The Association of Messianic Congregations was founded for the purpose
of being an encouragement and resource for Messianic Congregations,
which includes promoting sound doctrine within the body of Messiah. We
therefore consider the study of Scripture and the faithfulness of our
doctrinal statement to Scripture to be of great importance.
This study is the first in a series that will examine why we believe as
we do. It is our hope that you will seriously consider these studies and
allow the Lord to show you if, in fact, our beliefs are faithful to His
Word.
The first point of our doctrinal statement reads:
THE SCRIPTURES: We believe that
the Scriptures, both the Tenach (Hebrew Scriptures) and the Brit
Hadasha (New Covenant), are fully inspired and are God's
complete and final revelation to man until the Messiah returns.
The 66 books of the Bible are inerrant in the original
autographs. They are true and authoritative in every category of
knowledge to which they speak.
(Full Statement: www.messianicassociation.org/believe.htm) |
What Books Constitute Scripture? Why?
'Canonicity' may be defined as the worthiness of a book to be included
in the Scriptures. As claims of canonicity arose, church leaders tested
each book in question by seeking evidence of inspiration, whether or not
it bore the authority of a prophet or godly leader, whether it declared
itself to be the Word of God, and other such tests. In this manner, by
the end of the fourth century, the thirty-nine books of the Tenach and
the twenty-seven of the Brit Chadasha were recognized as the extent and
limit of Holy Scripture.
I. ALL SCRIPTURE IS FULLY INSPIRED
The Nature of Inspiration
We are told in 2 Timothy 3:16, "All Scripture is inspired
by God." The Greek word translated 'inspired' is
Theopneustos, which means "God-breathed," and emphasizes the
exhalation of God. Inspiration, then, is really "outspiration".
God "outbreathed" the Scriptures through human writers.
Peter adds clarification:
"No prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own
interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will,
but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God" (2
Peter 1:20-21).
Prophecy is the ability to receive revelation directly from God.
Revelation is "a divine act by which God communicates to man those
things... which otherwise man could never know."(1) God inspired
some of His prophets to write down their revelations as Scripture. He
also inspired some of His compilers of records and researchers to write
down the results of their labors as Scripture (cf. Luke 1:1-4).
But what does "men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God"
mean? The Greek word for 'moved' is the same word used in Acts 27:15 and
17 to refer to a ship being "borne along" the water by
powerful winds. Now, "no prophecy was ever made by an act of human
will" reveals that God superintended the inspiration process so
everything that God wanted written down was written, and that no human
addition, deletion, or error crept in. A prophet, then, was one whom God
moved upon in such a way that His Word was both heard and delivered by
that prophet infallibly and inerrantly, that is, with unfailing accuracy
and without error. We can therefore conclude that all who wrote the
Scriptures - whether prophets, compilers or researchers - were
"borne along" by the Holy Spirit of God as they wrote their
revelations, compilations, and research results. God inspired - "outbreathed"
- the powerful Word-bearing wind of His Spirit into the sails of His
chosen vessels to bear them along in the writing of His Word. Yet, God
allowed the flavor of each writer's personality and style to be richly
evident.
Evidences for Inspiration
The evidences for inspiration are overwhelming:
1. Although the sixty-six books of Scripture were written in three
languages over a period of 1600 years in at least six different
countries spanning three continents by about forty men in at least
eleven different occupations, they constitute a fully integrated Book
that contains no contradiction and is consistent in the development of
its central theme: the movement of history toward the unchallenged reign
of Messiah unto the glory of God.
2. No other holy book declares how the universe came into existence,
identifies sin as a condition of the human spirit, proclaims that
deliverance from sin is a work of God, or that one's favor with God is
predicated solely on faith in God and not on good or penitential deeds.
3. Scripture agrees with, and never contradicts, any proven scientific
fact that it declares or implies.
4. On matters of science that are unobserved or unobservable (such as
the origin of the universe and of living things), Scripture offers the
most plausible explanation based on scientific evidence.
5. Scripture has profoundly changed multitudes of individual lives for
the good.
6. Scripture has influenced nations and the world for the good.
7. Scripture is a literary masterpiece in a class of its own.
8. Scripture has inspired (so to speak) a multitude of the world's great
works of art.
9. Scripture has declared numerous prophecies which have been fulfilled
in history to the
minutest detail, including blueprints of history; the fates of nations
and cities; the preservation
of the Jew against all odds; Yeshua's life, crucifixion and
resurrection.
II. SCRIPTURE IS GOD'S COMPLETE AND FINAL REVELATION TO MAN UNTIL THE
MESSIAH RETURNS
"I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of
this book: if anyone adds to them, God shall add to him the plagues
which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words
of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away from his part in the
tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this
book" (Revelation 22:18-19).
These verses appear just three and four verses before the end of
Revelation. The dire warnings that John issues against tampering with
the book clearly indicates that it is the Word of God; but inasmuch as
Revelation alludes to hundreds of Old Testament prophecies from Genesis
to Malachi, and to the core teachings and prophecies of the New
Testament from Matthew to Jude, it is clear that the entire Bible is the
Word of God and that John's warnings against tampering refer to it, as
well. John's warnings, therefore, seal up Scripture as the final
revelation of God to man until the epochal revelation of the King of
Kings and Lord of Lords Himself upon His return.
III. THE 66 BOOKS OF THE BIBLE ARE INERRANT IN THE ORIGINAL AUTOGRAPHS
'Inerrancy' means "without error." Inerrancy may be attributed
only to the original autographs of Scripture because it was only the
original autographs that were inspired. The Bible contains no error on
any matter despite the protests of some. In matters of history on which
the Bible touches, archaeological and historical discoveries have put
scoffers to shame hundreds of times. In scientific matters, the Bible
has always proven to be accurate. For example, in the matter of origins,
evidence for evolution is exceedingly feeble despite claims to the
contrary, whereas evidence for biblical creation is overwhelming.
IV. THE SCRIPTURES ARE TRUE AND AUTHORITATIVE IN EVERY CATEGORY OF
KNOWLEDGE TO WHICH THEY SPEAK
This derives from the fact that the Scriptures are
"God-breathed," that "God is true" ( John 3:33; 2
Cor. 1:18) and that "it is impossible for God to lie" (Heb.
6:18). For evidences for biblical infallibility in matters of science:
go to The Creation Research Institute at www.icr.org
For matters of history: go to www.christianbooks.com
and type in the keyword "archaeology."
(1) Arnold Fruchtenbaum, Manuscript 34: "The Bible and Divine
Revelation" (Tustin, CA: Ariel Press) www.Ariel.org
To view the AMC's entire doctrinal statement, click here. www.MessianicAssociation.org/believe.htm
Recommended listening: "Evidence that the Bible Is Reliable,"
by Steve Shermett in the audio section of www.ShalomTucson.com
* * * * *
© Norman Manzon, 2005.
Norman Manzon is a Bible teacher
in Hawaii and may be reached at
BibleStudyProject@hawaiiantel.net.
More of his studies may be accessed at
www.BibleStudyProject.org.
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