Beloved,
We come this week to the second question of the Shorter Catechism which in God’s providence serves to prepare us for both sermon texts for this coming Sunday, each of which draws our attention to the central place of God’s word in the life of His redeemed people. I encourage you to reflect on it as you prepare your heart to meet with God this coming Lord’s Day!
Recite
Q. 2. What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?
A. The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him.
Read
Psalm 19:7–11; Acts 17:11; 2 Timothy 3:15–17; 2 Peter 1:20–21
Reflect
We live in a world that, everywhere we look, reveals God (Ps. 19:1–2). Yet, like a blind man standing before a beautiful sunrise, we lack the ability in our sin to see God’s glory. We can study the vastness of the galaxies or the complexity of the human brain without glorifying the God who created them. We can taste the sweetness of ice cream or the bitterness of coffee without enjoying the God revealed through them. If we are to become true worshipers of God, we need something more than the natural world. We need the Bible.
The catechism tells us that the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are God’s Word to us and, as such, are “the rule” to lead us to Him. By rule we mean something similar to what we call a ruler—a tool used to draw a straight line to guide us toward something. The Bible is the instrument God uses to lead us to our created purpose: to know, glorify, and enjoy Him. Why is that?
First, we cannot love God or delight in Him until our relationship with Him is restored. We have broken that relationship through our sin, and only Jesus, through the gospel, can fix it. But where do we hear about Christ’s death, resurrection, and their significance for us? Not in the stars. Not in the chocolate bar. Not in the math textbook. There is only one place where God speaks His saving gospel to us—in the Bible. When that gospel overtakes our hearts by the power of the Spirit, then we begin to see God’s glory in the stars, to taste it in the chocolate, and to find it even in the patterns of mathematics (yes, even math reveals God’s beauty!). But without the Bible, that transformation will never happen.
Second, after we are saved by the gospel, we need God to show us what it means to live for Him and love Him in every area of life. Even before sin entered the world, Adam depended on God’s spoken word to know how he was to serve Him (Gen. 1:28; 2:15–17). How much more is that true for us, who still wrestle with sin! We need the Bible not only to repair our relationship with God, but also to guide that relationship every step of the way.
The catechism emphasizes that the sixty-six books of the Bible are “the only rule” given by God to direct us to Him in faith and to a life that pleases Him in obedience. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that we also need tradition. Others claim that God guides us today by speaking directly into our hearts apart from Scripture. But God has already given us every word we need in the Scriptures to be restored to Him and to live for Him. We must be a people of the Book—only then will we be a people who glorify and enjoy the God of the Book.
- What does the catechism mean when it speaks of a “rule”?
- Since God reveals His glory in nature, why isn’t it a rule to direct us to believe and obey God?
- What are the reasons we need the Bible if we would glorify and enjoy Him? Do we need any other rule toward this end?