The written word of god

The Claim of the Bible

Even a casual reader of the Bible will soon discover he is reading a very unusual book. Even though he may not accept its claims, a careful and reflective reading will demonstrate, for most at least, that this book is not only unique, but makes some very unique claims. The following are a number of evidences that support this uniqueness.

Internal Evidence

In hundreds of passages, the Bible declares or takes the position explicitly or implicitly that it is nothing less than the very Word of God.

Some thirty-eight hundred times the Bible declares, “God said,” or “Thus says the Lord” (e.g. Ex. 14:1; 20:1; Lev. 4:1; Num. 4:1; Deut. 4:2; 32:48; Isa. 1:10, 24; Jer. 1:11; Ezek. 1:3; etc.). Paul also recognized that the things he was writing were the Lord’s commandments (1 Cor. 14:37), and they were acknowledged as such by the believers (1 Thess. 2:13). Peter proclaimed the certainty of the Scriptures and the necessity of heeding the unalterable and certain Word of God (2 Pet. 1:16-21). John too recognized that his teaching was from God; to reject his teaching was to reject God (1 John 4:6).¹⁷

For other passages which either declare or assume the Bible as God’s Word see Deuteronomy 6:6-9, 17-18; Joshua 1:8-9; 8:32-35; 2 Samuel 22:31; Ps. 1:2; 12:6; 19:7-11; 93:5; 119:9, 11, 18, 89-93, 130; Prov. 30:5-6; Matthew 5:17-19; 22:29; Mark 13:31; Luke 16:17; John 2:22; 5:24; 10:35; Acts 17:11; Romans 10:17; Colossians 3:16; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 2:15; 3:15-17; 1 Peter 1:23-25; 2 Peter 3:15-16; Revelation 1:2; 22:18.

But isn’t this a circular kind of argument, and is that a valid argument? In a court of law, the accused has the right to testify on his own behalf. That testimony should be considered in the light of the evidence. In this case, the evidence, both external and internal, strongly supports the claims of the Bible.

In response to those who would reject the above-mentioned argument, it should be noted that the writers who made those claims for the Scripture were trustworthy men who defended the integrity of the Scripture at great personal sacrifice. Jeremiah received his message directly from the Lord (Jer. 11:1-3), yet because of his defense of the Scripture some attempted to kill him (Jer. 11:21); even his family rejected him (Jer. 12:6). Counterfeit prophets were readily recognized (Jer. 23:21, 32; 28:1-17). However, the Bible’s claims should not be understood as arguing in a circle or by circular reasoning. The testimony of reliable witnesses—particularly of Jesus, but also of others such as Moses, Joshua, David, Daniel, and Nehemiah in the Old Testament, and John and Paul in the New Testament—affirmed the authority and verbal inspiration of the Holy Scriptures.¹⁸

The ever present assumption of the writers of the Bible is that the Bible is the God-breathed Word of God. A good illustration is seen in Psalm 19:7-11 which not only declares the Bible to be the Word of God, but identifies six perfections with corresponding transformations of human character that the Bible will produce in those who study and apply it in faith.

External Evidence

(1) The continuity of the Bible. One of the amazing facts about the Bible is that though it was written by a wide diversity of authors (as many as 40) over a period of 1600 years, from many different locations and under a wide variety of conditions, the Bible is uniquely one book, not merely a collection of sixty-six books. Its authors came from all walks of life. Some were kings, some peasants, still others were philosophers, fishermen, physicians, statesmen, scholars, poets, and farmers. They lived in a variety of cultures, in different experiences and often were quite different in their make up. Regardless of this diversity, as one book, it is:

… bound together by historical sequence, type and antitype, prophecy and fulfillment, and by the anticipation, presentation, realization, and exaltation of the most perfect Person who ever walked on earth and whose glories are manifest in heaven.¹⁹

Enns has an interesting comparison as it pertains to the Bible’s continuity. He writes:

The divine origin of the Bible is further seen in considering the continuity of its teaching despite the unusual nature of its composition. It stands distinct from other religious writings. For example, the Islamic Koran was compiled by an individual, Zaid ibn Thabit, under the guidance of Mohammed’s father-in-law, Abu-Bekr. Additionally, in A.D. 650, a group of Arab scholars produced a unified version and destroyed all variant copies to preserve the unity of the Koran. By contrast, the Bible came from some forty different authors from diverse vocations in life. For instance, among the writers of Scripture were Moses, a political leader; Joshua, a military leader; David, a shepherd; Solomon, a king; Amos, a herdsman and fruit pincher; Daniel, a prime minister; Matthew, a tax collector; Luke, a medical doctor; Paul, a rabbi; and Peter, a fisherman.²⁰

Summing up the significance of the Bible’s continuity, Enns writes,

It is apparent that many of the writers did not know of the other writers of Scripture and were unfamiliar with the other writings, inasmuch as the writers wrote over a period of more than fifteen hundred years, yet the Bible is a marvelous, unified whole. There are no contradictions or inconsistencies within its pages. The Holy Spirit is the unifier of the sixty-six books, determining its harmonious consistency. In unity these books teach the triunity of God, the deity of Jesus Christ, the personality of the Holy Spirit, the fall and depravity of man, as well as salvation by grace. It quickly becomes apparent that no human being(s) could have orchestrated the harmony of the teachings of the Scripture. The divine authorship of the Bible is the only answer.²¹

Speaking of the Bible as “a phenomenon which is explainable in but one way—it is the word of God,” the late Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer wrote, “It is not such a book as man would write if he could, or could write if he would.”²² It is beyond the scope of man’s capacity to write a book like the Bible under the conditions describes above apart from its divine origin.

(2) The Bible’s revelation of God. The Bible’s revelation of God is unique among all the religious writings of either antiquity or of more modern times. While the Bible is a very ethical book, it never divorces its code of morality from a personal relationship with the God of the Bible, teaching that God’s laws are not meant to hinder joy and pleasure, but to enhance man’s capacity to know and love God and people. Morality is to be a product of knowing and loving the God of the Bible (Deut. 4:4-6; Matt. 22:36-40; Mark 12:28-31).

In addition, no other religious writing presents both the absolute holiness of God combined with God’s love, mercy, and grace that reaches out to sinful man who has been separated from God not only because of man’s sin, but because of God’s absolute holiness. One of the great revelations and themes of the Bible is that which is expressed by Isaiah, “holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts” (Isa. 6:3; Hab. 1:13a).

While other contemporary writers were primarily polytheistic, the Bible is monotheistic. It presents a monotheistic concept of God rather than the polytheism which was so flagrant in the days when the Scriptures were written. Furthermore, when later holy books like the Koran and others presented a monotheistic concept of God, the Bible remained unique because it is the only book about God that presents God as one (monotheism) yet one in three persons, the Triunity or Trinity. Indeed, the Bible’s revelation of God is one that is starkly different from the ones depicted in all other holy books whether of antiquity or of modern times.

(3) The nature, condition, and cure for man’s sin. Only the Bible describes man’s condition in sin as it really is and demonstrates the impossibility for man to deal with his sin and sinfulness apart from God’s grace solution in the person and death of His Son. Every other religion in the world, past and present, has man seeking to obtain his own salvation or gain God’s favor by some form of human works or religious activity. Only the Bible presents a solution for man’s sin that is truly life changing, when properly embraced and believed.

(4) The ethics and morals of the Bible. The ethics and morals of the Bible cover all areas of human conduct from the home, the husband/wife relationships, parent/child relationships, to human conduct in society as with employers and employees, neighbors and enemies, and the state and its citizens. It covers morals on all levels as well as business, economic, and social spheres. But as mentioned previously, the ethics and morals of the Bible are unique in that they are always related to one’s belief in the existence of God and one’s relationship with Him; in this way, the motives themselves are judged. Ethics and morals are never simply a matter of outward conformity to the moral standards of Scripture as other religions or religious books do. The emphasis of the Bible is “search me O God, and know my heart.”

(5) Fulfilled prophecy. Another amazing illustration of the divine origin and uniqueness of the Bible is its many fulfilled prophecies.

Throughout Scripture, hundreds of prophecies were made by Old Testament writers concerning the Messiah, the future kingdom on earth, the restoration of Israel as a nation, and their return to their Promised Land. In the New Testament also many predictions are made of events to come. As Scripture unfolds, about half of these prophecies have already been fulfilled, but others, following the same pattern of literal fulfillment, are subject to fulfillment in the future. The perfect precision of prophecy extending to such details as the place of Christ’s birth, the character of His execution, the very words He would speak on the cross testify to the absolute accuracy of the Word of God. In Scripture, prophecy is just as accurate as history.²³

(6) The Bible as Revelation Beyond Human Comprehension.

The extent of Bible revelation is beyond human comprehension. Like a telescope, the Bible reaches beyond the stars and penetrates the heights of heaven and the depths of hell. Like a microscope, it discovers the minutest details of God’s plans and purposes as well as the hidden secrets of the human heart. The Bible deals as freely with things unknown as it does with the known. It can speak with complete freedom and assurance about situations and events outside the realm of human experience. The Bible knows no limits to the infinite knowledge of God who guided its writers. It permits its readers to gaze on events in eternity past as well as in eternity future. The comprehension of divine revelation is utterly beyond the capacity of even the most brilliant men unaided by the Spirit of God.²⁴

Other unique features of the Bible that give evidence of its divine origin are its types and antitypes, its nature as unique literature, its scientific accuracy when compared to true science, its enduring freshness, and its power to change lives.²⁵

The Bible:
God’s Special Revelation

Definition of Revelation

The term revelation comes from the Greek word apokalupsis, which means “a disclosure” or “an unveiling.” It is used in the New Testament of the disclosure of truth in general (Luke 2:32; Rom. 16:25; Eph. 1:17), of the disclosure of a specific area of truth (2 Cor. 12:1; Gal. 1:12; 2:2; Eph. 3:3), of the second coming of Christ (1 Cor. 1:7; 1 Pet. 1:7, 13; 4:13), and of the book of Revelation (Rev. 1:1). Theologically, Bible students use this word to signify God’s work of revealing Himself to mankind through the various sources of revelation as in creation (Rom. 1:18-21; Ps. 19), in providential acts (Acts 14:17; Rom. 8:28), in miracles (John 20:30-31), through direct acts of communication (Ex. 3:1-9; Acts 22:17-21), through the person of Christ (John 1:14, 18), and through the Bible.

What then is revelation? Thiessen defines it as:

… that act of God whereby he discloses himself or communicates truth to the mind; whereby he makes manifest to his creatures that which could not be known in any other way. The revelation may occur in a single, instantaneous act, or it may extend over a long period of time; and this communication of himself and his truth may be perceived by the human mind in varying degrees of fullness.²⁶

Erickson defines “revelation” as: “By special revelation we mean God’s manifestation of himself to particular persons at definite times and places, enabling those persons to enter into a redemptive relationship with him.”²⁷

The concept of revelation falls into two principal divisions or areas: (1) general, natural, or original, and (2) special, supernatural, or soteriological. The first pertains to revelation revealed through nature and history, the second to what God has revealed as He intervenes in human history to reveal Himself in supernatural ways.

