THE ONLY RULE

                                                                    THE ONLY RULE 

Westminster Shorter Catechism 2

Quest. What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him?

Ans. The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him.

Introduction

If the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, it necessarily follows that there must be some direction given by God how we might glorify Him and enjoy Him forever. This is where the Westminster Shorter Catechism question and answer number two comes in: The sixty-six books of the Bible direct us how to glorify God and enjoy Him.

Why do we need the Scriptures?

The Apostle Paul, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote to Timothy these words, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

First off, we see that the compilers of the Westminster Shorter Catechism are saying exactly what Scripture says: The Word of God, which is contained in the Older and Newer Testaments, is our only rule of direction. Now, when we say that the Older and Newer Testaments “contain” the Word of God we mean that the thirty-nine Older Testament Books and the twenty-seven Newer Testament Books are the Word of God. Yet there are some folks who think this gives them a mandate to sift through the Older and Newer Testaments and try to extract what they personally think might be the Word of God! But then, by doing this, you would be guilty of setting yourself up as the only rule of faith, because, how would you know for sure what bits God wrote and what bits He didn’t? No, as the Spirit of God says through the Apostle, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God…”

And, also, as the Spirit sounds a warning through His Apostle John in Revelation 22:18-19, “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the 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.” So, I would recommend to all not to mess around by adding or subtracting any words contained in the Older and Newer Testaments!

All Scripture, i.e., the Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify God and enjoy Him. And why is it the only rule how we may glorify God and enjoy Him forever? Or, Why do we need the Scriptures? Well, plainly and simply the Word of God, i.e., the Older and Newer Testaments is the total instruction God has given us. God has given us no other instruction how we are to glorify and enjoy Him. The Word of God, the Bible, the Scriptures, the Older and Newer Testaments that’s it, nothing else.

Is it a good work for us – by the redeeming grace of God – to glorify and enjoy Him forever? Of course it is! That’s why God through His Apostle has given us the Scriptures, “…that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” Is glorifying God and enjoying Him included in “every good work”? If it is, we’re being told then that the Scriptures are the only rule for that good work. Therefore, we are not to resort to our own devices or ideas about glorifying God.

There has been a plethora of devices concocted by the minds of men trying to glorify God. These devices range from small figurines to large statues like the one on the mountain at Rio de Janeiro. They range from praying to dead saints, including Mary, to praying to angels. They range from superstitions such as thinking you’ll escape a bad experience by not walking under a ladder, to believing God will save your soul from Hell if you try to be good!

Just look around at all the false religions in the world today and you’ll see men who think they’re doing a good work. Just look around some of the churches and you’ll see men who think they’re doing a good work. But WSC #2 is telling us that the Bible is our only rule for glorifying God. And why is WSC #2 telling us this? Because this is what God in His Word is telling us.

So, let’s ask the question: Why does God need to tell man how he is to glorify Him? For shouldn’t man instinctively just know? Isn’t it inherent knowledge? Isn’t he able to figure it out for himself? Shouldn’t glorifying God be left to common sense? Well, as we’ve just noted, it’s not hard to see, when you look around, that many men are trying to worship and glorify God in ways God hasn’t prescribed in His Word, and in ways contrary to His written Word. Some of these people are no doubt very sincere in their worship. But according to the only rule, i.e., the Word of God, they are sincerely wrong. In fact, the Word of God in Colossians 2:23 calls what they’re doing “self-imposed worship,” or “will-worship.”

So, what’s wrong with worshipping God your way, even if you do so with sincerity? Well, again, it’s wrong because it’s not according to the only rule God has given us for glorifying Him and enjoying Him forever! So, you can see why God has given us the whole Bible. It’s because, of ourselves, even as regenerate men, we don’t know how to glorify God and enjoy Him properly.

If our worship of God is self-imposed and not according to Scripture, then we are simply worshipping ourselves and not God. How so? Because we would be dictating to God how He ought to be glorified even in worship, which is very much akin to forming God in your own image and likeness. But we see that our Shorter Catechism is teaching against this kind of thing right from its beginning. No, The Word of God is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify God and enjoy Him.

So, all of this suggests, nay, it warns us, that there is something wrong with us. Think about it, what’s wrong with a person trying, in his own way, to glorify God apart from Scripture? Why does God find this so offensive? Well, again it’s because everything needs to be done according to His will, His revealed will, i.e., His Word. But that’s the simple answer, isn’t it? There’s more to it than this.

