Sola Scriptura
“As we believe and confess the Scriptures of God sufficient to instruct and make perfect the man of God, so do we affirm and avow their authority to be from God, and not to depend on men or angels.”- The Scots Confession, Chapter 19.
Reformed Theology is rooted in the Sovereignty of God. Sovereignty means that God has authority over everything and everyone. This is true for both God’s actions and God’s Word. Therefore Scripture is authoritative because it is God’s Word to all humanity. Scripture’s authority does not rely upon our agreement or understanding- Scripture’s authority comes from the one who is in authority over all things.
This is why the first of the 5 Solas of Reformed Theology starts with the Authority of Scripture. It is the unique and authoritative witness of God. While we can know God apart from the Scriptures (through general revelation) ‘they are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of his will, which is necessary unto salvation…’ Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 1. We cannot say God is Sovereign if we do not submit to God’s sovereign will, which we can only know through Scripture.
One pastor, in my current denomination (pcusa) complained about how some Christians value Scripture so highly that they seem to practically worship it. We rightly need to avoid legalism because Scripture ought not be revered for its own sake. But Scripture ought to be revered because it reveals God to us. Scripture has authority because it is comes from God who has authority over all! God’s Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. One cannot affirm God’s sovereignty if you do not also listen to and revere God’s Word written. Yet that is what so many people try to do. They view the Bible merely as a book written by humans who are doing their best to explain God in their day. If one has that view, then we are left with no clear way of knowing God what God has done for us! Scripture makes it possible for us to know the God we claim to worship!
Without the Bible, we are simply trying our best to guess who God is and what God wants of us. It’s no coincidence that the way God creates the world is by speaking to it. God wants to be known. God does not want to leave us guessing. In fact, God not only speaks to us, but God actually comes to us in flesh and blood in Jesus Christ. The work of the Holy Spirit is to point us to Jesus. Thus it makes sense that the Holy Spirit that inspired the Bible and written by human authors all point to Jesus, from Genesis to Revelation. This is why, when God at times speaks to us by Holy Spirit who indwells believers, we can rightly know that it is the Holy Spirit speaking to us when we measure what we hear according to the written Word. It all boils down to the reality that we cannot know God apart from Scripture. This is how God has chosen to reveal himself to us. God has not left us guessing. Scripture is how God reveals himself to us and a primary means of grace to be able to hear God speak to us. Let us have ears to hear as we listen to God’s Word in all Scripture and yield to its authority.
As the Apostle Paul writes to Timothy, may it also be for us that we continue in what we have learned and become convinced of, because you know from those whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. – 2 Timothy 3:14-16
