First thing I wanted to be clear on. I do not have a degree, I did not do any extensive or scholarly research before now, I do not have any stake in the outcome of these studies. I have decided to simply take this seriously, and through it I will not be cutting corners or taking Scripture out of context. This study is going to take Scripture apart, analyze, compare, pick apart verses, uncover meaning, and unravel mysteries behind the everyday scriptural factoid, (whose definition is “an invented fact believed to be true”). The purpose of this is to challenge you to look beyond what you see, to challenge your motives for believing what you do - or don’t -, and to teach you to look at Scripture in a truly fresh way.
A friend was kind enough to remind me that there is indeed only one interpretation of the Scripture, but there are many applications. That being said, understand that I will be doing my best to avoid the gray areas, and focus mainly on the facts. Keep in mind I am writing to an audience whose statement of faith roughly states that The Old and New Testaments were inspired by the Holy Spirit, are without error, and are the final authority in every age.
II. Reliability of the Old Testament
First, let’s establish why it is we believe Scripture to be the end-all be-all of Christianity. One of the most amazing things (to me there are many), is how accurate Scripture is - Old Testament and New alike. So amazing that if we were to put it in numbers, like mathematician/professor/scholar, Pete Stoner did in his book Science Speaks, we would find the impossible is in fact possible. In his book he shares his calculations based on eight specific prophecies, he references each one in the OT, and illustrates that Christ fulfills them through His birth, life, ministry, and death.
1. The Messiah will be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)
2. A messenger will prepare the way for the Messiah (Malachi 3:1)
3. The Messiah will enter Jerusalem as a king riding on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9)
4. The Messiah will be betrayed by a friend and suffer wounds in His hands (Zechariah 13:16)
5. The Messiah will be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12)
6. The betrayal money will be used to purchase a potter's field (Zechariah 11:13
7. The Messiah will remain silent while He is afflicted (Isaiah 53:7)
8. The Messiah will die by having His hands and feet pierced (Psalm 22:16)
The chances of a man fulfilling Stoner’s eight specific prophecies? According to his calculations, 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. I don’t even know what to call this number in real words. It would appear that the Word of God so far does not leave anything to chance. If there were even the slightest probability that Jesus were not the Messiah, I’m convinced we never would have heard of Him.
III. Reliability of the New Testament
A. Christ and the Gospels
After establishing the infallibility of the OT, and Christ’s fulfillment of the Word through the Gospels, a Christian is hard pressed to question the words of Christ, especially since He is the Word of God, the personification of the Scriptures. This is seen nowhere more clearly than in John’s Gospel.
- John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Not to draw this out, since you’ve probably heard all this before, but admit it, it would be nice to have Scripture references and the linguistic breakdown. Verse 1 says the Word (logos) is God. Verse 14 goes on to say that logos was made flesh - Jesus.
The Old Testament Hebrew translation for “Word,” is dabar. The translation of dabar into Greek is, not shockingly, logos. In the OT, when it is used in conjunction with Yahweh it’s literally “The Word of God.” John isn’t messing around. He is talking about the Old Testament’s proclamations of the Messiah, the Alpha (“in the beginning was the Word”) and Omega (“the Word was God”). Jesus is literally the personification of the Hebrew Scriptures.
- Revelation 19:13 “He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.”
- Psalm 33:6-7 “By the word of the LORD (dabar+Yahweh = logos+ Theos) the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.”
- John 1:1,-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (logos+Theos = dabar+Yahweh). He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”
Jesus is not only worth listening to, if we heed Him, we are heeding the Holy breathed Word of the Lord.
B. The Acts and the Epistles
I admit readily that there is no verse that I’ve found that says, “All NT scripture is valid and applicable to all generations past, present, and future,” but if there is anyone that we should be listening to apart from Jesus, it is those who perpetuated His ministry through the Holy Spirit.
1. God’s character never changes. Who He was in the Genesis is who He was in the New Testament and He remains the same today.
- Job 23:13, “But He is unique, and who can make Him change? And whatever His soul desires, that He does.”
- Malachi 3:6a, “For I am the LORD, I do not change.”
- Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, forever.”
2. Christ is in us. If He remains the same, and God does not change, it is safe to assume that the Holy Spirit could never change. The Gospel of the Holy Spirit is depicted throughout the book of Acts, and if we take seriously the idea that our God never changes, He is the same Spirit indwelling Christians today. The same Spirit that Jesus promised to the original twelve. The same Spirit that was promised in the OT books of the prophets.
- John 14:16 “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever.”
- Joel 2:28, "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh.
The God of the Law of Moses didn’t switch up His strategy until Jesus arrived (blood everywhere with sacrifices and circumcision, etc). Jesus, when He was here on earth, didn’t really deviate from His routine (He barely even left the neighborhood, talked a lot and performed miracles). Reasonably, the ministry of the Holy Spirit shouldn’t look any different from that found in the Acts (this will be discussed in further detail in a later study).
3. Consider our faith in the Bible as a whole, if you are a Christ-follower. Using the God-given powers of reason, if we believe the Spirit of God inspired the words of the NT, it is by default just as reliable as the OT, and now more since it contains the red pill of no-turning-back-Truth: The new covenant of the blood of Christ.
4. The Council of Nicaea met well over three hundred years after Christ died. If the council were divinely appointed it would have edited out the non-applicable letters of the NT. Or, if they found the Gospels, any of the letters, or Revelation to be a big senseless hoop-lah, we would all still be Jewish and slicing goat throats. Well, technically we Gentiles would still be worshiping in some heathen wretched nasty brothel-temple. Instead they sifted through Paul’s mail and other pieces of literature and chose to include everything that was consistent and relevant. But they were still only men, so whether they chose to or not, the Bible was ordered and pieced together in such a way that could not have happened without God’s deep deep involvement.References:
1. Blueletterbible.org (Greek/Hebrew Lexicons)
2. Strong’s Concordance
3. New King James Bible
4. International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia
5. Josh McDowell’s Evidence that Demands a Verdict
6. Encyclopedia Britannica, britannica.com “Council of Nicaea”