The Word of God has been given to us because we are fallen creatures. The revelation of God, i.e., the Bible tells us that God is our Creator. It tells us that He made us perfect, but we rebelled against Him in Adam in the Garden. It tells us that our sin has separated us from God, i.e., sinful man no longer has fellowship with God, but rather is at war with Him. It tells us that we were thrown out of the Garden, i.e., Paradise, along with Adam and Eve.

The Bible therefore reveals to us the reason why mankind is in a state of sin and misery. It tells us we will spend eternity in torment in Hell because of our rebelliousness toward God. But there is good news also revealed in God’s Word. It tells us that God has sent a Saviour into the world, the Second Person of the Trinity, the Logos, the Word who became flesh. Jesus Christ is God’s only begotten Son. It tells us that He lived the perfect Covenant-keeping life that all of us fail to keep. It tells us that He received the penalty we are each due for our sins. It tells us that if we repent of our sins, and keep on believing in Him, we will be saved from the wrath of God upon sinners.

In the beginning we were created holy and righteous by God with true knowledge of Him and with true knowledge of His creation. Why do we need the Scriptures? Well, the Apostle John gives a good answer where he says about what he wrote, “[T]hese things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31). How else would we today know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour, were it not for the Scriptures? These are they which testify of Him.

Let’s recap a little before we move on. When man as represented by Adam rebelled against God by disobeying Him in the Garden, we all lost the holiness and righteousness that we (as mankind) had at our creation. But not only did we lose our holiness and righteousness. We also lost the true knowledge of the Creator and His Creation including ourselves.

So, this knowledge of God, His creation, and we ourselves as part of that creation, was lost because of the sin of the human race in Adam. Therefore, whatever knowledge we have of God, His Creation, and ourselves cannot be classed as true knowledge until it is revealed as such by God.

In other words, the only rule for knowing if something is ultimately true about God, His creation and we ourselves, is the Word of God. You yourself cannot be that rule. I cannot be that rule. Why? Because neither you nor I nor mankind collectively is God. We can never be sure that any knowledge of God we have as fallen creatures is a true and dependable knowledge unless God reveals it as such in His Word.

Yes, we were made in His image and likeness. But that image and likeness was shattered by Adam’s sin. O, there might be bits and pieces of you and me that reflect God’s glory even as sinners. However, as a smashed mirror distorts what it reflects, so will we as sinners distort God’s glory.

If the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, then we need to be reinstructed by God how to do this. Therefore, WSC 2 teaches that the Word of God teaches that the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy God is His Scriptures.

How Did the Scriptures Come to Be?

We’ve noted the fact already that it was God who gave the Scriptures to man, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God…” (2 Tim. 3:16). What is meant by “…given by inspiration of God…”? Well, for a start we need to figure out what is meant by “inspiration.”

Sometimes we ask people, What “inspired” you do to such a thing? Let’s say the person you are talking to has just parachuted out of an aeroplane for the very first time. Or “where did you get your inspiration to write such a beautiful poem?” Or “the cantata was an inspired piece of work.”

We use the word “inspired” rather generally and loosely, don’t we? But that’s not the way it’s being used in “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God…” I tend to favour (on this rare occasion) the NIV rendering which says, “All Scripture is God-breathed…” In this you get the more accurate idea of God “breathing out His Word.” As opposed to the inaccurate God breathing into His Word.

In Winnipeg in January if you met someone outside you might say, “It’s a cold one today, ay?” The vapour of your breath would instantly crystallize as the words came out of your mouth. In a cartoon world this might be depicted with the words, “It’s a cold one today, ay?” hanging frozen in the air! Well, the real world isn’t a cartoon, but our cartoon depiction helps us to understand something of how God gave us the Scriptures. He breathed them out. But He breathed them out through chosen men. As the Lord says through His Apostle Peter in 2 Peter 1:20-21, “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation [or origin], for prophecy never came about by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by God.”

For the moment we’re mostly interested in the words, “holy men of God spoke as they were moved by God.” So, the picture might be of a person playing a wind-instrument, like a flute, no, make it a set of bagpipes! God is the One who does the breathing, moving the men to play His tune or music, i.e., speak forth and/or write down His Word.

Notice that Peter also says here in 2 Peter 1:20 that “prophecy never came about by the will of man…” We’ve already taken note that “…the will of man…” is fallen, i.e., sinful. But God’s revelation is independent, it’s not dependant on man’s will. Therefore, Peter under the influence of the Holy Spirit is telling us that prophecy, i.e., God’s Word is solidly dependable. In other words, he’s telling us that the Word of God is true knowledge, true revelation from God.