General or Natural Revelation

By general revelation, we mean revelation that is simply general in its extent. Ryrie explains:

General revelation is exactly that—general. It is general in its scope; that is, it reaches to all people (Matt. 5:45; Acts 14:17). It is general in geography; that is, it encompasses the entire globe (Ps. 19:2). It is general in its methodology; that is, it employs universal means like the heat of the sun (vv. 4-6) and human conscience (Rom. 2:14-15). Simply because it is a revelation that thus affects all people wherever they are and whenever they have lived it can bring light and truth to all, or, if rejected, brings condemnation.²⁸

General revelation comes to mankind in a number of ways (creation, order and design, the nature of man as an intelligent being), but the most obvious and powerful means of general revelation is nature or creation. As powerful and universal as this is, however, it is inadequate or has certain limitations. It cannot tell us about the love and grace of God nor of His perfect holiness. Furthermore, creation does not tell us of God’s plan of salvation nor how man may procure that salvation. Still, general revelation “is nonetheless an important antecedent to salvation. General revelation is God revealing certain truths and aspects about His nature to all humanity, which revelation is essential and preliminary to God’s special revelation.”²⁹

Creation

Creation as a part of God’s general revelation affirms certain facts about God. Two key passages emphasize God’s general revelation in creation:

(1) Psalm 19:1-6 affirms (a) the heavens declare the fact of God’s glory to the human race throughout the earth (vs. 1), (b) that this revelation is constant, occurring “day to day” and “night to night” (vs. 2), that (c) it is a nonverbal revelation, “there is no speech, nor are there words, their voice is not heard,” (v. 3), and (d) its scope is worldwide, “Their line [sound] has gone out through all the earth, And their utterance to the end of the world” (v. 4). “Being unrestricted by the division of languages, natural revelation transcends human communication without the use of speech, words, and sounds. To those who are inclined to hear, revelation comes with no regard for linguistic or geographical barriers.”³⁰

No one is excluded from this revelation of God. Wherever man peers at the universe, there is orderliness. At a distance of ninety-three million miles from the earth, the sun provides exactly the right temperature environment for man to function on earth. Were the sun closer, it would be too hot to survive, and were it further away it would be too cold for man to function. If the moon were closer than two hundred forty thousand miles the gravitational pull of the tides would engulf the earth’s surface with water from the oceans. Wherever man looks in the universe, there is harmony and order. Similarly, God has revealed Himself on earth (v. 1). The magnificence of the human body is perhaps the best evidence of general revelation on earth. The entire human body—its cardiovascular system, the bone structure, the respiratory system, the muscles, the nervous system including its center in the brain—reveals an infinite God.³¹

(2) Romans 1:18-21 develops the truth of general revelation through creation even further. It draws our attention to four vital characteristics of what the revelation of God in creation does. (a) It is a clear testimony, being clearly seen by the things which are made (vss. 19 and 20). (b) The word “understood” (noew, “of rational reflection, inner contemplation, perceive, apprehend, understand …”)³² indicates this general revelation goes beyond mere perception; creation’s revelation is such that it is expected to result in reflection so there is a conclusion drawn about the Creator. (c) As Psalm 19 affirms, this testimony is constant being witnessed “since the creation of the world” (vs. 20). And (d) it is limited in what it reveals; only certain aspects about God’s invisible qualities or nature are revealed, specifically, “his eternal power and divine nature.”

As mentioned previously, to learn of God’s love, grace, and plan of salvation, one must turn to God’s special revelation, the Bible, and the revelation of His Son (John 1:14, 18). Natural revelation, however, is more than sufficient to make mankind responsible and to show he is “without excuse” for his indifference and failure to seek to know God and to be thankful.

Providence and Human Conscience

In addition to creation, God has also revealed Himself to the human race through His providential goodness in the world and through the human conscience.

It is through His providential goodness in supplying people with sunshine and rain that enables them to live and function (Matt. 5:45; Acts 14:15-17). Paul reminds the people at Lystra that God’s providential goodness was a witness to them (Acts 14:17). God’s providential control is also evident in His dealing with the nations. He disciplined His disobedient people Israel (Deut. 28:15-68) but will also restore them (Deut. 30:1-10); He judged Egypt for sinning against Israel (Ex. 7-11); He raised the nations to power and also caused their demise (Dan. 2:21a, 31-43).

Further, God has revealed Himself through conscience. Romans 2:14-15 indicates God has placed intuitional knowledge concerning Himself within the heart of man. “Man intuitively knows not only that God values goodness and abhors evil but also that he is ultimately accountable to such a righteous Power.” (Bruce A. Demarest, General Revelation: Historical Views and Contemporary Issues, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1982, p. 231.) While the Jews will be judged according to the written law, Gentiles, who do not have the written Law, will be judged according to an unwritten law, the law of conscience written on their hearts. Moreover, Paul says the conscience acts as a legal prosecutor (v. 15). “Conscience may be regarded as an inner monitor, or the voice of God in the soul, that passes judgment on man’s response to the moral law within” (Ibid., pp. 232-33).³³

While God has revealed Himself in His creation, which gives us general revelation about God, and in the person of Jesus Christ, which gives us revelation of God incarnate, our focus in bibliology is on the revelation of God in the Bible, the written Word of God. As God’s Word the Bible reveals much more about God than can be known from nature or creation or even through the person Christ.

Accordingly, the Bible may be regarded as completing the intended divine revelation of God partially revealed in nature, more fully revealed in Christ, and completely revealed in the written Word.

Special Revelation

The Nature of Special Revelation

This section will examine how God has revealed Himself in special revelation. The nature of this mode of revelation is that it consists primarily of words. The author of Hebrews reminds us that God has made Himself known by speaking long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, and in these last days has spoken to us in His Son (Heb. 1:1-2a). There are three elements to special revelation: specific times, specific modes, and specific persons. Later, still dealing with this special revelation that reveals our “so great salvation,” the author of Hebrews says:

After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will (Heb. 1:1-2).

Again we see the same elements: a specific mode (special revelation embodied in words), at a specific time (during the life of Christ and the apostles), and in specific persons (those who heard the Lord, His apostles whose teaching or words were confirmed by signs and wonders). This was precisely in keeping with Christ’s own words in John 16:12-15.

Special revelation involves a narrower focus than general revelation and is restricted to Jesus Christ and the Scriptures. Of course, all that is known of Christ is through the Scriptures; therefore, it can be said that special revelation is restricted to the Scriptures.³⁴

The Necessity of Special Revelation

Why does man need special revelation? Special revelation is needed because of man’s blind and sinful condition caused by his fall as recorded in Genesis 3, a blindness that is made even stronger by the blinding activity of Satan (cf. Eph. 4:17-19 with 2 Cor. 4:4). This necessitated the need for special revelation so God could reveal Himself and His plan of salvation that man in turn might be reconciled from his condition of alienation and restored to fellowship with God.

God’s special revelation of Himself centers in the Person of Jesus Christ as the only One who fully reveals both God and His plan of salvation; Jesus is the heart and testimony of Scripture in its promises and fulfillment and the means of salvation (John 1:14, 18; 3:16-18; 6:63; 14:6; Heb. 1:3; 2:3; Rev. 19:10).

In addition to the above, man needs special revelation for two more important reasons. First, so he correctly interpret the truths revealed in general revelation, and second, because these general truths are very limited. As is obvious from the many religions of the world, man consistently misinterprets what he can learn from creation or providence. Therefore, man desperately needs God’s special or supernatural revelation.

The Avenues of Special Revelation

Drawing on his knowledge of the Old Testament and the testimony of those who had personally heard the Lord Jesus, the author of Hebrews speaks of the various ways God has spoken to reveal Himself in history through the prophets and then through His Son who is the very outshining of God (Heb. 1:1-2). Ryrie gives us an excellent summary of the various avenues God has used to reveal Himself.

A. The Lot: While today we would not highly regard the use of the lot, it did serve sometimes to communicate the mind of God to man (Prov. 16:33; Acts 1:21-26).

B. The Urim and Thummim: The breastplate which the high priest wore in the Old Testament was a square piece of beautiful material which was folded in half and open at the top like a pouch. It was adorned with twelve precious stones on which were engraved the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. The Urim and Thummim possibly were two precious stones placed inside the pouch which were used, like the lot, to determine God’s will (Ex. 28:30, Num. 27:21, Deut. 33:8; 1 Sam. 28:6, Ezra 2:63).

C. Dreams: God apparently used dreams to communicate many times during the Old Testament period, and He will do so again at the time of the second coming of Christ (Gen. 20:3, 6; 31:11-13, 24; 40-41; Joel 2:28). Nonbelievers as well as believers experienced God-given dreams (Gen. 20:3; 31:24). Though a common experience, dreams were used by God in this special way to reveal truth.

D. Visions: In a vision the emphasis seems to be on what is heard, while in a dream, on what is seen. Also the human being involved seems to be more active in receiving a vision (Isa. 1:1; 6:1; Ezek. 1:3).

E. Theophanies: Before the Incarnation, theophanies were associated with the appearance of the Angel of the Lord who communicated the divine message to people (Gen. 16:7-14; Ex. 3:2; 2 Sam. 24:16; Zech. 1:12).

F. Angels: God also uses created angels to carry His message to people (Dan. 9:20-21, Luke 2:10-11, Rev. 1:1). (Notice Rev. 19:17 where God will use an angel to communicate to birds!)

G. The Prophets: Old Testament prophets brought God’s message to mankind (2 Sam. 23:2; Zech. 1:1) as did New Testament prophets (Eph. 3:5). They spoke with authority because they were communicating the Word of the Lord. A preacher or teacher today does not qualify as a prophet since he proclaims or explains God’s Word, previously given and encoded.

H. Events: God’s activity in history also constitutes a channel of revelation. Delivering the people of Israel from Egypt revealed the righteous acts of the Lord, according to Micah 6:5. Acts of judgment reveal who God is (Ezek. 25:7). And, of course, the incarnation of Christ exegeted God (John 1:14). It does not go without saying today that these events have to be historical and factual in order also to be communicative; for today some are putting existential faith before the historical. In other words, they are attempting to create revelation apart from historical facts. Such existential historiography was never a part of the framework of the biblical writers.

Not only must the events be historical, but they also need to be interpreted through divine inspiration if we are to understand accurately their meaning. For example, many people were crucified; how do we know that the crucifixion of one Jesus of Nazareth paid for the sins of the world? The Word of special revelation clarifies and correctly interprets the obscurity of the meaning of events.

I. Jesus Christ: Undebatably the incarnation of Jesus Christ was a major avenue of special revelation. He exegeted the Father (John 1:14), revealing the nature of God (14:9), the power of God (3:2), the wisdom of God (7:46), the glory of God (1:14), the life of God (1 John 1:1-3), and the love of God (Romans 5:8). Our Lord did all this by both His acts (John 2:11) and His words (Matt. 16:17).

J. The Bible: Actually the Bible serves as the most inclusive of all the avenues of special revelation, for it encompasses the record of many aspects of the other avenues. Though God undoubtedly gave other visions, dreams, and prophetic messages that were not recorded in the Bible, we know no details of them. Too, all that we know about the life of Christ appears in the Bible, though, of course, not all that He did or said was recorded in the Scriptures (John 21:25). But the Bible is not simply the record of these other revelations from God; it also contains additional truth not revealed, for example, through the prophets or even during the earthly life of Christ. So the Bible, then, is both the record of aspects of special revelation and revelation itself.

The revelation in the Bible is not only inclusive yet partial, it is also accurate (John 17:17), progressive (Heb. 1:1), and purposeful (2 Tim. 3:15-17).

Two approaches exist as to the credibility of the scriptural revelation. Fideists insist that the Scripture and the revelation it contains is self-authenticating, that is, autopistic. The infallibility of the Bible must be presupposed and can be because the Scripture says it is inspired and the Spirit accredits it. Empiricists, on the other hand, stress the intrinsic credibility of the revelation of the Bible as being worthy of belief, that is, axiopistic. The Bible’s claim to authority is not in itself proof of its authority; rather there exist factual, historical evidences which constitute the Bible’s credentials and validate the truth of its message. My feeling is that there is truth in both approaches so that both can and should be used.³⁵

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17 Ibid, p. 154.

18 Ibid.

19 Chafer, p. 52.

20 Enns, pp. 154-155.

21 Enns, p. 155.

22 Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, Vol 1, Kregel, Grand Rapids, 1947-48, p. 22.

