Written by Michael J. Kruger |
Wednesday, May 4, 2022
The NT canon we possess today is not due to the machinations of later church leaders, or to the political influence of Constantine, but due to the fact that these books imposed themselves on the church through their internal qualities. 

How do we know which books are from God, and which are not?  Certainly the apostolic origins of a book can help identify it as being from God (see post here). And, the church’s overall consensus on a book can be part of how we identify it as being from God (see post here).
But, Christian theologians—especially in the Reformed world—have long argued that there is a more foundational way we can know books are from God: the internal qualities of the books themselves.
In other words, they have argued that these books bear certain attributes (Latin indicia) that distinguished them as being from God. They argued that believers hear the voice of their Lord in these particular books. In modern theological language, they believed that canonical books are self-authenticating.  As Jesus said in John 10:27: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
Anyone familiar with Reformation-era authors will know this was the core argument in some of the key discussions on Scripture by the likes of John Calvin, William Whitaker, John Owen, and others. Moreover, the idea of self-authentication is embodied in the Westminster Confession of Faith which holds that the Bible does “evidence itself” to be from God by its own internal qualities (1.5).  Beyond this, the concept of a self-authenticating Bible played a central role in later Reformed thinkers, particularly Herman Bavinck, as they sought to explain how we know books are from God.
But, some will wonder, is this whole idea of a “self-authenticating” Bible just a novel invention of the Reformers? Did they invent the idea just as a tool in their fight against Rome?
No at all. When we look back even in the patristic period, we see that this concept was there from the beginning.  Here are a few examples.
Origen is quite clear that the divine qualities of books play a role in their authentication: “If anyone ponders over the prophetic sayings…it is certain that in the very act of reading and diligently studying them his mind and feelings will be touched by a divine breath and he will recognize the words he is reading are not utterances of man but the language of God” (Princ. 4.1.6. ). And elsewhere, Origen insists that OT prophets “are sufficient to produce faith in any one who reads them” and thereby the Gospel offers “a demonstration of its own” (Cels. 2.1.).
Read More
Related Posts:

Training and empowering leaders…requires more than just a good plan or a thoughtful process. It requires the wisdom of self-awareness, the power of grace, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Does your church have deacons? And if so, do you know who they are and what they do?
If the answer to these questions is “Yes,” you’re in the minority. Few American churches have a thriving diaconal ministry.
The average church website lists pastors, staff members, and directors who oversee various aspects of ministry, but rarely will you find deacons listed among the leadership. One popular megachurch in Georgia described its ministry structure this way: “There are no deacons, per se… Instead, individuals are chosen by a ministry within the church to represent that group at a quarterly meeting with the senior pastor and other key staff members.”
But what should we expect from a “Children’s Ministry Director” or “Women’s Ministry Director” or “Lay Counselor?” What qualifications must these individuals have? What biblical authority do they carry?
If we allow these roles to be filled by qualified deacons, then we have a clear set of biblical parameters to follow. But if we ignore the Bible’s teaching about deacons, we leave God’s people without clear biblical expectations for their leaders. And we risk weakening of the authority of Scripture as modern ministry titles eclipse the timeless importance of God-ordained offices.
What is a Deacon?
The apostles, of course, appointed elders to lead the first churches: “And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed” (Acts 14:21–23). But we also see the apostles entrusting the practical needs of the church to a second group of leaders:
“And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.’”Acts 6:2–4
The apostles seemed to envision two distinct ministries within the church: pastoral and practical. Some leaders were to devote themselves to “prayer and the ministry of the word.” Other leaders were to focus on meeting practical needs. The offices of elder and deacon correspond to these two types of ministry. Though elders and deacons aren’t specifically mentioned in Acts 6, the basic differentiation between pastoral and practical ministry lays a foundation that the rest of the New Testament will build upon.
In his commentary on Philippians, J. Alec Motyer observes:
The impression we receive in the New Testament is of local churches loosely federated under apostolic authority, with each church managing its own affairs under the leadership of overseers (who are also called elders) and deacons. Deacons were obviously a distinct office, but we are told nothing about the functions a deacon was meant to fulfill….And if we ask why their representative functions are not more closely defined, then surely the answer is this: ministry arises from the nature and needs of the church, not vice versa.Alec Motyer, The Message of Philippians, BST Commentary Series (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1984), 25.
Read More
Related Posts:

To believe that a life of self-punishment and shame is needed for us to be right with God is to believe that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was insufficient. That is a lie of the enemy. There is complete freedom in Jesus. The reason they are unable to hurt us now is because He has disarmed them and put them to open shame (Colossians 2:15). Our sin is what gave them their power, but He has canceled our debt (Colossians 2:14). Even death has lost its sting in His resurrection.

They were gaining on me. Every breath I took was weighed down by the awareness that they were close behind. I had entered at the narrow gate, but somehow, they had managed to follow me onto the path. I could hear their taunts. Every one of their footsteps was like the sound of a war drum. There are days when they are out of sight. During those times, I feel the warm breeze of the Celestial City beckoning me homeward, but even then, I know they are lying in wait.
I did not think they could follow me onto the narrow path, but here they are. When I entered the narrow way, under the shadow of the cross, my sins were forgiven. He had delivered me from the slavery of sin that held me captive. Since He had opened the way and called me in, I thought I would be out of the reach of my enemies, yet they pursue me daily.
Every time I fall, the enemy shouts from behind, “You do not belong on this path! You belong to us, and we will catch and destroy you! I have learned the names of some, but I am still trying to figure out others. There are two who give chase called Shame and Regret. They often disguise themselves as messengers of the King. They tell me that, since my heart is prone to wander, the King prefers that I stay out of sight. That is Shame’s strategy. He convinces us that we need to hide. He does this to keep us from finding the assistance available in the congregation of the saints, and he works closely with regret to keep us from approaching the Throne of Grace.
Many other enemies desire to sink their teeth into me as well, like sickness and sorrow, sin and sadness, and the final enemy death who boasts of his many conquests. In those moments when I am running scared, I have learned that there is a song being sung.
Read More
Related Posts: