Finally, we get to some Bible verses that actually will help answer the question about whether we can trust the Bible or not! Some will immediately point out the lack of logic in that last statement. Of course, the Bible is going to claim to be true, but that is like going into court with only yourself as a witness. If you don’t believe the Bible is true, then these verses have no impact whatsoever. Kind of a slippery slope here. And yes, I know that most of us have heard the first verse a thousand times, but that is because the 2 Timothy passage is absolutely foundational. Just because we need additional witness (see the first post on this question), and we have heard it before, we still need to start here.
Let’s get right to it. Paul is writing what he thinks might be his last letter to Timothy, facing imminent execution in Rome. He is passing on his ministry to Timothy, and is reaffirming key teaching he has given to him. In 3:16, he says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” First, we must establish here that “Scripture” to Paul is what we know today as the Old Testament. When we talk about the canon later, it will be clear that by Paul’s day, the Hebrew canon was well established. The Greek word translated as “breathe” here is translated as “inspired” in other translations. The connection is to Genesis 2:7 when God created man and “breathed” life into him. Just as God created life in man, so He has created Scripture to communicate with mankind.
The next step comes in 2 Peter 3:15-16, as Peter is addressing how false teachers are twisting both the Old Testament (Scriptures) and the letters of Paul. Here is how explains it, “just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.” Even Peter, the rock of the church, admits that there are hard things to understand in Paul’s letters! That makes me feel better about Romans 9 – 11. What I want to point out is that I see Peter equating Scripture with Paul’s writing (in bold). Peter is writing this around 64 AD, and as a leader of the church, he is clearly communicating that Paul’s writings are already considered as “Scripture”.
The Old Testament is pretty clear about how serious the Hebrews took calling something the Word of God. Deuteronomy 18:20 states, “But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.” That seems like they are taking this seriously. I know this is about prophets, but you need to understand that Moses the prophet wrote the Pentateuch, Joshua through Kings is called the former prophets, and Isaiah to Malachi is called the latter prophets (Daniel is actually placed among the Writings). So, Jews considered the writers of the Old Testament as prophets as they were communicating the message and words of God (their definition was obviously more broad than ours today). By the way, I am not advocating stoning anyone to death if they don’t believe in the Bible. Not cool.
Revelation 22:18-19 says, “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.” Just like the Old Testament, the New Testament books also show us how God sees these books and letters. They were given a status above and beyond any other writings of Israel or the church. They were considered trustworthy, authoritative, and sacred. God Himself spoke them through the authors so that man might know who God is, and what His redemptive plan set out to accomplish in Christ.
Now it is time for a personal, Bible nerd tick. I can’t write in Bibles without feeling wrong, guilty, or outright sacrilegious. I don’t stand on Bibles or feel right if they are on the floor. I can’t stand seeing a page of the Bible get folded or crumpled. I know, I know, I have Bible OCD. To me though, the Bible is a special, priceless object containing the very words of God. I don’t give a rip whether it has a calf skin cover (cows can thank me later), gold leaf letters, or the words of Jesus in red, but holding something in my hands that is God breathed just gets to me. How about you?
The Bible Nerd 