23 Lewis Sperry Chafer Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, Abridged Edition, Walvoord, Campbell, Zuck, p. 53.

24 Ibid., p. 51.

25 For further reading on these and the features mentioned above see Chafer’s Systematic Theology, pp. 22-36, or the Abridged Edition of Chafer’s Theology by Walvoord, Zuck, and Campbell, pp. 48-55.

26 Henry Clarence Thiessen, Introductory Lectures in systematic Theology, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI, 1949, p. 31.

27 Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, 1983, p. 175.

28 Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology, Victor Books, Wheaton, IL, 1987, electronic media.

29 Enns, p. 156.

30 NIV Bible Commentary, Kenneth Barker & John Kohlenberger III, Consulting Editors, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, 1994, electronic media.

31 Enns, pp. 156, 158.

32 Walter Bauer, F. Wilbur Gingrich, and Frederick W. Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1979, electronic version.

33 Enns, p. 158.

34 Enns, p. 158.

35 Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology, Victor Books, Wheaton, IL, 1987, electronic media.

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How do we know who Jesus is, or what he taught? How do we know when a teaching is false? Where is the authority for sound doctrine and right living? The Bible is the inspired and infallible record of what God wants us to know and do.

A witness to Jesus

Perhaps you’ve heard about the “Jesus Seminar,” a group of scholars in the 1990s who claimed that Jesus didn’t say most of the things the Bible says he did.[1] Or perhaps you’ve heard of other scholars who say that the Bible is a collection of contradictions and myths.

Many well-educated people dismiss the Bible. Many other equally educated people believe it is a trustworthy record of what God has done and said. If we cannot trust what the Bible says about Jesus, for example, then we will know almost nothing about him.

Do we have good reason to trust the biblical reports about Jesus? Yes – they were written within a few decades of Jesus’ death, when eyewitnesses were still alive. Jewish disciples often memorized the words of their teachers, so it is possible that Jesus’ disciples preserved his teachings accurately. We have no evidence that they invented sayings to deal with early church concerns, such as circumcision. This suggests that they are reliable reports of what Jesus taught.

We can also be confident that the manuscripts were well preserved. We have some copies from the fourth century, and smaller sections from the second century. This is better than all other ancient books. (The oldest copy of Virgil’s Aeneidwas copied 350 years after Virgil died; of Plato, 1,300 years.) The manuscripts show that the Bible was copied carefully, and we have a reliable text.

Jesus’ witness to Scripture

Jesus was willing to argue with the Pharisees on many issues, but he did not seem to argue with their view of the Scriptures. Although Jesus disagreed on interpretations and traditions, he apparently agreed with other Jewish leaders that the Scriptures were authoritative for faith and practice.

Jesus expected every word in Scripture to be fulfilled (Matthew 5:17-18; Mark 14:49). He quoted Scripture to prove his points (Matthew 9:13; 22:31; 26:24; 26:31; John 10:34); he rebuked people for not reading Scripture carefully enough (Matthew 22:29; Luke 24:25; John 5:39). He referred to Old Testament people and events without any hint that they were not real.

Scripture had the authority of God behind it. When Jesus answered Satan’s temptations, he said, “It is written” (Matthew 4:4-10). The fact that something was written in Scripture meant, for Jesus, that it was an indisputable authority. The words of David were inspired by the Holy Spirit (Mark 12:36); a prophecy was given “through” Daniel (Matthew 24:15) because its real origin was God.

Jesus said that the Creator said: “A man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife” (Matthew 19:4-5, quoting in Genesis 2:24). However, Genesis does not describe this verse as the words of God. Jesus could say that God said it because it was in Scripture. He believed that God is the ultimate author of all of Scripture.

The evidence throughout the Gospels is that Jesus viewed Scripture as reliable and trust­worthy. As he reminded the Jewish leaders, “Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35). Jesus expected it to be valid; he even upheld the validity of old covenant commands while the old covenant was still in force (Matthew 8:4; 23:23).

Witness of the apostles

The apostles, like their teacher, considered Scripture authoritative. They quoted it repeatedly, often as proof of an argument. The sayings of Scripture are treated as words of God. Scripture is even personalized as the God who spoke to Abraham and Pharaoh (Romans 9:17; Galatians 3:8). What David, Isaiah or Jeremiah wrote was actually from God, and therefore certain (Acts 1:16; 4:25; 13:35; 28:25; Hebrews 1:6-10; 10:15). The law of Moses is assumed to reflect the mind of God (1 Corinthians 9:9). The real author of Scripture is God (1 Corinthians 6:16; Romans 9:25).

Paul called the Scriptures “the very words of God” (Romans 3:2). Peter says that the prophets “spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20). The prophets didn’t make it up – God inspired them, and he is the real origin of their words. They often wrote, “the word of the Lord came…” or “Thus says the Lord…”

Paul also told Timothy that “all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteous­ness” (2 Timothy 3:16). It is as if God spoke his message through the biblical writers.

However, we must not read into this our modern ideas of what “God-breathed” has to mean. We must remember that Paul said this about the Greek Septuagint translation (the Scriptures that Timothy had known since childhood – verse 15), and this translation is in some places considerably different than the Hebrew original. Paul used this translation as the inspired word of God without meaning that it was a perfect text. Despite its translation dis­crepancies, it is God-breathed and able to make people “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” and it is still able to equip believers “for every good work” (verse 17).

Imperfect communication

The original word of God is perfect, and God is able to cause people to state it accurately, to preserve it accurately and (to complete the communication) cause us to understand it correctly. But God has not done all this. Our copies have grammatical errors, copyist errors, and (far more significantly) humans always make errors in receiving the message. There is “noise” that prevents us from hearing perfectly the message that God inspired to be written in Scripture. Nevertheless, God uses Scripture to speak to us today.

Despite the “noise” that puts human mistakes between God and us, the purpose of Scripture is accomplished: to tell us about salvation and about right behavior. God accomplishes his purpose in Scripture: he communicates his word to us with enough clarity that we can be saved and we can learn what he wants us to do.

Scripture, even in a translation, is accurate for its purpose. But we would be wrong to expect more from it than God intended. He is not teaching us astronomy or science. The numbers in Scripture are not always mathematically precise by today’s standards. We must look at Scripture for its purpose, not for minor details.

For example, in Acts 21:11, Agabus was inspired to say that the Jews would bind Paul and hand him over to the Gentiles. Some people might assume that Agabus was specifying who would tie Paul up, and what they would do with him. But as it turns out, Paul was actually rescued by the Gentiles and bound by the Gentiles (21:30-33).

Is this a contradiction? Technically, yes. The prediction was true in principle, but not in the details. When Luke wrote this, he could have easily doctored the prediction to fit the result, but he was willing to let the differences be seen. He did not think that people should expect precision in such details. This should warn us about expecting precision in all the details of Scripture.

We need to focus on the main point of the message. Similarly, Paul made a mistake when he wrote 1 Corinthians 1:14– a mistake he corrected in verse 16. The inspired Scriptures contain both the mistake and the correction.

We accept the testimony of church history, that Christians through the centuries have found the Bible useful for faith and practice. This book tells us who God is, what he did for us, and how we should respond. Tradition also tells us which books are in the biblical canon. We trust that God guided the process so that the end result accomplishes his purpose.No one can prove that all of the Bible is true. They may show that a particular prophecy came true, but they cannot show that the entire Bible has the same validity. This is based more on faith. We see the historical evidence that Jesus and the apostles accepted the Old Testament as the word of God. The biblical Jesus is the only one we have; other ideas are based on guesswork, not new evidence. We accept the teaching of Jesus that the Holy Spirit would guide the disciples into more truth. We accept the claim of Paul that he wrote with divine authority. We accept that the Bible reveals to us who God is and how we may have fellowship with him.

Our experience also testifies to the accuracy of Scripture. This is the book that has the honesty to tell us about our own sinfulness, and the grace to offer us a cleansed conscience. It gives us moral strength not through rules and commands, but in an unexpected way – through grace and the ignominious death of our Creator.

The Bible testifies to the love, joy and peace we may have through faith – feelings that are, just as the Bible describes, beyond our ability to put into words (Ephesians 3:19; 1 Peter 1:8; Philippians 4:7). This book gives us meaning and purpose in life by telling us of divine creation and redemption. These aspects of biblical authority cannot be proven to skeptics, but they help verify the Scriptures that tell us these things that we experience.

The Bible does not sugar-coat its heroes, and this also helps us accept it as honest. It tells us about the failings of Abraham, Moses, David, the nation of Israel, and the disciples. The Bible is a word that bears witness to a more authoritative Word, the Word made flesh, and the good news of God’s grace.

The Bible is not simplistic; it does not take the easy way out. The New Testament claims both continuity and discontinuity with the old covenant. It would be simpler to eliminate one or the other, but it is more challenging to have both. Likewise, Jesus is presented as both human and divine, a combination that does not fit well into Hebrew, Greek or modern thought. This complexity was not created through ignorance of the philosophical problems, but in spite of them.

The Bible is a challenging book, not likely to be the result of fishermen attempting a fraud or trying to make sense of hallucinations. The evidence for Jesus’ resurrection gives additional weight to the book that announces such a phenomenal event. It gives additional weight to the testimony of the disciples as to who Jesus was and to the unexpected logic of conquering death through the death of the Author of Life (Acts 3:15).

Repeatedly, the Bible challenges our thinking about God, ourselves, life, right and wrong. It commands respect by conveying truths to us we do not obtain elsewhere. Just as the proof of the pudding is in the eating, the proof of the Bible is in its application to our lives.

The testimony of Scripture, of tradition, of personal experience and reason all support the authority of the Bible. The fact that it is able to speak across cultures, to address situations that never existed when it was written, is also a testimony to its abiding authority. The proof of the Bible is conveyed to believers as the Holy Spirit uses it to change their hearts and lives.

Inerrancy and infallibility

Some evangelical Christians believe that Christians should call the Bible inerrant; others prefer to call the Bible infallible. Although in normal usage these words mean practically the same thing, in Christian theology they are used for different concepts.

Inerrant generally means without error in theology, history or science. Infallible (sometimes called limited inerrancy) refers to doctrine; it does not insist on scientific and historical accuracy, since those are outside of the Bible’s purpose.

We use the less-specific word, infallible. On that we can all agree, since people who believe in inerrancy also believe that the Bible does not fail in its purpose, which is to teach us about salvation and Christian life.

John Stott, who accepts inerrancy, nevertheless lists “five reasons why the word inerrancy makes me uncomfortable”:

First, God’s self-revelation in Scripture is so rich – both in content and in form – that it cannot be reduced to a string of propositions which invite the label ‘truth’ or ‘error.’ ‘True or false?’ would be an inappropriate question to address to a great deal of Scripture. [Commands are neither true nor false.]

Second, the word inerrancy is a double negative, and I always prefer a single positive to a double negative. It is better to affirm that the Bible is true and therefore trustworthy….

Third, the word inerrancy sends out the wrong signals and develops the wrong attitudes. Instead of encouraging us to search the Scriptures so that we may grow in grace and in the knowledge of God, it seems to turn us into detectives hunting for incriminating clues and to make us excessively defensive in relation to apparent discrepancies.

Fourth, it is unwise and unfair to use inerrancy as a shibboleth by which to identify who is an evangelical and who is not. The hallmark of authentic evangelicalism…is not whether we subscribe to an impeccable formula about the Bible but whether we live in practical submission to what the Bible teaches….

