This morning we’re beginning two things. First, we’re beginning a series of what we call “core Sunday school classes” that will stretch over four years (one each fall). These classes will cover topics like: Scripture, God, Christ, humanity, sin, salvation, the Holy Spirit, the church, and last things. So, we’re starting down a four-year road this morning. Second, we’re beginning a specific class in which we’re going to look at two crucial and foundational doctrines for how we think as Christians. We’re going to look at the doctrine of Scripture and the doctrine of God. That is, what should we think and believe about Scripture (the Bible), and what should we think and believe about God? And whether I’m were thinking about how to start this particular class or how to start this four-year study of thinking about theological topics, I would want to start with the same topic, namely, with the self-attesting nature of Scripture. That is, what does Scripture claim for itself? What does the Bible tell us that the Bible is? And I’ll give you the answer up front. The Bible claims to be God’s very Word. Most all of the church throughout the ages have thought of the Bible as God’s very Word, but no one just decided out of their own minds to think of the Bible this way. The Bible tells us what it is. The Bible tells us that it is God’s very word. That is, it attests to itself.
Now, there are probably some of us in this room who, right off the bat, are feeling a bit of skepticism or hesitancy about this. You’re probably thinking, “I believe the Bible is God’s Word, but surely there’s a more solid reason for thinking of the Bible as God’s Word that that the Bible itself tells us that it’s God’s Word.” And I agree that in most situations when we argue circularly like that, it’s not a good idea. For example, my youngest son one time told me that he was the best basketball player in the world. But I’d imagine that if I told you that he was the best basketball player in the world and the reason why I was telling you that is because he claims that he is the best basketball player in the world, you’d say, “That’s just not enough. Anyone can make that claim.”
And that’d be true. Anyone could make that claim. Moreover, when you discover that he’s 7-years-old, you’d start to question his claim of being the best basketball player in the world even more, wouldn’t you? But the fact that the Bible attests to what it is, saying that it’s God’s very Word is different from the example I just gave concerning my 7-year-old son. In fact, I want to argue this morning that not only is the Bible’s claim to be God’s Word not a weak foundation to build our doctrine of Scripture (and all other doctrines) upon; it is actually the foundation upon which we must begin. To go further, I want to argue this morning that because the Bible is indeed God’s very Word to us, our starting point in believing the Bible to be God’s Word can be nothing other than that the Bible claims to be God’s Word. Let me explain why by considering a bit about God.
Actually I just want to look at one aspect of God’s nature, namely, God’s aseity. Now, the word “aseity” may not be common to you, and if not that’s okay. Though it may be an unfamiliar word, it’s a very simple concept. The word “aseity” comes from the Latin phrase a se, which simply means “from or by oneself.” And when we say that God is a se or speak of the aseity of God, we are simply saying that God has “from or by himself” all that he needs. That is, contained within himself, he has all he needs. He has within himself all he needs to exist, to do anything he wants to do, and carry out any desire he has. That is, he is self-existent, self-sufficient, self-contained, and independent. There is nothing greater than him, nothing he needs, and nothing outside of him on which he is dependent for anything.
God is presented in the Bible as the one who created all things. Apart from the triune God, before this world or any other created thing existed, there was nothing. Before all created things there was simply the triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, the one God existing in three persons. And that God created everything. Therefore, he is rightly called the Creator. And we can see this in a number of texts throughout the Bible, but for the sake of time, I’ll just refer you to Genesis 1-2, which confirm that God created everything.
Now, we can also say from that, just using logic, that God owns everything that exists (since he created it). But we need not use logical deductions only, do we? The Scripture actually explicitly tells us that God own everything.
For example, considering the following texts:
Psalm 24: 1 – “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and all those who dwell therein.”
Psalm 50:10-12 – “For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine.”
And this last statement that God would not tell us if he were hungry points us to another truth affirmed in Scripture, namely, that God has no needs.
