Fourth, from its end and effect.
Fourth, from its end and effect.
§ 376. (IV) We prove the perfection of Scripture from its end and effect. That from which a means of attaining salvation can be learned is perfect, namely, with that perfection about which we are asking in this locus. But now, from Scripture one can learn perfectly the means of attaining salvation. Therefore Scripture is perfect. We prove the minor premise from the following statements of Scripture. In Luke 1:4 the end of Scripture is claimed to be 
[“safety” or “certainty”], but this cannot be possible without a perfect and sufficient explanation of that which is necessary for salvation. Luke 16:29: “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.” If the rich feaster’s brothers were able to learn perfectly from Moses and the prophets how to avoid the torments of hell, they also were able to learn from the Mosaic and prophetic writings how to attain the way to salvation. John 5:39: “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life.” Christ by no means reproves this outstanding evaluation of the Jews about Scripture. In fact, He approves of it and shows the means by which they can find eternal life in Scripture, namely, if they only seek the promised Messiah therein. John 20:31: “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”
The end of Scripture, therefore, is that through faith in Christ we learn from it and that from it we be instructed for eternal life. 2 Tim. 3:15: “The sacred writings are able to 
you [“to make you wise”] to salvation through the faith that is in Christ.” This passage clearly is parallel to the preceding one. 
is more than “to instruct,” for it means “to make wise.” But now, wisdom is the most outstanding and most perfect of all the qualities of the intellect.
2 Pet. 1:19: “We have the firmer prophetic word. You will do well to pay attention to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” There are some who believe that in these words the state of believers is compared before and during conversion in the sense that the morning star of the divine and salutary knowledge of Christ rises in people’s hearts through the prophetic word (2 Cor. 4:6). But it is more appropriate to refer this to a comparison of this life and of that which is to come. The state of this life is compared to a dark place in need of the glow of a lamp; the state of the life to come is compared to a bright day in which Christ, our Morning Star, will fill our minds with great light. Therefore Peter exhorts those who believe to pay careful attention in the darkness of this life to the prophetic word that sounds forth today only in the writings of the prophets (Luke 3:4; Acts 13:27) until they come near the light of eternal life. 
means not only “to apply the mind, to pay attention, to be attentive in some manner” but also “to endure, to remain faithful, to persist.” From this passage, therefore, we draw the following conclusion: Whatever is a lamp that leads us through the dark valley of this life to the light of the life to come, that also instructs us perfectly for salvation. But it is the prophetic word sounding forth in the Scriptures that leads us to the salvation of eternal life. Therefore it instructs us perfectly for salvation.
1 John 1:4: “We are writing this to you that your joy may be perfect.” Note here: (1) The apostles wrote the same things that they preached, as we see from v. 3. But now, they preached everything that was necessary. Therefore they also wrote everything that was necessary. (2) John is speaking not about himself alone but about all the other writers of the New Testament. (3) The end and effect of Scripture is claimed as being that the joy of the devout may be perfect. Therefore certainly the will of God concerning our salvation is set forth perfectly in the written Word.