Fifth, it is impossible to prove that the Bible contains no errors. When faced with an apparent discrepancy, the most Christian response is neither to make a premature negative judgment nor to resort to a contrived harmonization, but rather to suspend judgment, waiting patiently for further light to be given us. (Evangelical Truth, pages 61-62)

There is an additional problem with the word inerrant: It must be carefully qualified. Even one of the most conservative statements about Scrip­ture admits that the Bible contains grammatical irregularities, exaggerations, imprecise descriptions, inexact quotations, and observations based on a limited viewpoint (“The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy,” Article XIII, printed in Norman L. Geisler, editor, Inerrancy, Zondervan, 1979, page 496).

In other words, inerrant does not mean “without error of any kind.” Further, inerrancy applies only to the original manuscripts, not to the copies that we have today. These qualifications drain inerrancy of much of its meaning. The main point, as Millard Erickson says, is that “the Bible’s assertions are fully true when judged in accordance with the purpose for which they were written” (Introducing Christian Doctrine, page 64). That is a wise qualification.

Author: Michael Morrison

Vouchsafing the Thoughts of the Most High

In the beginning was the Word . . .  John 1:1

The Sum of your word is truth, And all of your righteous judgments endure for the ages. Psalm 119:160

Bind up the testimony, seal the Law <torah> among my disciples. Isaiah  8:16

And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I am teaching you to perform, in order that you may live and go in and take possession of the land which YHWH the God [Elohai] of your fathers, is giving you. You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of YHWH your God which I command you. Deuteronomy 4:1-2 (emphasis added)

Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to His words lest He reprove you, and you be proved a liar.   Proverbs 30:5-6

‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’   Matthew 4:4 (emphasis added)

Faith is out of hearing, yet the hearing is through the declaration of Christ. But I am saying, “Have they not heard?” Indeed they have, for “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.” Rom. 10:17-18

I testify to everyone who hears the words of prophecy in this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of this book of prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.  Revelation 22:18-19 (emphasis added)

For Lovers of Truth

*          *          *

Today’s seekers of truth have greater access to more books and written documents than any before them in the history of Israel and of Christendom, and that includes many more NT Greek manuscripts, which add to the historical reliability of our testimonies to Christ. The worldwide web has brought to peoples’ fingertips the wealth of knowledge far more extensive than the library at Alexandria. And yet, there is a dark cloud that hangs upon this promising scene, and it acts as a fertilizer for certain weeds that can corrupt the human mind. Of these, the haughtiness of humanity comes to mind (cf. Isa. 2) as a primary challenge to the humility which can bring true knowledge, especially of things Divine. After all, is it not required that we come before God empty of our limited selves, and in silence before Him, that we may learn? – “Let all the earth be silent before Him.” (Habakkuk 2:20)

Isaiah established for all time that there is a tremendous, irreconcilable gap between God and humanity. For God will always be God, and no matter how much we grow in relationship to Him, so much of His Infinite goodness and grace, not to mention His unfathomable riches of knowledge and wisdom, will remain beyond our grasp — How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! (Romans 11:33) There is no magic by which the creation may grow into being creator.

For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

            Neither are your ways My ways, declares YHWH.

For the Heavens are higher than the earth,

            So are My ways higher than your ways,

            And My thoughts higher than your thoughts.

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,

            And do not return there without watering the earth,

And making it bear and sprout,

            And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;

So shall my word be which goes forth from My mouth;

            It shall not return to Me empty,

Without accomplishing what I desire,

            And without succeeding for which I sent it.

Isaiah 55:9-11 (emphasis added)

Isaiah presents God’s word in its performative capacity as that which not only expresses His thoughts but actually accomplishes them. And just as God’s thoughts and ways are higher than our own, so His words are truly beyond our ken. For this cause, God in His incomparable grace, has found ways to communicate in our language, using prose and poetry and literary symbols to get at spiritual realities, giving us keys to understanding along the way, so that the symbols might be grasped not only in their earthly signification but for the unseen nature and quality of spiritual being that they represent. By this we may compare spiritual things with spiritual things. This is His Love.

Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is out of God, in order that we may know the things freely given to us by God; which things also we speak not in words taught of human wisdom, but in [words] taught of [the] Spirit, comparing spiritual things (words) with spiritual things. (1 Cor. 2:12-13)

In this conversation we have to ask: are we embarking on some linguistic and philosophical excursion, or is there a very critical point to the journey? And the answer is that it is supremely important because it bears on truth and what we may use to discern truth. Jesus promised His disciples that He would send them the spirit of Truth so that they would remember all He had taught them. Now in that gospel of John’s, Jesus is/was Truth, so that would be His Spirit that He sent.

But let’s be honest with what we see around us: there is relatively little agreement on doctrine [Gk. didaskalia], or ‘teaching,’ except in closed circles of church memberships which function as tiny epistemological ghettoes that cannot speak the dialog outside their own shtetl (Yiddish for a small town with large Jewish populations). And besides doctrine, or teaching, there is constant disagreement, frequently combative or even violent, regarding the meaning of prophecy, and how it will unfold as Christ Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, makes His return.

Teaching or doctrine simply cannot be dismissed as relatively inconsequential as long as Christians agree on the central articles of faith. To worship God in Spirit and in Truth requires knowing God in truth. So Christians who say that we can agree to disagree are simply compromising on our collective search for all truth, and the apostles demonstrated that in their lives by consistently teaching their faithful disciples not to keep fellowship with any who did not bring this ‘teaching’ of Christ (2 John 7-9) aka ‘doctrine,’ and with those who were lawless (1 John 3:6) who held to the mystery of lawlessness. It would seem that the struggle “for the faith once delivered” which Jude mentioned continues in our time, a topic we will briefly treat below.

In short, the testimony and the Torah are the essence of it all [see Isaiah 8:16 header citation], and the proof of being part of the body according to God’s message which John recorded as Revelation seen at 19:10 – “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy,” and at 12:17 – “And the dragon was enraged with the woman and went off to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”

The law and the testimony are seen actively fulfilled in those who are the brethren of Jesus as unveiled in both of those places in Revelation. So to agree to disagree on doctrine is the same thing as saying that truth does not matter and therefore light and darkness can have fellowship.

This, I am afraid, is the sorry state of affairs of the faith of Christendom. There is no unity of the faith which Paul says is the goal toward which we are moving (Eph 4:13) and is conjoined with the full knowledge of the Son of God. As Peter wrote in his second epistle, faith must have virtue added to it, and to that one must add knowledge. This type of knowledge, in Greek epignosis, is accurate knowledge and therefore must be participatory, else it remains outsider knowledge, intellectual, and incapable of penetrating to the truth of the ‘known’ reality. Thus, faith cannot be unified without a unified knowledge of the Son of God – there can only be knowledge of the One Lord (Eph. 4:5) to have all one in the one faith.

But in today’s world, everyone is a self-proclaimed expert on God, and this by people who do NOT know Him. Anyone who wants to quibble with some of the words that have proceeded from the mouth of God simply do not know Him (2 Tim. 2:14), and such wrangling about words leads to the ruin of the hearers. He is the Holy One of Israel, and very exacting, and He expects us to be Holy as He is Holy. So no, ultimately there is no quibbling or wiggle room. Either we will live according to every word He spoke, or we will, like Satan, decide the meaning for ourselves – and this is the pathway to death.

So now do you see how the question of the canon is central to the purity of the faith? And who closed it, determined its shape for the final part of the days would have to be men full of the Holy Spirit, and not in any way motivated by matters of this world. Based upon a mountain of text critical scholarship, archaeology, linguistics, and scriptural comparison, along with historical research in patristics, including what even later church historians had to say about the apostles and apostolic fathers, it is clear that the early church had a canon, and it was one which is almost identical with what we have now. Below, we will see that this was formalized in the 2^nd century by the apostolic fathers.

Is that surprising? Doesn’t it seem contrary to all you have been taught about how the bishops working through various church councils took hundreds of years to settle on the canon for God’s church, the body of Christ?

Yet, in contradistinction to this commonly held belief, scripture – which is self-authenticating (see header quote Isaiah 8:16) and by this fact is able to fulfill what would be a trivial statement, namely 2 Tim 3:16, “All God-breathed scripture is reliable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training which is in righteousness.” From the sounds of Paul’s words to Timothy, it seems like things were solidifying in terms of a New Testament canon, and Peter confirms this (2 Pet. 3:16) by referring to Paul’s letters as standing in the body of Scripture with the rest of God’s word.

It looks like the authority for judging whether a writing was part of Scripture or not must have rested with the apostles (see Isaiah 8:16 above) and that they would have had to confirm the canon, both for the new testament and the old – and historical research should be able to confirm this. In fact, it does. John’s extraordinary pupil Polycarp, made bishop of Smyrna by John and Phillip, wrote a letter to the Philippians, in which he alluded to every single one of the books we hold in the New Testament canon today. In short, Polycarp witnessed to what he must have received from John and the other apostles with whom he had the opportunity to speak.

If the testimony was to be bound and the law sealed by the disciples of the Logos, then the last living disciple who knew the Logos, Jesus Christ, in addition to writing what appear to be the chronologically final books of the New Testament, but must have been familiar with the other writings of Christ’s ekklesia so that he could recommend what would be healthful reading for Christians, that is what would be true and consistent with the Hebrew scriptures. In this capacity, John would have been able to fulfill the prophecy in Isaiah 8:16, and to deliver to the church that which would fulfill the ‘standard’ or ‘rule’ of life, known in Greek as ‘kanon’ and seen in a complete body of the Word that would have a flawless internal consistency of truth and suitable for God’s purposes in training for righteousness and making a holy people.

In this fashion, the historical witness and the scriptural witness come together in a unified way to say that the canon became complete under the last living disciple, John. And the opening address of the book of Revelation to the seven congregations is a confirmation of this. Why? Because these are the congregations among which Christ walked, where He was present, and thus these would have to be the congregations that had the full canon of Hebrew and Greek scriptures – the full corpus of the written word of God.

Now let’s return to the question of why the library needs to be a certain size, especially in this modern age of abundant archaeology and the recovery of whole libraries, such as the Dead Sea scrolls and the Nag Hammadi Library, both occurring in 1947. And this is a personally familiar question since I myself had great acquaintance with these documents 40 years ago during which time I purchased both the Book of Enoch and the newly published Coptic texts from Egypt, the Nag Hammadi texts.

I argued, for quite some time, as many do, that many books had been lost from the bible and these are examples, which should at least count solid materials like 1 Enoch and the gospel of Thomas. So I studied these texts very carefully for many years, comparing them with biblical textual parallels, and for a long time I was certain that these books were really canonical and should be included in the bible. After all, Jude quotes Enoch as a prophet, so why isn’t the Book of Enoch in the bible? Also, Peter does extensive paraphrases from it, and that just seems conclusive. However, one fact escaped my notice and that was the way in which 1 Enoch was pieced together from many ancient texts and the fragmentary nature of it, should make it suspect for inclusion in the sacred library of the God’s word. Furthermore, apart from the initial prophetic quotation of Enoch, much of the work is inconsistent with Scripture, and is more like a compendium of magic and fantastic beasts. In short, in an overall read of the book it comes off more like an early fantasy using the name of the patriarch to hallow its contents, most of which simply are out of coherence with the bible.

If Christ, through His apostles, sealed the law and bound the testimony, maybe there are things in the full book of Enoch that are questionable and can be called ‘worldly fables’ or ‘deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.’ And indeed, this is what has developed by the exaltation of 1 Enoch to quasi-scriptural status. In 1976 when I first encountered it, most people were skeptical about its authentic linkage with the true patriarch Enoch, or its validity as scripture. Today, many people accept is as a book that should have been included as scripture. And therein lays the rub. For the whole treatment of the giants in sections of that compound volume of writing, seems due to Greek misunderstanding of basic Hebrew terms, and may actually have given rise to myths and legends which are being considered literally true in our time.

