God’s Word is Trustworthy
For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 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. (2 Peter 1:16–21 ESV)
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV)
God is not man, that he should lie,
or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? (Numbers 23:19 ESV)
In the Gospel according to Mark, there is a clear message regarding God’s Word—it is authoritative, can be trusted, and is all you need. During Lent (which begins on February 18), as we walk through the passion of Jesus in the Gospel according to Mark as well as some other texts from Mark, we will explore the trustworthiness of what God has said and revealed to us in Scripture.
I did, however, at the outset want to take a moment to comment on an attack on the Word of God I have seen presented in some online videos and have us think through what is being said. The videos I think about speak against sola scriptura and cite the multitude of interpretations of Scripture among various churches and church bodies. The divisions among the churches serves as evidence for a central authority to settle these matters. In my lifetime, I have heard this argument cited by Christians as well as non-Trinitarian religions.
And it is true, there must be some way to decide these differences and to determine what is God’s Will; who is right and who is wrong; and how do we understand or interpret a passage of Scripture. Our Lutheran Confessions also lay down a principle for reading and understanding Scripture:
God’s Word alone should be and remain the only standard and rule of doctrine, to which the writings of no man should be regarded as equal. Everything should be subjected to God’s Word. (FC, SD, Summary, Rule, and Norm, 9)
This is what sola scriptura means. What then is the place of the Lutheran confessions? What about the church fathers or church councils? What about the church itself? Our confessions further note:
As we lay down God’s Word—the eternal truth—as the foundation, we also introduce and quote these writings as a witness of the truth and as the unanimously received, correct understanding of our predecessors who have steadfastly held to the pure doctrine. (FC, SD, Summary, Rule, and Norm, 13)
This accords with Jesus’ own testimony regarding the testimony of man:
[Jesus said:] “You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. I do not receive glory from people. But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” (ESV)
Notice how Jesus sets above John’s testimony both His works and the witness of the Father. Where is the witness of the Father? The Scriptures! He sets above John the baptizer the Old Testament Scriptures, including the writings of Moses. Why? He explains that this testimony is from God the Father, not from man. When we see John and hear his words, we will think this is the testimony of a man. This testimony of man is important. Jesus cites it that those hearing might believe. But He also notes that the testimony of which He speaks is far greater than the burning lamp light that John provided. He points, instead, to the testimony of the Father—the words of the Father, which Scripture records and to which Scripture testifies. These witness and testify before you of Jesus and tell you how to understand and regard Him.
Peter, likewise, testifies to this in his second epistle. He notes the authority of his own witness in seeing Jesus’ transfigured and then says that Scripture is of more certainty than his testimony. The “prophetic word” is as a “lamp” or “star” providing light to our hearts. This is not from men but from God; this is not some personal interpretation but God’s authoritative speaking with the result that Peter, the apostles, you and I have the “prophetic word more fully confirmed” (2 Peter 1:19 ESV) than seeing the great majesty of God on the mountain speaking and declaring that Jesus is His Son. In other words, Peter says that Scripture is of greater weight than his testimony or the testimony of any man.
How can this be? Because Scripture is more than the testimony of man—it is the testimony of God through man. God has carried men along and aided them in recording and writing down God’s Word. God has made certain that His Word is His Word and not that of man, although it has been spoken through man and written down by man. Scripture has been breathed out by God for your benefit—that you might hear God and know Him and His Will for you.
What God has recorded by His prophets stands true for God does not lie. He speaks the truth. He does what He says and means what He has spoken. He does not need to take back His Word like man and neither does He speak in error like man nor does He seek to deceive and trick by His Word.
At this point, most Christians would be in agreement and yet the question arises, but not everyone agrees on how to understand God’s Word—on how to read it. While this is true, this is not the fault of God but of man. It is man who gets confused by God’s Word.
But why? Most often because we do not want to receive and hear what God’s Word is clearly saying. We do not like it. Rather, we want to hear something else. This is why Paul warns about people having “itching ears” and not being content with Scripture but rather seeking someone to tell them what they want to hear, things that are in line with their own wants and desires (2 Timothy 4:3). Thus, we get confused even when Scripture is clear.