As you know, the word “prophecy” doesn’t always mean “prediction.” Prophecy means “forth-telling” every bit as much as “fore-telling.” It means, according to Vine, “the speaking forth of the mind and counsel of God.” The prophet Samuel said in 2 Samuel 23:2 that king David said, “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue.” So, God spoke through His chosen vessels.

Now, this doesn’t mean that the men who wrote down God’s Word were robots. Christians don’t believe in a “mechanical theory of inspiration.” We don’t believe that God used man as a robot or a machine as He dictated His Word. Nowadays you can speak into a computer and have it record and print what you said. Well, God didn’t use men like this. He used men, prophets and Apostles as His infallible “spokesmen.” And He used their personalities and writing styles to put His Word into writing.

Did you ever get 10/10 for a test or exam at school? If you didn’t, did anyone in your class ever get 10/10? So, it’s not impossible to get 100%? Well, each person God used to write the sixty-six Books of the Bible over a period of fifteen hundred years scored 10/10 for their work! So, all thirty-nine Books of the Older Testament and all twenty-seven Books of the Newer Testament were written exactly how God wanted them written. He breathed through these men freezing, as it were, His Words – not in mid-air – but rather on whatever material upon which the writers wrote.

Now, God, by His Providence, by His providential care, had men copy these writings down through the centuries. In turn the trustworthy copies were themselves read and copied. And the untrustworthy copies were rejected and thrown in the bin. Therefore, what we have today is a trustworthy copy of the original autographs, as they’re called.

I heard one fellow who belongs to one of those Bible Societies say that archaeologists mostly tend to dig up rejected and untrustworthy copies of the Bible. He made the point that even today the good copies get worn out and fall to bits, whereas the not-so-good editions of the Bible collect dust on our shelves. I would have to conclude that this is the case in my own Study’s library! You’ll find editions of the Bible that have hardly been touched. They look brand new. Why? Because I don’t believe they’re reliable!

Now, we’ve already noted that it's the Word of God contained in the Older and Newer Testaments which God has given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him. Therefore, this also rules out the extra-revelation some are claiming nowadays. If God is still talking directly to people today, then they need to write it down and add it to the Bible. But then you’ve got the warning we already mentioned in the last chapter of Revelation which warns us about adding to and subtracting from the Word of God. And also, the Spirit says through Agur in Prov. 30:6, “Do not add to His words, lest He reprove you, and you be found a liar.”

Now, the people today who claim that God is speaking to us through them are mostly well-intentioned no doubt. However, in the Providence of God the Canon of Scripture has been closed for nigh on two thousand years. The “Bible Canon” is the completed writings of the Word of God. The Canonicity of a Book means it’s right to a place in the inspired writings of the Bible. There were three main divisions in the Older Testament: The Law, The Prophets, and The Hagiographa, i.e., the Holy Writings.

Now, with regard to the Newer Testament writings, it was not by an official action of a Church council that the Newer Testament Books were “voted” into the Canon. Rather, it was the case that those books which were collected and adopted into the Canon, were collected and adopted because of their custom and usage by the Church, which is to say that they were already being used by the churches as if they were the inspired Word.

We have noted that the Bible we have is clearly the Word of God. To be sure some English translations are far more accurate than others. This is why we need to train men in the original languages of Hebrew and Greek. However, the point is that the Older and Newer Testaments do indeed contain the Word of God, and are the only rule to direct us how we may glorify God and enjoy Him.

Conclusion

The Apostle John under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote the following words recorded in 1 John 1:4, “These things I write to you that your joy may be full.” Now, this joy, this fullness of joy, that the Spirit through John alerts us to, is not a passing, emotional feeling. That kind of fleeting joy is much like the laughter described by Solomon in Ecclesiastes, “For like the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of a fool” (Eccl. 7:6).

The joy of which the Word of God speaks, is the same joy as in the enjoying of God. It’s His joy. Therefore, this joy is an everlasting joy, an everlasting joy in the presence of Him who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, even Jesus Christ.

His joy does not change. Nor does it fluctuate. His joy is not influenced by outside forces. His joy is not ashes under a pot being blown away by the wind. No, His joy multiplies itself forever. For His joy – like the Word of God – lasts forever. Hence the only rule to direct us in this joy is the Word of God.

Therefore, though the mountains may crumble to the sea, the man who trusts what God says in His Word will continue undisturbed enjoying God. How is this so? Well, because the Word of God is the only rule to direct us how we may enjoy Him.

Therefore, our enjoyment of God must always be in accordance with His Word, and not dependant on our health or wealth or any other external factor. I would encourage you all diligently to study God’s infallible Word.