As a follower of Jesus, I want to be like Him in every way possible. Therefore, my view of Scripture should match His view of Scripture. So I must ask…
What did Jesus think about Scripture?
As we look through the accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus, we see that Jesus made His view of Scripture very clear. As you read on, please be sure to either click the links or read the verses written out at the bottom of the post, and be sure to watch for how Jesus referred to Scripture. In summary:
Jesus clearly believed and taught that Scripture is the actual Word of God (Matthew 15:6 & 22:31, Mark 7:13), written/inspired by the Holy Spirit through people (Mark 12:36), inerrant (Matthew 22:29), infallible and unbreakable (Luke 24:44, John 10:35b), everlasting (Matthew 24:35), and utterly true (John 17:17). And by all these verses and many more, He made it clear that all of Scripture, when correctly understood, is applicable, authoritative, and binding for every person for all time (precisely because it is God’s own Word), as well as necessary for understanding the purposes and commandments of God (Luke 24:25-27, Mark 12:28-31).
Now, recognizing that Jesus was referring to the Old Testament, which was the only Scripture that existed at the time, the next issue is:
Why do we believe the New Testament is Scripture?
There are lots of questions wrapped up in that; more than I can cover in one short blog post. But I can at least open up the rabbit hole for you, and give you a good start!
First, let’s go back to what I said about Jesus’ view of Scripture. Do we even believe what’s written about Jesus in the Gospels, so that we know what He said about Scripture? It’s good to ask the question, but rest easy: there are good reasons to.
Importantly, the Gospels hold up historically, with more and more evidence of that the more we look into it. Also, the concept of God inspiring the writings of the New Testament fits with what we know of God inspiring the writings of the Old Testament, which was proved to be from God by the fulfillment of prophecies (among other things) – so we know God does inspire writing for His people. If Jesus is who the New Testament claims He is, which is evident enough from extra-biblical historical evidence, then we would expect God to give us a written record of Him and provide further explanation of truth in relation to what Jesus came to accomplish as predicted in the Old Testament.
If we do accept that the Gospels are Scripture (which I do, and I hope you do!), then that helps to begin pointing us to the rest of the New Testament. Luke (who wrote the Gospel of Luke) wrote Acts, and John (the author of the Gospel of John) wrote 1st, 2nd, & 3rd John as well as Revelation. The other New Testament books were either written or expressly informed by one of Jesus’ Apostles, who were, of course, named for us in the Gospels. Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when He told them the Holy Spirit would teach them and remind them of everything Jesus told them and guide them into all truth (John 14:25-26, John 16:12-14) — that the Holy Spirit would enable them to record all that we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3) and upon which, in concert with the Old Testament, His church would be built (Ephesians 2:19-20).
In addition to that, Peter called Paul’s writings Scripture (2 Peter 3:15-16), and Paul quoted Luke as Scripture (1 Timothy 5:18; see Luke 10:7). On top of all this, all the New Testament Scriptures were written while many Apostles and other eyewitnesses were still alive to argue if they weren’t correct (for example, see 1 Corinthians 15:6).
You may have some further work and research to do about why you should consider the New Testament Scripture – I sure did! It took time and effort, but it was so worth it. And thankfully there are many good resources available. Mike Winger’s Evidence for the Bible YouTube series was a great start for me; Alisa Childers and Wes Huff are other good resources. Go on down that rabbit hole! You’ll find more and more. The New Testament really is God’s Word, just as certainly as the Old Testament.
And as we realize the New Testament is indeed Scripture, we can – we must! – apply the words of Jesus about Scripture to all of the New Testament as well as the Old. If we say we follow Jesus, we should believe what He revealed to be true and what He taught about Scripture.
I can believe nothing less, and still call myself a true follower of Christ.
Scripture References
(emphasis mine, of course)
Scripture is the Word of God
…”He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God.” (Matthew 15:3-6 ESV)
“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’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” (Matthew 22:31-32 ESV)
“thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.””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’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” (Mark 7:13 ESV)
Scripture is written/inspired by the Holy Spirit through people
“David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.”’” (Mark 12:36 ESV)
Scripture is inerrant
“Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.” (Matthew 22:29 NIV) [Notice: Jesus says that if they had known the Scriptures, they would not have been in error. Therefore the Scriptures cannot be in error.]
Scripture is infallible and unbreakable
“Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,” (Luke 24:44-45 ESV)
“If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken—” (John 10:35 ESV)
Scripture is everlasting
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (Matthew 24:35 ESV)
Scripture is utterly true
“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17 ESV)
Scripture is necessary for understanding the purposes and commandments of God
“And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Luke 24:25-27 ESV)
“And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”” (Mark 12:28-31 ESV) [Notice: Here, Jesus quotes from the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and Leviticus 19:18, to show God’s commandments.]
Jesus said the Holy Spirit would teach, remind, and guide the Apostles
““These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:25-26 ESV)
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:12-14 ESV)
Peter called Paul’s writings Scripture
“And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, 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.” (2 Peter 3:15-16 ESV)
Paul quoted Luke as Scripture
“For the Scripture says: Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain, and, “The worker is worthy of his wages.”” (1 Timothy 5:18 CSB)
“Remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they offer, for the worker is worthy of his wages. Don’t move from house to house.” (Luke 10:7 CSB)
Scripture was written in the time of eyewitnesses of Jesus
“Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.” (1 Corinthians 15:6 ESV)
This is not an exhaustive list! What others can you find?
Comment below!
More Than This Mess 