Able to Save (5)

The law of the LORD is perfect… Psalm 19.7

One book, many features
The Bible is the spiritual food we need to overcome the famine of truth besetting our world. The Bible is one Book, and it tells one story of God’s covenant, and how all His promises of joy and rejoicing are realized through our Lord Jesus Christ. As we receive this Word and read and study it daily, it becomes implanted in our soul, and brings us ever more completely into the salvation of God.

We have been making the point that the Bible is the Word of God. It is His book, given to deliver us from the Lie – which we’re all too willing to embrace much of the time – so that we might know the salvation and life He has planned for us.

But we also said this Word was written and compiled over a very long time by a wide variety of authors. We might expect, therefore, that the Bible would look very different from place to place within its pages. This is exactly what we find. Here is a large section of legal documents; here a collection of poems and pithy sayings; there’s a bit of drama; here a historical narrative; there some biography; here, letters; and over here, mysterious “apocalyptic” writings and prophecies of various kinds.

Despite its many literary differences, and the great variety of themes it discovers, the Bible shows itself, by its many perfections, to be one single Book, the work of one all-wise and all-knowing Author.

Arguments for divine authorship
The Westminster Confession of Faith is, as we have seen, a venerable declaration of the essential tenets of Christian doctrine, first published in 1648. In its opening chapter, it summarizes “arguments” which can be mustered, pointing to the various perfections of Scripture, as evidence of the Bible’s being the very Word of God. Here’s how the writers put it: “We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the Church to an high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scripture.” That addresses the topic we considered yesterday, the Church’s acknowledgement and use of the Scriptures from the beginning. The Confession continues: “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…”

Whew! That’s a mouthful. No wonder the Bible is “able to save your souls”! But I want us at least to glimpse each of the various “perfections” mentioned here, so that we can see for ourselves something of the abundant evidence of divine authorship of the Word of God. No book in all of literary history can match the majesty and variety of the perfections which we routinely encounter in the Bible.

The evidence
To repeat then:

“the heavenliness of the matter” – the Bible keeps us focused above, striving toward heavenly perfection and joy, even while it teaches us how to live here and now. Its objective is to lift readers toward God, holiness, and joy and rejoicing.

“the efficacy of the doctrine” – the teaching of Scripture is congruent with reality and brings genuine benefit to all who follow it. The doctrines unpacked through reading and studying the Bible explain the human situation, and the situation of the world, better than any other source.

“the majesty of the style” – only God could bring such beauty and transcendence into all those various books, themes, and genre. There is nothing merely vulgar about the Bible; everything about how it is written tends to ennoble, rather than to debase.

“the consent of all the parts” – the Bible is in agreement with itself throughout about the things that matter most and the good and perfect will of God. We often hear objections concerning the contradictions of Scripture. Such as are pointed out can usually be easily reconciled.

“the scope of the whole” – all Scripture calls us to glorify God in all aspects of life. The whole Bible carries this theme forward from beginning to end.

“the full discovery it makes of the way of salvation” – the Bible is all about Jesus Christ and the saving mercy and power of God, from cover to cover.

“many other incomparable excellencies” – the Bible  is exciting to read; it implants itself in us and transforms us from within; it helps us to understand why things are the way they are, and how they can be made better; it makes all things new!

“the entire perfection thereof” – which perhaps explains why, every year, more Bibles are printed, sold, and distributed than all other books combined.

The Bible argues its own case for being the Word of God. But the truth of this claim doesn’t just depend on its “arguments” and “perfections.” The Word of God is powerful, and this is its greatest witness to its divine provenance and pedigree, and to its promise to bring joy and rejoicing to our soul.

For reflection
1.  What do unbelievers cite as “contradictions” in the Bible? How should we respond to these claims?

2.  Which of the Bible’s many perfections have particularly affected you during your time in the Word? Why?

3.  If you had to summarize the “story line” of the Bible in a sentence or two, what would you say?

Next steps – Conversation: What else would you include in the list of the Bible’s “perfections”? How have you experienced the “perfections” of the Bible, and what difference do these make in your appreciation and use of it? Talk with a Christian friend about these questions.

T. M. Moore

To learn more about understanding and using the Bible, enroll in the course, Introduction to Biblical Theology. It’s free and online, and you can study at your own pace or with friends. To learn more and to register, click here. This week’s study is Part 5 of a series on The Word of God, and is available as a free download by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.