The Word of God

Paragraph 4: “The reason the Holy Scripture is authoritative and completely trustworthy isn’t due to the endorsement of any individual or religious institution. Its authority stems solely from God, who is the truth Himself and the One who inspired it. For this reason alone, we embrace it as the undeniable Word of God.”

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Take note, the confession clearly says that the Holy Scripture's authority and complete trustworthiness do not depend on the endorsement of any individual or religious institution. This is a foundational tenet of Reformed theology, rooted in the Reformation principle of Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone).

First of all, let's look at the divine origin of the Scriptures. The Summarium asserts that the Bible is authoritative because it is "God-breathed" (theopneustos), meaning its ultimate author is God himself. What does it strongly imply? It implies that its authority is inherent in its nature as the Word of God, not something conferred upon it by human beings or the church.

The Bible's authority is "the ultimate authority for the church," since it is "God-breathed" (theopneustos). This means its trustworthiness comes from being the direct expression of God's will and truth. As R.C. Sproul so powerfully articulated, "The authority of the Bible is the authority of God. If the Bible is the Word of God, it has the right to command us." Jesus himself used Scripture as the ultimate standard of authority, correcting false teachings by appealing to it, and never to tradition.

James White, a leading contemporary Reformed apologist says, "You don't have Scriptural authority over here then God's authority over here. You don't have different authorities in the Church. The authority of the Church is one: God's authority. And when God speaks in Scripture that carries His authority." Albert N. Martin, a revered pastor, further emphasizes this point, saying, "The ultimate authority in the life of the Christian and the church is the very Word of God. It is God's speaking to us. And we are not at liberty to modify it, subtract from it, or add to it."

But let us not forget the Role of the Holy Spirit: While the church does not give the Bible its authority, we believe that the Holy Spirit bears witness to the truth of Scripture in the hearts of believers. The Holy Spirit is what enables people to recognize and receive the Bible as the Word of God, a process sometimes called the "internal testimony of the Holy Spirit."

Once again, what is really the role of the Church? The role of the Church is not to establish the authority of Scripture but to recognize and submit to the authority that Scripture already possesses. The church is a "pillar and buttress of the truth" (1 Tim 3:15), but its authority is secondary and derivative—it is only authoritative insofar as its teachings conform to the written Word of God.

Now, if you notice, this position is blatantly opposed to the Roman Catholic position: Why? What does Roman Catholicism hold? Roman Catholicism holds that the authority of Scripture and tradition are interdependent and interpreted by the magisterium (the teaching authority of the Church). But for us, all other authorities—church councils, traditions, opinions of ancient writers—are subject to and to be judged by the final authority of the Holy Scripture. R.C. Sproul addressed this directly, stating, "The Roman Catholic Church has three sources of divine revelation: sacred Scripture, sacred tradition, and the teaching office of the church (the magisterium). The Reformers insisted there is only one source of divine revelation, and that is sacred Scripture."