The Bible / The Scripture is INSPIRED by GOD

GOD HAS SPOKEN THROUGH HIS WRITINGS

Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21).

One of the greatest works of the Holy Spirit has been the giving of God’s truth to people through the prophets. Notice that phrase, "prophecy of Scripture." This simply means God’s prophetic message as written in the Scriptures. The prophets not only spoke from God, they also wrote from God! What they prophesied was not their own "interpretation." It was not their personal opinion or guess about truth. True prophecy never came from human will. It came from God Himself as His Holy Spirit moved them to tell just what He planned.

All Scripture Is Inspired

The Holy Spirit did not have to change the prophets into machines to do this. They still wrote in the language and manner of their time. This passage in 2 Peter is about the Old Testament prophets. They usually used the Hebrew language. (The New Testament used the Greek language.) We can often see in the writing what kind of person the writer was. The Holy Spirit used all of this—the place and time, the language, and the person himself—to write exactly what God wanted. That is why Paul could be so confident in describing all Scripture in this way:

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

ERV: All Scripture is given by God. And all Scripture is useful for teaching and for showing people what is wrong in their lives. It is useful for correcting faults and teaching the right way to live. Using the Scriptures, those who serve God will be prepared and will have everything they need to do every good work.

Are you looking for "teaching" that is truly from God? Go to Scripture! Do you need "training in righteousness"? Go to Scripture! If you are mistaken and need "correcting," go to Scripture! There God Himself guides you, so that you can return to Him. In fact Scripture is so dependable in every part that all of it is useful. It completely (”thoroughly”) prepares us for every good work.

God gave the New Testament in much the same way as He had given the Old Testament. As we shall see later in this lesson, the Holy Spirit worked in the apostles and their fellow-prophets in the early church. Their writings are also called "Scripture" (2 Peter 3:16; 1 Timothy 5:18).

The statements of the Bible itself leave no doubt. God has spoken fully and clearly through the Scriptures! Many great thinkers have written their own books. But not one of their books is like the Bible. The Bible is like a great library of 66 books. God used 40 different writers to pen these 66 books during a period of over 1,500 years.

Yet all these writings agree. They tell one story—the greatest theme of all history. Yes, this Book is "breathed" or "inspired" by the one true God Himself. The Bible is the Lord's own book!

GOD'S MAIN WAY OF SPEAKING

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son (Hebrews 1:1-2).

In a previous lesson we noted from Hebrews 1:1 that God spoke through the prophets. But the writer of Hebrews had an even more important lesson to teach. He wished to show how God has spoken to us today. He did not mean that the old prophets have nothing to say to us. Hebrews itself has many quotes and lessons from Old Testament prophets. So the writer clearly means that God’s main way of speaking to us today is "by His Son." According to the book of Hebrews, "His Son" is Jesus Christ (Hebrews 3:1-6). 

GOD HAS SPOKEN IN TWO PARTS

Hebrews 1:1-2 places God’s speaking into two different parts. Look at each of these:

TIME HAS TWO PARTS

”Long ago” (1:1)
”in these last days” (1:2)

GOD’S PEOPLE ARE IN TWO GROUPS

”God spoke to our fathers” (1:1)
”He has spoken to us” (1:2)

GOD HAS USED TWO METHODS

”by the prophets” (1:1)
”by His Son” (1:2)

In the past God used the prophets as His main method of speaking. He used them "at many times and in many ways." Yet all along God planned to use a better method for the last part of history. "In these last days" He has spoken "by His Son."

The verses which come next in Hebrews show why the Son is far better. He is the same as God, and He represents God in the most clear and exact way.

”He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Hebrews 1:3).
ERV: The Son shows the glory of God. He is a perfect copy of God's nature.

The old prophets give us much of the basic knowledge that we need. What they said is still true. Yet God wants us to know more fully what He is like. God has much to say especially "to us." That is why we should learn from God’s Son, Jesus Christ.

The Bible becomes much easier to understand when we realize that God has dealt with two major groups in two major ways. This is especially important when we try to obey the commands of the Bible. Should we have the priests of the Old Testament or the priests of the New Testament? Should we be circumcised or baptized? Should we keep the Sabbaths? Should we still worship in the ways given by the Law of Moses? Hebrews chapter 7 helps us to find the answer.

THERE HAS BEEN A CHANGE OF THE LAW

Remember that Psalm 110 promised that God would send the special "Priest forever." Hebrews 7 shows us that Priest. He is Jesus Christ! Jesus came from the family line of Judah and King David. But the Law of Moses was very strict about such matters. It said that its priests should come only from the family line of Levi and Aaron. How could Jesus have become our High Priest when He did not belong to the right family? Remember that it was God’s prophet who foretold that the Christ would come from Judah and David (Genesis 49:10; Psalm 89). It was also God’s prophet who said that this Christ would be "Priest forever" (Psalm 110). Therefore God must have planned some change. God planned a change of law, so that the King from Judah and David could become Priest. This conclusion is exactly what we find in Hebrews 7:12.

