All Things Necessary
Chapter 1: Of the Holy Scriptures
6. The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men. Nevertheless, we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the Word: and that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and government of the church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature, and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed.
Have you ever wondered where Adam’s son’s wives came from, or what life was like on Noah’s ark? Well, there are many things which we may like to know about the people and places and events of Redemptive history, yet many of those things are not recorded in the Bible. Why not? Because there are certain things which God has decided are not necessary for us to know—whether it is the exact age of the earth, or a biographical account of Jesus’ childhood. “Necessary for what?” Someone might asks, to which the Westminster Confession answers: “all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life.”
Compare this to what Moses says to the people of Israel in the book of Deuteronomy: “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.”-Deut. 29:29. What God has given us is sufficient to give a person that sort of knowledge they need in order to come to genuine faith in Jesus Christ and to live in true obedience.
This paragraph also gives us a brief principle of hermeneutics, meaning method for reading and understanding scripture. It says that they are “either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequences may be deduced from Scripture. This is very important for the Christian to understand. “Expressly set down” refers to those teachings of scripture which are directly declared, and plainly written. Statements like “In the beginning God made the Heavens and the Earth.” (Genesis 1:1); such statements have little wiggle room for interpretation, and anyone who tries to make these passages say anything else are very obviously getting carried away, speculating, or trying to promote some personal agenda.
The second part of this statement refers to things which are not “expressly set down,” but are truths which can be pulled from the pages of Scripture nonetheless. And I want you to note the very important phrase “by good and necessary consequences;” This is vitally important, because sometimes people will attempt to use a passage of scripture as a proof text for an idea or teaching that is hijacking the text—making it say something it does not say. “Good and necessary consequences” means that the deductions made are the result of utilizing the context, the language, genre, grammar, and other such aspects in order to arrive at the author’s intended meaning. This means I cannot come to the Bible with an idea I’m seeking to prove, any more than I can try to use a math book to prove that 3 +3 = Q! "Good and necessary" means that I have sought diligently for the meaning of the scriptures out of a desire to understand what God is saying, submitting my opinions, presuppositions, speculations, traditions, to the authority of the scriptures, rather than the other way around. Next week we will learn another principle that is essential in our reading of scripture, yet if you want to learn more about this subject, I highly recommend a book called “Let the Reader Understand” by Dan McCartney and Charles Clayton. It is a most helpful study and a very approachable guide to interpreting and applying the Bible.
But one last thing; note that this section of the Confession makes a distinction about the understanding of the truths of scripture. It says that a saving understanding of these things is the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit. A person may know the facts of the Bible, yet have no faith—that is, no trust in God, no submission to His word, no resting on His grace through Jesus Christ. In fact there are many people who have spent their life studying the Bible as an interesting book of antiquity without an ounce of faith; what a tragedy! Yet here we have a reminder of why it is so important for the Christian not just to know these things, but as James says, to submit to what God says in His word, and obey (James 1:25). The Confession recognizes that the movement from knowledge to faith is a work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of a person, which is what Jesus says to Nicodemus: “Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3).
Compare this to what Moses says to the people of Israel in the book of Deuteronomy: “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.”-Deut. 29:29. What God has given us is sufficient to give a person that sort of knowledge they need in order to come to genuine faith in Jesus Christ and to live in true obedience.
This paragraph also gives us a brief principle of hermeneutics, meaning method for reading and understanding scripture. It says that they are “either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequences may be deduced from Scripture. This is very important for the Christian to understand. “Expressly set down” refers to those teachings of scripture which are directly declared, and plainly written. Statements like “In the beginning God made the Heavens and the Earth.” (Genesis 1:1); such statements have little wiggle room for interpretation, and anyone who tries to make these passages say anything else are very obviously getting carried away, speculating, or trying to promote some personal agenda.
The second part of this statement refers to things which are not “expressly set down,” but are truths which can be pulled from the pages of Scripture nonetheless. And I want you to note the very important phrase “by good and necessary consequences;” This is vitally important, because sometimes people will attempt to use a passage of scripture as a proof text for an idea or teaching that is hijacking the text—making it say something it does not say. “Good and necessary consequences” means that the deductions made are the result of utilizing the context, the language, genre, grammar, and other such aspects in order to arrive at the author’s intended meaning. This means I cannot come to the Bible with an idea I’m seeking to prove, any more than I can try to use a math book to prove that 3 +3 = Q! "Good and necessary" means that I have sought diligently for the meaning of the scriptures out of a desire to understand what God is saying, submitting my opinions, presuppositions, speculations, traditions, to the authority of the scriptures, rather than the other way around. Next week we will learn another principle that is essential in our reading of scripture, yet if you want to learn more about this subject, I highly recommend a book called “Let the Reader Understand” by Dan McCartney and Charles Clayton. It is a most helpful study and a very approachable guide to interpreting and applying the Bible.
But one last thing; note that this section of the Confession makes a distinction about the understanding of the truths of scripture. It says that a saving understanding of these things is the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit. A person may know the facts of the Bible, yet have no faith—that is, no trust in God, no submission to His word, no resting on His grace through Jesus Christ. In fact there are many people who have spent their life studying the Bible as an interesting book of antiquity without an ounce of faith; what a tragedy! Yet here we have a reminder of why it is so important for the Christian not just to know these things, but as James says, to submit to what God says in His word, and obey (James 1:25). The Confession recognizes that the movement from knowledge to faith is a work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of a person, which is what Jesus says to Nicodemus: “Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3).