The Westminster Confession of Faith : Part 6

CHAPTER 1 OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE continued…

6. The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men. Nevertheless, we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the Word: and that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and government of the church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature, and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed.

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The Westminster Confession of Faith : Part 5

CHAPTER 1 OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE continued…

5. 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.

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The Westminster Confession of Faith : Part 4

CHAPTER 1 OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE continued…

4. 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 is the Word of God.

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The Westminster Confession of Faith : Part 3

 

CHAPTER 1 OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE continued…

3. The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of divine inspiration, are no part of the canon of the Scripture, and therefore are of no authority in the church of God, nor to be any otherwise approved, or made use of, than other human writings.

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The Westminster Confession of Faith : Part 2

 

CHAPTER 1 OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE continued…

2. Under the name of Holy Scripture, or the Word of God written, are now contained all the books of the Old and New Testaments, which are these:
Of the Old Testament:
Genesis
II Chronicles
Daniel
Exodus
Ezra
Hosea
Leviticus
Nehemiah
Joel
Numbers
Esther
Amos
Deuteronomy
Job
Obadiah
Joshua
Psalms
Jonah
Judges
Proverbs
Micah
Ruth
Ecclesiastes
Nahum
I Samuel
The Song of Songs
Habakkuk
II Samuel
Isaiah
Zephaniah
I Kings
Jeremiah
Haggai
II Kings
Lamentations
Zechariah
I Chronicles
Ezekiel
Malachi

Of the New Testament:
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
The Acts of the Apostles
Galatians
Ephesians
James
Peter 1
Peter 2
Philippians
Colossians
Thessalonians I
Thessalonians II
John 1
John 2
John 3
Timothy I
Timothy II
Titus
Romans
Philemon
Jude
Corinthians I
Corinthians II
Hebrews
Revelation

All which are given by inspiration of God to be the rule of faith and life.

The Westminster Confession of Faith : Part One

 

The First Part of a Long Series of Posts – one article per blog.

CHAPTER 1 OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE
1. Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men unexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of his will, which is necessary unto salvation. Therefore it pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in divers manners, to reveal himself, and to declare that his will unto his church; and afterwards, for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing: which maketh the Holy Scripture to be most necessary; those former ways of God's revealing his will unto his people being now ceased.

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An Exclusive Blog Post

 

Recently I have been drawn into debates about some trendy teachers on the liberal side of the Christian church. I have a draft sitting here on the topic of one such character and I do not think I will finish that post. Great experience putting it together and researching it but writing about individuals does not personally sit well with me especially when the wider point is general. In principle though, naming names of false teachers is Biblical. It can be very messy when those teachers are ambiguous.

So this will generally address a problem with such teachers of today (and often of the past). If there is one issue that is the acid test of whether to use someone's teaching or not it is Universalism. Consider the following quotes from the Gospel of John:

John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

John 6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

John 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

John 8:24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.

So there we have it a divine Jesus – Messiah and Son of God is essential or you face the wrath of God. Anyone can repent and put their faith in Him. There are many many more I could add to the list but these 5 are all in context and more than sufficient.

Some today are keen to be ‘inclusive’ and flat out say all will be saved because God’s grace will win over human hard hearts. Others walk a middle road not quite being inclusive and not quite being exclusive yet keeping Christ as the central figure. This must be hard work to maintain this position if nothing else, yet it is very common in the mainstream Church.

The consequences are eternal too – should we risk our lives and our families lives to pass on the Gospel if it is just a nice to have? Can we ease off if everyone is saved in the end anyway?

Based on scripture, it is a deadly serious essential and we must take the message to all urgently. I just do not have time for wobbly looking teachers (however interesting or dynamic they are) – I will pick up the blog, book, podcast etc by the teacher that I know has a solid position on the message of Jesus.

Both is the answer to ‘Inclusive or Exclusive?’. To enter the Kingdom, you must be born again but all are invited to repent and put their trust in Jesus.

No danger of me becoming a mainstream trendy teacher then :-)