Acts 17:24-25 – “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth [i.e., he created all things and owns all things], does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”
Furthermore, as one who created all things, owns all things, and has no needs, we can more specifically say that God is counseled by no one and owes no one.
Again, the Bible explicitly says this. Consider, for example:
Romans 11:34-36 – “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”
But if God is counseled by no one, how does he arrive at determining what he should do? The Bible answers this question for us as well, telling us that God does everything that he does, directed by his own will.
Psalm 115:2 – “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.”
Jeremiah 9:23-24 – “Thus says the Lord, ‘Let not the wise man boasts in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.’”
Ephesians 1:11 – “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.”
Finally, we can add that God, by his very nature of being God, is a se.
Now, what do I mean by this? Well, consider, for example, how God mocks the idols in Isaiah 40-48. He makes clear that he alone is God, saying (among other places) in Isaiah 45:21-22, “There is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me. Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.” Interestingly, the very next phrase is verse 23 is God saying, “By myself I have sworn.” Just hold on to that declaration for a second, and we’ll come back to it.
God makes clear that he alone is God, but one reason he points to in order to illustrate that there are no other gods is that the “gods” of other nations need something. They need to be created. They need to be transported. They can’t do things by their own power. That is, they are not self-existent, self-sufficient, self-contained, and independent, and God by nature is.
Now, this understanding of God as one who is a se has some implications for us. Let me name a few.
I’m going to list three specifically that John Frame has laid out in his excellent work simply titled, The Doctrine of God. These three are:
If God has everything within himself that he needs, then he needs nothing outside of himself to exist. He is self-existent. This one is pretty obvious, so I’ll move on.
Again, if God needs nothing outside of himself, then he needs nothing outside of himself to serve as a standard for right and wrong. He himself is that very standard. Now, let’s flesh this out a bit. What makes something right or wrong? The answer is not that there is some universal law that God and we all take our cues from. The answer is that something is right or wrong because it either does or does not correspond to God’s nature.
Some might then say that something is right or wrong merely because God wills it (volunteerism). But that is not a full picture of truth. After all, it might suggest that God has arbitrarily willed something right or something wrong. That is, it might suggest that God could create another world where murder, rape, and child abuse is right while obeying your parents, loving your neighbor, and giving to one in need is wrong. But the reality is that he couldn’t do that, and the reason he couldn’t do that is because God doesn’t declare murder to be evil arbitrarily. He declares murder to be evil because it is not in accord with his nature. He declares loving one’s neighbor to be good because it is in accord with his nature. So, good in our world is simply a reflection of God’s good character and evil is a picture of which is not in accord with God’s good character.
You can see then that it is silly to ask if what God does is good. By definition, everything God does is good because his character is the standard for what is good. Goodness doesn’t exist as some reality outside of God that God is dependent on to make sure his actions are in accord with goodness. He always does what is good simply by acting in accord with his own good and perfect nature.
Finally, we can affirm that God is self-attesting (or self-justifying). Often times in our own experience we rightly point to things above us in order to justify or attest to what we are saying. So, for example, if I were to make a claim that something odd happened in American history and you were to challenge me on the accuracy of my claim, I would no doubt appeal to a credible historian who knows much more than either of us. If I were to make a claim about a theological point, I might point to some well-known theologian in order to attest to what I’m saying. After all, for me to say that I think a text means something might carry a little (perhaps very little) weight, but to say that what I’m claiming this text means is attested to by Luther, Calvin, and Edwards and in more modern times by D. A. Carson, John Frame, and J. I. Packer carries more weight.
So, who is it that God points to in order to attest to what he claims or to justify the truthfulness of his claims? The answer, of course, is that there is no one above himself to whom he can point. There is no one with greater knowledge than him about anything. After all, everything outside of the triune God didn’t even exist until he created it. Therefore, God attests to himself; he is self-attesting. Remember that declaration in Isaiah 45:23? God says, “By myself I have sworn.” We see this again in the book of Hebrews. The author of Hebrews writes:
Hebrews 6:13 – “For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself.”
