Nothing has any authority except that authority which it receives from God. And that is very true in the church. We receive all these books and these only, as holy and canonical. There is nothing else. Not tradition, not the creeds, not the confessions, not Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin, Luther, Totius, Spurgeon, Sproul, or Piper. But these books and these only are holy and canonical for the regulation, foundation, and confirmation of our faith. None of these authorities had any authority – the only authority they have is derived authority that comes from Scripture. That is also true of all our creeds and confessions. They have no authority in and of themselves. They are subordinate standards, in that their authority is derived they are fallible. In this one opening statement of Article five the Belgic Confession confesses the ultimate authority and sufficiency of Scripture. Absolute authority over us, and sufficient to lead us to salvation.
The Bible and the Bible alone is Gods word – Holy and canonical.
The Bible alone is holy and canonical and therefore authoritative and sufficient.
- for the regulation, foundation, and confirmation
- For the assurance of Faith
For the regulation, foundation, and confirmation
First it is for the regulation of my Faith.
But not just of mine, but our faith here in this church. But not just the church here, but the churches around this world, and not just the church around this world, but the Church across the ages. Since the beginning of time it has always been the Word of God that has regulated the churches faith. From Adam and Eve when they heard that, “You shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day you eat of it you will die.” To the children of Israel as they were told what to believe and how to live by Moses. Through the prophets- all the way to the new testament church to us.
We do not choose what we shall believe. The church is not here to tell you what to believe. It is God himself who tells his bride what they must believe and announce to the world. the church is here to tell you what the Bible says we must believe and the implications it has for life. People often say, “I am looking for a church that agrees with what I believe.” Or they might say, “I am so thankful that I have found a church that agrees with what I believe.” I know what they mean, and it is fine, but it would be more precise to say, “I am looking for a church that submits to the scriptures as I wish to also submit.”
We are passionate here about the word, and zealous about conforming our life to it. Not just where we want to – but fully and completely. There is a sense of total submission when we allow the word to regulate our faith.
I may not believe more than is revealed in the Bible, and I may not believe less either. If it is true that the Bible is God's gift to me, I must accept it in its entirety. As the Scripture says, "For I testify to everyone who hears the words of this prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book" (Revelation 22:18,19; see also Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32).
Not only does it regulate the life of the church and of our individual lives’, but it is also the foundation upon which we build.
So, second, the Bible is for the foundation of our faith
Why do I believe what I believe? Why do you believe what you believe? Because the preacher said so? Or because your professor said so? Or because Google said so? The question is what is the basis and foundation of your worldview? Is it because it is reasonable - Because scientists have proven it to me, or it makes sense to my mind, or maybe you believe it because you don’t know what else you would believe, and your family seems to think it is true so you have decided to go along with the flow? No!
For the Christian that ultimate foundation is Scripture. I believe what I do because it is what God has said. I don't need scientific evidence that Christ rose from the dead. I don't need proof that God fed the Israelites with manna while they walked through the desert. I accept as true all the Bible says because God's Word comes from God, and He cannot lie. Behind my acceptance of Scripture is ultimately my understanding of Who God is. That is why article one come before the articles on Holy Scripture – but they are closely linked. We would not know God if it was not for the Word of God.
3. The confirmation of our faith
Life confronts me with many doubts, making me question whether what I believe is true. How do I in the battles of faith double check, confirm, what is true? No university study or encyclopedia is going to answer this for me. I believe what I believe because I find that faith confirmed in the Bible God gave me. Scripture must hold me, convict me, move me. And in this way, it confirms to me the Faith.
This question of Doubt brings us to our second point
For the assurance of Faith
The next line is astounding, “we believe without a doubt all the things contained in them.” Believe without a doubt? Wow this seems hard one might argue. Indeed, some might more than argue – that we should accept everything without doubt. Some have doubts whether Adam and Eve were real people, that Methuselah lived 969 years, that Noah could have built a boat as big or bigger than a soccer pitch, that the sun stood still. Others have doubts that God could have possibly said what he did, such as commanded the killing of women and children when the Israelites conquered the land. Or the fact that women and men are equal but have different roles. There are a million and one ways that we begin to doubt some of what is contained in this book. The problem is when we doubt some then we have no ground to stand on for accepting the rest of it that we want to believe.
