Our Pattern of Sound Words: the Westminster Confession’s View of Itself in the Light of Scripture

The following is our pastor's latest contribution to Seventeen82.

As we’ve seen from Scripture, the Lord’s people must remember Him and His Word to themselves and their children for perpetual generations. And the Spirit’s method for this features the use of patterns of sound words (e.g. confessions and catechisms). As ARPs, we obviously think that the Westminster Confession and Catechisms are such patterns. What makes them so?

The first answer is that our confession acknowledges that Scripture alone is the rule of faith and practice. The reason that the truth in chapters 2–33 is sound and profitable is found in chapter 1, “Of the Holy Scripture.” This little article will be most helpful to you if read side-by-side with that chapter.

Holy Scripture is God’s Self-revelation. WCF 1.1 teaches that God has committed His revelation

The Holy Spirit’s Method for Transmitting and Preserving the Faith [from Seventeen82]

The following is our pastor's latest contribution to Seventeen82

[Photo: Emmet E. Hakim]

Last month, we considered from Psalm 78 the duty and necessity of each generation’s remembering God’s Word both unto itself and unto the next generation. Christ promised that the Spirit would complete the things that He had to say to His apostles, and through them to us:

¹² “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³ However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵ All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. (Jn 16:12–15, NKJV)

Declaring what is Christ’s
It was the apostles to whom He had already spoken. It was the apostles to whom the completion of that was promised. And, through the apostles, we have received in Scripture everything that Jesus intended to say to His church.

Since Psalm 78 has shown us how important it is, both for ourselves and for our children, to remember God’s Word and works, this raises an important question. What is the apostolic method for preserving and transmitting the faith? What is the method that the Spirit taught them? What is the method that is from the Father, and from the Son, and from the Holy Spirit (cf. v14–15 above)?

Remembering God's Word unto Ourselves and Our Children [from Seventeen82]

This article was first published at Seventeen82

[Photo: Emmet E. Hakim]

Associate Reformed Presbyterians adhere to the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms—a wonderfully biblical thing to do, as we hope to see from Paul’s letters to Timothy next month. In this series of articles, I hope to convince you from Scripture of the necessity and wisdom of mastering and using our doctrinal standards, and then proceed to highlight from Scripture the riches in Christ that can be gained by way of some of our theological distinctives.

But, as a way of setting up for that, I’d like for us to consider from Psalm 78 Israel’s forgetfulness of the Lord and His Word—both in their own hearts (failing Deut 6:6) and to their children (failing Deut 6:7). This article will be best-read with your Bible open, taking the time to see each of the statements from the verses referenced.

Covenant Children’s Right to Be Taught about God

Psalm 78:1–4 teaches us that telling to the next generation the praises of the good, great, saving God is an obligation not an option. v4 refers to failure to do so as “hiding” the “praises of the LORD and His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.”