Article: Banning the Most Dangerous Book in the World (042616)

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From June 22, 2018 Berean Call:

Martyr’s Song by Watchmen (Click link to listen to song. Many martyrs died for their faith in Bible teaching.)

Below, I give many Bible verses, and insights from the Bible. Is the Bible the word of God? What about those religions which place little or no emphasis on it? Did God intend the Bible to be an authority upon which all spiritual matters (and many worldly matters) are to be examined? What about the prophecies in the Bible? Did Jesus believe that there was written truth upon which one can depend? What did Jesus say about the Scriptures? Did Jesus give the writings of the Scriptures the same authority as his own word? These and many other questions are answered below.

One can glean much from studying under another who has spent untold thousands of hours on a subject. Scofield did this. He was right about some things, wrong about others. One thing he is off on is his doctrine of the church, which I point out in “C. I. Scofield’s ‘true church’ doctrine.” He is wrong when he speaks of the older and better manuscripts. However, much of what he includes in his notes concerning the Scriptures is very helpful and enlightening.

One source of heresy and apostasy is failure to recognize the authority of Scripture. For more on heresy and apostasy, see Heresy and apostasy (Section II, Chapter 4 of God Betrayed).

Sadly, many so called churches are either very heretical or apostate. This is nothing new. See Heresy and apostasy; Recent Accelerated Apostasy in the United States (written in 2007-much could be added); Apostasy at the end of the church age. Here is one verse from the many cited in these writings: 2 Peter 2.1-3: “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.  And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.”

We have many false prophets and teachers today doing these exact things.

If God has given the believer no authority upon which to judge matters, how in the world can one judge whether a teaching is heresy or apostasy? The fact is, God gave us his word so that we may know the truth.

Jo. 8:31-32 “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Jo. 8:43-47  “Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.  And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

Jo. 17:14-17  “I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”

As will be seen from other Bible verses below, God’s word clearly states that the words written in the OT and the words of the apostles (in the NT) are given the same authority as Jesus’ words because they are also the words of God given the apostles by the Holy Spirit.

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SCOFIELD REFERENCE NOTES (Old Scofield 1917 Edition)

A Panoramic View of the Bible (See also THE PENTATEUCH, Book Introduction, and Notes associated with Genesis 1:1)

The Bible, incomparably the most widely circulated of books, at once provokes and baffles study. Even the non-believer in its authority rightly feels that it is unintelligent to remain in almost total ignorance of the most famous and ancient of books. And yet most, even of sincere believers, soon retire from any serious effort to master the content of the sacred writings. The reason is not far to seek. It is found in the fact that no particular portion of Scripture is to be intelligently comprehended apart from some conception of its place in the whole. For the Bible story and message is like a picture wrought out in mosaics: each book, chapter, verse, and even word forms a necessary part, and has its own appointed place. It is, therefore, indispensable to any interesting and fruitful study of the Bible that a general knowledge of it be gained.

First. The Bible is one book. Seven great marks attest this unity.

(1) From Genesis the Bible bears witness to one God. Wherever he speaks or acts he is consistent with himself, and with the total revelation concerning him.
(2) The Bible forms one continuous story–the story of humanity in relation to God.
(3) The Bible hazards the most unlikely predictions concerning the future, and, when the centuries have brought round the appointed time, records their fulfilment.
(4) The Bible is a progressive unfolding of truth. Nothing is told all at once, and once for all. The law is, ‘first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn.’ Without the possibility of collusion, often with centuries between, one writer of Scripture takes up an earlier revelation, adds to it, lays down the pen, and in due time another man moved by the Holy Spirit, and another, and another, add new details till the whole is complete.
(5) From beginning to end the Bible testifies to one redemption.
(6) From beginning to end the Bible has one great theme–the person and work of the Christ.
(7) And, finally, these writers, some forty-four in number, writing through twenty centuries, have produced a perfect harmony of doctrine in progressive unfolding. This is, to every candid mind, the unanswerable proof of the divine inspiration of the Bible.

Second. The Bible is a book of books. Sixty-six books make up the one Book. Considered with reference to the unity of the one book the separate books may be regarded as chapters. But that is but one side of the truth, for each of the sixty-six books is complete in itself, and has its own theme and analysis. In the present edition of the Bible these are fully shown in the introductions and divisions. It is therefore of the utmost moment that the books be studied in the light of their distinctive themes. Genesis, for instance, is the book of beginnings–the seed-plot of the whole Bible. Matthew is the book of the King, & etc. Third. The books of the Bible fall into groups. Speaking broadly there are five great divisions in the Scriptures, and these may be conveniently fixed in the memory by five key-words, Christ being the one theme (Lu 24:25-27):

PREPARATION MANIFESTATION PROPAGATION The OT The Gospels The Acts
EXPLANATION CONSUMMATION The Epistles The Apocalypse

In other words, the Old Testament is the preparation for Christ; in the Gospels he is manifested to the world; in the Acts he is preached and his Gospel is propagated in the world; in the Epistles his Gospel is explained; and in the Revelation all the purposes of God in and through Christ are consummated. And these groups of books in turn fall into groups. This is especially true of the Old Testament, which is in four well defined groups. Over these may be written as memory aids:

REDEMPTION ORGANIZATION POETRY SERMONS

Genesis Joshua Job Isaiah Jonah Exodus Judges Psalms Jeremiah Micah Leviticus Ruth Proverbs Ezekiel Nahum Numbers I,II Samuel Ecclesiastes Daniel Habakkuk Deuteronomy I,II Kings Song of Solomon Hosea Zephaniah I,II Chronicles Lamentations Joel Haggai Ezra Amos Zechariah Nehemiah Obadiah Malachi Esther

Again care should be taken not to overlook, in these general groupings, the distinctive messages of the several books composing them. Thus, while redemption is the general theme of the Pentateuch, telling as it does the story of the redemption of Israel out of bondage and into “a good land and large,” each of the five books has its own distinctive part in the whole. Genesis is the book of beginnings, and explains the origin of Israel. Exodus tells the story of the deliverance of Israel; Leviticus of the worship of Israel as delivered people; Numbers the wanderings and failures of the delivered people, and Deuteronomy warns and instructs that people in view of their approaching entrance upon their inheritance.

The Poetical books record the spiritual experiences of the redeemed people in the varied scenes and events through which the providence of God led them. The prophets were inspired preachers, and the prophetical books consist of sermons with brief connecting and explanatory passages. Two prophetical books, Ezekiel and Daniel, have a different character and are apocalyptic, largely.

Fourth. The Bible tells the Human Story. Beginning, logically, with the creation of the earth and man, the story of the race sprung from the first human pair continues through the first eleven chapters of Genesis. With the twelfth chapter begins the history of Abraham and of the nation of which Abraham was the ancestor. It is that nation, Israel, with which the Bible narrative is thereafter chiefly concerned from the eleventh chapter of Genesis to the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. The Gentiles are mentioned, but only in connection with Israel. But it is made increasingly clear that Israel so fills the scene only because entrusted with the accomplishment of great world-wide purposes (De. 7:7). The appointed mission of Israel was:

(1) to be a witness to the unity of God in the midst of idolatry (De 6:5; Isa 43:10);
(2) to illustrate to the nations the greater blessedness of serving the one true God (De. 33:26-29; 1 Ch 17:20-21; Ps. 102:15);
(3) to receive and preserve the Divine revelation (Ro. 3:1-2); and
(4) to produce the Messiah, earth’s Saviour and Lord (Ro. 9:4). The prophets foretell a glorious future for Israel under the reign of Christ. The biblical story of Israel, past, present, and future, falls into seven distinct periods:

