Jesus, the Key to Inspiration and Canonicity

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Jesus, the Key to Inspiration and Canonicity

Introduction: In our previous lesson, we spent most of our time understanding how the canon of the New Testament came to be accepted. Contrary to common present day teaching, a fourth century council did not determine the New Testament canon. “Canon” simply refers to that which is accepted as inspired, delivered from the mouth of God to appointed men, the apostles and prophets (Eph. 3:5). From the moment these men spoke and wrote in the first century, both their verbal and written words were considered and accepted as the word of God. Peter, in his second letter (64 AD), notes that the writings of Paul were already widely spread so that even false teachers were twisting the “scriptures” to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16).

In this lesson, we will explore Jesus’ understanding of the canon of the Old and New Testament and how Jesus and the writers of scripture understood inspiration, that is, how scripture was revealed through humans.

1. Jesus, the Key to the Canon of Old and New
   1. Christ Himself is the One who establishes for us (as for all Christians of all times) the Old and New Testament canons. By appealing to the Gospel accounts some might accuse us of circular reasoning. But we do not need to appeal to these accounts as inspired in order to use them as historic resources. 
   2. Both Matthew and John claim to be eyewitnesses of the things of which they wrote. Luke claimed to have done extensive research having received what he learned from the original eyewitnesses. All this culminates in the evidence of the resurrection of Jesus, verifying his kingship and authority. Thus, if we accept Jesus to be who He said He was, by examining these accounts we can discover the biblical canon.
   3. Consider the following words of Jesus:
      1. Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” (Lk. 24:25-27).
         1. Notice the phrase, “all that the prophets have spoken” which indicates Jesus believed the O.T. canon to be complete.
         2. Also notice, “He expounded to them in all the Scriptures” again indicating the canon was complete.
      2. Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me. And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.” (Lk. 24:44-45). Jesus used the same division of the O.T. as in the Hebrew Bible, which are the same books we have.
   4. Jesus also confirmed the canon of the NT even though he ascended prior to its writing. In essence he foretold the NT canon.
      1. Jn. 16:12-13 Jesus promised the apostles they would be guided by the Spirit into all truth, beyond the things He was personally telling them.
      2. Eph. 3:3-5 Paul actually speaks of writing the things revealed to him and says that the whole revelation is given by the “apostles and prophets by the Spirit.”
   5. Jesus confirmed that the Scriptures taught historical truth.
      1. Matthew 19:3-4 Jesus referred to the creation story, the creation of Adam and Eve as male and female whom God joined together in marriage, and laws of marriage and divorce that emanated from that union.
      2. Matthew 24:37-39 Noah, the Flood, and how people were going about their daily lives, even getting married on the day the Flood came.
      3. Matthew 11:23-24 Sodom and Gomorrah and their destruction, telling the cities of his day who had seen his mighty works that they would receive a harsher judgment.
      4. Luke 17:28-32 Lot and his wife escaping the city of Sodom on the very day that fire and sulphur rained down from heaven and destroyed everyone. Jesus even mentions Lot’s wife and warns to not turn back as she had done.
      5. Jesus confirmed numerous historical details from the OT record:
         1. David eating the showbread (Matt. 12:3-4)
         2. The wilderness serpent on a pole (John 3:14)
         3. Elijah taking refuge with the Sidonian widow (Luke 4:25-26)
         4. Elisha healing Naaman the leper (Luke 4:27).
      6. Jesus equated what the OT scriptures stated to that which God said: “And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?” (Matt. 22:31-32).
      7. When Jesus battled Satan in the temptations, he appealed to the Scriptures as the final standard of authority. Jesus could not have made such an appeal if he and Satan did not believe the Scriptures were the word of God. In fact, Satan quoted Scripture, though without including all that was said on the subject.
   6. To sum up, how then do we reason the authenticity and inspiration of the scriptures? We begin with the reliability of the historical accounts, which leads to verifying that Jesus is Lord and King, who then establishes scripture as the word of God. Obviously, each of these steps must be carefully tested, but the evidence is before anyone who is willing to seek.
2. The Scriptural Picture of Inspiration
   1. As we have previously noted, approximately 50% of our population do not believe in the God of the Bible and therefore do not accept the Bible as the word of God. As mentioned above, this should not dissuade us from presenting Jesus to those who do not believe in the inspiration of the Bible. Believing in inspiration is not necessary for believing in Jesus based on the historical records. [All the great people of history and their teaching is accepted as accurate based on verified historical records and not inspired writings!]
   2. However, once there is an acceptance of the historical Jesus as presented by eyewitness accounts, we still desire to know if what these men wrote concerning how we are to live and worship was something spoken by God or teachings affected by their culture and beliefs.
   3. The first question is, what is inspiration? A common belief among many denominations is that God “inspired” the apostles and prophets with “thoughts” but the actual words were man’s words. This has led many to question or discount specific doctrinal teaching that would affect obedience to certain commands, moral standards, or first century worship patterns. 
      1. As one lady said to me, “You can’t accept the specifics of what is said, you need to read between the lines.” 
      2. Or, as others have said, “This is a love letter, and is not intended to give patterns and rules, but to draw people to love God.” 
      3. Still others would argue that the words are obviously not inspired since we see various “styles” reflected in Old and New Testament writings.
   4. Therefore, let’s address the biblical meaning of inspiration, especially in regard to whether God delivered the actual words, that is, verbal inspiration.
      1. 1 Cor. 2:6-13 Paul proclaims that what they reveal could not have been known and was not known any other way than by direct revelation of words from the Spirit.
      2. 2 Peter 1:16-21 The revelation through Peter and the apostles was confirmed by them being eyewitnesses of Jesus’ glory. Further, what was revealed was never through someone’s own interpretation. This is proof that inspired men did not write their own words and thoughts, nor did they manipulate the revelation. Men spoke as they were  moved/borne along (Acts 27:15) by the Spirit.
      3. 2 Samuel 23:2 “The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me; his word is on my tongue.”
      4. Matt. 4:4
   5. Further, Jesus and Paul verified verbal inerrancy
      1. John 10:31-37 “The scripture cannot be broken” — not that one cannot “break it” by disobedience, but it is firm, proven, and unchangeable. 
      2. Matt. 22:29-33 Jesus argued from the present tense, “I am the God of…”
      3. Gal. 3:16 Paul argued the singular instead of the plural. Without verbal inspiration, Paul could not have made the argument.

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Matt. 24:35)

Berry Kercheville