeal unto them. 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 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.

The first thing the framers of the Confession alert us to is the importance of the original languages. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew (mainly) and the New Testament in Greek. It is to the original languages that we must go for final appeal when there is a controversy over what the Scriptures say, as these are the words ‘immediately inspired by God.’ This was written into a context where the Roman Catholic Church relied on the Latin Vulgate, a translation with some serious flaws. It’s also important to note that the framers saw the way God’s inspired Word had been kept pure by His providence. Despite the period of time between the original writings and now, we have remarkable witness in the manuscripts that testify to the accuracy of the transcription process. This is best exemplified by the finding of manuscripts at Qumran, which although about 1000 years older than the ones possessed at the time, were remarkably consistent with them.

Secondly, the writers of the Confession wanted to highlight another error of the Roman Catholic church of the time. They realised that while it was important for scholars to be able to go back to the original languages, this was not possible for the vast majority of the common people. Therefore, it was deemed right and helpful for the Scriptures to be translated into the ‘vulgar’ (or common) language of every nation to which the faith came. This would allow ordinary and less-schooled Christians to be able to let God’s Word dwell in them richly. This was something that the Roman Catholic Church was not so keen on in those days, but now is in agreement with the Reformers on.

Westminster Confession of Faith 1.7 – Perspicuity of Scripture

Today we continue our walk through the Westminster Confession of Faith. Over the last month or so we have looked at the first section of the Confession which is focused on the Scriptures. In our most recent short post on the Confession, we highlighted that Scripture does not need adding to either with the traditions of men or ‘inward illumination’. We also discussed the concept of the sufficiency of Scripture and identified some important implications of these doctrines. Today we look at the perspicuity (or clarity) of Scripture.

VII. All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all: yet those things which are necessary to be known, 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 the ordinary means, may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them.

The first thing that the framers of the confession note is that all things in Scripture are not equally easy to understand. Peter himself points out that Paul’s writings contain some difficult concepts (2 Peter 3:16). The book of Revelation seems to defy its own name, with Christians who have a high view of Scripture disagreeing as to its interpretation. It’s important to make a distinction at this point. God is a good communicator – the best in fact, since language comes from Him. So God speaks clearly in His Word, but that does not mean that no doctrines contained in Scripture are not difficult. Scripture teaches the concept of the trinity clearly, but this is not an easy thing to understand. Williamson in his book on the Confession puts it this way, ‘The clearest possible expression of Einstein’s theory of relativity does not make it “simple.” ‘Added to this is the complication that we are fallen, and there are even ‘ignorant and unstable men’ who twist and distort what God has said in his Word.

Secondly, we are informed that the things pertaining to our salvation – what we must know, believe and do, are so clearly expressed in Scripture, that even unlearned people who appropriately use ‘ordinary means’ can gain sufficient understanding. How we are saved is abundantly clear from Scripture. An ordinary layperson can determine this from Scripture. We do not need a special class of Christian to teach these things to us. This doesn’t mean that gifted teachers are unhelpful, but that the Scriptures, when read carefully, thoroughly and regularly, are sufficiently clear that ordinary men can read them and with the Spirit’s enabling understand the way of salvation and be saved.

One important phrase in this statement is “in a due use of the ordinary means“. There is a call for us here to be diligent in the reading and studying of and meditation on the Scriptures. I have been encouraged to continue my efforts in reading through the breadth of God’s Word with my family in our evening and morning Bible times rather than just sticking to the well-worn paths in Scripture.

Westminster Confession of Faith 1.6

We continue our survey of the Westminster Confession of Faith after a weeks hiatus. In our last instalment, we looked at WCF 1.4 & 1.5 and focussed our discussion on the authority of Scripture. Today we look at WCF 1.6 which highlights the sufficiency of Scripture, an important and somewhat neglected doctrine of late as alluded to in The Resistance series.

VI. 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. Nevertheless, we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the Word: and that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and government of the church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature, and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed.

There are a few key ideas we need to note as we look at this statement. Firstly, the framers of the Confession believe that God’s written Word is complete. It is the whole counsel of God and nothing is to be added to it. This includes adding to it now with new revelations of the Spirit or adding on the traditions of men. So for example, there are those who become concerned that you haven’t had God ‘speak’ to you and others who rely on a ‘Word from the Lord’ from spiritual people in their congregations. While these might be nice and encouraging, they are not necessary, and God’s Word provides you with everything you need to live a God-honouring life. At the other end of the spectrum, you might have some churches that believe church traditions are needed to supplement God’s Word. We must not add to Scripture and we do not need to.