(1) From the call of Abram (Gen 12) to the Exodus (Ex. 1-20);
(2) From the Exodus to the death of Joshua (Ex 21 to Josh 24);
(3) from the death of Joshua to the establishment of the Hebrew monarchy under Saul;
(4) the period of the kings from Saul to the Captivities;
(5) the period of the Captivities;
(6) the restored commonwealth from the end of the Babylonian captivity of Judah, to the destruction of Jerusalem, A.D. 70;
(7) the present dispersion. The Gospels record the appearance in human history and within the Hebrew nation of the promised Messiah, Jesus Christ, and tell the wonderful story of his manifestation to Israel, his rejection by that people, his crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. The Acts of the Apostles record the descent of the Holy Spirit, and the beginning of a new thing in human history, the Church. The division of the race now becomes threefold–the Jew, the Gentile, and the Church of God. Just as Israel is in the foreground from the call of Abram to the resurrection of Christ, so now the Church fills the scene from the second chapter of the Acts to the fourth chapter of the Revelation. The remaining chapters of that book complete the story of humanity and the final triumph of Christ. Fifth. The Central Theme of the Bible is Christ. It is this manifestation of Jesus Christ, his Person as “God manifest in the flesh” (1 Ti. 3:16), his sacrificial death, and his resurrection, which constitute the Gospel. Unto this all preceding Scripture leads, from this all following Scripture proceeds. The Gospel is preached in the Acts and explained in the Epistles. Christ, Son of God, Son of man, Son of Abraham, Son of David, thus binds the many books into one Book. Seed of the woman (Ge. 3:15) he is the ultimate destroyer of Satan and his works; Seed of Abraham he is the world blesser; Seed of David he is Israel’s King. “Desire of all Nations.” Exalted to the right hand of God he is “head over all to the Church, which is his body,” while to Israel and the nations the promise of his return forms the one and only rational expectation that humanity will yet fulfil itself. Meanwhile the Church looks momentarily for the fulfilment of his special promise: “I will come again and receive you unto myself” (Jo. 14:1-3). To him the Holy Spirit throughout this Gospel age bears testimony. The last book of all, the Consummation book, is “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” (Re. 1:1).

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Scofield Reference Notes (THE PENTATEUCH)

The five books ascribed to Moses have a peculiar place in the structure of the Bible, and an order which is undeniably the order of the experience of the people of God in all ages. Genesis is the book of origins–of the beginning of life, and of ruin through sin. Its first word, “In the beginning God,” is in striking contrast with the end, “In a coffin in Egypt.” Exodus is the book of redemption, the first need of a ruined race. Leviticus is the book of worship and communion, the proper exercise of the redeemed. Numbers speaks of the experiences of a pilgrim people, the redeemed passing through a hostile scene to a promised inheritance. Deuteronomy, retrospective and prospective, is a book of instruction for the redeemed about to enter that inheritance.

That Babylonian and Assyrian monuments contain records bearing a grotesque resemblance to the majestic account of the creation and of the Flood is true, as also that these antedate Moses. But this confirms rather than invalidates inspiration of the Mosaic account. Some tradition of creation and the Flood would inevitably be handed down in the ancient cradle of the race. Such a tradition, following the order of all tradition, would take on grotesque and mythological features, and these abound in the Babylonian records. Of necessity, therefore, the first task of inspiration would be to supplant the often absurd and childish traditions with a revelation of the true history, and such a history we find in words of matchless grandeur, and in a order which, rightly understood, is absolutely scientific. In the Pentateuch, therefore, we have a true and logical introduction to the entire Bible; and, in type, an epitome of the divine revelation.

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SCOFIELD REFERENCE NOTES (Old Scofield 1917 Edition)(Headnote to Genesis)

The First Book of Moses called GENESIS

GENESIS is the book of beginnings. It records not only the beginning of the heavens and the earth, and of plant, animal, and human life, but also of all human institutions and relationships. Typically, it speaks of the new birth, the new creation, where all was chaos and ruin. With Genesis begins also that progressive self-revelation of God which culminates in Christ. The three primary names of Deity, Elohim, Jehovah, and Adonai, and the five most important of the compound names, occur in Genesis; and that in an ordered progression which could not be changed without confusion. The problem of sin as affecting man’s condition in the earth and his relation to God, and the divine solution of that problem are here in essence. Of the eight great covenants which condition human life and the divine redemption, four, the Edenic, Adamic, Noahic, and Abrahamic Covenants are in this book; and these are the fundamental covenants to which the other four, the Mosaic, Palestinian, Davidic, and New Covenants, are related chiefly as adding detail or development. Genesis enters into the very structure of the New Testament, in which it is quoted above sixty times in seventeen books. In a profound sense, therefore, the roots of all subsequent revelation are planted deep in Genesis, and whoever would truly comprehend that revelation must begin here. The inspiration of Genesis and it character as a divine revelation are authenticated by the testimony of Christ Mt. 19:4-6; 24:37-39; Mr. 10:4-9; Lu. 11:49-51; 17:26-29,32. Genesis is in five chief divisions:

1. Creation (1. 1-2.25)
   II. The fall and redemption (3. 1-4, 7).
   III. The Diverse Seeds, Cain and Seth, to the Flood (4.8-7.24).
   IV. The Flood to Babel (8.1-11.9).
   V. From the call of Abram to the death of Joseph (11:10-50:26).

