5 Solas: Scripture Alone: for the Reader
by Phil Haines
Last week Darren Moore began our series on the “Solas” by considering Sola Scriptura, and particularly the history of the debates, and why discussions on the primacy of Scriptures became an issue in the church. Different denominations held different views on the place of the Scriptures in the church; for some, tradition and councils were as important, and for others, the ongoing revelation of the Holy Spirit took precedence over the written word. Certain Reformers addressed this and the result was the Reformation cry, ‘Sola Scriptura’.
There is an important pastoral perspective to this teaching. When we open our Bibles, we should have confidence that we are reading the word of God, precisely because it has been given to us by God himself. The Scriptures are clear on this matter. The Apostle Peter, writing about the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ told the churches to whom he addressed his letter that everything that he and his fellow apostles had witnessed, was written about in the Holy Spirit inspired Scriptures: ‘And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.’ (2 Peter 1:19-21)
The Apostle Paul writing to Timothy says something similar: ‘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[b] may be competent, equipped for every good work.’ (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
Men spoke and men wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit; a God-breathed message. And it is this word that reveals God to us in his glorious Triunity. This word reveals his great salvation in the work of Jesus Christ and the application of it by the Holy Spirit. It is the Word of God that contains the words that God spoke: “God said…” “The Lord said…” “Jesus Said…” “The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me…” There is no other text that contains God’s holy and inspired word, a rule for faith and life.
The Westminster Confession of Faith states this helpfully for us in its opening article on the Holy Scriptures: 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. (Article 1, Paragraph 6)
All things necessary for us are contained in this Word, and that is why we can have confidence when we come to its pages, that what we are reading is vital for us in our day to day lives.
Having written all of this about the Bible, I do not want anyone to misunderstand. Church traditions have their place. Other books are important and extremely useful for us as they cast light on the meaning of the text, or help us to understand difficult theological and doctrinal matters. However, we do not hear God speaking to us out of those texts, and we will not be saved by the work of any theologian, whether it be Ignatius, Irenaeus, Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin and so on. All these traditions and works, and even confessions of faith, are subordinate to the Word of God.
John Calvin writes about the utmost importance, primacy and power of the Word of God in his institutes: ‘There is no word of God to which place should be given in the Church save that which is contained, first, in the Law and Prophets; and secondly, in the writings of the Apostles, and that the only due method of teaching in the Church is according to the prescription and rule of his word…What else is this than to banish all the inventions of the human mind, (whatever be the head which may have devised them), that the pure word of God may be taught and learned in the Church of the faithful, - than to discard the decrees, or rather fictions of men, that the decrees of God alone may remain steadfast? These are “the weapons of our warfare”, which are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Here is the supreme power with which pastors of the Church, by whatever name they are called, should be invested, namely, to dare all boldly for the word of God, compelling all the virtue, glory, wisdom, and rank of the world to yield and obey its majesty, to command all from the highest to the lowest trusting to its power to build up the house of Christ and overthrow the house of Satan; to feed the sheep and chase away the wolves; to instruct and exhort the docile, to accuse, rebuke and subdue the rebellious and petulant, to bind and loose; if need be, to fire and fulminate, but all in the Word of God.’ (Calvin’s Institutes of Christian Religion 4.8.8)
When you turn to the letter to the Hebrews you can understand why Calvin writes as he does: ‘For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.’
The Apostle Peter in his first epistle writes that true Christians have been born anew through the living and abiding Word of God. It is this Word that the Holy Spirit works with to save God’s people; make them alive. God’s Word is living because he is living! God is eternal and so his Word bears that characteristic and therefore, is alive today, and relevant for his people today and tomorrow.
It is also an active Word. The Greek word translated as active is where we get our English word, energy. This word is full of energy, and it is effective energy. It is not aimless or pointless, but its activity is the revelation of God’s will and the working out of His purposes. We say that when God speaks it is done. When God said let there be light, there was light. God speaks his wills and it comes to pass.
So, when we open our Bibles, and we turn to God’s Word, we are not reading a dead letter, but we are reading a living, powerful, active word, which the Holy Spirit uses to save, to transform, to keep, to provide assurance. There is no other book like the Bible, which is why the Reformers were so adamant that the Scriptures should, once again, be regarded as the sole rule of faith and life, the only Word of God.
Next week, 22nd June at 7:00, Michael Cochran will bring us the next sola, Sola Fide. Tune in to find out more!
