Q. How doth it appear that the Scriptures are the Word of God?

A. The Scriptures manifest themselves to be the Word of God, by their majesty and purity; by the consent of all the parts, and the scope of the whole, which is to give all glory to God; by their light and power to convince and convert sinners, to comfort and build up believers unto salvation: but the Spirit of God bearing witness by and with the Scriptures in the heart of man, is alone able fully to persuade it that they are the very Word of God.

When I was a student of theology, on the way to a presbytery meeting, my pastor and I were stopped by airport security because his baggage was flagged. The TSA officer said, “Your Bible is showing bomb residue.” Without delay my pastor responded, “It is a very powerful book!”

The Bible is a powerful book, isn’t it?

There are many reasons to note its power and the different angles from which we can investigate how wonderful a book it is. But the central question of the Westminster Larger Catechism (Q. 4) is not merely concerning its power, but of it being the Word of God.

Majesty and Purity

The Bible is majestic and pure. No other book has stood the test of time as the Bible has. We have thousands of biblical manuscripts that prove two things: the Bible has not been adulterated over time, and the Bible is a majestic book. No other book has lasted in time with such Holy Spirit-led purity. Sixty-six books written by 40 authors over the span of 1,600 years. Pure and undefiled, kept by God in all ages.

What other book is so dignified and impressive in its beauty? From exposing the hearts of men to the poetic beauty of David’s Psalter; from the wisdom of Solomon’s Proverbs to the justice of Moses’s Law; from Genesis to Revelation—what other book is so majestic? What other book has stood the test of time? Nations have fallen because of it, kings have feared it above armies, paupers have become as princes through it, and its eternal wisdom has filled library upon library throughout the world.

No other book can compare.

But does that stand as the central point of evidence that it is God’s Word? These beauties do not fully persuade that the Bible is God’s Word.

Consent of Parts and Scope

We could look at the content of the Scriptures as they point to God and His glory. We could see how the Scriptures have brought coal miners to tears and politicians to their knees, as the power to convict of sin and to convert to Christ is pressed upon the human soul.

We could endlessly discuss the comfort of the Psalter and the promises of God through the pages and how so many believers have been built up through its counsel and wisdom. The unity of the Word’s message could be an evidence for it being from the hand of God as well—but this is not where the catechism takes us. Curiously, the catechism takes us to experiential realities.

The Spirit Bearing Witness

Your heart becomes the fertile ground of evidence for the catechism’s claims of the Scriptures’ divine source. The Word of God, by the Spirit of God, persuades you that the Scriptures are God’s Word. Season to season, the Lord, by His Spirit, impresses the Word of God on your heart and life. A.A. Hodge long ago said, “The Holy Spirit opens the blinded eyes and gives due sensibility to the diseased heart; and thus assurance comes with the evidence of spiritual experience. When first regenerated, he begins to set the Scriptures to the test of experience; and the more he advances, the more he proves them true, and the more he discovers of their limitless breadth and fulness, and their evidently designed adaptation to all human wants under all possible conditions.”

Experiential reality. The nine-year-old can know and the ninety-nine-year-old will tell that she’s just begun to plumb the voice of God in the Word. The Scriptures prove themselves to be the Word of God time and again. This was Peter’s great testimony when he told the early church that he stood on the Mount of Transfiguration and was an eyewitness to the majesty of Jesus Christ. Peter audibly heard the voice of God, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (2 Pet. 1:17). But despite these outward things, Peter says that there is a “more sure word of prophecy” (v. 19). The Scriptures are God’s Word and they will be a light that will “arise in your hearts.”

God’s Word will be proven to be true, and much of this will be experiential as your life conforms to the Word of God.

Nathan Eshelman | pastor, Los Angeles, Calif., RPC