The events recorded in Genesis cover a period of 2,315 years (Ussher).

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See the headnote to Genesis (above) for scriptures in which Christ authenticated the inspiration of Genesis.

Scripture given by inspiration of God: Headnote to Genesis (Genesis authenticated by Christ): “… The inspiration of Genesis and it character as a divine revelation are authenticated by the testimony of Christ Mt. 19:4-6; 24:37-39; Mr. 10:4-9; Lu. 11:49-51; 17:26-29, 32….”

First verse in Bible dealing w/inspiration of Scripture is Ex. 4.15; last is Rev. 22.19.

Ex. 4 “15 And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.”

Ex. 17 “14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.”

Psm. 12:6-7  “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.”

N2 p995 to Mt. 2.4 “And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.” (Gr. “grammateis,” = “writer.” Heb. “spherim,” “to write,” “set in order,” “count.” The scribes were so called because it was their office to make copies of the Scriptures; to classify and teach the precepts of oral law Cmt. on Mt 3:7 and to keep careful count of every letter in the O.T. writings. Such an office was necessary in a religion of law and precept, and was an O.T. function 2Sa 8:17; 20:25; 1Ki 4:3; Jer 8:8; 36:10,12,26. To this legitimate work the scribes added a record of rabbinical decisions on questions of ritual (Halachoth); the new code resulting from those decisions (Mishna); the Hebrew sacred legends (Gemara, forming with the Mishna the Talmud); commentaries on the O.T. (Midrashim); reasonings upon these (Hagada); and finally, mystical interpretations which found in Scripture meanings other than the grammatical, lexical, and obvious ones (the Kabbala); not unlike the allegorical method of Origen, or the modern Protestant “spiritualizing” interpretation. In our Lord’s time, to receive this mass of writing superposed upon the Scriptures was to be orthodox; to return to the Scriptures themselves was heterodoxy–our Lord’s most serious offence.)

N3 to Mt. 4.1, p997. “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.” (The temptation of Christ, the “last Adam” 1Co 15:45 is best understood when contrasted with that of the “first man Adam.” Adam was tempted in his place of lord of creation, a lordship with but one reservation, the knowledge of good and evil Ge 1:26; 2:16-17. Through the woman he was tempted to add that also to his dominion. Falling, he lost all. But Christ had taken the place of a lowly Servant, acting only from and in obedience to the Father. Php 2:5-8; Joh 5:19; 6:57; 8:28,54 Cmt. on Isa 41:8 that He might redeem a fallen race and a creation under the curse Ge 3:17-19; Ro 8:19-23. Satan’s one object in the threefold temptation was to induce Christ to act from Himself, in independency of His Father. The first two temptations were a challenge to Christ from the god of this world to prove Himself indeed the Son of God (Mt 4:3,6). The third was the offer of the usurping prince of this world to divest himself of that which rightfully belonged to Christ as Son of man and Son of David, on the condition that He accept the sceptre on Satan’s world-principles (cf. Joh 18:36). Cmt. on Re 13:8. Christ defeated Satan by a means open to His humblest follower, the intelligent use of the word of God (Mt 4:4,7). In his second temptation Satan also used Scripture, but a promise available only to one in the path of obedience. The scene give emphasis to the vital importance of “rightly dividing the word of truth” 2Ti 2:15.).

Mt. 22.23-33 (29 “… (Jesus speaking) Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, not the power of God.” … 31-32 “  But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”); See also, Mk. 12.18-27; Lk. 20.27-38 for the same account. Jesus’ answer to the Saducees asking about woman who married the 7 brothers. . . .  Jesus answered “. . . ye know not the scriptures. . . .”

