The Endorsement Of The Bible
THE ENDORSEMENT OF THE BIBLE
JESUS ENDORSED THE OLD TESTAMENT: Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” (Luke 24:44). Notice what is missing from this endorsement. Missing is the apocrypha -- those books known as the Deutero-canonicals. They were not considered to be a part of the Word of God. THE NEW TESTAMENT ANTICIPATED: But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14 He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you. (John 16:13-14). With these words, Jesus promises that He would send the Holy Spirit who would direct the apostles in the communicating of God's new covenant teaching.
PETER ENDORSED THE WRITINGS OF PAUL: And regard the patience of our Lord to be salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. (2 Peter 3:15-16).
Notice the reference to the rest of the Scriptures. The KJV translates this as the other Scripture. When you speak of “the rest” of something or “the other” of a thing, you are implying that you have been previously speaking of that which has the same nature as that which is the rest of that thing. For example, if I speak of the members of my local church who are in attendance at a Sunday School class and then go on to speak of the rest of the members or the other members, I am implying that these others are also members. The implications are obvious. Peter speaks of Paul's writings and then goes on to speak of the rest of the Scriptures — the other Scriptures. He is placing the writings of Paul along side of the rest of the Scriptures. The Bible|The 66 books of our Old and New Testament -- not including the apocrypha or other writings|
Is|Not “becomes” when you read it and get a good feeling|
The Word of God|2 Timothy 3:16 and 2 Peter 1:20-21 both show the source of the Scriptures as being from God|
Is the Only|Not...
• The Bible and the church • The Bible and Joseph Smith • The Bible and the Watchtower Society
• The Bible and the Pope|
Infallible|The Bible makes no mistakes; it is correct in all matters on which it comments|
Rule|Obedience is not an option for the Christian|
Of Faith and Practice|The Bible tells us...
• What to believe
• How to live|
Acts 17:1-34 relates the account of Paul in Athens. While he was awaiting the rest of his company to catch up with him, he found himself in the midst of a philosophical discussion. He was brought to the Areopagus to present his views. What follows is a masterpiece of Christian apologetics. At the conclusion of his sermon, we read that some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them (Acts 17:34). The basis of faith for those who believed at the Areopagus was apostolic authority. They did not go and check the evidence of the resurrection or send a delegation to Jerusalem. They had the word of one apostle and it was enough. On the other hand, you have an entire New Testament. You have the written testimony of the apostles, the testimony of the church, and the witness of the Holy Spirit.