God’s Word is a building word—it’s a word that builds, designs, and accomplishes things. This was true even before God’s Word was written down. Psalm 33 declares, “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made … for he spoke and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm” (vv. 6, 9). God’s Word is a powerful, creative Word that makes things happen. And in the Bible we have a Word that is just as powerful and perfect as that which spoke the world into existence. In fact, the Westminster Confession of Faith says that the written-downness of God’s Word in Holy Scripture is “most necessary.” Why? It is “most necessary” so that God might reveal Himself, His character, His works, His holy will “unto his church … for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church” (1.1). That is why, in His wisdom and goodness, God committed all things necessary for faith and life “unto writing.” This means that the way to best serve the church is by being a servant of the Word—because it is God’s Word that does the work for His people. It is God’s Word that builds up God’s church.
The Church is a Building Project
Scripture doesn’t only tell us information about God’s actions and words in history; the words of Scripture are redemptive revelation. Put another way, written revelation serves the purpose of redemption. Yes, God in his Word reveals his power and glory as one God—Father, Son, and Spirit. Yes, the Bible especially reveals the glory of Jesus Christ the Son of God as our Mediator. But all that revelation of the glory of God in Christ serves an even greater goal: the goal of building up God’s church in holiness and comfort unto His glory.
As Louis Berkhof puts it in his Systematic Theology: “The Bible is not only the principium cognoscendi of theology [the source of all our theological knowledge], but it is also the means which the Holy Spirit employs for the extension of the Church and for the edification and nourishment of the saints. It is pre-eminently the word of God’s grace, and therefore also the most important means of grace.”1 In other words, Scripture is sufficient, yes—but sufficient for what? One of the key purposes that the Bible serves is edification. That’s a word we are used to hearing in Christian circles, but let’s not forget what it means: it means to build up. God’s Word comes to us in the form that it does—that is, a covenantal, canonical Word—for the express purpose of building up His church.
Though I never had the privilege of being in the classroom with Professor Meredith Kline, he was one of my formative teachers from a distance. I can remember where I was (on the C line of Boston public transit) when I first read his chapter in The Structure of Biblical Authority entitled “Canon and Covenant Community.” Kline wrote that when we understand the covenantal character of Scripture, we see that “the Old and New Testaments have the specific purpose of serving as a building plan for the community structure of God’s covenant people … to define the covenant community as an authority structure or system of government by which the lordship of Yahweh-Christ is actualized among his servant people.”2 Kline is saying that the Bible—a covenantal canon—authoritatively structures, norms, and builds the covenantal community. It is architectonic model, says Kline in his inimitable way. “The Scriptural word of God effectively wielded by the Spirit is the fiat of God’s new creation. It is through the instrumentality of Scripture as powerful word that God constructs his new redemptive temple-house, dynamically molding and incorporating his people as living stones into this holy structure. So employed by the Spirit, Scripture is architectural fiat.”3
“Architectonic model” and “architectural fiat.” I recall my heart being strangely warmed as I read those words. But what did Kline mean? Well, here’s an example: our very own newly-constructed Westminster Village! This blessing to our community was also a massive project that required at least two major things. First, it needed a blueprint, a detailed schematic so the builders could create according to the design. Second, there needed to be tools. Without the heavy machinery and other instruments wielded by workers those buildings would never have become a reality.
Blueprint is what Kline meant by “architectonic model.” He wrote further, “The New Testament is the triumphant Lord’s house-building word, his architectonic covenant for the new Israel. In terms of its edificatory purpose, covenantal canon may be thought of as the architectural model for God’s sanctuary-residence.”4 The new covenant word provides the design, the structure, the blueprint for God’s new covenant people.
Likewise, when Kline spoke of an “architectural fiat,” he was referring to a powerful tool that could accomplish the job. God’s Word doesn’t just give us the blueprint for the church. God’s Word actually calls the church into existence. God’s Word actually grows and builds up the church. As the Reformers insisted, the church is the creation of the Word, not the other way around. The church does not create or authorize the Scriptures. The church recognizes and receives the Scriptures because in fact the church receives its very life from the Word of God.
Yes, the Scriptures are given so that you and I can know the Lord and have eternal life. But the purpose is not only to save individuals. The purpose for which God gives us the redemptive revelation of the Scriptures is to gather and to organize and to grow a corporate people for himself, a church that he has designed to be a living temple, a people with whom he dwells by his Spirit, a people who are always growing, despite their sinfulness and weakness. By the Word, God’s church is growing up in the comfort of the Gospel and conformity to his holy will. They are a people being built up to display his glory and grace. That is what the Scriptures are sufficient for.