In those days of the 1970s and 1980s, when I spoke from Enoch I had to establish its credibility to get a fair hearing. But critical scholarship can lend much to our understanding, and the legitimacy of one fragment – if indeed, Jude even intended to legitimize any of the prophecy at all – of a multifarious writing sewn together out of many diverse sources, does not grant legitimacy to the whole. Scripture establishes that Enoch was a patriarch and a prophet and that he spoke of the coming of the Lord of Hosts to execute judgment against all the ungodly. Among other things, that certainly validates that God’s plan of deliverance was set and known by the sons of men from a very early time.

The problem with the whole discussion of the ‘giants’ is that it rests upon a very materialistic translation of a few words from Genesis 6, and that translation actually arose under Greek influence in Babylon and subsequently so that the term ‘giants’ replaced the Hebrew meaning of the words, and became engrained in the mindset of faith communities through the Septuagint translation of Genesis. Today we see the grim consequences as people spend countless dollars on the speculative books about the giants and how they will be cloned out of ancient DNA and will stalk the earth again.

It is a simple matter to do one’s due diligence and to discover that not one DNA sample has ever been sequenced and validated as other than human, and not one skeleton has withstood the scrutiny of forensic analysis. So much for the ‘giants;’ they are a ‘fable.’

Certainly, history has produced giants, races of men that are huge, and the bible testifies to this in a number of places, but it does not thereby guarantee they are of problematic origin, i.e. the product of angels and women, which somehow requires the angels to have DNA, a material substance which spirits do not have. And that is just the tip of the iceberg on the difficulties in maintaining this theory which diverts multitudes from the really important mysteries of God, such as true prophecy may point to, viz. that named in Rev. 19:10 quoted above – testimony to Jesus. Is it a testimony to Jesus that he facilitated the impossible of sexual union between the strange flesh of angels and women? In that case, the Lord Himself would have been a liar, stating that angels do not marry. Yet these self-proclaimed scholars want to say that Genesis 6 must be read in a way that makes these angels to have married daughters of Adam. What a travesty!

So this becomes important because it labels these purveyors of ‘fables’ and worthless books as the false prophets they are, because their ‘prophetic pronouncements’ simply do not give testimony to Jesus, but actually glorify the adversary and all things evil. In short, the desires of their heart which are evil, give rise to evil teaching that distracts people from keeping their mind stayed on the Lord and thereby cleaving to their salvation. Now this side journey has taken significant time and attention, but it illuminates the problem at hand, namely that we have a global community known as Christendom which is principally agreed in almost nothing, including the fundamental ontology of its Lord! These then must be declared to be what they are: “teachings of demons” (1 Tim. 4:1) Would God have His canon defiled with unclean food? Never may that happen. The silence of the Lord on any missing books is testimony enough.

This is why the canon is so important, that it exists, was established by Christ through His servants, and is useful in all the ways which Paul wrote to Timothy. And it underscores that most significant reminder which Paul, in all of his genuine humility, saw fit to utter to the Corinthians:

Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. . . . Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to exceed what is written, in order that no one of you might become puffed up in behalf of one against the other.     1 Cor. 4:1-2, 6

And here we find the principle which is, perhaps, the greatest single key to proper study of scripture and of teaching of the same. What is enjoined is the novel introduction of thoughts or ideas as projections, speculations, interpolations, or other such inventions which may not remain within the sense of the Divine Author behind the inspiration. John stated this principle another way in his second epistle:

Anyone going on ahead and not abiding in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. 2 John 1:9

Voila! John gives an indictment of a vast majority of biblical interpretation in our time.

Further, this is precisely the outcome of the Babylonian captivity of the church that picked up serious steam in the late second and third century as the Roman bishops began to engage in speculative theology, weaving in the threads of heretical pagan thought coming out of Egypt and Babylon, Persian Mithraism, and Greek mystery teachings. All of this has produced a Christian teaching that would be unrecognizable to the early bishops or ‘angels’ of the seven churches in Asia minor, who were and are the congregations among which the risen Lord walked, “the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands.” (Rev. 2:1)

The Closing of the Canon

In view of the fact that the last book of the bible, and maybe even the last book penned, is addressed to a small cluster of congregations and that these were ones that were faithful enough for Christ Jesus to engage and address in order to help correct them, then, is it not likely that we ought to examine what these congregations taught and observed to better understand what it might mean to remain or ‘abide’ in the teaching of Christ? And in that examination we discover that these congregations had a ‘canon’ or rule or measure and they had a body of texts of both Old Testament and New Testament, which gave them two witnesses to the truth which God had been proclaiming to His people from the earliest times. And thus, it is to the canon of this early cradle of Christianity that we look.

With John as the last living apostle, passing the baton to Polycarp and others in Asia Minor, we are compelled to conclude that for the prophecy of Isaiah 8:16 to be fulfilled, the canon would have been complete, bound and sealed until the final part of the days. And what a sign of the regency of Christ that is already manifest, that in this world which is governed by the adversary we should have received that which God Himself and His Christ signed, sealed and delivered as the authoritative collection of the Testimony and the Law, by which we could grow into holiness (1 Tim. 4) and be prepared to be received into the Kingdom.

While history teaches it, and an unwitting Christendom affirms it, it is nevertheless a fiction that the canon was ‘closed’ by the estimate of Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria in his Easter letter of 367 A.D., where he listed the 27 books which are now regarded as the New Testament canon. Furthermore, Christ did not mention Alexandria, nor Rome as congregations that stood with His seven lampstands, and those seven congregations were already in possession of and using the 27 books, and this fact was attested to by the ‘Muratorian fragment’ circa 170 A.D. (a fairly complete list of texts to be accepted, without Hebrews and a few others) almost two centuries before Athanasius. It would appear that Christ’s congregations led Rome and not the other way around, and that Rome was more likely forced by circumstance to accept what had already been in use by bishops, among whom were some who actually spoke with the real apostles of Christ, such as Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna. In his famous letter to the Philippians, a document which still exists, Polycarp alluded to every single book of what we now recognize and claim to be the New Testament. And as he was the most famous of John’s disciples, doesn’t it make good sense to give weight to this early acceptance of an authoritative body of teaching that would constitute the apostolic witness? This, combined with Isaiah’s words, further compels the conclusion that the New Testament was sealed with the apostolic seal.

Thus it is that we have an ekklesia, ‘The Church,’ built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, and this bears tremendously on what we may, and may not, in all legitimacy, teach.

Although history teaches, and even early church documents confirm, that Rome modified the teachings of the apostles, and that the congregations of Asia kept the Sabbath, observed the Passover on the 14^th of the first month as the Lord had commanded, taught the Law as obligatory – just as John did in his first epistle, and Paul did in all of his writings – Rome audaciously asserted that it had authority to do so, and thereby circumvented the Lord Himself as head of His own body. Rome removed the head of Christ and replaced it with an office that to this day uses the title Vicarius Filii Dei, which one can translate as Representative of the Son of God.

According to John’s rule, or ‘canon,’ the Roman church would have neither the Father nor the Son, for they have not abided in the teaching of Christ, and have engendered many daughters that likewise do not keep the teaching of Christ, but have replaced it with the mystery of lawlessness. Though the disciples bound up ‘the testimony’ and sealed up His Law (Isa. 8:16), false shepherds have failed to remain, or ‘abide,’ in these teachings of the Lord. Furthermore, though Peter identified all the writings of Paul, which he had read, as Scripture (2 Pe 3:15-16), and Paul himself confessed that he was “completing the word of God” (Col 1:25), and Paul also witnessed to the Ephesians (2:20) that they were of God’s household, “having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone,” there seems to be a never ending urban myth about the closing of the canon by the church at Rome, and that church not even recognized by Christ Himself. NO – It is beyond dispute that the apostles closed the canon of the NT, united with the OT canon that Jesus Himself quoted and which Melito of Sardis, a bishop in one of the 7 congregations addressed by Christ Jesus in Revelation 2, formally acknowledged after much investigation and conversation with communities of Jews and Jewish Christians.

It would be a mistake to expect the apostles to make a formal declaration. Their seal was of the Spirit, and therefore, in their teaching they confirmed what was known in their circle. Had there been doubt about the authenticity and harmony of Paul’s teaching, certainly Peter would have not given his imprimatur to the epistles, and John certainly would have let his principal disciple Polycarp, another bishop (of Smyrna), know about it and Polycarp would have published it in all of Christendom in the east. But this was not the case, and all of what had been written by inspiration of the Logos by the end of the first century was given an informal Nihil Obstat by the last living apostle.

In summary on this question, if God could not have fulfilled and delivered His word through those apostles chosen from before the foundation of the world, His Elect living in the years during and just subsequent to the life of His Beloved Son, then how could He possibly be expected to deliver the rest of the nations through the instrument of Christ’s Body, the Church, whom we call “The Elect?”

And this is part of what must be restored in the end time work of Elijah, of whom Christ Jesus said (Matt. 17:11) “Elijah is coming and will restore all things.” I would say, first and foremost on his list just might be the restoration of the testimony and the law. For if, as is most certainly true, His Church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets (Eph. 2:20), then to build the temple of the spirit which is the work of Zerubbabel (cf. Zech. 4:6, Hag. 2:23) as the civil leader in partnership with Joshua, the priestly leader. Such a united theocratic union under YHWH and His Messiah stands in stark contrast to the antichrist union of the beast from the sea and the beast rising from the earth, which reveals the unity of the antichrist powers across political and religious domains.

Lost Books of the Bible

But aren’t we missing something? There are some 9 books mentioned in the Old Testament which are lost such as The Book of Nathan the Prophet, and the Book of the Wars of YHWH, not even to mention the Book of Enoch, Jubilees, and other inter-testamental literature. Aren’t these lost books of the bible, and aren’t we possibly missing something critical to our understanding of God?

As a long-time student and scholar of pseudepigrapha and other extra-biblical literature, I once held the belief that these books are important, possibly even containing truth that is essential and not found in the canonical texts. The spirit of truth has revealed otherwise. My journey in the last decade or so has modified that mistaken belief from my youth. In coming to know God and His Christ (John 17:3) I simply cannot countenance an almighty Sovereign Creator who can hang the heavens like a gossamer veil, but cannot deliver His complete library of thoughts to His beloved according to His own wish.

Even Christian history also teaches us something other than the tradition of men that speaks of “the lost books of the Bible.” In approximately 170 A.D. the bishop of Sardis, Melito, one later martyred for the testimony of Christ, journeyed to complete a survey of the Hebrew scriptures, to consult, and to discover, just which books would compose the canonical texts of the Old Testament. Upon completion of his task, he published his findings in letters to others, letters which we still have and which bear witness to a canon that existed for the House of Israel and for the early Church. These can be found in his Book of Extracts, to his brother in Christ, Onesimus.

Thus, we cannot make wild claims such as one ersatz bible teacher has on you tube, to the effect that the Book of Enoch was in the bible until about 500 years ago. It was a piece of fiction which is still creating mischief and division by virtue of contradicting God’s word and giving “substantiation” to what Peter has called  “destructive heresies” (2 Pet. 2:1). The angels being dragged to judgment are not portrayed as spirits – the biblical truth articulated in Genesis, Psalms, and numerous other places – but rather they are formed in human and animal terms with sexual organs. Why would they have sexual organs when they do not marry and do not have either creative or procreative power? Indeed, deeper examination of the Enoch text does shed light on very lurid sections that are obvious works of fiction.

How destructive can they have they been? Actually, the debates over the Book of Enoch have caused great divisions in bodies of Christians, have introduced teachings of demons, undermining the doctrines of Christ, and have also distracted the faithful from keeping their eyes fixed on Jesus Christ, a commandment which Paul gave to the Philippians, and one which would foster an extraordinary of unity in Christendom.