Yes, you may honestly struggle with some or all the things I mentioned. I would love to talk. These are hard questions – but here in this church we are not afraid of the hard questions, we believe that God will allow us to grow in assurance the more we are willing to open this word alone and together in prayer and openness. And I challenge you not to be afraid to ask them and search the scriptures for answers.
So how can you grow in this so that you might believe without doubt. I think here the confession gives us three ways we can gain assurance.
First, you are not alone. We stand with thousands of brothers and sisters who have lived and died by this book. And it has made sense to them. So, we study this in the community of believers and we grow together with them. Over the years, we have also been instructed by our parents and the Church. Such instruction has made an impact on us, and we follow the paths in which we were raised to grow in assurance. This argument, though, is of relatively little weight, witness the words "not so much…, but especially…and also."
Second, The Scriptures themselves are their own best evidence and self-authentication. The fulfillment of prophecy, prophecy that was thousands of years before the events they prophesied, how scripture just makes sense of both the beauty and ugliness, the light and darkness in our reality. Or the “consent of all the parts” – how the Bible not only does not contradict itself, but rather speaks with a united voice, despite being comprised of 66 different books, having been written over a period of over 1,500 years by more than 30 authors human authors, in different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek), on different continents, and in varying circumstances and cultural settings. As the Belgic Confession say, “they contain evidence of this in themselves; for even the blind are able to perceive that the things in them are being fulfilled.”
And thirdly God himself witness to its truth. It is the Holy Spirit that makes these scriptures come alive. They are not only from God but the Bible is received as such only in the power of God. So we go on our hands and knees and asks the Lord to open our hearts to his word. So that we may not be hearing but never understanding, seeing but never perceiving, confessing, while our hearts are far from him.
So pray for the inward illumination of the Holy Spirit. The conviction that the Bible is the word of God ultimately rests on the secret or inward testimony of the Spirit. This is clearly also taught in Scripture.
Note the wording in Article 5. "We believe (all these books) ... not so much because the Church receives them and approves them ... but especially because the Holy Spirit witnesses in our hearts ...and also because they contain the evidence in themselves ..." The work of the Holy Spirit receives the emphasis here. It is the Holy Spirit who makes clear to our hearts that the Bible is from God. We read in Acts 16:14 that "a certain woman named Lydia heard us.... The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul." The Holy Spirit witnessed in Lydia's heart so that she heeded Paul's preaching.
Dear Church the church of the time that this document was written would die for this. Many of them did. They realized this is where reformation started or ended. On Scripture alone. It might be easier now when there is no real persecution for it. But the time will come again.
Although our freedom from persecution makes it much easier for us to confess Article 5 in the last decade of the twentieth century, the fact yet remains that our faith is learned from the Bible. Simply because God told us what we are to believe, do we accept what He says, never mind what difficulties might result from receiving what God in mercy has given.
There was persecution at the time of this confession was written simply because people believed what the Bible said. They would have to give up all. You may ask the questions is it worth it? de Bres thought so. He was willing to die for it. For him it was "My God says this is what you should believe and therefore I believe it."
He knew the voice of the good shepherd when he heard it and read it. He had counted the cost of following the voice of Christ in his Word and knew that yes it was worth it. Because one thing he desired and that was God, and as Jesus says, “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for the sake of My name will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.”
The Bible has been described as ‘an anvil that has worn out many hammers.’ It has withstood the constant attacks of skeptics and atheists alike down through the centuries. God has supernaturally preserved His Word to this very day, and that will never change.
Do you can fight it. Doubt it. Question it. Disbelieve it. Like thousands have tried, and died trying – even as the word has lived on into the next generation. Or you can believe it, live by it, be shaped by it, and submit to it and live long in the land the Lord your God will give you. Choose this day whom you will serve. May the Spirit move you to serve God, and his Word Amen.