The title of this Chapter is too long for above, so here it is: Scripture Must be Confirmed by the Witness of the Spirit. Thus May Its Authority be Established as Certain; and It Is a Wicked Falsehood That Its Credibility Depends on the Judgment of the Church.
Section 1: Scripture Has Its Authority from God, Not From the Church.
Calvin argues that since it has pleased God to have his revealed truth recorded in holy Scripture, they have their authority "only when men regard them as having sprung from heaven, as if there the living words of God were heard." It is, then, a "pernicious error" that the authority of scripture is given by the church herself, as if the church could set herself above scripture to give it such authority over herself.
Section 2: The Church Is Itself Grounded Upon Scripture.
In Ephesians 2:20, the Apostle Paul teaches that it is the other way around, that the church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. Therefore they must have had authority before the church began, and their writings could not have received authority from the church. "But because the church recognizes Scripture to be the truth of its own God, as a pious duty it unhesitatingly venerates Scripture."
Section 3: Augustine Cannot be Cited as Counterevidence.
Apparently some objectors had used Augustine to show that the Scriptures derive their authority from the church. Augustine, in his work against the Manichees, had written that he would not believe the gospel if the authority of the church did not move him to do so. What some take him to mean is that he believed that the gospel because of the authority of the church. But what he meant, Calvin argues, is not that the Scriptures derive their authority over the church, but that he would not have accepted the scriptures as an unbeliever unless the church had stood behind them. "He is simply teaching that there would be no certainty of the gospel for unbelievers to win them to Christ if the consensus of the church did not impel them."
Calvin goes on to say that Augustine "only meant to indicate what we also confess as true: those who have not yet been illumined by the Spirit of God are rendered teachable by reverence for the church, so that they may persevere in learning faith in Christ from the gospel." Thus the authority of scripture lies with God, not the church, but that the authority of the church is useful for drawing people into the truth.
Section 4: The Witness of the Holy Spirit: This is Stronger than All Proof.
"Credibility of doctrine is not established until we are persuaded beyond doubt that God is its author." The highest proof of scripture is the fact that God himself speaks in it. All of the writings bring forth God's holy name, rather than proofs and evidences of authority. We cannot look to human reason to prove the authority of Scripture, we can only look to God alone. "The testimony of the Spirit is more excellent than all reason For as God alone is a fit witness of himself in his Word, so also the Word will not find acceptance in men's hearts before it is sealed by the inward testimony of the Spirit." Our submission to Scripture depends on the Spirit working in our hearts--not on our own powers of reasoning.
Section 5: Scripture Bears Its Own Authentication.
"Let this point therefore stand: that those whom the Holy Spirit has inwardly taught truly rest upon Scripture, and that Scripture indeed is self-authenticated; hence, it is not right to subject it to proof and reasoning. And the certainty it deserves with us, it attains by the testimony of the Spirit." Thus we do not seek proofs are marks of genuineness of Scripture through our own reason, but in God himself. "Let us, then, know that the only true faith is that which the Spirit of God seals in our hearts."
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Reflection: From an apologetic perspective, this is a difficult aspect of the Christian faith. In one sense, it would be useful to teach, as the Roman Catholic Church, that the church gives authority to Scripture, because then you can point to something real and tangible when discussing the Bible with unbelievers. But this has even greater failings, because then scripture is the arbitrary choice of the church, and can, conceivably, be changed at any time by a council. No it is better to go the difficult, yet true, route of saying that the church does not give scripture its authority, but Scripture gives the church its authority. The church is founded on scripture as the word of God, not the word of God decided upon by the church. The church submits--she cannot submit to the word of God if she holds authority over it.
What makes this difficult is the fact that we cannot point anywhere except at the scriptures themselves for such authority. Unbelievers consider this circular reasoning (which is apparently always bad!), or they see the scriptures as simply human writings, so prone to error anyways. We can only point to the testimony of the Holy Spirit in our hearts concerning scripture, but such 'evidence' hardly stands up in the secular, unbelieving world.
No, we know that the church did not give scripture its authority, but recognized its authority as the words of God through the prophets and apostles. Our very nature as the church begins with our submission to the words of God, and so all of what we do must be characterized by such submission to the word. I find this to be a beautiful doctrine, especially as I hope, the Lord willing, to become a pastor. What I bring to the churches is not my own words (for what could I possibly say?) but the teachings of God in his word, which has all the authority in itself. If I properly submit to scripture and learn its teachings, then what I say can be said with authority, for I am not giving my own opinion, but the revealed word and will of God. And what a great comfort this is--if not apologetically, since I have to work through this yet, but at least (and this is no small thing) pastorally.
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