For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well.

Hebrews 7:18 goes on to say that

”a former commandment is set aside.”
ERV: The old rule is now ended. 

 

OTHER LAWS OF MOSES

God spoke through the great prophet Moses when He gave that old rule about priests coming only from Levi and Aaron. What about the other laws given through Moses? Are they also "set aside"? The very same words are used in Hebrews chapter 10.

He does away with the first in order to establish [begin] the second (Hebrews 10:9).

This passage teaches that Christ’s new sacrifice replaces the old sacrifices. The two kinds of sacrifice could not continue together. The book of Hebrews uses the word "better" thirteen times to show how Jesus’ way is greater than any other way.

The new way of Christ is so much better that there is no longer any need for the old way given through Moses. Moses was the first mediator. But just as Moses himself promised, God sent a second Mediator. Now we must listen to the new Mediator, Jesus Christ.

That is why the New Testament tells us that Moses’ laws about circumcision no longer rule us (Acts 15). Anyone trying to put us under those laws again will have serious trouble from God (Galatians 5:1-6). For the same reason, no one can judge us now about Moses’ special days and Sabbaths (Colossians 2:16). Colossians 2:17 describes those old days as "a shadow of the things to come." Hebrews 8:5 and Hebrews 10:1 also describe matters of the Law as "a copy" and "shadow". Imagine a man walking along behind a hanging sheet. People on the other side of the sheet see his shadow. They know he is coming. But they only have a little idea of what he might look like. In the same way, the Law was a "shadow" that came first so that people could get an idea of what was to come. The shadow helped to picture the coming reality. As Colossians 2:17 says, "the substance belongs to Christ."

Even the Ten Commandments were a part of that old shadow. Romans 7 shows this because it quotes from "the Law." Using the very words of the Ten Commandments (Romans 7:7), it plainly says we "died to the Law" and "we have been released from the Law."

Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God… But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. (Romans 7:4,6).

ERV: In the same way, my brothers and sisters, your old selves died and you became free from the law through the body of Christ. Now you belong to someone else. You belong to the one who was raised from death. We belong to Christ so that we can be used in service to God… In the past the law held us as prisoners, but our old selves died, and we were made free from the law. So now we serve God in a new way, not in the old way with the written rules. Now we serve God in the new way, with the Spirit.

We see the same teaching in many other scriptures (Romans 3-4; 6:15; 10:4; Galatians 2-3; 5:1-4; Hebrews 9:15-17; 12:18-24). Perhaps the passage that sums them up best is Galatians 3:25:

But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

ERV: Now the way of faith has come. So we don’t live under the Law now.  

 

THE COVENANT WITH ISRAEL

When God has chosen people to belong to Him, He has usually made a special agreement with them. This agreement ties or binds those people to God. Since the agreement is so strong it is called a covenant. Covenants are like contracts. They help people to know where they stand with each other. For example, when a man and woman marry they enter a marriage covenant. They know they belong to each other. They should feel sure about their relationship. They know what each should give and receive. They go forward in life with more certainty about the right direction.

One of the most famous covenants God made was with Abraham and his family (Genesis 17). The Israelites were Abraham’s children through his son, Isaac. When the Israelites had grown large enough to become a nation, God sent Moses to them. When God brought them out of Egypt, He made His special covenant with all Israelites (1 Kings 8:9,21). The Ten Commandments were an important part of this covenant.

And the Lord said to Moses, ”Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”… And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. (Exodus 34:27-28).

Many people have misunderstood this covenant. They have thought that it was meant for all people. But God Himself spoke of it as the special agreement between Him and the Israelites (Exodus 34:27; Leviticus 20:23-26; 26:46; Malachi 4:4).

Many have thought that it would go on after Christ. Yet even the Old Testament pointed ahead to a great change. The Old Covenant would be replaced by a New Covenant.

”Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant [agreement] with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt… (Jeremiah 31:31-32).

Notice that the New Covenant would be quite different. It would "not be like" the covenant that God had made with them when they came from Egypt. Scripture is very clear on this point. The New Covenant would not be the old one continued or repeated. The two covenants would be different in important ways. 

THE NEW COVENANT REPLACED THE OLD

Hebrews 8 proves that the promise of Jeremiah 31 has come true. It declares that Christ is now the Mediator of the New Covenant (Hebrews 8:6). It quotes from Jeremiah 31, and then concludes,

In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away (Hebrews 8:13).