Christ Builds His Church
This theme unfolds from Genesis to Revelation. In the New Testament, we see how Jesus himself reactivates this theme in biblical theology when he says in Matthew 16:18, “I will build my church.” How will he do it? The answer given is by means of the Apostles’ gospel. Jesus builds his church when, after his resurrection, He ascends on high and through his Apostles his gospel is proclaimed and his word is written down. That is how Jesus makes good on his promise in Matthew 16:18 to build his church. The Apostles pick this up everywhere. For example, in Ephesians 2:20, what is the church according to Paul? It’s a holy temple. What is it founded upon? The chief cornerstone is Christ. He says later on in Ephesians 4 that pastors and teachers are Christ’s beautiful gifts given for the specific purpose of building up the church (vv. 11–16).
Perhaps the pattern is most clear in Acts. In Acts 6:7, directly on the heels of the Apostles saying they need to devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word, Luke tells us, “And the Word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem” (Acts 6:7). Luke is trying to say the church of God grew, but he says instead the word of God grew. Why? Because Luke is getting us to see that it is the proclaimed Word of Christ that grows the church. He does it again in Chapter 12, where, in contrast to Herod who is struck down after a vainglorious speech, “the word of God increased and multiplied” (v. 24). Likewise, in Acts 19, Paul is in Ephesus and there is a “competition” between the one true God and a so-called goddess, Artemis—one that ends when “the word of the Lord … prevailed mightily” (v. 20). The principle is clear: God’s Word written down for us and proclaimed by us is the means by which the ascended Christ makes good on his promise to build his church.
In 1 Corinthians 3 there’s an extended use of this theme. The context in Corinth is interesting in this regard: there is a building boom precisely as Paul is planting the church in that city—specifically, temples were being erected all over the city. But Paul says there’s actually one true Temple that the true God is building—and that’s you and me, the New Covenant community. There are so many rich truths to draw out from the text, but let me highlight a few.
First, Paul says that he is the architect, or the wise “master builder” (v. 11). He is the project manager. He makes sure that the work is completed according to design. In Corinth, this meant first laying a foundation with the gospel of Christ (v. 12)—and then secondly ensuring that all who come after build squarely upon it (vv. 11–13). Nobody can change that foundation, rather everyone who comes and builds after Paul must take heed to build squarely upon it! You can’t build off center or the building is going to fall down. In essence, Paul says, “That’s the authoritative design for the building project of the church that I was given. It’s not mine; I was commissioned as a project manager. But now you must build upon it and according to the design.”
Paul gives sobering warnings about the penalties that come to those who build improperly (vv. 12–15). It’s a great motivation to look to the day of approval, when the project will be approved by the one who commissioned it. That day is the last day, when Christ will present His Bride, His Body, His Building, to his Father. Very encouragingly, Paul concludes this passage by claiming that everything we need for this work has been given to us (vv. 21–23). That is exactly how we should think about the sufficiency of Scripture: we have everything we need for the building of the church unto holiness for the glory of God.
Built Up in Holiness and Comfort
If it is true that God has given us a perfect Word—a Word that is sufficient to build up Christ’s Church—then what should our posture be as we come to it? We must be careful that we don’t look to other things, ideas, or methods as we try to build up Christ’s Church. We “build up” a company. We “build up” a brand. We “build” a consumer base. And it’s all too easy for us to take from the world those ideas of building up by managerial prowess or by business strategy as we think about building up the church. But everything we need is here in God’s Word.
Westminster Shorter Catechism 89 asks this question: “How is the word made effectual unto salvation?” The answer: “The Spirit of God maketh the reading but especially the preaching of the word an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners and of building them up in holiness and comfort.” The Westminster divines knew their Bibles well! They knew this theme and they captured it here for us. If God’s Word is sufficient for building up God’s church, then we need to be reading it. Moreover, we must place ourselves under the preached Word. The Catechism points out that it is “especially the preaching” of God’s Word that the ascended Christ uses to build up his church. 2 Timothy 3:15–16 reminds us that God’s Word is perfectly suited to everything. So then, pastors are encouraged (2 Tim 4:1–2) to preach the Word, day in and day out.
And even if you are not a preacher you still have a role to play here. The Shorter Catechism is again helpful in Question 90 when it asks, “How is the word to be read and heard that it may become effectual to salvation?” Answer: “That the word may become effectual to salvation, we must attend thereunto with diligence, preparation and prayer; receive it with faith and love, lay it up in our hearts, and practice it in our lives.” As we come to our own Bible reading, we must read prayerfully and meditatively. Do you pray during the week for your pastor as he prepares to preach? Do you order your Saturday evening such that you are ready to “attend diligently” to the Word is as it’s proclaimed to you on the Lord’s Day? If we really believe that God’s Word is effective for building us up—especially as it’s preached to us—this is how we should come to worship. Paul’s words to the Ephesian elders are a wonderful exhortation to us as we embrace the word to grow in holiness and comfort: “I commend you to God and to the Word of his grace, which is able to build you up” (Acts 20:23).
NOTES
- Louis Berkhoff, Systematic Theology (Louisville, KY: GLH Publishing), 521.
- Meredith G. Kline, The Structure of Biblical Authority (2nd ed; Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock), 88.
- Ibid., 88–89.
- Ibid., 85.
This article is from our Spring 2025 edition of UPDATE Magazine, Servants of the Church.