Second, with respect to us.
Second, with respect to us.
§ 363. With respect to us, the end is either intermediate or ultimate. The apostle sets forth the intermediate ends in Rom. 15:4 and 2 Tim. 3:16, which are teaching, reproof, correction, instruction, and encouraging. You see, Holy Scripture has been given to the human race to provide a remedy against the ailment introduced through the fall of our first parents and to make a man complete and equipped for every good work. But now, the human race is subject to a threefold malady and evil through and because of original sin. In true knowledge, we are blind and ignorant; in good action, remiss and lacking; in tolerance of evil, weak and impatient. Scripture remedies the first malady with teaching; the second, with instruction; the third, with encouragement. Not only are we blind and ignorant in the matter of true knowledge, but we also are prone and rash to think up or embrace errors. This malady Scripture remedies with reproof. Not only are we remiss and sluggish in doing good, but we are also eager and prone to do evil. This malady Scripture cures with correction.
On the other hand, there are three responsibilities for the truly devout Christian: to know the truth, to do good, to endure evils. Consequently, we also count three chief and cardinal virtues of a Christian: “faith, love, and hope.” To faith belongs a knowledge of the truth; to love, the doing of good; to hope, the endurance of evil. However, because a knowledge of the truth does not exist without the removal of that which is false, because doing good has no place unless there be a departure from evil or sin, consequently there are five responsibilities altogether that are required in the perfection of Christian piety: teaching and reproof have respect to the knowledge of the truth, instruction and correction have respect to doing good, and encouragement has respect to the patient endurance of evil. For all these, Scripture is not only useful but is also sufficient, so it is right to say that it makes a man perfect. (Cf. our Method. studii theol., part 2, sect. 4, c. 2.)
§ 364. Without doubt, Holy Scripture is: (1) God’s throne, from which He speaks to us. Heb. 1:1[-2]: “In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days He has spoken to us in the Son” and by the Son whose speeches have been recorded in the writings of the evangelists. (2) God’s school, in which He teaches and shapes us. Ps. 94:12: “Blessed is the man whom You instruct, O Lord, and whom You teach out of Your Law.” (3) God’s clinic and spiritual office of medical matters. Wisdom 16:12: “For it was no plant or plaster that cured them, but Your Word, O Lord, that heals all things.” (4) God’s armor and arsenal, in which He fortifies and arms us against enemies of every kind. Eph. 6:17: “Take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” (5) God’s hand, by which He leads us through the paths of faith and righteousness to eternal life. Ps. 48:14: “He will lead us like children.” In the Hebrew this reads: “until death.” You see, the last and greatest end of Scripture with respect to us is our salvation and eternal life. John 5:39: “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life.” John 20:31: “These are written that you may believe and that through faith you may have life in the name of Christ.” 2 Tim. 3:15: “The Holy Scriptures are able to make you wise unto salvation.” God has revealed Himself in His Word, instructs people in the truth through this Word of His, drives them to do good, and encourages them to endure adversities all for this purpose: that they may finally share in eternal salvation.
§ 365. To this point all the statements of Scripture are to be referred that bear witness to the divine efficacy of the Word in converting, illuminating, regenerating, and saving human beings: Ps. 19:[8-]9; John 5:39; Rom. 1:16; 1 Tim. 4:16; 1 Pet. 1:23, etc. Because there is no real distinction between the written and unwritten Word of God, therefore it is right to claim that those honorific praises of the efficacy and fruit of the Word belong also to Holy Scripture. Just as the Word does not cease being divine because it is written, so also it does not cease being effective for conversion or an instrument of salvation. Likewise, the fact that Rom. 10:17 says “faith comes from hearing” does not mean that we must take this exclusively so as to oppose the hearing of the spoken Word to the reading of the written Word. Rather, we must take this inclusively so as to claim that God is effectual for faith and salvation through His Word, not only heard but also read, because the Word is and remains the same, whether it is preached and heard or written and read. Consequently, what John says is significant, about the account of the Gospel as it has been put into writing and thus about the entire Scripture of the Old and New Testaments: “These things are written that you may believe” (John 20:31) and “We are writing this to you that your joy may be complete” (1 John 1:4). Therefore, through reading and meditation, we can draw faith and spiritual joy, and thus eternal salvation, also from the written Word of God, which has been translated for our use. (Cf. those points that we have argued in our article On the Ecclesiastical Ministry [Commonplace XXVI], § 249ff. against the Schwenkfeldians and their allies, the Weigelians.)