"Obsolete" means "no longer in use" or "out of date." We can still learn many important things from the old covenant (as we have already done in this course). But the Old Covenant is "obsolete" in that it does not rule over us as it once ruled over the Israelites. God’s people are no longer part of that covenant written on stone tablets at Sinai (2 Corinthians 3:6-11; Galatians 4:21-31). Many people worry about this change. They ask, "If we are not under the Ten Commandments, does that mean we can steal, commit adultery, and murder now?" The answer is that God has replaced the Law with something far better.

Take the question of murder, for example. Jesus, our Mediator, teaches us not to murder. But He goes much further. He warns us against anger and calling people bad names (Matthew 5:21-22). What keeps us from becoming murderers? Is it old ties to the Law of Moses? No, for Romans 7 tells us that we died to that Law. Now we do not even want to murder, for we follow Jesus and He trains us how to love.

The same can be said for nearly all of the Ten Commandments. Jesus not only repeated them in His New Covenant, He gave them greater meaning. The only command not repeated for Christians was the Sabbath. Indeed, as already noted, no one can force Sabbaths on us today.

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ (Colossians 2:16-17).

The shadows were important for their purpose, which was to point toward Christ. But that purpose has been served. Christ has come. We now have the reality. Hebrews 8:11 assures that all in the New Covenant "know the Lord." They all have His "laws" written on their hearts (Hebrews 8:10).

Which "laws"? The full will of God now given through Jesus! For Jesus is the Mediator of the New Covenant (Hebrews 8:6). He is the main way that God speaks to us now (Hebrews 1:2). He is the Prophet like Moses. He is the One of whom God said,

”You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people” (Acts 3:22-23).

Jesus emphasized that all His teachings and commands should be obeyed (Matthew 7:21-23; 28:18-20).  

THE NEW FOUNDATION

In Matthew 7, Jesus pictured His teachings as a rock. Wise people build on that rock by following His teachings (Matthew 7:24-27). Ephesians 2:19-20 also draws a picture of building.

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone [foundation].

Jesus chose special apostles and prophets to serve as the "foundation" with Him. Since that time, all others who follow Jesus should build on that firm foundation. In what sense were the apostles and prophets of the New Testament the foundation? They passed on the teachings of Jesus. He gave His very words to them (John 17:8). Jesus used the Holy Spirit to keep His teachings safe (John 14:26; 16:12-15; 1 Corinthians 2:10-16). Jesus promised the apostles,

When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth (John 16:13).

When these teachings were written down they were respected as words from the Lord Himself.

If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge [say] that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord (1 Corinthians 14:37).

So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter (2 Thessalonians 2:15).

Today we no longer hear the apostles speak in a direct way ("by word of mouth"). But we do have their letters. So we must continue to "stand firm and hold to the teachings" given in these letters. The holy writings of the apostles and their helpers are called the New Testament. "Testament" means a will or a covenant. When we call these writings the "New Testament," we reflect the fact that the "New Covenant" has now come. When we call the writings of the Hebrew prophets the "Old Testament," we reflect the fact that it included the Old Covenant. By calling that first covenant an "Old Covenant," we imply that a New Covenant has come. (See a similar thought in Hebrews 8:13.)

The best news of this new covenant is that Christ brought something that Moses’ Law could never bring. Laws can only show us what sin is and tell the punishment for sin. But laws and animal sacrifices do not provide forgiveness for us (Hebrews 10:1-18). We needed God’s kindness and mercy, which the Bible also calls God’s "grace."

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17).

In this new agreement God forgives and forgets our sins because of Jesus.

For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more (Hebrews 8:12; 10:17).

Do you need God to forgive your sins? Do you need God to forget the bad things in your past? Do you need God’s kindness and mercy? Then you need the New Covenant! Even we who are non-Jews are welcomed into it and share in its blessings (Ephesians 2:11-3:7). All who truly want to belong to God today must enter into this New Covenant with Him.

LET'S SUM UP

We have already seen how important it is to listen carefully to God’s prophets, and especially to the Prophet like Moses. But how can we today listen carefully when they spoke so long ago? God knows our need for clear words from Him. Therefore He has also worked carefully. His Holy Spirit worked in the writers of the Bible. Through them He gives us His pure words that can be fully trusted. God also knew that people who read the Bible might be confused about which rules apply to them. Therefore He has made clear that we today are not under the Old Covenant that was given at Sinai for the Israelites. We are under the far better covenant, the New Covenant, given through Christ for all people. In the New Covenant, we know God and enjoy His full forgiveness.

LORD, how you have blessed us by your prophets and the written record they left for us! Thank You for showing so clearly how the old prophecies were fulfilled. Help us to enter Your New Covenant through Jesus Christ… 

Source worldbibleschool.org