Luke 24. Esp. vs. 27, 32, 44, 45, 46-48. (“27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he [Jesus] expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself…. 32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? 44-48 “And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things.”)

John 5.39-47. “39 Search the scriptures: for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. . . . 46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. 47 But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?”

John 10.35: “. . . and the Scripture cannot be broken.”

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N1 p1138 to John 16.12: “Christ’s pre-authentication of the New Testament:

(1) He expressly declared that He would leave “many things” unrevealed (v. 12).

(2) He promised that this revelation should be completed (“all things”) after the Spirit should come, and that such additional revelation should include new prophecies (v. 13).

(3) He chose certain persons to receive such additional revelations, and to be His witnesses to them:

Mt. 28.19-20 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”;

John 15.26-27 (Jesus speaking to the disciples who had been with him from the beginning: “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.”);

John 16.13 (“John 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”);

Acts 1.8; 9.15-17 (Jesus instructs the apostles: “1:8  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”).

(4) He gave to their words when speaking for Him in the Spirit precisely the same authority as His own:

Mt. 10.14-15 “And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.”;

Lk 10.16 “He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.”;

John 13.20 “John 13:20  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.”;

see e.g., 1 Cor. 14.37 “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.”

See also “Inspiration”:

Ex. 4.15 “And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.”

Re. 22.19 “And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”

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Ro. 1:16  “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

Ro. 15 “4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”

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N1 p1213 to 1 Cor. 2.10-16 “But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.”

“(1) The writers of scripture invariably affirm, where the subject is mentioned by them at all, that the words of their writings are divinely taught.  [Incorrect statement of Scofield left out]; (2) 1 Cor. 2.9-14 gives the process by which a truth passes from the mind of God to the minds of His people. (a) The unseen things of God are undiscoverable by the natural man (v9). (b) These unseen things God has revealed to chosen men (v13). (c) The revealed things are communicated in Spirit-taught words (v13).  This implies neither mechanical dictation nor the effacement of the writer’s personality, but only that the Spirit infallibly guides in the choice of words from the writer’s own vocabulary (v13).  (d) These Spirit-taught words, in which the revelation has been expressed, are discerned, as to their true spiritual content, only by the spiritual among believers (1 Cor. 2.15, 16). See also Rev. 22.19, note.”

[Thus, the words of the apostles (like the words of the writers of the OT) were declared to be inspired and taught by God. One can rely on those words to be God-given and 100% accurate. When someone says they have a word from God and that supposed word from God contradicts Scripture, they received that word from another spirit, not from the Holy Spirit.]

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1 Co. 10.1-14: “* * * 11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.* * *”

Galatians 1.10-24. Part III. Paul’s gospel is a revelation, not a tradition from the other apostles (Gal. 1.10-2.14). … Galatians 1:10-12 “For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

2 Ti. 3.15-17: “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

See God’s Plan of Salvation according to the Bible. One is not saved by his religious experience, by any special revelation. The Bible teaches one how to be saved. See God’s Plan of Salvation. To understand one’s duty under God after salvation, see After Salvation.

He. 4:1-2  “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.”

He. 4:11-13  “11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. 12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.  13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”

He. 5:11-14  “11 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. 12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. 13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

He. 13:9  “Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.”

James 1.21-25. “…James 1:25  But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. …”

1 Pe. 1.10-12, 25: “Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: 11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when  it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. 12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that  have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down  from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. 25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preach ed unto you.”

1 Pe. 1.23-25: “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass.  The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever.  And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”

1 Pe. 2:1-3  “1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, 2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: 3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”

N2 p1318 to 2 Pe. 1.19 “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:” (That is, made more sure by fulfillment in part. Fulfilled prophecy is a proof of inspiration bc the Scripture predictions of future events were uttered so long before the events transpired that no merely human sagacity or foresight could have anticipated them, and these predictions are so detailed, minute, and specific, as to exclude the possibility that they were mere fortunate guesses. Hundreds of predictions concerning Israel, the land of Canaan, Babylon, Assyria, Egypt, and numerous personages—so ancient, so singular, so seemingly improbable, as well as so detailed and definite that no mortal could have anticipated them—have been fulfilled by the elements, and by men who were ignorant of them, or who utterly disbelieved them, or who struggled with frantic desperation to avoid their fulfillment. It is certain, therefore, that the Scriptures which contain them are inspired. “Prophecy came not in olden time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Pet. 1.21).

The Scriptures are exalted in 2 Pe. 1.15-21: “15 Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance. 16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. 19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

2 Pe. 1 “20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of he scripture is of any private interpretation. 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: by holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

2 Pe. 3.15-21: “15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; 16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. 17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.”

Scripture exalted: 2 Pet. 1.15-21 and N2 p1318; 2 John (Key phrase is “the truth”, by which John means the body of revealed truth, the Scriptures).

Headnote to II Jo. “The Second Epistle of John. WRITER: The Apostle John.. DATE: Probably A.D. 90. THEME: Second John gives the essentials of the personal walk of the believer in a day when “many deceivers are entered into the world” (2 Jo 1:7). The key phrase is “the truth,” by which John means the body of revealed truth, the Scriptures. The Bible as the only authority for doctrine and life, is the believer’s resource in a time of declension and apostasy. The Epistle in three divisions: I. The pathway of truth and love, vs. 1-6. II. The peril of unscriptural ways, vs. 7-11 III. Superscription, vs. 12, 13.”

2 Jo. 1:9-11:  “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.”

The apostles received inspiration from God, not man.  See Gal. 1.10-24 (Paul received it by the revelation of Jesus Christ when he went into Arabia 3 yrs.) & N2 p1241.

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N3 p1353 to Rev. 22.19 “And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”

Inspiration: Summary. The testimony of the Bible to itself.

(1) The writers affirm, where they speak of the subject at all, they speak by direct divine authority.

(2) They invariably testify that the words, and not the ideas merely, are inspired. The most important passage is 1 Co. 2:7-15:

1 Co. 2:7-15 “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.”

(3) The whole attitude of Jesus Christ toward the Old Testament, as disclosed in His words, both before His death and after His resurrection, confirms its truth and divine origin, and He explicitly ascribes the Pentateuch to Moses.

(4) In promising subsequent revelations after the predicted advent of the Spirit Jo. 16:12-15 our Lord prepared the way for the New Testament.

Jo. 16:12-15 “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”

(5) The writers of the New Testament invariably treat the Old Testament as authoritative and inspired. Cmt. on 2 Pe. 1:19. Cmt. on 1 Co. 2:13.

N2 p1318 to 2 Pet. 1.19 “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:” (That is, made more sure by fulfillment in part. Fulfilled prophecy is a proof of inspiration bc the Scripture predictions of future events were uttered so long before the events transpired that no merely human sagacity or foresight could have anticipated them, and these predictions are so detailed, minute, and specific, as to exclude the possibility that they were mere fortunate guesses. Hundreds of predictions concerning Israel, the land of Canaan, Babylon, Assyria, Egypt, and numerous personages—so ancient, so singular, so seemingly improbable, as well as so detailed and definite that no mortal could have anticipated them—have been fulfilled by the elements, and by men who were ignorant of them, or who utterly disbelieved them, or who struggled with frantic desperation to avoid their fulfillment. It is certain, therefore, that the Scriptures which contain them are inspired. “Prophecy came not in olden time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Pet. 1.21).

N1 p1213 to 1 Co. 2.13. 1 Cor. 2.10-16 “But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.”

“(1) The writers of scripture invariably affirm, where the subject is mentioned by them at all, that the words of their writings are divinely taught.  [Incorrect statement of Scofield left out]; (2) 1 Cor. 2.9-14 gives the process by which a truth passes from the mind of God to the minds of His people. (a) The unseen things of God are undiscoverable by the natural man (v9). (b) These unseen things God has revealed to chosen men (v13). (c) The revealed things are communicated in Spirit-taught words (v13).  This implies neither mechanical dictation nor the effacement of the writer’s personality, but only that the Spirit infallibly guides in the choice of words from the writer’s own vocabulary (v13).  (d) These Spirit-taught words, in which the revelation has been expressed, are discerned, as to their true spiritual content, only by the spiritual among believers (1 Cor. 2.15, 16). See also Rev. 22.19, note.”

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