Walking Through Westminster, WCF 1.10

Westminster Confession of Faith 1.10

"The supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture."

Summary

Further detailing the point made in section 9, we are to judge all decrees of Church councils, ancient writers, contemporary teachers, even our own private spirits by the word of God, through which the Spirit of God speaks. This clarifies that we are not, as some moronic opponents call us, “bibliolaters” making an idol out of the Scripture when we attribute highest authority to it. Rather, we subject all things to the Supreme Judge who speaks through the Scriptures, the Spirit of God. To subject yourself to the Bible is to subject yourself to God the Holy Ghost. To refuse to subject yourself to the Bible is to refuse to subject yourself to God the Holy Ghost. There can be no hope of salvation for someone who rebels in such a way.

+ Blessings in Christ +

En La Ciudad de La Reina!

Friends,

Many of you have been wondering about the Ginn's. Are we moving to Tampa? Will we ever see you again? How does Olivia still manage to put up with Keith after almost 4 years of marriage? (That last answer's all God's grace, baby!) 

The short answer is that we are planning to stay in Charlotte for the near future! We took our trip to Holy Trinity PCA in Tampa, and it was a great church. There were many things about it that we liked and they were very welcoming to us. However, nothing about it screamed out to us, "Come here! You need to be here!" We have definitely felt that way about Charlotte. We have a great church in which to serve and grow. We have been given the green light for the Liv Apartments program, so we will have a free place to live. We both are gainfully employed. In all, we are thrilled to be where we are and plan to stay for a while!

While we are happy to finally have that question settled, there are now a host of things that need doing in the next couple of months. We need to pack and get ready to move at the end of June. We need to think about our family future. We need to think about our financial situation. 

As it stands, Olivia will still be at her current job. She will help with the Liv program, but that responsibility will primarily fall on me. Since that will likely require anywhere from 12-15 hours a week, I am thinking about my own employment situation. We have a good setup for the future, but many things are still up in the air and there will be a lot of stress coming in the next couple of months, particularly with the move, as we will have to down-size to fit into our new place. 

If you could please pray for:
1. Our upcoming move and all the normal stresses that go along with that!
2. Keith's continuing effort to learn Spanish to better serve in the Liv Apartment program.
3. Wisdom as we think about our future as a family, and, closely related...
4. Wisdom regarding our employment situation as we head into the future!

Details are still being worked out, and we will have more info in the coming weeks, but, for now, thank you for your continued love and support! As we embark on this new adventure, we are so thrilled to have such a wonderful group of people to come alongside of us. We love you and can't wait for what God has for us in the months and years to come!

We love y'all! 

+ Blessings in Christ +

Walking Through Westminster, WCF 1.9

Westminster Confession of Faith 1.9

"The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself: and therefore, when there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture (which is not manifold, but one), it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly."

Summary

The infallible method of interpreting Scripture is to do so with other Scripture. We ought to interpret the Bible the way the Bible interprets itself. Any interpretive method that puts something else in the highest place sins against God and His word. There is only one true and full sense of any particular passage, not many, and the way to discover its meaning is to interpret it with other clearer passages. For example, we read in 1 Tim 4:4-5 that all creations of God are good and not to be refused, for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. However, we know from other passages that this does not include things that are inherently sinful. So a man having a romantic dinner with a woman other than his wife is not acceptable, even if they pray and give thanks for the meal and their relationship before the dinner. The inherent sinfulness of adultery excludes it from the influence of 1 Tim 4:4-5, and without contradicting it. We learn from this that, when Paul says “every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving”, he does not include that which is inherently sinful. In this way, we have used clearer passages of Scripture to help clarify and interpret what Paul means in 1 Tim 4:4-5. The reality of section 9 means that any interpretive methods, including an exclusively literal method, are wrongheaded and sinful. Simply to say that you interpret the Bible literally does not mean you interpret it correctly. We interpret the Bible the way the Bible demands to be interpreted and how it interprets itself.

+ Blessings in Christ +

Walking Through Westminster, WCF 1.8

Westminster Confession of Faith 1.8

"The Old Testament in Hebrew (which was the native language of the people of God of old), and the New Testament in Greek (which, at the time of the writing of it, was most generally known to the nations), being immediately inspired by God, and, by His singular care and providence, kept pure in all ages, are therefore authentical; so as, in all controversies of religion, the Church is finally to appeal unto them. But, because these original tongues are not known to all the people of God, who have right unto, and interest in the Scriptures, and are commanded, in the fear of God, to read and search them, therefore they are to be translated in to the vulgar language of every nation unto which they come, that, the Word of God dwelling plentifully in all, they may worship Him in an acceptable manner; and, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, may have hope."

Summary

The Scriptures were originally inspired by God in Hebrew in the OT and Greek in the NT. These original writings, (the "autographs"), were immediately inspired by God, differentiating them from anything else we consider inspired. We often speak of people being "inspired" and there is a sense in which we understand that. Even today, we can speak of people being inspired by God to do things, write things, produce art, etc. But only the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures are immediately inspired by God, as Peter says, "for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." (2 Peter 1:21). 

 These autographs were not only immediately inspired by God, God has also kept their words "pure in all ages". Even though we do not possess any of the autographs, all of them probably being destroyed or lost by now, God has still kept their original message and words pure in every age, free from corruption. Since the autographs are lost, we have to conclude that God has done this through the method of copying. Scribes throughout the centuries produced thousands, tens of thousands of copies of the Hebrew OT and Greek NT. While these scribes were not immediately inspired by God, as the apostles and prophets were, their work was guided by God's care and providence to the extent that He maintained the purity and trustworthiness of His originally inspired Scriptures throughout all ages. This seems to present an issue for the critical text position, which assumes that only recently, in the last 200 years, has the Church recovered the original Scriptures, through the recovery of a small number of older manuscripts and codices. The only way a critical text proponent could say that God kept His word pure in all ages is to say that He did so in secret, which would seem to contradict the second half of section 8, which deals with God's desire to have His word dwell richly in His people. 

The word of God, properly translated, is rightly called the Word of God. The confession treats the translation of God's word into common tongues as the way God intends to spread His word to the nations, meaning that, while they were originally written in Hebrew and Greek, the translations of Scripture into other tongues are rightly treated as God's word. While knowledge of the Greek and Hebrew is an excellent thing, it is not necessary to have God's word available to you.

+ Blessings in Christ +