Observations
on the Scriptures: A Devotionalby
Jack Kettler
In
this devotional study we will answer the
following questions:
1.What are the
Scriptures?
2.Why are the
Scriptures authoritative?
3.What are important
characteristics of Scripture?
4.Why are the
Scriptures to be written down?
5.Why should we
search the Scriptures?
6.Are the Scriptures
complete?
7.How should we
search the Scriptures?
Introductory Comments:
Today in the Post-Modern era, experience is
set-forth as the ultimate test for truth.
Experiential testimonials, secular and
religious, are used as recruitment techniques
to gain members. This approach plays upon
human emotions. The Christian must not succumb
to this erroneous approach to truth, namely
letting experiences guide us. On the contrary,
the Scriptures must always interpret and test
experience, as
well
as traditions,
spiritual leaders and even the official
theology of a church.
When
Jesus
said, “it is written,” inMatthew
4:10, He established beyond all doubt that the
Scriptures are the authoritative and
incorruptible Word of God. The
Old and New Testament is the Word of God, the
believer can be certain that the Scriptures
are authoritative and sufficient. Thus, the
Bible is the final court of appeal when
seeking for truth.
A correct view
of Scripture is fundamental to establish a
system of sound doctrine. It is important to
have a theory of knowledge based upon a
correct view of Scripture. The Christian must
build his foundation of knowledge upon the
Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.
1. What are the
Scriptures?
They are a
body of writings considered sacred or
authoritative. The Bible, also called Holy
Scripture, Holy Writ or the Scriptures the Old
and New Testaments.
The
Westminster Shorter Catechism
Quest. 2. What rule hath God given
to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy
him?
Ans. 2. The word of God, which is
contained in the scriptures of the Old and
New Testaments, is the only rule to direct
us how we may glorify and enjoy him.
And
are built upon the foundation of the
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ
himself being the chief corner stone.
(Ephesians 2:20)
That
which we have seen and heard declare we
unto you, that ye also may have fellowship
with us: and truly our fellowship is with
the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
And these things write we unto you, that
your joy may be full. (I John 1:3-4)
Quest. 3. What do the scriptures
principally teach?
Ans. 3. The scriptures principally
teach what man is to believe concerning
God, and what duty God requires of man.
Hold fast the
form of sound words, which thou hast heard
of me, in faith and love which is in
Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 1:13)
All scripture is
given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in
righteousness. (2 Timothy 3:16)
The first chapter
of the Westminster Confession says
the Scriptures are:
“The
whole counsel of God, concerning all
things necessary for His own glory, man’s
salvation, faith, and life…”
2. Why are the
Scriptures Authoritative?
The authority
of Scripture flows from the fact that it is
God's Word and declares itself to be God's
Word. It follows unavoidably, that the
Scriptures are binding upon the Christian as
doctrine and for all of life.
The Prophet
Isaiah declares the power of God's Word when
it is sent forth:
So
shall my word be that goeth forth out of
my mouth: it shall not return unto me
void, but it shall accomplish that which I
please, and it shall prosper in the thing
whereto I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11)
David in the
Psalms further confirms this truth:
By
the word of the LORD were the heavens
made; and all the host of them by the
breath of his mouth. And, The counsel of
the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts
of his heart to all generations. (Psalms
33:6, 11)
Not only is God
and His Word powerful and irresistible when
sent forth, it is important to see just how
closely God is identified with the Scriptures.
This further establishes their authority.
Consider this
example from the book of Romans:
For
the
scripture saith,
Whosoever believeth on him shall not be
ashamed. (Romans 10:11)
Notice how the
apostle Paul in the book of Romans says, “For
the Scripture saith.” It is significant to see
when you consult Isaiah 28:16 whom the Paul is
quoting in Romans, you find that it is God
speaking.
To appreciate
this connection of the wording the
“Scripture saith” and “thus saith the Lord,”
consider:
Therefore
thus
saith the Lord God, Behold,
I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a
tried stone, a precious corner stone, a
sure foundation: he that believeth shall
not make haste. (Isaiah 28:16)
And then in
Romans we also read:
For
the scripture
saith unto Pharaoh, Even
for this same purpose have I raised thee
up, that I might show my power in thee,
and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. (Romans 9:17)
Was God speaking or
the Scriptures? If there is any doubt, we know
for sure after reading
And
in very deed for this cause have I raised
thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and
that my name may be declared throughout
all the earth. (Exodus 9:16)
Exodus 9:16 that it
is God speaking, whereas, Romans says,
“the Scripture saith.” Therefore, it is clear
that God and the Scriptures are so closely
identified as to be synonymous. In essence, we
learn from these examples, “thus saith the
Lord God” and the phrase “the Scriptures
saith” can be and are used interchangeably.
As
we have seen, the
Scriptures are the Word of God. In addition,
they reveal His thoughts, His will and
purposes. God is the author and they rest on
His authority.
“So
shall my word be that goeth forth out of
my mouth: it shall not return unto me
void, but it shall accomplish that which I
please, and it shall prosper in the thing
whereto I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)
3. What are important
characteristics of Scripture?
The following
five passages speak to this question:
Ye
shall not add unto the word which I
command you, neither shall ye diminish
aught from it, that ye may keep the
commandment of the Lord your God which I
command you. (Deuteronomy 4:2)
Thy
word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light
unto my path. (Psalms 119:105)
Every
word of God is pure: he is a shield unto
them that put their trust in him. Add thou
not unto his words, lest he reprove thee,
and thou be found a liar. (Proverbs
30:5-6)
Whoso
despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but
he that feareth the commandment shall be
rewarded. (Proverbs 13:13)
The
grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but
the word of our God shall stand forever.
(Isaiah 40:8)
These five
passages set God's Word apart from the
writings of men by the fact that God's words
are “pure,”
“a
lamp and light,” and are “eternal.”
If
you despise the Word by rejecting or altering
it you will be destroyed.
In addition, the
Scriptures are infallible, they are holy,
they are powerful, they are complete, they
are plain, and in them we find the ordained
means of salvation.
“For
the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth
on him shall not be ashamed.” (Romans
10:11)
“Therefore
thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in
Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried
stone, a precious corner stone, a sure
foundation: he that believeth shall not
make haste.” (Isaiah 28:16)
4. Why are the
Scriptures to be written down?
The inscription of
God's Word gives us an objective divine
standard to determine truth.
Consider the
following passages in God's Word about this:
For
whatsoever things were written
aforetime were written for our
learning... (Romans 15:4)
And
Moses wrote all the words of the
Lord... And he [Moses] took the book
of the covenant, and read in the
audience of the people... (Exodus 24:4, 7)
Now
go, write it before them in a
table, and note it in a book, that
it may be for the time to come for ever
and ever. (Isaiah 30:8)
Take
thee a roll of a book, and write
therein all the words that I have
spoken unto thee against Israel, and
against Judah, and against all the
nations, from the day I spake unto thee,
from the days of Josiah, even unto this
day. (Jeremiah 36:2)
Only
be thou strong and very courageous, that
thou mayest observe to do according to all
the law, which Moses my servant commanded
thee: turn not from it to the right hand
or to the left, that thou mayest prosper
whithersover thou goest. This book
of the law shall not depart out of thy
mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day
and night, that thou mayest observe to do
according to all that is written
therein: for then thou shalt make thy way
prosperous, and then thou have good
success. (Joshua 1:7-8)
And
the Lord answered me, and said, Write
the vision, and make it plain upon
tables, that he may run that readeth
it. (Habakkuk 2:2)
Saying,
I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the
last: and, What thou seest, write in a
book and send it unto the seven
churches... (Revelation 1:11)
God's word was to
be written down so that His people could know
how to live in a way pleasing to Him and be
able to know right from wrong. Apart from the
objective written standard of Scripture, man
is left with his own subjective opinions, or
what the leaders say. In addition to the
scriptural pattern just seen, there are
numerous examples, by biblical writers, of the
appeal to what had been previously written.
For
example:
Now,
brothers, I have applied these things to
myself and Apollos for your benefit, so
that you may learn from us the meaning of
the saying, “Do not go beyond what is
written.” Then you will not take
pride in one man over against another. (1
Corinthians 4:6 NIV)
In the Tyndale
New Testament Commentary on First
Corinthians, Leon Morris makes the
following comment about the above verse:
“not
beyond what is written” was a catch-cry
familiar to Paul and his readers,
directing attention to the need for
conformity to Scripture. (1)
(1)
Leon
Morris, The Tyndale New Testament
Commentary 1 Corinthians, (Grand Rapids,
Michigan, Inter-Varsity Press, and
Eerdmans, 1983), p. 78.
5. Why should we
search the Scriptures?
The testimony of
the Scriptures is that they are sufficient.
The Scriptures are completely adequate to meet
the needs of the believer. The believer can
have confidence in the Scriptures. God's Words
are described as “pure,” “perfect,” “a light,”
and
“eternal.”
This conclusion is one that can be drawn from
or deduced from the Scriptures by good and
necessary consequence.
We search the
Scriptures for the knowledge of God, for
truth, to learn our responsibilities, for
comfort, to learn how to advance in
sanctification.
“For
whatever things were written aforetime
were written for our learning, that we
through patience and comfort of the
scriptures might have hope.” (Romans 15:4)
“All
scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction
in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16)
6. Are the Scriptures
Complete?
The
Scriptures are complete, and divine revelation
has ceased. In fact, the ceasing of divine
revelation is seen right in the texts of
Scripture. This is what is meant when
theologians talk about “the closing of the
canon.”
Consider the
biblical evidence for this:
Beloved,
when I gave all diligence to write unto
you of the common salvation, it was
needful for me to write unto you, and
exhort you that ye should earnestly
contend for the faith which was once
delivered unto the saints. (Jude 3:3)
Also, it
should be noted how the New King James
Version renders the last part of this
verse:
Which
was once for all delivered to the saints.
(Jude 3:3 NKJV)
This verse in Jude
clearly anticipates the closing of the New
Testament Canon. What does Jude mean by the
phrase “the faith”?
Simon J. Kistemaker in
the New Testament Commentary of the
book of Jude says the following:
What
is this faith Jude mentions? In view of
the context, we understand the word faith
to mean the body of Christian beliefs. It
is the gospel the apostles proclaimed and
therefore is equivalent to the apostles
teaching. Acts 2:42 (2)
(2)
Simon J. Kistemaker, New Testament
Commentary Jude, (Grand Rapids: Baker Book
House, 1987), p. 371.
The phrase
once [hapax] delivered is important. Hapax
means once for all.
In Vine's
Expository Dictionary of New Testament
Words we find this comment concerning
hapax:
Once
for all, of what is perpetual validity,
not requiring repetition. (3)
(3)W.
E. Vine, Vine's Expository Dictionary Of
New Testament Words, (Iowa Falls:
Riverside, 1952), p. 809.
The following
verse provides more important information
concerning the completion of Scripture:
And
are built upon the foundation of the
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ
himself being the chief corner stone.
(Ephesians 2:20)
This verse in
Ephesians tells us that the apostles are part
of the foundation of the church. There is only
one foundation that the church has. The
Scripture in John 14:26 teaches that the
apostles were taught “all things.” Paul
commanded Timothy to “guard the good deposit”
of truth in 2 Timothy 1:14. Clearly this
“deposit” was identifiable or else Paul's
command to Timothy would not make sense.
Furthermore, in order to guard it, this
deposit could not have been a nebulous
association of oral traditions.
Written
documents can be compared to forgeries,
whereas oral traditions by their very nature
are open to endlessly differing accounts and
interpretations. Do you remember a grade
school exercise where the teacher gives a
sentence to the first student and then that
student repeats the sentence to the next and
so on until the last student get the sentence
and repeats it to the class only to find it is
completely different from the start? Oral
traditions or stories are clearly inferior to
a written document.
And
how I kept back nothing that was
profitable unto you, but have shown you,
and have taught you publicly, from house
to house... For I have not shunned to
declare to declare unto you all the
counsel of God. (Acts 20:20, 27)
Since the
apostles taught all the counsel of God, there
would be no need for further revelation. What
can you add to all of the counsel of God? The
“good deposit” or the “all the counsel of God”
was tied to the apostolic period at the
foundation of the church. The authoritative
apostolic writings became part of the New
Testament canon.
The biblical
conclusion is that, after their death,
apostolic revelation ceased. Why? On account
of the fact that after the death of the
apostles their special office in the church
ceased. The church
has only one foundation, not layers of
foundations on top of each other, as the
“ongoing-apostolic-office” view would require
7. How should we
search the Scriptures?
Reverently
and submissively, with diligence and
dependence on the Holy Spirit.
“These
were more noble than those in
Thessalonica, in that they received the
word with all readiness of mind, and
searched the scriptures daily, whether
those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)
“Search
the scriptures; for in them you think you
have eternal life: and they are they which
testify of me.” (John 5:39)
Some human
observations:
“The
Bible is worth all other books which have
ever been printed.” - Patrick Henry
“It
is impossible to rightly govern the world
without God and the Bible.” - George
Washington
“It
is impossible to enslave, mentally or
socially, a bible-reading people. The
principles of the bible are the groundwork
of human freedom.” - Horace Greeley
“The
existence of the Bible, as a book for the
people, is the greatest benefit which the
human race has ever experienced. Every
attempt to belittle it is a crime against
humanity.” - Immanuel Kant
“A
dog barks when his master is attacked. I
would be a coward if I saw that God’s truth
is attacked and yet would remain silent.” -
John Calvin
In closing, may we
always be able to say with the Psalmist and
Apostle:
“How
sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter
than honey to my mouth!” “Your word is a
lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”
(Psalm 119:103, 105)
“Not
by works of righteousness which we have
done, but according to his mercy he saved
us, by the washing of regeneration, and
renewing of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3:5).
“To God only wise, be glory through Jesus
Christ forever. Amen” (Romans 16:27).
“heirs according to the promise.”
(Galatians 3:28, 29)
Mr. Kettler has previously published articles
in the Chalcedon
Report and Contra
Mundum. He and his wife Marea attend the
Westminster, CO, RPCNA Church. Mr. Kettler is
the author of the book defending the Reformed
Faith against attacks. Available at:
www.TheReligionThatStartedInAHat.com
Outline:
1. What are the
Scriptures?
2nd
Timothy 3:16; Ephesians 2:20; I John 1:3-4; 2nd
Timothy 1:13; 3:16.