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Welcome back to another episode of 5 Minutes in

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Church History. It was a few episodes back that

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we camped out in the year 1559. You

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might recall that in that year,

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a number of confessions were written

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in a number of languages across

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the European lands. It was a

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great moment, a succinct moment

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in the history of the Reformation. Well,

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I want to go back to that

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year 1559 and I want to go

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back to one of those confessions, the

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French Confession of Faith. I was looking

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at Article 5 again and I

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saw in there, it's one paragraph,

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it's a densely packed paragraph, but

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I saw in there a wonderful

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doctrine of Scripture. And

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as I looked at it, five points

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emerged and you know how at 5

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Minutes in Church History, we love that

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number five. Well, let's look at it.

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First, the French Confession of Faith, Article

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5 declares, we believe that the word

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contained in these books, that is the

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66 canonical books of

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the Bible, has proceeded from God.

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Well, we start there with our

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doctrine of Scripture. Scripture is revelation.

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That means it's not a bottom-up

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book. It's a top-down book. It

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has been revealed to us from

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God. This leads to

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the second point, because it

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is from God, the Confession

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continues, Scripture receives its authority

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from Him alone and not

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from men. This second point

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is so crucial, this doctrine of the authority

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of Scripture. As the

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Reformation develops this doctrine and even

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in the post-Reformation era, we will

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see a very simple formula emerge

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and that is inspiration leads to

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inerrancy. Because the Bible is revelation,

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it is inspired, it is

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breathed out from God. And

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because it is from God who is truth

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and speaks truthfully, it is in

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fact inerrant. It is true in all

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that it says, and it is without error.

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We also see here an apologetic implication.

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The Bible is not the only text

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to claim divine origin. Other texts do.

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And so what do we do with

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these contradictory and conflicting truth claims? Well,

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Scripture, unlike these other texts, wants

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to be submitted to scrutiny. It

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speaks of places and time and

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in history and of historical figures.

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And so we can look to

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archaeology and history to see corroboration

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of these events that are recorded

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for us in the Bible so

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that we can know it is indeed a

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divine revelation and true

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and reliable. The third point

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from the French Confession is this, that

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in this Bible, in this Word of

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God, it is the rule of

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all truth containing all that

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is necessary for the service of God and

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for our salvation. As Peter is going to

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say, in the Bible, we have all that

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we need for life and

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godliness. Scripture is sufficient.

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Of course, it's sufficient. It's from

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God and it's for us. So

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it's going to be sufficient for

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all that we need for life

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and godliness. And we can know,

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as the Confession says, that it

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is the rule of all truth. We

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have a sure word. We have a

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true north. We have a compass. Imagine

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living in this world without a

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true and reliable guide. It's pretty

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bleak, isn't it? But Scripture gives

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us that compass that we know

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is true and we can depend on it. And

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it gives us all we need for life and godliness.

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Fourth, the Confession goes on to

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say that no

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other authority, whether of antiquity

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or custom or numbers or

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human wisdom or judgments or

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proclamations or edicts or decrees

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or councils or visions or

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miracles, none of these other

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authorities should be opposed

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to these holy Scriptures.

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So again, Scripture alone. This is the

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key word. alone, sola.

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Scripture alone is our authority.

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And these other things that have come along, especially

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in the Reformation context, as the Church was depending

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on, are not our

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authority. And then

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finally, positively, the confession ends with

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this, but on the contrary,

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all things, that's a pretty

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inclusive expression, isn't it? All

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things should be examined, regulated,

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and reformed according

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to them. Well, there it

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is. That was the battle cry of

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the Reformation, that formal

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principle of sola scriptura,

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and it alone guides

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the Church in

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her doctrine, and in her practice, and in

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her worship. And so we, as

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Christians, are reformed as well

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by God's Word alone. That's

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the French Confession of Faith, Article 5, and

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I'm Steve Nichols. Thanks for joining us for

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5 Minutes in Church History.