Do you see what is going on there? God could not point to anyone greater than himself to attest to the truthfulness of his promise, so he just swore by himself. He attested to his own truthfulness. Again, he is self-attesting. And, this has implications for our doctrine of Scripture.
Let’s think for a second about the implications of God’s aseity on our doctrine of Scripture. What is the Bible? It is God’s Word. But how do we know it is God’s Word? As we started this lesson, we know it is God’s Word because God tells us it is his Word. And where does God tell us that the Scripture is his Word? He tells us in the Scriptures themselves.
Do you see? If God is a se, then he need not (and indeed cannot) point to anything outside of himself to justify or attest to himself or his claims. Therefore, if God’s Word is God’s Word, then Scripture need not (and indeed cannot) point to anything outside of itself to attest to itself. If the Bible is God’s Word, then by its very nature it must be self-attesting!
In fact, we could say that if the Bible pointed to something outside of itself to attest to its truthfulness, then we should not regard the Bible as our final authority but put it down and go seek out that thing to which the Bible points. Therefore, what some might perceive as a weakness (i.e., our resting our belief that the Bible is God’s Word in the Bible’s own claims for itself) is actually a strength. The Bible must be self-attesting. All things that are considered a final authority must, by definition, be self-attesting, or they would not be considered a final authority.
But perhaps I’m getting ahead of myself, for we haven’t yet show explicitly what exactly the Bible claims for itself.
As we’ve acknowledged, the Bible claims that it is nothing less than God’s Word. We could look to a few examples of this, but I’ll point you to two:
2 Timothy 3:16-17 – “All Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”
When Paul writes that the Scripture is God-breathed, he is saying that each word comes from God himself. That is (to borrow from B. B. Warfield), to say “the Bible says” is to say “God says.” And Peter claims the same thing:
2 Peter 1:20-21 – “Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
Now, we could say that these texts are referring to the Old Testament, so what about the apostolic writings of the New Testament? Well, when we consider the New Testament, we should acknowledge a few things:
1) Jesus told the apostles that the Spirit would lead them into all truth, reminding them of what he said when he was with them and leading them into further truth that they were not ready to receive when he was with them.
John 14:25-26 – “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
John 15:26-27 – “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.”
John 16:12-14 – “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”
2) The apostles understood themselves as speaking authoritatively from the Lord in their writings (whether they wrote themselves or someone else wrote according to their testimony)
In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul notes that he is speaking about something that the Lord did not comment on in his earthly ministry. Nonetheless, what he’s saying, he expects to be treated as a command from the Lord. For example:
1 Corinthians 7:12 – “To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her.”
In fact, he thought his words were so authoritative that no one who received a prophecy of the Spirit should even be regarded in the church if that person doesn’t acknowledge that what Paul writes is itself a command of the Lord. He writes,
1 Corinthians 14:37-38 – “If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that het things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.”
3) The New Testament writers call each other’s New Testament writings “Scripture.”
In 1 Timothy 5:18, Paul writes, “For Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,’ and ‘The laborer deserves his wages.’” Those two quotes are from Deuteronomy 25:4 and Luke 10:7, both of which Paul calls Scripture.
And Peter calls Paul’s writings “Scripture”:
2 Peter 3:14-16 - “Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.”
So, throughout Scripture, the Bible’s claim for itself is that the writings of the Old Testament and the New Testament are nothing less than the very words of God. Scripture itself attests to this truth.
Because of this, if we are to do theology in a way that is God-honoring, we must do theology by first accepting the Bible’s claims for itself. We must do our theology by rightly recognizing that our Creator has revealed to us what we need to know for life and godliness. The Scripture is sufficient for us. Therefore, this semester and in every class we teach, we will always seek to ground our claims in God’s Word, always seek to evaluate what we say against God’s Word, and always seek to study those issues which have been revealed to us in God’s Word. This is the only manner of doing theology that actually produces true doctrine. Therefore, this will be our task this semester to see what it is that the Bible teaches us about itself and about our God.