This usually becomes evident when someone says, “But Scripture can’t mean that because…” and they cite some principle from the culture. Notice how the authority shifts to someone or something else. If the argument were to be valid, they would finish the sentence by citing another passage of Scripture where the meaning is very clear or where a false interpretation clearly would not fit.
Thus, the way to resolve a question about what Scripture means is not to postulate your own solution or even to lift up the testimony of some man (although that can be helpful and aid in understanding a passage); the answer is to go to another part of God’s Word and use that to help you understand what God is saying elsewhere. This is known as “Scripture interprets Scripture.” Man is not the authoritative interpreter, as Peter himself noted in his second epistle. God is the authoritative interpreter of His own Word.
Jesus himself makes this clear when He is teaching on the mountain and says several times, “‘You have heard that is was said…. But I say to you…’” (Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28, 33-34, 38-39, 43-44 ESV). Jesus provides the authoritative understanding of God’s Word. God is the best interpreter of His Word. If it is unclear to you in one place, search and read the Scriptures for He speaks consistently and truly and the Holy Spirit will use another place in Scripture to make clear what He is saying.
Notice that I didn’t say the Scriptures were unclear for the problem does not lie in the Scriptures—as if God is speaking unclearly. The problem lies in man. As sinners we oppose the word of God. The sinful flesh “is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot” (Romans 8:7 ESV).
But isn’t it sometimes difficult to understand? This is true. God testifies to this through Peter but note how he clearly points out that the problem isn’t God’s Word but mankind’s handling of God’s Word:
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. (2 Peter 3:15–16 ESV)
It is man that twists God’s Word, which means that man is the cause of multiple interpretations to God’s Word. God’s answer to this is to hear His Word—to read it—to have His Holy Spirit work in our hearts and minds so that we understand and know His Word, as God teaches us through St. Paul:
Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:12–16 ESV)
This is so that our faith does not “rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:5 ESV).
It is man, then, that sets up another way to interpret God’s Word—to call for some other authority than God to interpret and understand God’s Word. And what authority does man set-up? Man sets up a human authority. What human authority? Well, some set-up a particular man, one who is said to be a prophet or to have God’s authority on earth. Since God has called the church to raise up men to be preachers and teachers who carry His authority before people, it is fairly natural that people look to these authorities to be the arbiter of Scripture rather than a teacher. Thus, you will have people lifting up this or that teacher, this or that church leader as the correct interpreter of Scripture.
Besides that, people will look to their own hearts, such that everyone becomes their own interpreter of Scripture. The interpretations just multipy as everyone reads Scripture according to their own thoughts. The question “What does this passage say to me?” is changed from what is God saying that I need to hear to what do I think He is saying.
Either way, man becomes the interpreter. This is very common in our post-modern culture where the meaning of every text is not “what the author meant” but “what I got out of it” or “what I understood.” The meaning of what someone said becomes what I take it to mean.
You can see how meaning is lost in such a process as either one man or everyone becomes the authority, displacing God. This is a repeat of what happened in the garden and the temptation of the devil. For the devil is apt at quoting Scripture except that he quotes it out of context and against its right and true meaning. Man, also, has a habit of doing this!
But what then do we say about the Church Fathers or even about our own teachers, or pastor? What about the Lutheran Confessions? These cannot be above God’s Word. They cannot be the interpretive authority; otherwise, they will displace God in an act which is best called idolatry.
Our Lutheran forefathers recognized this, as stated above that everything is to be subject to God’s Word:
“The prophetic and apostolic Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the pure, clear fountain of Israel. They are the only true standard or norm by which all teachers and doctrines are to be judged.” (FC, SD, Summary, Rule, and Norm, 3)
But what of the fathers and the confessions? They are considered witnesses testifying to the Scriptures. They do not override Scripture but point to it, adding their voice to say, “Amen” or “This is true”. That is why “[o]ther good, useful, pure books, expositions of the Holy Scriptures, refutations of errors, and explanations of doctrinal articles are not rejected” as long as they are consistent with Scripture (FC, SD, Summary, Rule, and Norm, 10). Instead, they are received as “witnesses that show how this <pure> doctrine of the prophets and apostles was preserved after the time of the apostles, and at what places” for even in the apostle’s time false teaching and heretics arose against which God’s people and church had to speak and defend (FC, Epitome, Summary Content, Rule, and Norm, 2-3).