Not only is God’s omnipotence and sovereignty called into question, but also His love for His people, if He is unable to deliver to them a complete volume of His thought. It would make Psalm 116 meaningless if there could be no fixed extent of His word so that there could be a sum. Also, if the disciples sealed up the testimony, why did they leave books out. Third, Jesus’ words to Satan in Matt. 4:4 (quoted in the header) would be confusing at best and impossible to fulfill at worst if there were missing books of the bible. How could one live on every word, if many were missing? This is only the beginning of the nightmare that ensues from the proposition that the Bible is missing essential texts.

The Faith Once Delivered

Foundational to the life of the church is The Faith, for without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6). This needs restoration and it is precisely the sacred texts we have that provide that guide, if we read them according to the instructions included in the texts themselves. “The faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 3), is the glorious knowledge of the faith that was given in the days of the apostles, and has been corrupted and defiled by the mystery of lawlessness that has been growing since the days when Paul observed to the Thessalonians that it was already at work. God will certainly complete this job of restoration by means of Elijah – individuals in that spirit.

“He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness.” Romans 9:28

How can Paul’s words to the church at Ephesus make sense without the words of the prophets and the apostles:

You are fellow citizens with the holy ones, of God’s household, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building being fitted together is growing into a Holy Temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being fitted together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. Eph. 2:20-22

The reason the testimony of the apostles is so critical and the reason Paul mentions the apostles first and prophets second (Eph. 2:20) is due to the fulfillment of prophecy in Christ, and thus the faith of Israel recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures where we see that the Spirit of Christ spoke through the prophets (1 Pet. 1:10-12), but now the apostles were given the living confirmation of the Logos in the flesh, who delivered the true faith.

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word more sure, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For, no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:16-21, ESV

It is clear from the conjunction of 1 Peter 1:10-12 and 2 Peter 1:21, confirmed by Paul to the Corinthians, “Now the Lord is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:17), that the words of the prophets spoke from the Spirit of Christ, about Christ, saying in “what person or time” He was indicating and predicting “the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow” (1 Pet. 1:11). Thus the Faith of Israel, “The Faith” delivered to the holy ones and made more sure, requires also the words of the apostles who were the bearers of direct revelation not only by the Spirit of Christ, but also by His historical manifestation as Jesus.                            

The final elegant equation we get on all of this is from John in Revelation where He writes in chapter 19 verse 10:

I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

The testimony of Jesus is that He is the Word and messenger of the Father and that we are to worship God, and that His testimony through the prophets is the spirit of that prophecy and likewise with the apostles. This is the transmission of the “True Faith,” the faith of Jesus Christ, delivered once for all to the holy ones, and requiring the written testimony of apostles and prophets as a seal and confirmation of their testimony to that faith and all of the knowledge of God it inspires.

Language, the Written Word, and the Thoughts of God

  When we stop and think about it, language is a remarkable gift and as with every good and perfect gift, it comes down from Heaven, from the “Father of the celestial luminaries.” (James 1:17). That the spoken word can be rendered into a written form and can remain as a testimonial or a memorial of the thought or communication of the sender is similarly astounding. Without this “perfect gift” how would we preserve the thoughts of God and pass along the knowledge of God?

Filmmaker and investigator Timothy Mahoney examined the origin of the alphabet – in contradistinction to ideographic or pictographic forms of written language – tracing its beginnings back to Moses and the Israelites in Egypt. In his recent film Patterns of Evidence: The Moses Controversy, Mahoney arrives at what verges on a revelation: that alphabetical language is a gift from God that has enabled mankind to preserve the knowledge of God. Presenting thorough archaeology, history, and linguistic scholarship, he makes a solid case that this conclusion is likely true.  In turn, this would bring greater depth to the intention of God expressed in Isaiah 55:8-9, viz.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

            neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

            so are my ways higher than your ways

            and my thoughts than your thoughts.

and it would undergird the crucial importance of mastering the original communication as the purest expression of the Creator’s divine transmission. If God could not refine His words, and preserve them through a “relatively flawless” method of reproduction, then how could He insure His judgments to endure from generation to generation?

The words of the Lord are pure words,

            like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,

            purified seven times. Psalm 12:6

And again:

Every word of God is refined. Proverbs 30:5

If each word is refined and purified as in a smelting process, then doesn’t it seem necessary to create a way to make sure those words are passed along pure and unalloyed? And this is precisely what a written alphabetical language with grammatical rules can do. Once the Holy Spirit has spoken to the prophet, and the word of YHWH recorded, then it was a simple matter of careful copying – the reason scribes were considered so important – and educating through the priesthood, so the people could know the mind of God.

In the shadow of future things, the priesthood of Israel was responsible for teaching the people (cf. Ezek. 44:23), and those who were not chosen to be charged with that holy office were not allowed to touch holy things. Look at the sorry state of affairs in our time with the churches allowing anyone to teach the bible, even though they may not have any knowledge of the holy doctrines of God and Christ, being barely acquainted with milk, and in almost all cases, being unable to identify the teachings of Babylon, i.e. “the teachings of demons,” which have so corrupted the word of truth as Christ gave it.

The advent of the New Testament or New “Covenant” which was originally transmitted in the Greek language has provided a corrective to any lost understanding of the original Hebrew language which was already arcane by the time David became king. That is to say, the elusiveness of some of the meaning of Hebrew words, long rendered fuzzy by exile in Babylon and Persian influence, and then completely truncated to material constructs and stripped of spiritual realities under Hellenistic influence, was actually shored up by Christ Jesus, the Lord Himself, and His apostles, by their use of Septuagint OT references in the Greek, and a commitment to speak to the world in its lingua franca, the Greek language.

Thus, for example, the richly nuanced word Torah in the Hebrew has numerous applications ranging from “law” to “teaching” along with many others. In the Greek language, however, nomos is more consistently applied for “law” and didaskalia for “teaching,” and in such manner, ambiguities are minimized. In this mysterious way, God has allowed His Word to go out to the nations in a way that can partially and fragmentarily, at least, reverse the disastrous consequences of Babel.

The first two verses in Hosea 4 hit home the extreme necessity of preserving ways to transmit knowledge.

Listen to the word of YHWH, O sons of Israel,

            For YHWH has a case against the inhabitants of the land,

Because there is no truth or loving kindness,

            or knowledge of God in the land.

Admittedly, the dearth of knowledge is rooted in very many factors, all connected with Grace and Truth, but how much more disastrous would it be, had Israel been unable to hand down the thoughts of God in a consistent form?

Surely, this was part and parcel of the people Israel, even unto their identity – for have they not always been known as “the people of the Book?” Indeed, they were commanded to use writing in the teaching and remembrance of God’s word, so they should pass on to their children the knowledge of God – “write them upon the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deut. 6:9, 11:20).

Authority of Scripture over Tradition

Jesus excoriated the lawyers and the Pharisees for keeping the traditions of men while violating the Law of God. (Mark 7:8)

In the restoration of all things consequent on the return of Elijah, whether anyone is looking to an actual individual or to the fiery spirit that will restore all things, we should assuredly expect the authority of Scripture to be restored over tradition.

HISTORY SHOWS US IT HAPPENS OVER AND OVER AGAIN, and Jesus confronted it once for all time with the Pharisees and Sadducees!

 “Why do you transgress the commandment of God on account of your tradition?” Matt. 15:3

 If Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, then isn’t this His charge against Christendom as well? Christendom keeps the traditions of Babylon rather than living on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God and truly keeping the very holy and true commandment of God.

For example, He commands to keep the Sabbath holy and people worship on Sunday according to the tradition of men (viz. when Constantine made the Sabbath Sunday), when on March 7, 321 A.D., he passed his national Sunday Law!

Around 364 AD, the Roman Catholic Church outlawed resting on the Sabbath in the Council of Laodicea when they decreed 59 Canon laws. Here is the final law:

Canon XXIX: “Christians must not Judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honoring the Lord’s Day; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be Judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.” (Percival Translation).

While resting on the Sabbath was outlawed in favor of resting on Sunday as per Constantine’s Sunday Law, Cannon law 16 was also issued by the Bishops in the Council of Laodicea (A.D. 363-364) that confirms that Christians were in fact still worshipping on the Sabbath!

The seven churches show us the topography of the mind diachronically, i.e. throug time, vis a vis the Temple of His Body (2 Cor. 6:16), which is the checkered status of the Church throughout history from Pentecost until the day of the Lord. It must serve as a model in each and every age, or else Christ could not be speaking from the perspective of Is, Was, and Will Be!!!

So the traditions of men are clearly illuminated in the significations He chose such as the Nicolaitans, Balaam, and Jezebel. These metonyms refer to those who bring in the teachings of demons and allow the traditions of men to hold sway over the word of God.

To repeat yet once more, the restoration in the days of Elijah will necessarily address this rebellion and overthrow of the regency of God and establish His Word and His truth, so that His Kingdom may reign.

To that end, a brief litany of several passages should help in the confirmation of that priority of the written word. They remind us how Christendom is rife with traditions, from holidays to practices, myths and useless wranglings over words, which confound and confuse the faithful, and obscure the faith once delivered.

Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to exceed what is written, in order that no one of you might become arrogant in behalf of one against another. 1 Cor. 4:6

Anyone who goes on ahead and does not remain in the teaching of Christ does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. 2 John v. 9

The sum of Thy word is truth, and every one of Thy righteous ordinances is everlasting. Ps. 119:160

Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth. John 17:17

You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of YHWH your God which I command you. Deut. 4:2

I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God shall add to him the plagues which are written in the book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and from the holy city, which are written in this book. Rev. 22:18-19

Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to His words, Lest He reprove you, and you will be proved a liar. Prov. 30:5-6

For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope. Rom. 15:4

. . . and that from a babe you have known the sacred writings which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Every God-breathed Scripture is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, in order that the man of God may be fitted having been furnished for every good work. 2 Tim. 3:15-17

It is worthy of note that Paul says this of the sacred writings alone, the holy Scriptures, and not the traditions of men that are suitable for all these things. For all these reasons and a host more, it is essential that the Bible be established as God’s true word, and not the writings of different men. For if it is not a written expression of God’s thoughts and communications through the Logos, His messenger and Son, Jesus Christ, — His Mouth, His Arm, His Word, His Name (Isa. 30:27) – then truly we are adrift without a compass. Surely it is an undercurrent of atheism present in the majority of rebellious humanity that would want to discredit the Bible, and nullify God’s love in disclosing Himself, His thoughts, His grand Plan for humanity, and the incomparable Grace-filled salvation of all of humanity through the sacrifice of His own Son, which was set at the foundation of the world. It was not an afterthought, or response to Mankind’s wickedness, but God’s very Plan.

God’s word both reveals and is a critical tool in the manner by which He is able to create Sons of God, in the image and likeness of Christ. This entire Treasury of knowledge and wisdom and an incomparable amount more is there hidden in plain sight in His written word. He, the Most High is fully capable of delivering His thoughts in the languages He gave to men, and in all the books He wanted them to have, without anything being missing; without having been bested by Satan or the rebellion of men. His Written Word is truly among the good and perfect gifts which has come down from Heaven from our Father of the celestial lights (James 1:17).

THE WRITTEN WORD: WHAT DID JESUS, THE APOSTLES, AND THE PSALMISTS SAY ABOUT THE WRITTEN WORD OF GOD?

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” Hebrews 4:12-13

“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away….” Luke 21:33

 “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee”. Psalm 119:11

“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope”  Romans 15:4

Many times I have felt the razor-sharp blade of scripture pierce my deceitful heart. It has served to expose and excise wickedness and vanity, and it has sliced the chains of sin and oppression off of my weary soul. It has exposed the lusts of my flesh, and it has lifted my spirit and set my feet upon a rock and made my footsteps firm (Psalm 40). The written word, given to man by God himself, is life, truth and power, and as 1 Peter 1:25-26 says, men and their glory will fade away and die like grass under a scorching sun, but the word of the Lord will endure forever….

