Michael,
For your consideration, from a Baptist Catechism with Commentary;
Quest. 1: What is the only inspired, infallible and inerrant truth for
man?
Ans: The only inspired, infallible and inerrant truth for man is the
inscripturated Word of God, the Bible.
2 Tim. 3:16–17. 16All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness: 17That the man of God may be perfect, throughly
furnished unto all good works.
Matt. 4:4. …It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by
every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
See also: Gen. 2:17–19; 3:1–12; Deut. 8:3; Heb. 1:1–3; 2 Pet. 1:20–
21; 3:15–16.
COMMENTARY
Some catechisms and works on theology begin with God and then reason
to the Scriptures as a necessary revelation of and from God. This is a
philosophical approach. We must begin with the Scriptures. The Bible alone
is objective, inscripturated truth (2 Tim. 3:16–17). This should ensure that our
thinking will remain scriptural rather than philosophical in both consistency
and in our approach to Divine realities.
The Bible is our sole rule of both faith [belief, doctrine] and practice [life].
The Scripture is our one objective source of truth and knowledge, and our
standard for proper living because it is the very Word of God inscripturated
[written down]. See Questions 7, 9 and 10. It is through the Scriptures that we
have a true knowledge of God, ourselves and universe about us. We may
know much about God from his creation (Rom. 1:18–20) and from our own
instinctive thought–process, as we have been created in God’s image and
likeness [natural revelation]. But God’s moral self–consistency [his absolutely
righteous character], his redemptive love, his grace and mercy, and other
necessary moral characteristics can be known only through the redemptive
history inscripturated in his Word [special revelation]. See Question 5. It is in
the Scriptures alone that we find salvation from sin, hope of deliverance in the
active and passive obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ; true, objective
reconciliation with God, and the certainty of hope for the future. Nature may
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cheer us with its beauties and wonders; we may have high and lofty thoughts
in our imaginations, but only in the Scriptures do we find the heart of God
revealed and discover the glory and sweetness of the gospel.
Further, we must understand that the Fall has affected the thought–
processes of man, and his perception of spiritual realities is either very limited
or distorted by sin [the noetic effects of sin, from the Gk. noeō, “to perceive,
understand.” Fallen man’s intellectual and moral thought–process and
judgment have been crippled by the Fall. Cf. Rom. 1:21–25; 1 Cor. 2:14; Eph.
4:17–19]. See Questions 37 and 38. Thus, natural revelation [God revealed
through his creation] becomes distorted through a fallen and sinful
perspective. Finally, what truth man does know through natural revelation to
any extent [sufficient to hold him inexcusable], he seeks to suppress, as it
aggravates his mind, convicts his conscience and sets itself against his natural
and sinful presuppositions (Rom. 1:18–20). See Question 10. The Scripture
does not reveal everything (Deut. 29:29), but it does reveal sufficiently what
we need to know: that we are sinners before God, how to have forgiveness of
sins, how be reconciled to God through the Lord Jesus Christ, how to live
acceptably before him in this life and prepare ourselves for eternity. It is
through the Scriptures alone that we have a consistent Theistic Christian
world–and–life view, a valid Christian experience and a transcendent, yet
practical faith. See Question 121.
Believing that the Bible is the very Word of God inscripturated is not
merely theoretical or abstract. It is the substance of a living faith which rests
in the truth of God’s Word regardless of circumstances. Such belief is not
mere fideism [a bare irrational faith]. Our faith is grounded in the rational
Word of an intelligent, self–revealing God. The witness of the Holy Spirit
authenticates this Word to the mind, heart and soul of the believer. Its
commandments, prophecies, warnings and promises are wholly and infallibly
true. The Scriptures are therefore to form the very fabric of our lives.
