The goal of biblical study – like that of expository preaching – is an understanding of the text which enables its message to speak directly to the reader or hearer in its contemporary situation.

From the Introduction to The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Vol. 1, 9.

In God’s providence, Special Revelation became inscripturated, i.e., human authors through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote down the truth of God’s self-revelation and will, commonly called the “Word of God” or “Holy Scripture.” Peter summarized this process: “holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21). Paul commented on the usefulness and purpose of this form of Special Revelation: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Psalm 119 celebrates this form of Special Revelation: “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. Blessed are You, O LORD! Teach me your statutes” (Psalm 119:11-12).

Two distinctions regarding the doctrine of revelation: (1) General Revelation and (2) Special Revelation.

The former is a non-saving form of revelation. Psalm 19:1 teaches, “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows his handiwork.” Similarly, Paul appeals to this form of revelation: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).

The latter is a saving form of revelation. It is divine self-revelation, e.g., Hebrews 1:1-4 explains, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.”

“This general revelation has limits. As the confession reminds us, ‘they are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of his will, which is necessary unto salvation.’ . . . Therefore, since the real objective of Christian theology, and of this confession, is to show the way to life and the way to live life, this chapter goes on to tell us about God’s spoken revelation. . . . Above all, it is the purpose of Scripture to reveal God. It is his self-revelation, for it is not only the case that he himself is the one who reveals, but it is also the case that what he reveals is his own self” (Chad Van Dixhoorn, Confessing the Faith: A Reader’s Guide to the Westminster Confession of Faith, 5).

Creation, providence, regeneration, and resurrection proclaim the extent of physical and moral energy that [Jesus Christ] has at his command, in order to conduct the administration of his mediatorial kingdom. . . . He is mighty to save. Where the word of this King is, there is power.

William Symington, Messiah the Prince, 25.

(Michael Barrett).

Proverbs brings religion out in the open; it demonstrates that true biblical religion affects all spheres of life. As a primer of right conduct, it teaches that a relationship with God is the basis of life and human experience. Proverbs aims at producing lives in conformity to God’s will.

Michael Barrett in PRJ 8, 1 (2016): 5-12.

A Sabbath on earth well spent — spent as it sometimes is, and as it always ought to be — is a shadow and an earnest of the everlasting rest, which the servants of God, through the obedience and sufferings of the Lord Jesus, count upon enjoying in the presence of the angels, and in itself is one of the most successful means which the Great and Almighty Father has been pleased to employ for educating His children for the society of heaven and the avocations of the endless life.

Thomas Witherow, I Will Build My Church: Selected Writings on Church Polity, Baptism, and the Sabbath, edited by Jonathan Gibson, 251.

The Decalogue is of incalculable service to humanity, in that it points out clearly the most prominent precepts of the moral law, and expresses these precepts in divinely inspired words.

Thomas Witherow, I Will Build My Church: Selected Writings on Church Polity, Baptism, and the Sabbath, edited by Jonathan Gibson, 239.

Infant baptism, being thus the appointment of God, to attend to it is a duty — to neglect it is a sin. The believer who objects to have his children baptized, is quarreling with a divine ordinance, omitting to claim the spiritual promises and privileges of God’s covenant, practically renouncing, in the name of his children, all interest in that covenant. It is a piece of greater cruelty and folly than was perpetrated by Esau: Esau parted with his own birthright, but the man who repudiates infant baptism parts with his children’s; Esau sold his birthright for something, but this man deliberately flings away a privilege, and receives nothing in return. Thus, the Anabaptist despises his children’s birthright.

Thomas Witherow, I Will Build My Church: Selected Writings on Church Polity, Baptism, and the Sabbath, edited by Jonathan Gibson, 190.

It is admitted, readily, that a child at baptism does not understand the nature of the ordinance of which it is the subject, but that is no reason why it should not derive benefit thereby. It does not know the texture of the clothes that cover it, and yet those clothes keep it warm. It does not understand the nature of its mother’s milk, and yet that milk sustains its life. The children that were brought to Jesus that He might touch them (Mark 10:13-16) did not understand the ceremony that was gone through on that occasion, and yet we cannot but believe that Christ’s blessing did them good.

Thomas Witherow, I Will Build My Church: Selected Writings on Church Polity, Baptism, and the Sabbath, edited by Jonathan Gibson, 180.

Light makes darkness disappear. A plain statement of the truth is the best way to scatter clouds of error.

Thomas Witherow, I Will Build My Church: Selected Writings on Church Polity, Baptism, and the Sabbath, edited by Jonathan Gibson, 158.