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An Exposition of Article Five of the Belgic Confession

John Calvin once declared: “The Scriptures obtain full authority among believers only when men regard them as having sprung from heaven, as if there the living words of God were heard.” Since the Bible comes to us from the hand of God, through the agency of men inspired by the Holy Spirit, when we read the Bible or hear it read aloud, we can be assured that God is speaking to us. The Bible is God’s word written and the same Holy Spirit who breathed it forth, assures us that the words of Holy Scripture are the very words of God.

We now skip ahead to Article Five of our confession which deals with the authority of Scripture. But why defer discussion of Article Four which lists the canonical books of the Bible until later? The reason is a practical one. Recall that in Article Three our confession deals with the subject of the inspiration of Scripture. Scripture has its origin not in the will of humanity, but in the will of God. It is God who breathes forth his word (the Bible) through the agency of human writers without sublimating their individual personalities or negating the historical circumstances under which these books were written. This is what our confession means in Article Three when it speaks of God’s revealed word being committed to writing.

Since Scripture is God-breathed, it is suitable for religious purposes, i.e., teaching, correction and training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Only in the Bible do we find the will of God fully revealed (the law) and only in the Bible do we find God’s means of rescuing sinners from the guilt and power of their sins (the gospel). While in nature we see the hand of the Creator, we do not learn of the gospel by contemplating the beauty of a sunset. The gospel is only revealed in God’s word written. This is why we as Christians have a sure and certain knowledge of God and of his will (unlike secularists and pagans), and why we base neither our doctrines nor our practices upon the mere opinions of men (the essence of all false religion). God has spoken to us in his word and we must listen to what he says.

To read the rest of this article, click here: Article Five -- The Authority of Scripture

Belgic ConfessionKim RiddlebargerFebruary 9, 2021Belgic Confession, the authority of Scripture

An Exposition of Article Three of the Belgic Confession

When we speak of the Bible as “inspired,” we do not mean that the Bible is “inspirational.” What we do mean by the term “inspired” is that the Bible is given to us by God as part of his self-revelation for the purpose of giving us a knowledge of his will (the law) as well as knowledge of how to be delivered from the guilt of our sins (the gospel). That said, we’ll address the limits of the term “inspired” momentarily.

When discussing Article Two, we made the case that as our post-Christian culture becomes increasingly hostile towards Christianity in general, and Reformed Christianity in particular, one way in which we are to respond to the unbelief around us is to personally believe those things revealed to us by God in his word and then publically confess these doctrines as a church before the watching world.

One of the most important things we must confess to the unbelieving world is that the Bible is a divinely-inspired, self-revelation of God, through the agency of various human writers. Because God has spoken to us in and through his word, we have a sure and certain foundation for our knowledge of our Creator and Redeemer. God has not left us in the dark with only our own pious opinions about religious matters. Through the words of Holy Scripture, God speaks to us, even this very day.

To read the rest of this exposition: An Exposition of Article Three: The Written Word of God

Belgic ConfessionKim RiddlebargerJanuary 8, 2021Belgic Confession

Exposition of Article Two of the Belgic Confession Posted

According to the Apostle Paul, there is no such thing as an atheist, there are only people who attempt to suppress the knowledge of God in unrighteousness. Atheists may claim they do not believe in God, yet Scripture tells us that they suppress the knowledge of God deep within. I am reminded of the atheist’s quip, “there is no God, but I hate him.” This internal contradiction comes about because God reveals himself to all people in such a way that everyone knows that God exists and that he possesses divine attributes. Since God has made himself known to all, people are without excuse for failing to worship and serve the Creator. But the revelation of God in and through the created order cannot lead people to a saving knowledge of God in Jesus Christ. God reveals this through his word, both in the historical record of his mighty acts in redemptive history, and through the divinely-inspired explanation of those saving acts recorded in Holy Scripture. It is through these two divinely-appointed means (Creation and Scripture), but only through these divinely-appointed means, God makes himself known.

In Article One, the Confession makes the point that the biblical pattern found in Romans 10:8-10 of believing certain doctrines and then confessing them before the watching world is one of the divinely appointed means by which Christians are to respond to unbelief and idolatry. In the previous article, we made the case that we currently live in a post-Christian age and find ourselves confronted with secularism, paganism, false religion, and what may be called the “Great Awokening” at every turn.

To read the rest of this article: An Exposition of Article Two of the Belgic Confession

Belgic ConfessionKim RiddlebargerDecember 17, 2020Belgic ConfessionComment

Exposition of Article One of the Belgic Confession Posted

When someone says “I think God is like,” I can be certain that the person speaking hasn’t got a clue as to what God is like. Since the only way God can be known is through his self-revelation in creation and his word–the topic of article two–someone who defines God based upon personal experience, or personal opinion, is engaging in rank idolatry. While it is easy to think of idolatry as something associated with the primitive peoples of the past, or with pagan religions of the east, nothing could be further from the truth. We are all habitual idolaters. America is a land filled with idols. When we believe and confess that there is only one God, we are raising a standard against the spirit of the age.

The confession of the Reformed churches that there is only one God is at the very heart of all Christian theology. The famous Shema, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4) is the basic confession of faith of Israel and separates biblical revelation from all forms of paganism. Christians do not worship the “sun god” nor the “moon god” as do the ancient pagans. We worship the true and living God who created the sun and the moon. Nor are we pantheists and identify God with that which he has made, as in “the earth is our mother,” the creed of those environmentalists who worship nature. There is only one God–not many gods–and since God has created all things, God cannot be equated with that which he has made. He is transcendent and Lord over all the earth.

To read the rest of this exposition, click here: Exposition of Article One of the Belgic Confession --There Is Only One God

Belgic ConfessionKim RiddlebargerDecember 5, 2020Belgic Confession

An Introduction to the Belgic Confession Posted (PDF)

“We Believe and Confess” An Introduction to the Belgic Confession

We are pilgrims passing through a foreign land. Like Abraham, the father of the faithful, we too are looking for the promised land flowing with milk and honey, that place where at long last we will find rest for our weary souls. In Hebrews 11:10, Abraham is commended because even though the land of promise was not yet his, and even though he believed that God would keep his promise and give him the land, nevertheless Abraham was looking beyond that land lying between the Euphrates and the River of Egypt to that heavenly city whose builder and architect is God. Abraham did this, Scripture says, “by faith.”

To continue, click here: An Introduction to the Belgic Confession (PDF)

Belgic ConfessionKim RiddlebargerNovember 30, 2020Belgic Confession