God’s Word is the judge and any other writing and teacher is underneath and subject to the Scriptures. Such writings and teachers may be called upon as witnesses to Scripture, as those which help expound and explain Scripture but which themselves must always remain under the correction and teaching of Scripture, which is inerrant.
To set-up any other order is to subjugate God’s teaching to man’s authority. And this is what all those who argue against sola scriptura do. They want to place the authority of man above God. Even those who appeal to the authority of the “Church” to interpret Scripture, make this move because the voice of the Church, the bride, is the voice of man, albeit, such men should be under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Still, though, this means there is a human element that can intrude and for which we have no guarantee wouldn’t or doesn’t intrude.
Now, I am sure that those who disagree with sola scriptura would bolster their point and argument by citing Jesus as recorded in Matthew 16:18 “‘on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it’” (ESV) or St. Paul in 1 Timothy 3:15, where he writes, “the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth” (ESV). From these passages, the argument goes, we can see that the church upholds God’s teaching and that the gates of hell will not overcome God’s people.
There is some truth here for the role of the church is to teach God’s Word. The church is a pillar built on the rock of Christ’s Word, even upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets (Ephesians 2:20). But Paul makes it clear, that even as they are the foundation, that Jesus is the chief cornerstone. In other words, the authority of Scripture comes from God, not from the church.
And citing Scripture to prove the authority of the church actually shows this. For, if it is true that these or any other passages show and give authority to the church, then it is clear that the church’s authority is subject to God and to His Word. Otherwise, the argument would be circular, with the church giving its authority to the Scripture – and then the Scripture giving its authority to the church. That cannot be. Rather, God gives Scripture its authority because it is His Word. He is the author and the writers wrote from His inspiration.
I want to make clear, though, that those who argue against sola scriptura usually acknowledge what I just wrote about the foundation of the Scriptures. They agree with this. Where they do not agree is in how Scripture’s authority becomes known to us or others. They may also question then whether Scripture or the church has the greater authority in the life of the church.
The Lutheran Theologian, Johann Gerhard, tackles these questions in a systematic way in his Theological Commonplaces. He notes several things in this regard. (1). We may learn of Scripture’s authority from the church, but that does not mean Scripture’s authority comes from the church. After learning from the church, we believe Scripture is authoritative because it is “God’s voice” and is “truthful and credible of itself.”[1] The same happened with the woman at the well such that the people there said, “‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world’” (John 4:42 ESV). (2). Scripture’s authority is also taught by the Holy Spirit as one reads Scripture and by the inherent quality of Scripture, such as its uniqueness in speech, its prophecies which beforehand announced what has now happened, it efficacy in persuading and convincing, and so forth. These testimonies precede the external witnesses among which the church ranks highly. (3). The witness of the ancient church, which received those works from the apostles, and witness of the people of Israel, who received the works of the prophets, should not be directly equate with the church of today. They certainly have ties and are related, but more weight is accorded to those who received that testimony first than those who received it later. Still, the testimony of the early church does not outweigh the testimony of Scripture itself; rather the early church affirms that the authority of Scripture comes from God and is found within Scripture.[2]
What does this mean? Gerhard explicates and sums up the above points in this way:
We concede that the church is first, witness; second, guard; third, defender; fourth, herald, and fifth, interpreter of Holy Scripture. We deny, however, that because of this it happens that the authority of Scripture, either simply or as concerns us or even uniquely, depends on the church. The authority of the letters of kings and great men does not depend on the authority of the secretary who brings them and testifies of them; the excellence of gold and gems does not depend on the testimony of the jeweler. In the same way, the authority of Scripture does not depend on the authority of the church as she testifies of it. Rather, this is the internal, inherent, and divine authority of Holy Scripture about which the church bears witness.
