Scripture and the Spirit of God

Here are some thoughts and a summary of chapter 8 & 9 of Calvin’s Institutes. I begin with quoting from The Westminster Confession of Faith. It follows Calvin when it says,

“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 as the Word of God. We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the Church to an high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scripture, 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” (WCF 1:4-5).

God must reveal himself through his revelation. Does that mean the Scriptures are not God’s Word? No. The Scriptures are God’s written revelation intent to reveal God’s incarnate revelation in his Son Jesus. However, to receive Scripture and Jesus as God’s true Word and hope requires faith and this faith is a sovereign gift of God through the Spirit.

Here is the summary for chapter 8

1. The witness of the Holy Spirit is the great Testifier to the authority of Scripture. God speaks in Scripture by the Holy Spirit.

2. The Scriptures are full of wonderful power. But this power is not fathered by the common agreement of the church or by external proofs or by other helps. It is made powerful, effectual by the testimony of the Holy Spirit.

3. "The testimony of the Spirit is more excellent than all reason. For as God alone is a fit witness of Himself in His Word, so also the Word will not find acceptance in men's hearts before it is sealed by the inward testimony of the Spirit." (p.79) Is 59:21; 1 Cor 2:14; 2 Cor 1:22.

A thought about Pietism & Scripture. Pietism has always been with the church in one form or other. It is mystical Christianity which deposits truth and religion in general in feeling, and personal relationship. To them Scripture is not the final authority, God speaking to them is. There is a sense in which this is true. The Spirit must open human eyes to see Scripture as God’s authority. However, the question is, “what is God’s speech?” Is it experience, reason, or Scripture? It is Scripture. God speaks to us in the church through preaching, but that preaching action has its foundation in Scripture and Scripture has its foundation in the Spirit. Is there an experience in this? Is there some kind of reason involved? Yes. God speaks and teaches us today, in a worship service, in a bible study, and in the sacrament together with the Word. This makes us feel and become wiser! But in this activity is the Spirit using Scripture. The foundation is Christ and Scripture, not our feeling or reason.

4. Many within the church practically destroy the authority of Scripture, by running away from it and running to some so called manifestation of the Spirit. They imagine that there is another way of reaching God, other than the Spirit using Scripture. They "despise all reading and laugh at the simplicity of those who, as they express it, still follow the dead and killing letter" (Pg, 93).

5. "The Spirit, promised to us, does not have the task of inventing new and unheard-of revelations, or of forging a new kind of doctrine, to lead us away from the received doctrine of the gospel, but of sealing our minds with the very doctrine which is commanded by the gospel" (Pg, 94).

6. If new revelations are possible, then the God of Scripture might differ from the god of your revelation. But the unchanging God has given us his Word by His Spirit. “He is the Author of the Scriptures: He cannot vary and differ from Himself. Hence He must ever remain just as He once revealed Himself there. This is no affront to Him, unless perchance we consider it honourable for Him to decline or degenerate from Himself" (Pg, 94).

To this I would add the revelation of Jesus Christ. Scripture’s subject is God’s Son. The triune God will not change from what he revealed of himself in his glory. Scripture will not downgrade God, because it is the story of himself. And this story, the history of God (that is the account of his will and work in our world, or “his story”), is creation and redemption in Jesus Christ by the power of the Spirit. Scripture testifies to his unchanging work. Scripture itself did not make God, his Son, or his Spirit to happen! Scripture “happened” because the triune God was at work.

7. One thing cannot be separated; it is the Word and Spirit. They belong together. The Spirit's image is recognized in the Word, namely truth.

8. Calvin says, "God did not bring forth His Word among men for the sake of a momentary display, intending at the coming of His Spirit to abolish it. Rather, he sent down the same Spirit by whose power He had given the Word” (Pg. 95).