Unfortunately, there is a trend in many “Christian”circles to minimize and even denigrate the written word of God, and to replace it with what is called “new wine” or simply a new, fresh word from God. These alleged new revelations are supposedly straight from the mouth of God, and are considered to be equal to or actually superior to scripture. Now who could ever question that?? I have heard it said by these charlatans that scripture is for the past, but their new revelations are for today. This clearly contradicts everything that Jesus, Paul, Peter and the Psalmists said about the eternal nature of scripture.

Unlike the holy scriptures, which were inspired by God himself (2 Timothy 3:15-17), the people pouring out this new wine did not walk and talk with Jesus; they did not hear Him preach and teach for 3 years; they did not travel broken and dusty roads with Him, and they did not watch Him suffer, die, and rise again – nor did Jesus appear to them, as he did to Paul, in blazing light, blinding and humbling them until they understood the true nature of God’s calling…that everything is a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection. Yet these deceivers act as if their words have the same inherent power and value as scripture, which of course allows them to gain the fame, wealth, legitimacy and authority that they are really seeking.  Not surprisingly, their new revelations rarely line up with the written word of God…yet there is just enough Christian language mixed in to fool those who don’t truly know and love the truth. Because the clever and brilliantly deceptive prophecies we are hearing and reading about emanate from the foolish and greedy heart of man rather then God…they will fade away like grass and burn, along with   those who speak them( 2 Peter 2:1-19, Jude 1:3-7, Revelation 21:6-8, and Revelation 22:15).

Every sermon we hear, every video we watch, and every word we speak must line up clearly with the unchanging word of God in order to be true, right, edifying and just in the sight of the one and only God, who lives and reigns in Heaven and by whom we will one day be judged. I am going to go through New Testament scriptures and several Psalms, which define or discuss the written word of God, which we are all called to eat, drink, and breathe as we follow God into eternity…

Matthew 4:1-4 One of the most instructive passages about the power and purpose of the written Word of God is contained in the beginning of Matthew 4, where Jesus is starving after fasting for forty (40) days in the desert. He is approached by Satan who offers Him bread. Jesus, filled with strength, not from food or any temporal thing, but by the Spirit of the living God, tells Satan that man does not live on bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Even in a moment of what had to have been absolute physical agony, Jesus fixed His eyes on the eternal, and He spoke unchanging truth. The word of God is true, everlasting food which will never run out and which will never spoil. When tempted, Jesus did not come up with some wise and pithy new saying with which to battle Satan. Instead, each time He was tempted, He wielded the unchanging Word of God, and He wielded it as a sharp sword. We must do the same as we face the lies and temptations of the evil one in our lives.

Matthew 13:1-23 In the parable of the sower, the “seed” that is sowed per verse 19, is the word of God (see also Luke 8:11). The word, placed deep in our hearts, is what grows and bears fruit to the glory of God the Father (John 15) …if we do not allow the troubles and cares of this foolish, temporary world to pollute the soil of our hearts. We are all called to truly study and know the written word in order to make sure that our soil is good and fertile, lest the deceiver come and snatch away the seed through fear, the cares and troubles of this world, or the desire for wealth. If our seed grows deep roots, not only will we bear fruit above ground, but we will also be able to withstand the trials and tribulations that will come on all those who truly know and love Jesus Christ.

Matthew 24:35 Heaven and Earth will pass away, but the word of God will never ever pass away.

Mark 2:1-3 When the crowds of people gathered around Jesus, before He healed them or did anything else, He preached the word.

Luke 8:19-21 When Jesus was told by a certain crowd that His mother and brothers were outside looking for Him, Jesus said that His mother and His brothers are those who hear the word of God and obey it.

This clearly sets forth the fact that those who want to become a part of God’s eternal family must both hear and practice the word of God. Saying a little prayer of belief doesn’t cut it. Obedience, not as works, but because we truly know and love Jesus Christ and have made Him the Lord of our life, is what counts. The flesh counts for nothing while the spirit counts for everything.

John 1:1-18 There is both a written word and living Word, and while this writing is focusing on the written word, it is important to understand that Jesus Christ is the living Word. The living Word and the written word are inseparable, and they bring life and light to all who pursue them.

John 4:46-53 A nobleman came to Jesus to have his child healed. Unlike most people, this man did not need signs and wonders to believe Jesus (verse 48). Jesus spoke a word to this man that his son would live, and the man believed that what Jesus said was true, and he went on his way – and sure enough, his child was healed at the exact moment that Jesus spoke.

We must also develop such a simple and beautiful faith, that when we read the words of Jesus and His apostles, we receive them, believe them, and obey them without doubt or fear.

John 6:63, Jesus says that the Spirit that gives life and the flesh profits nothing. He then goes on to state that the words He speaks are “spirit and life.”

This verse epitomizes what the God who made all things (see John 1:1-18) thinks of the written Word…they are spirit and they are life from Heaven. If we truly want to find life on this earth we will relentlessly study the words of Jesus.

John 6:68 Peter tells Jesus that He(Jesus) has the words of eternal life…and indeed He does.

John 8:31-32 Jesus told some of His followers that if they remain in His word, they are truly His disciples. By obeying His word, they will remain in the truth, and the truth will set them free.

Jesus Himself is telling all of us that His words are truth and that they lead to freedom – yet we all so willingly and lazily leave the word on our bedside table and pick up “Christian” books written by men or waste our time on watching sports. (Jesus thankfully, says college football is worth it though 🙂  ). The point of this isn’t legalism. The point is to fill our hearts more frequently with that which is eternal, so that we are prepared for both the troubles to come on this planet, and the joy we will feel when we stand face-to-face with Jesus.

John 8:42-43 Jesus tells some of the Jews who are questioning Him that if God were truly their Father, then they would love Jesus because they would recognize that He came from God. Yet they did not understand Jesus because they cannot bear to hear His word, which is truth.

It is heartbreaking to see how so many mega churches today gloss over the hard yet saving words of Jesus in order to focus on positive, happy scriptures(which they twist to preach financial prosperity and temporal success) along with their own unbiblical revelations. All of this simply feeds the flesh of the attendees – along with the bank accounts and pride of the pastors. The tough yet life giving words of Jesus (and Paul) are necessary to save the souls of men, rather than simply medicating them temporarily with the words their flesh longs to hear. Since Jesus boldly rebuked the Pharisees, so we should rebuke and turn away from all of those leaders who don’t truly cherish the word of God in full, but simply use God to build false, temporal kingdoms for themselves.

John 8:51 Jesus says that if a man keeps His word, that man will never taste death.

John 8:55 Jesus states that He knows the Father and He keeps His word.

Even Jesus, while on this planet, was subject to the word and diligently obeyed it.

John 14:23-26 In this beautiful and deeply moving passage, Jesus says that if a man truly loves Him he will keep His commands (which are His words), and if he obey His commands, then the Father will also love him and they will both come and make their homes with him. Conversely, he who does not love Jesus does not keep His words, and the words of Jesus come directly from the Father. Jesus then goes on to state that, once He is back in Heaven with His Father, He will send us the Holy Spirit to teach us all things.

This is a very powerful passage because it tells us in clear language how we can know if we truly love Jesus – by obeying His commands. Jesus reiterates this point by saying that we cannot possibly love Him if we do not obey His commands. And the glorious benefit of obeying His commands is that both He and the Father God, the Ancient of Days, who is one with Jesus, will come and make their homes with…me??…small, simple and foolish me!! What a wonderful God we serve.

John 15:3 Jesus tells His disciples that they already clean because of the word that Jesus has spoken to them.

The word cleanses our souls, washing it clean (see also, Ephesians 5:25-27, which instructs husbands to love their wives by, among other things, washing them with the word).

John 15:7 Jesus tells His disciples that if they remain in Him and His words remain in them, they can ask whatever they wish and it shall be given to them.

Often in America, our selfish minds focus on the second part of this passage, and not the first part. If we truly remain in Jesus and His words remain in us, then the things that we ask of Him will be in accordance with His will, and He will do them.

John 17:6-8 Jesus tells the Father that the men who were given to Him by the Father have kept His word and that they believed that Jesus was from the Father because Jesus gave them the words which the Father had given to Him, and they received those words.

This passage emphasizes the importance of accepting all of the words that come from Jesus no matter how harsh they seem, if we truly want to be His disciples. Many followers abandoned Jesus when He said that they had to eat His flesh and drink His blood because they didn’t understand that Jesus was making a spiritual metaphor (John 6:53-65). We must trust the words of Jesus at all times and in all things, even if they don’t make sense to our flesh. That is why Jesus sent us the Spirit to teach us all things (John 14:26). We must ask the Spirit to help us understand the words that don’t make sense, and to help us live the words that do make sense but are impossible to achieve without the Spirit doing the work.

John 17:14-19 When speaking to the Father about the disciples, and noting that they were not of this world just as Jesus was not of this world, Jesus said, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your Word is truth.” Then Jesus prays that they, like Jesus, may be sanctified by the truth.

All of mankind searches for truth, but according to the one and only God, absolute and perfect truth is found in one place, His word, which we all have easy access to via computer, our telephones, and bookstores. Let us fill ourselves with this truth. I strongly believe that when we stand before Jesus at the end of days, much will be required of us, because unlike all previous generations, much (the easily accessible word) was given to us all.

Acts 17:11 In this passage Luke notes that the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians because, not only did they receive the word with great eagerness, but they also took the time and exerted the effort to test even the words of the great Paul with the scriptures to see if they were true.

We all MUST do the same thing with every single word we hear from a teacher or pastor.

In Acts 20:17-32 As Paul is leaving the Ephesians elders on his march toward certain death, he warns them about false teachers who will rise up from amongst the brothers, and he commend them to God…and to the word.

This passage is interesting, because Paul does not just commend them to God in prayer but he also reminds them that God has given them a tool to use in order to stay on the path toward Jesus, and that tool, which is also a sword, is the word.

In Romans 10:5-17, Paul states that the word is near us, it is in our mouths and is in our hearts. This is the word of faith which we all preach. He then goes on to state that if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God has raised Him from the dead then we will be saved. For it is with the heart that one believes unto righteousness and it is with the mouth that confession is made unto salvation. For the scriptures says that whoever believes in Him will not be ashamed.

This passage defines what it means to be saved more clearly than any other section or verse that I have ever seen. I love that Paul says that the word is all around the Roman brothers – it is near them, in their mouths, and in their hearts. He then defines salvation by stating that if we confess that Jesus is Lord, and believe in our hearts that He was raised from the dead, and if we are not afraid to speak this in public, then we will be saved. We should not be ashamed of either the written or the living Word if we truly believe deep within our hearts that Jesus is Lord. If we really believe that the God of Heaven of Earth stepped off His throne to come down to this Earth in order to live and then die for us in such a brutal fashion, and if we have made Him Lord of our lives, we will not be ashamed to proclaim His name as He leads us by His Holy Spirit into eternity.

Romans 15:4 “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”

The truth and power of the written word of God gives us comfort, knowing that in this life will have trouble…but not in the next one, since Jesus Christ has overcome the world.

2 Corinthians 4:1-7 Since we have a ministry through God’s mercy, we must not lose heart. For we have renounced the secret things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but expressing the truth honorably to every man and before the sight of God -for God has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. I love how Paul wraps up this passage in verses 5-7, when he makes it clear that we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord and ourselves as servants for Jesus’ sake (listen up mega church pastors and evangelists!).

This passage emphasizes the need for preaching the word of God clearly and truthfully, without trying to manipulate people in order to obtain power and money. The whole point of preaching the word is to lift up Jesus Christ as Lord, and all who teach and preach, as humble servants.

Ephesians 6:17 We are to take up the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.

