Andy Rees, our Assistant Pastor at Woodgreen, recently did a talk on the reliability of the Bible. Here he recaps the verses which show how the whole
of the Bible is God’s inspired word...
Jesus
shows us that the Old Testament is the inspired word of God
Matthew 19:4-6
In talking about the issue of Divorce Jesus quotes from Genesis 1:27 and 2:24. This is significant in that Jesus says it is the “creator” speaking, when he quotes something the author of Genesis wrote (most likely Moses.) So Jesus is saying the written words of Moses are God’s word.
Matthew 12:3-4; 12:40-41; Luke 4:25-27
Jesus quotes historical events in the Old Testament as true events.
Jesus
commissions the New Testament to have his uniquely inspired authority
John 14:25-26; John 15:26-27; John 16:12-13
Jesus promises his Spirit to his disciples (in the first instance the twelve) to remind them of what he has said and to lead them into the truth. When they write they will do so with his authority and they will record the truth about him and the gospel.
New
Testament writers place their writing on the same level of authority as the Old
Testament scriptures
Paul does it
2 Timothy 3:14-17
Timothy learnt the gospel from the “holy Scriptures” which would have referred to the Old Testament canon. Then we are told “all scripture is God-breathed”, I take this to include the New Testament writings. Looking at 1 Timothy 5:18 Paul uses both a quote from Deuteronomy 25:4 and Luke 10:7 and calls them both Scripture. In saying this he is giving them both have the same level of authority, as coming from God.
Peter does it
2 Peter 3:15-16
Peter places Paul’s letters into this same authoritative category “Scriptures”.
The Bible testifies to itself that it is a
collection of writings written down by men with their personalities and human
style but uniquely inspired by God’s Spirit and so carry all his authority.
Drop me a line if you want to ask more:
andy@woodgreenchurch.co.uk
