Second, from God’s command.
Second, from God’s command.
§ 440. (II) From God’s command. Whatever the prophets and apostles say should be the only rule and norm according to which every worship without exception and every manner of faith and life should be measured, that is the only rule of faith and life. But now, the prophets and apostles say that every worship without exception and every manner of faith and life should be measured according to God’s Word (which was first spoken orally and later was written in Scripture by God’s will) as the only norm and rule. Therefore.
We prove the minor premise from the following testimonies of Scripture. (1) When Moses had spoken to the children of Israel in the name of God and had written down all the words of the Law at God’s command, he said to them, Deut. 4:2: “You shall not add to the words that I speak to you nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you.” Deut. 5:32-33: “Guard and do (or “Do carefully”) as Jehovah your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand nor to the left, but you shall walk the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you.” In these words, God’s Word is being compared with a road running along a straight line, upon which road those who are going to be the heirs of the kingdom of heaven must walk. The apostle in Gal. 6:16 uses the same metaphor and calls this way a 
[“rule”]. After he had set forth a brief epitome of the New Testament and of the teaching of the Gospel and likewise had published a summary of the Law of Moses and of the Old Testament, he adds: “As many as walk according to this rule, peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.” From these final words he appears to be pointing his finger to this passage of Moses, Deut. 12:28: “Be careful and hear all the things that I command you.” Verse 30: “Beware, lest you imitate the nations, saying, ‘As those nations worshiped their gods, so also shall I worship.’ “Verse 32: “Whatever74 I command you, do only that; you shall not add anything to it nor take away from it.” Deut. 27:26: “Cursed is anyone who does not abide in the words of this Law.” This last passage the apostle cites in Gal. 3:10 in these words: “Cursed is anyone who does not abide in those things written in the Law,” showing that the Law of God is not to be sought outside of the Scripture of the Law. Deut. 31:9: “Moses wrote the Law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi,” commanding them (vv. 11-12) “to read this Law in the solemn gatherings of the Israelites … that they may keep it,” so that they might conform their worship, life, and behavior according to it.
(2) When Joshua was an old man about to die, he, too, commended to the Israelites the written Law as the only rule of faith and life: “Be very strong to keep and do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, and do not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left” (Josh. 23:6).
(3) Isaiah sends us back only to the norm of the Word: “When they say to you: ‘Consult the mediums and wizards who babble and mutter,’ should not this people seek their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? 
, to the Law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this Word, there will be for them no morning light” (Isa. 8:19-20). Here he is calling the people back from augurs and enchanters to the Law, which is the testimony or witness of the divine will.
** In Ps. 19:8; 78:5; and Isa. 8:16, “the Law” and “the testimony” are connected epexegetically. Cf. Augustine, on Psalm 78. **
There are some who think that in this statement listeners are being called back to the two principal parts of heavenly doctrine: the Law and the Gospel, which is the testimony of Christ the Mediator. However, it means the same thing no matter if we take “testimony” to refer generally to the Word of God or specifically to the Gospel. Jerome, commentary on this passage: “If you wish to know the things that are doubtful, give yourselves over to the Law and the testimonies of the Scriptures. If your congregation is unwilling to seek the Word of the Lord, it will not have the light of truth but will walk in the darkness of error.” ** He brings out three explanations, all of which prove our belief. **
Furthermore, so great is the distinctness of this passage that it strikes the eyes even of some Papists. Dietenberger makes the following comment on this passage in his German Bible: “Is it more proper to ask the dead than the living? You ought to keep more to the Law, however, and to the testimony of Holy Scripture and draw your counsel from them. From these you will also find enough counsel (Luke 16). From this we conclude that one can find enough information in and from Holy Scripture for everything that concerns the salvation of souls.” Sanctius, commentary: “When they have reached that point of insanity that they think about consulting mediums, he commands that they be sent to the Law and to the testimony. Those who do not act according to this commanded Word will not have the clear morning light, the light by which ‘blessedness’ is understood. Rather, they will live in darkness either because they have been carried away from the paths and will wander blindly after their error or because nothing will happen to them that is not hostile.” Peter seems to be pointing a finger at this prophetic passage when he writes: “We have the prophetic word made more sure. 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” (2 Pet. 1:19). There he teaches that the light of the saving knowledge of God unto eternal life shines from the Scriptures on those who pay careful attention to the prophetic Word set forth in the Holy Scriptures.
(4) Christ in Luke 16:29 teaches that Abraham sent the rich man’s brothers back “to Moses and the prophets”—that is, to the writings of Moses and the prophets—so that they might learn from them the norm and form of divine worship and the way to form one’s life rightly and to obtain salvation. In John 5:39, He commands us to “search the Scriptures,” for in them the witness about the promised Messiah speaks and the way to obtain eternal life is presented.