Philippians 2:12-16 Paul instructs the believers to work out their salvation with fear and trembling and to be blameless in this wicked generation, holding out the word of life to others, so that Paul may rejoice with them on the day of Christ.

We are all called to hold out the word of life to the people God puts in front of us. Otherwise, they will indeed taste eternal death. We must all know this word, and pray that the Holy Spirit will give us the boldness to declare it with gentleness and power through the Holy Spirit. There is no other life other then that which is in Christ Jesus, whom he has revealed to us through His eternal word.

Colossians 1:4-6 Paul states that he has heard about the faith and love of the Colossian believers, which has sprung up in them from the hope which is laid up for them in Heaven and which they have learned about through the word of the truth, which is the Gospel. Paul says that his word, which has come to all the world, does not fail to bring forth fruit.

Paul emphasized that “hope” is found in the word of truth, which is the Gospel of Christ, and he states that, if we share it with others, it will bear fruit. And as Jesus said in John 15, He wants all of us to bear fruit to the glory of God the Father.

Colossians 1:24-25 Paul states that his sufferings and servant hood for the church are his commission from God – which is to fulfill the word of God.

Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in your richly in all wisdom, teaching, and admonishing one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

What a beautiful passage this is, instructing us all on how to handle the word, and describing the peace, gentleness and truth that will flow out of it if we truly clothe ourselves with it.

1 Thessalonians 1:8 Paul commends the Thessalonians for having a reputation for spreading the word of the Lord everywhere they travel.

1 Thessalonians 2:11-13 Paul exhorted the Thessalonians to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, and he told them that he thanked God that, when they received the word of God from him, they accepted it, not as the word of men but as it truly is, the word of God, which effectively works in those who believe.

2 Thessalonians 3:1 Paul asks the Thessalonians to pray for him and his companions that the word of the Lord may quickly spread and be glorified just as it was amongst them.

1 Timothy 4:13-16 Paul exhorts Timothy to give careful attention to reading, exhortation, and doctrine (understanding of the word). He is told to be careful in both his life and his doctrine, for in doing so he will save both himself and his hearers.

Clearly, this passage is stating that being lazy, careless and selfish with the word can cost both our hearers and ourselves our souls. God’s words are what they are. We should never, ever manipulate them for our own benefit.

1 Timothy 5:17 Timothy is told to honor the elders, and especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. Paul considers those who work hard studying the word, holding it out to others, and ensuring that that the truth is not polluted or corrupted, as honorable and worthy of respect. Truth is very important to Paul, as it was to Jesus, and that is why the Bereans were commended in Acts 17. All of us must do this as well in order to avoid being deceived.

It is sad how many times I have heard believers say that we should not worry about doctrine, but should simply focus on how nice, happy and forgiving Jesus is. Jesus is love, but He is also power, and one day He will pour out His wrath without mercy on those who have rejected Him as He truly is. He will come with an iron scepter (See Revelation 19:11-end) crushing his foes. Never forget who Jesus is… He is love….but He is also a wrathful avenger who, in the proper season, will show no mercy.

1 Timothy 6:3-4 Anyone who does not consent to the word of our Lord Jesus Christ and Godly doctrine is conceited and knows nothing.

2 Timothy 2:15 Study to show yourself approved by God, a workman who needs not be ashamed, and who rightly divides the word of truth.

2 Timothy 3:15-17 Paul states that, since childhood, Timothy has known the Holy scriptures, which are able to make us wise unto salvation with a faith that is in Jesus. He then states that all scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness so that the man of God may be complete, and thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 4:1-4 Timothy is charged by Paul before God and Jesus Christ, to preach the word and to be ready to reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all patience and teaching. For a time will come when people will not endure sound doctrine, but will gather around themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires, and they will turn their ears away from the truth and will turn to myths. This is exactly what is going on today, as we see in teachings spreading all over the country and in popular books such as the “Circle Maker,” where a man takes a stand against God, demanding that God give him exactly what he wants – and how he wants it. This is pure foolishness and rebellion, and is completely contrary to sound doctrine. However, that is exactly why men love it. It does not require us to take up our cross and to follow Jesus in humility, gentleness, and obedience. Instead, we tell God what we want and if He doesn’t give it to us, then He really isn’t a good God. That is why Satan often slips in and does give us what our flesh wants, so that our eyes stay off of sound doctrine, and instead, focus and remain on ourselves.

Titus 1:1-3 Paul tells Titus that the knowledge of the truth leads to Godliness, not to power and temporal success. He also emphasizes that God’s word has been revealed to mankind through preaching.

Today, we actually have Bibles in our homes, on our computers, and on our phones, yet we rarely read them. In those days, people gladly travelled from town to town on foot, carrying the letters of Paul and the other apostles from one church to another, eagerly sharing the word of truth with the brothers. Those letters were truly were considered the words of God and the people were hungry for them and they were precious to them. Are they precious to us?

Titus 1:7-9 An overseer in Christ must be blameless, not a drunkard or greedy, but holding firmly to the trustworthy word so that he may exhort others with sound doctrine and convince those who oppose him.

Titus 2:3-8 We should all be reverent, self-controlled, and obedient in all things so that the word of God may not be dishonored.

If we claim to be followers of Christ, and we love the word, we must be very careful with our lives lest we dishonor the word of God by our actions.

Hebrews 4:12-13 As I noted in the introduction to this writing, the word of the Lord truly is a sharp double-edged sword which lays bare everything before the one to whom we must all give an account.

***I often find that people react to the word of truth with defensiveness and pride since it often contradicts the western way of life and the upper-middle class Christianity that so many of us enjoy. However, God already sees the deep things of the heart and I would much rather be pierced with the truth now while I am on this earth so that I can repent and change my ways, then wait until I stand naked before the living God who sees and knows every single thing, and be told that I rejected the truth in order to live a more comfortable and respectable life on this planet. May we all hold our lives up to the mirror that is the word, and ask the Holy Spirit to show us every single action and belief that we need to change so that we can honor God in all things while there is still time.

Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed by the word of God so that the things that are seen are not made out of things that are visible.

This passage shows just how powerful the word of God is – it was spoken and everything we have ever seen or known came into existence. Incidentally, Satan will be defeated – not by a sword – but by the very breath of God’s mouth (2 Thessalonians 2:8).

James 1:16-18 The Father of lights brought us forth with the word of truth that we should be the first fruits of His creatures.

James 1:21-2 Lay aside all wickedness and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your soul. Be doers of the word and not just hearers – those who do the word will be blessed in all of their deeds.

1 Peter 1:22-25 Since your soul has been purified by obedience to the truth through the Spirit, love one another deeply from the heart, for we have all been born again, not from perishable seed, but by imperishable seed through the word of God, which lives and abides forever. For all men are like grass and their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fade but the word of God endures forever.

I often wonder why I waste so much time on things that are going to burn, such as sports and HGTV, when there is a book that holds words that will remain forever. I don’t want to read this book out of guilt, but I want to read it because I want to know this great and wonderful God who lives and reigns and who made a beautiful earth for me to enjoy. This same God came down from his throne in heaven and died brutally on a cross so that I could live and be with Him…in His home…forever.

1 Peter 2:1-3 Desire the pure milk of the word, because by it we grow in Christ.

1 Peter 2:7-8 Jesus is precious to those who believe, but to those who are disobedient they stumble because they are disobedient to the word to which they were appointed.

Peter is stating that we are ALL called to obey the word, yet most of the world ignores it.

2 Peter 1:16-21 Here, Peter reminds us that he himself was on the mount of transfiguration, and heard the voice of the Father, speaking of His son…but the scriptures are even more certain than those words:

2 Peter 3:5-7 Scoffers who come in the last days will question the truth of God, willingly ignoring the fact that by the word of God, the heavens, the earth and the waters were formed. And by that same word the heavens and earth are being reserved for fire…reserved for the Day of Judgment and the destruction of the ungodly.

Peter is stating that, while the words of God created the earth and everything in it, that very same word will come and destroy those who reject God and His words.

1 John 2:3-6 We know that we truly know God if we keep His word and if we keep His word, we will have the love of God perfected in us. On the contrary, whoever claims to know Jesus, but does not keep His word is a liar and the truth is not in him.

Do we really love Jesus or do we just say that we love Him? If we truly love Him with our heart and not just our mouths…then we will obey His words with the help of the indwelling Holy Spirit

Revelation 3:7-13 Only two of the seven churches are commended by Jesus in Revelation 2 and 3. The one that receives the most praise is Philadelphia, and they are commended for keeping His word and for not denying His name.

If we, today, have a hard time keeping God’s word and being unashamed of His name when we have everything, how will we do when we face trials and persecutions? All of us should ask the Holy Spirit that question, and we should plead with Him to transform our hearts.

Revelation 6:9-11 Under the alter in Heaven, John saw those slain for the word of God and for the testimony they held. They were given a white robe symbolizing cleanliness before God. In Revelation 20:4-5, John saw those same people who, as it turns out, were beheaded for their witness of Jesus and the word of God. They refused to worship the beast and his image and thus, Jesus raised them to eternal life where they will reign with Christ for a thousand years.

The true testimony of Jesus is what we are all called to give…and despite the cost to us on this earth someday, we will receive an eternal reward in Heaven at the end of days, which can never perish, spoil or fade away.

Psalm 1:1-3 David teaches us to meditate on the law of the Lord day and night. If we do so, we will be like a fruit-bearing tree planted by the rivers of water…and all we do shall prosper. Conversely, the contemplatives and christian mystics are now teaching believers to clear their minds of everything and/or vainly repeat spiritual phrases over and over again in direct contradiction to Matthew 6:7. (Psalm 63:6 says to meditate on God; Psalm 77:12 says to meditate on His great deeds; Psalm 119:15, 23,48,97,99, and 148 say to meditate on His precepts). No where does the word tell us to clear our minds and meditate on nothing. The Hindus and Buddhists(transcendental meditation) do recommend and practice these techniques, in order to be in touch with their favorite demons, masquerading as gods.

I have written about Psalm 1 before, since the Lord used it to awaken me from the dead many years ago. If we do not worry about what others are doing, and we do not listen to the words of men, but instead meditate on the law of God day and night, we will prosper and flourish like a tree planted by a river…and the written word of God is that river, which feeds and refreshes us day after day after day.

Psalm 12:6 The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

Psalm 19:7-11  7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.8 The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.11 Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.

Psalm 33:4,6  For the word of the Lord is right…By the word of the Lord were the heavens made.

Psalm 40:8 I delight to do thy will O my God, thy law is within my heart.

Psalm 119 This is a powerful 176 verse Psalm that spends most of its words describing the beauty, power, and value of the written word of God. The most well known passage is perhaps verses 9-11, which states something to the effect of, how can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to God’s word. I have treasured the word in my heart that I might not sin against God. Psalm 119 goes on to describe the written word of God as pure and true, as a lamp, and as more valuable than fine silver and gold.

EPILOGUE

I personally, have had both the wealth of the world and the treasures of God at one time or another, and at this point in life, having only the treasures found in the Word (Living and written), I will take that over the temporary  treasures of this dying planet any day. May we all seek the face of God relentlessly, not in books or through the words of men, but in the gift of the written word, given to us by the hands and mouth of God himself.

***Below is an article I recently wrote, after much study, on the Bible version controversy. Sadly, I wrote 90% of this blog before I figured it out. Please check it out below:

The Bible Version Controversy: A Brief History of the War Over God’s Written Word

Favorite Scriptures #2: Meditate On the word of God Day and Night (Psalms 1:1-3)

Leadership In Christ: Responsibilities of Teachers, Leaders and Hearers of the word

Portraits of Jesus Christ in the word: Who Exactly is our God?

Preach The Word, and Do Not Be Ashamed of Jesus Christ

Prayer: How to Approach God and What to Expect From Him