Theological term
Canonicity
3 sermons · All terms
The Unsurpassed Value of Scripture
Second Timothy 3:16–17 grounds the entire ministry of the Word in two foundational claims: that all Scripture is God-breathed in its origin, and therefore profitable in its use for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness. The sermon establishes the identity of Scripture (Old Testament and apostolic New Testament writings), defends verbal, organic inspiration as distinct from mere human literary inspiration, and distinguishes the attributes of inspired, infallible, and inerrant as three interlocking properties of Scripture. The practical force of the passage is pressed on both the congregation and the minister: a church that neglects biblical doctrine, reproof, and correction will be stunted and vulnerable, while the man of God who saturates himself in the Word is thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2LCF Chapter 1 - Of the Holy Scriptures, Part 2
What gives the Bible its authority, and how did the church come to recognise which books belong in it? Working through paragraphs 2–4 of the Second London Confession of Faith (1689 LBCF chapter 1), this study examines the canon of Scripture — its 66 books, the exclusion of the Apocrypha, and the ground of scriptural authority. Three factors explain the origins of canon: the eschatological expectations of early Christianity, the covenantal framework that always paired redemptive acts with written covenant documents, and the unique apostolic authority Christ invested in his designated spokesmen. Against both the community-determined and historically-determined models, the confession's self-authenticating model is defended: Scripture's authority rests wholly on God as its author, confirmed inwardly by the testimony of the Holy Spirit, and evidenced by the divine qualities of the text itself, its providential spread across the churches, and its corporate reception among believers of every age.
2LCF Chapter 1 - Of the Holy Scriptures, Part 2
What gives the church the right to declare these 27 books—and no others—the Word of God? This session works through 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith chapter 1, paragraphs 2 and 3, to answer that question by examining the origins of the New Testament canon and the three attributes by which canonical books are recognized: divine qualities, corporate reception, and apostolic origin. Drawing extensively on Michael Kruger's scholarship, the lesson demonstrates that the canon was neither a fourth-century political invention nor a community preference, but a self-authenticating body of Scripture whose recognition by the church was providentially prepared for from within the structure of redemptive history itself. The closing application presses the hearer to see that no argument for canonicity finally persuades apart from the inward testimony of the Holy Spirit.