Secondly, there is the idea of sufficiency that we have already flagged. God’s Word contains all things necessary for the glory of God, man’s salvation and the life of faith. What we need is either expressly written down in the Scriptures, or by Spirit-filled reasoning can be deduced. This deduction from Scripture is not without danger, and incorrect deductions can be made. However, the practice itself is not wrong. Indeed Christ himself deduced things from Scripture. When dealing with the Sadducees on their silly question about the woman who had seven husbands who died he said, “And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.” This is a clear case of deducing the resurrection from the grammar of the text.

So what are the implications of this truth of sufficiency? Firstly, God has provided us all we need to be saved and to live for God’s glory. Scripture teaches this. Peter says, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.” Obviously, salvation can only come through the Word by the Spirit. However, for those who have the Spirit, the Word provides us with everything we need to live a life pleasing to God. This is how Paul sees things when exhorting Timothy. He says, “All Scripture is breathed out 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.”

Now we must be careful not to misinterpret what is being said here. The scriptures do not talk about every topic there is. There are some things that Scripture does not touch on and God does not intend it to touch on. It is not, for instance, an engineering textbook, nor is it a book on nuclear physics. This is not a problem. God reveals to us all we need to know to bring glory to him and please him, but he gives us the opportunity to explore his world and discover what he has not revealed in Scripture directly as dominion makers. Then there are other things that He has not revealed and we cannot discover (Deuteronomy 29:29).

Finally, the writers of the Confession point out that there are some things that we ought to use our God-given wisdom in as Spirit-filled Christians. There are principles in Scripture that we ought to take and apply, but there is room for interpretation and wisdom in applying these in practical situations. The framers of the Confession point to the worship of God and the government of the church. For instance, the timing of our weekly gathering, whether we meet in a home or at a church building or how we run our annual general meetings are all examples of things Christians can use ‘the light of nature’ and ‘Christian prudence’ to decide. They are very careful to point out however that even in these situations the general rules of the Word must be observed.

Westminster Confession of Faith 1.4-5

Today is Wednesday and we continue our weekly walk through the Westminster Confession of Faith. The next two points in section 1 are excellent and well worth contemplating. Last week we considered the canon of Scripture; today we look at the authority of Scripture.

1. Of Holy Scripture

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.

V. We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the Church to a high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scripture.[a] 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.

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Westminster Confession of Faith 1.2-3

Last week we began to work our way through the Westminster Confession of Faith. The first section is entitled Of Holy Scripture, and today we continue our journey through this section.

1. Of Holy Scripture

II. Under the name of Holy Scripture, or the Word of God written, are now contained all the books of the Old and New Testament, which are these:

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Westminster Confession of Faith 1.1

Given that we have completed our look through the Directory for Private Worship, I thought it worthwhile to look at another historic reformed document. This time I have chosen the Westminster Confession of Fath, a more important document, and one that is still held as a standard by Presbyterian churches around the world today. We will work through this confession point by point every Wednesday.

The Confession was drawn up by an Assembly of clergy and laymen which was appointed by the English Parliament in 1643. The Assembly also produced other Christian classics such as the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms, the Form of Church Government and the Directory for Public Worship. The Confession itself was completed in 1647.

Today we will begin at Section 1 Of Holy Scripture.

1. Of Holy Scripture

1. 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 unexcusable; yet are they 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 that 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’s revealing his will unto his people being now ceased.

The first clause highlights what some refer to as general revelation. God’s works of creation and providence display who he is. We know that ‘the heavens declare the glory of God’, (Psalm 19) and we know that the apostle Paul says that what may be known about God is plain to men and they are without excuse before God (Romans 1). However, this revelation of God is not sufficient for knowledge that leads to salvation.

This leads to the next sentences where special revelation is introduced. God has spoken and revealed himself in various ways and manners (Hebrews 1:1). The purpose of the revelation is to reveal his will to his people. These revelations have been committed to writing so that the truth can be preserved and spread as well as aiding the church to establish itself and protect God’s people against the corruption of the world, the flesh (our fallen and sinful nature as expressed in Romans 8:7) and the devil.

The final clause highlights an important point. Scripture teaches that God no longer reveals himself in the ways he revealed himself to the prophets and apostles of old. The Assembly believed that his final revelation was in Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:2). For the Church, this means the Scriptures are our final standard in life and practice, since they are the revelation of Christ and his will for his church.