The Baptist Confession of Faith
Of The Holy Scriptures
Chapter 1 Paragraph 5
26 April 2026
Hopefully we all received a handout which has the paragraph that we are going to be tackling this afternoon. This is the fifth paragraph of the opening chapter which is dealing with the subject of Of the Holy Scriptures. So, let's begin by looking at what this paragraph states. Chapter 1, Paragraph 5:
We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the church of God to a high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scriptures; and the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, and 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, and many other incomparable excellencies, and entire perfections thereof, are arguments whereby it does 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.
Now what this paragraph is effectively saying is that there is a lot of evidence that can be cited and referenced about the impact and the significance of the Word of God, but ultimately what makes us convinced, shaped and transformed by it is the work of the Holy Spirit. That's what the paragraph is arguing. And it's important to state that as the summary premise introduction because sometimes we can be seeking to do a good thing but we can get almost caught up too much in it. Namely, if we're perhaps seeking to give a defence of Christianity, we're maybe even dealing with the evidence as to why scripture is valid and true, and we could be dealing with issues of Bible translations or issues with regards to its significance in history and so on. As important as these evidences are, ultimately, we know that if one is blinded to the truth, if the Spirit of God has not brought about that change in the heart, then this could be not just like any other book, but it could be dismissed with even greater vehemence. So, this is important to stress in a chapter which begins the confession to establish the Bible as our foundation.
Now brothers and sisters, one thing that we do need to re-stress because this is how the paragraph begins is getting the order right with church and Bible. Bible and church. Notice how the paragraph begins. It says, we may be moved and induced by the testimony of the Church of God to a high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scriptures. Now one not only good but essential thing that you should expect if you enter into a church is that they have a high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scriptures. So, if there is a church that you enter or something passing as a church and the Bible is not being opened or the Bible is being scrutinized in a way where we're trying to figure out the bits that are true and the bits we'll ignore, any of that type of thing, then there is not a high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scriptures and already there is a fundamental problem with that so-called church. So, it is absolutely right that there would be a high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scriptures of the Church. But what we need to clarify as we were addressing in the last section in Paragraph 4 is that the ultimate authority lies with the Scriptures and not with the Church.
So how we understand the importance of the Church is because of what is revealed in the Scriptures. If we got that the other way round and we said, well, how we understand if the Scriptures are important or things about the Scriptures is because of the authority of the Church. Well, first of all, we would want to know how do we understand the authority of the Church? Where does that come from? The answer is the Bible. And second of all, well this is where we get to man being overriding authority over scripture as opposed to the scripture being the foundation of authority by which the church has such a crucial authority. It's given by God and the Bible is the Word of God which reveals truth and reveals truths about things like the authority of the church. So that needs to be stated again because the reason why we would hope and pray that a church has a high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scriptures is because we know the Holy Scriptures places such emphasis on what the church is and so going into a church, we would be hoping that that church would see the Bible as being front, central and foundational.
So that's the first thing. Here in this paragraph that is an evidence and evidence of the significance of the Bible, the fact that the church places such an emphasis of it. That is what is being stated here. And there are several other pieces of evidence that are being given which are written here to give some proof as well as evidence as to the impact and the importance of the Bible. So, first we have mention of the heavenliness of the matter. So, this is arguing that the Bible is quite literally out of this world. That's what this is saying. So, we are making a high claim here to say the Bible is out of this world because it is God's Word and God is from above. And even when we look to Christ, we see He is the Word who is God, who became flesh, we know He is eternal, His origin is of heaven. John 3:31 He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. So, we have the heavenliness of the matter, the heavenliness of the Bible, it's out of this world. It is not a book like any other book for this reason.
Then we see mention of the efficacy of the doctrine. Now what does this mean? Efficacy, it means it has an impact in our lives. The Bible has an impact in the life of people. Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction that through endurance, and through the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope. Do you sit here this afternoon believing that the Scriptures have an impact in your life? When you memorize Scripture, when you perhaps send a verse or a passage of Scripture to a brother or sister seeking to encourage, guide, potentially even to rebuke, because you have a belief in the efficacy of the teachings, the impact that this will have in shaping you and other brothers and sisters in the faith. It's not just some quippy quote from some so-called wise philosopher somewhere. No, this is the Word of God which we believe has this impact to shape, guide, and transform lives.