Thus the church does not confer any authority upon the Scriptures. The church is not the sole and only cause nor the great and principal cause for our believing the Scriptures. Instead, the first and great cause for us to acknowledge that Scripture is divine and for us to consider it as divine is the Holy Spirit speaking and bearing witness in Scripture “because the Spirit is truth” (1 John 5:7). In the second place we must put the internal criteria; in the third, external testimonies that are sought from all kinds of people. In fact, as far as order is concerned, the witness of the church that invites us to read the Scriptures can be the first witness, but it has neither dignity nor efficacy of persuading. [3]
If sola scriptura was not true and we needed the testimony of the church or something or someone else to establish it as true and as divine, think about what that would mean. First, it would mean that Scripture was not divine until the church (or whomever or whatever) came along and established it as divine. In other words, there would have been a time where the Scriptures were just a writing of man and later became God’s Word because it was declared so by this very authority. Second, it would mean that the church that declared Scripture to be God’s Word is greater than the Scriptures. In other words, this source of authority is higher and should be regarded and treated that way. If church makes something else to be divine, then she must be held up as supreme and any other words she speaks must be treated this way. This would mean our faith in God’s Word is misplaced. Third, our faith relies on a human witness. Fourth, Scripture would be in doubt because there have been disputes within the church over the apostolicity of some of the books of the Bible.[4]
This last point is heard in the modern argument that the church “chose” what was in the canon and what wasn’t. Such would be a valid argument if the church or someone else was deciding what Scripture is—if man was deifying the writings of man. But this has never been the case. The Word of God has always been divine; the church adds her voice as a witness acknowledging this but not deciding or determining this. “We believe those things that God speaks to us through the church because of the authority of God himself, who is speaking, but not because of the authority of the church through which he speaks.”[5]
God’s Word stands as truthful and trustworthy because it comes from God Himself. It can and does stand by itself as true even without the church, even without the witness of anyone else. God needs no one to testify to His truthfulness. He is. He always has been and always will be. If anybody needs additional testimony, it is us because of the deception of the devil and the sin, which is in us. As people, it helps us to have others affirm, speak to, and lift up God’s Word as God’s Word. For others to be willing to testify with their own life the veracity of Scripture certainly encourages us as to its truthfulness.
Even then, God’s Word is enough on its own. An outside testimony is for our benefit but it does not change or enhance God’s Word. Rather, God’s Word stands as the judge of such outside testimonies. It speaks and authenticates those who testify to it. Scripture also exposes those who reject God’s authority and reveals the deceptions of the devil. God’s Word stands true because God is true and He only speaks the truth.
So, what then do we make of all the divisions in the church? It is evidence of the devil’s confusion sowed among God’s people. It is evidence of sin in our hearts. It is evidence of our lack of reading, hearing, and knowing God’s Word. It is evidence of our taking His Word lightly, making assumptions, and doing what we want—what we think is best in our own eyes.
The book of Judges sums up our world (and the state of visible churches) correctly when it says, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25 ESV). Mankind, even Christians, have a problem. Rather than Jesus being our king such that we hear and abide by His Word, rather than having a serious and fraternal discussion over matters where we could differ, we lift up some solution of man (an idol!) to achieve unity. This is what is right and good in man’s eyes.
But the Lord calls us back to Him and to His Word. What He has spoken is true. It always has been and always will be. The Word of God does not need to change either for the times or for the circumstances. Instead, we need to repent of lifting up man over God and His Word. We need to live as God’s people—subject to Him and His Word. We need to hear, know, and receive all of His Word and live it. That begins with knowing His grace, mercy, and forgiveness in Christ Jesus. For there we learn to cherish and love His Word in our daily lives for it is our very life and breath.
Heavenly Father, You have always spoken the truth and fulfilled Your promises. Help us to hear and understand Your Word and to love and cherish it for our whole life such that we live as Your obedient children all our days, awaiting the home You have established for us through Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Quotations from the Lutheran Confessions are from Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions, copyright © 2005, 2006 by Concordia Publishing House. Used by permission. All rights reserved. To purchase a copy of Concordia, call 800-325-3040.
Quotations from Gerhard’s Theological Commonplaces are from Theological Commonplaces: On the Nature of Theology and Scripture. English translation © 2009Concordia Publishing House. Used with permission.
Except where noted:
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[1] Gerhard, Johann. Theological Commonplaces: On the Nature of Theology and Scripture. Translated by Richard J. Dinda from the Preuss Edition. (Concordia Publishing House: St. Louis, 2006), 70.
[2] Ibid, 70-71.
[3] Ibid, 71-72.
[4] Ibid, 72-80.
[5] Ibid, 77.