And why? Well, it goes on in the paragraph, and the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts. This is dealing with what the Bible is, how it was put together. This is a book written over hundreds of years by many authors with different styles and genres. And yet, what do we find? There's a consistency and a coherence to all of the scriptures. It's consistent and it's coherent. It's incredible to see so many of the intricacies of prophecies written and spoken hundreds of years before then being fulfilled at other points, details of one part of the Bible that link, connect and fit together with other parts of the Bible. It all comes together. And this is why the paragraph says, the scope of the whole and it puts in brackets, though this could be underlined for emphasis, which is to give all glory to God. To give all glory to God and that's a point which is expanded in the next chapter but we understand the Bible which is before us is the book that tells us of God's glory that everything exists for this purpose it's why we exist and what the Bible reveals to us.
And yet we know that sin separates us. And so, our eyes are opened and our heart is transformed by the full discovery of man's salvation. As it goes on in the paragraph, the full discovery it makes of the only way of man's salvation. The Bible reveals this. The Bible reveals the truth. The way of salvation, which is no other name but Jesus Christ, Acts 4:12. That is front and central to it all. The Bible reveals the way of salvation, the revelation of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what saves and changes us and where we can see and behold the glory of God and where we can have many other incomparable excellencies, and entire perfections thereof which are, as we see, are arguments whereby it does abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God. Because it reveals Christ, it reveals salvation, it reveals the way by which our lives can be shaped and changed, it reveals what is the means by which we give glory to God because this is the book which is out of this world. It is from above; it is God's Word.
These are just some of the key evidences that are being cited in this paragraph and it is why the confession of faith labours paragraph after paragraph after paragraph the importance, the sufficiency and the all-encompassing nature of the Word of God. That's why if some people were to say, oh well hang on a second, when we have confessions of faith is this something that is competing with the Word of God? Well, this is why the confession begins by emphasizing, no, it is Sola Scriptura. It is Scripture Alone, and it is unpacking in these paragraphs the significance, the weight, and the evidences of this.
But just finally, what is ultimately referenced as the key evidence? At the end of the paragraph, it says, 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. We could have two different people sitting down reading the same passage of Scripture, say John 3 and the need to be born again and one could be reading this and knowing and seeing the eternally spiritually significant weight of this book. The other could be sitting reading this and be utterly disinterested and disengaged. What's the difference? It's the work that the Holy Spirit has done in your heart and it's the work that the Holy Spirit then does through this book. Possibly some of you can think of a time in your life when maybe you looked at the Bible and thought this was a big joke and now look as you're sitting here this evening. You're not coming here expecting to be persuaded that the Bible is something that you should be reading, studying and listening to. No, you come now with a desire to read, search, hear, understand, and be shaped by the Holy Scriptures. This is what happens for the Christian. You come knowing that you may not like what you hear from God's Word, but you know it to be true in your hearts. And so, you have a readiness to be challenged by it, a readiness to be shaped and guided by it, because you are, by the Spirit of God, fully persuaded of its truth and divine authority. The Spirit gives testimony to this and this is the testimony that you know in your heart. It is binding therefore. It is a binding truth in your heart. It's why your conscience is bent towards God.
And that's new. That's supernatural. The unbelieving carnal man doesn't have that and doesn't want to have that. And it's all of grace. It is grace and mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ that produces that change and why we come gathering into the house of God Desiring to hear from the Word of God. Desiring to live according to the Word of God. Desiring to be cantered upon the Word of God. Because we know it is infallible truth. It is divine authority and this is what the Holy Spirit bears witness to. Not on some external basis to attract the heart of stone, but revealing and shaping the heart of flesh. That is what the Word of God does in our lives and therefore we, by the Holy Spirit's power, give evidence to the efficacy, the centrality and the foundation of the Bible in all aspects of our lives. Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, we pray, minister to our hearts as we continue to give thought and very detailed, biblically grounded consideration of the foundation of the Bible. Lord, not simply in the evidence of what the Bible is, as crucial as this is, but of what the Bible is in our hearts, revealed by your Holy Spirit. This is why It is that lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Oh God, we praise and we exalt you that the Word of God has been revealed to us and we come with a reverence and a high esteem of the Scriptures, desiring, yearning to know more of it in the way by which our lives are shaped. And we pray that you would bless the time as we spend studying this paragraph and the significance of the Bible. In Jesus' name. Amen.
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Is it enough to say, ‘the Bible is true because the Bible says it is true’? Consider that we have Scripture fulfilled in Scripture and how this point can be unpacked.
2. Is ‘evidence’ important when discussing the authority of Scripture? Why / why not?
3. What convinced and convinces you that Scripture is true?
4. Read 1 Corinthians 2:10-13. Why is reading Scripture so important?
5. Do you have a desire to be ‘conformed’ to God’s Word? Is there any area where this is not the case?