With Pastor Joseph Rodrigues
Introduction
This study
explores the written Word of God in
it its distinctiveness as a form of communication from other forms of
revelation.
It explores its content, its authority, and
its purpose and how it came to us.
It looks at
how Jesus used it, and how his life was a fulfillment of it.
It examines what God’s word accomplishes
through it and how we should approach it for proper study.
-Recap
on last two sessions
-Coverage
this session a consideration of ‘the word of God’ [the written
word, the Bible];
Distinction from other forms of revelation, i.e.-general (creation &
moral experience vs. special revelation).
General revelation is
a revelation of god made to all people everywhere (See especially Rom. 1:18-32
and Rom 2:14 ff.) – creation and moral experience
Special revelation
denotes the ways god makes himself known with clarity and fullness, which far
surpasses general revelation. It is centred in the miracle of the incarnation and mediated
through the god inspired words of the bible
The word of God
OT usage ‘dabar’ (word of god) is used to
describe a divine communication which comes from god to men in the form of
commandment, prophecy, warning, or encouragement. ; E.g., ‘the word of Yahweh came to…’
Sometimes the word is ‘seen’ as a vision (e.g. Is. 2:1)
Yahweh’s word is an extension of the divine
personality, invested with divine authority and is to be heeded by angels and men
(e.g. Ps.103: 20; Dt. 12:32)
It stands forever (Is.40: 8)
Once uttered it cannot return unfulfilled (Is. 55:11)
Only in Ps
119 is it referred to as a written rather than a spoken message
(used as a synonym for the law ‘Tora’).
NT usage- two Greek words are used to convey
the meaning of dabar. They are logos
and Rhema.
Logos is used supremely as the message of
the Christian gospel (Mk. 2:2; Acts 6:2; Gal 6:6, for example).
Rhema
also bears the same meaning (Rom.10:8; Eph. 6:17; Heb. 6:5 etc.) though it is not as comprehensive in its scope.
To the early Church the word was a message
revealed from God in Christ, which was to be preached, ministered, and obeyed. It
was the word of life (Phil 2:16), of
the cross (1Cor. 1:18), of salvation
(Acts 13:26), of truth (Eph 1:13) and of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:19).
Structure: 66 books (39 in OT and 27 in NT)
Form:
Old testament-
Written over a period of about 1000years, from 1400 BC-400 BC, followed by
the 400 “silent years” before Christ came
History: Genesis
to Deuteronomy (Law) = 5
Joshua
to Esther =
12
Poetry: Job to Song of Songs = 5
Hosea
to Malachi (Minor Prophets) = 12
New
testament-
Gospels: Matthew ,
Mark, Luke, John = 4
Historical: Acts = 1
Epistles
and Pastoral: Romans to Jude = 21
Prophetic: Revelation = 1
The Bible reveals the word of god in writing (Jn 10:35). The law was a written code.
The Bible reveals the word of god in person (Jn. 1:1, 14; Rev. 19: 11-13)
There is total agreement between the
two!
Authority and power of
God’s written word:
-Author
is Holy Spirit
-Given
by inspiration (2 Tim 3:16); is
profitable
-The
interpreter is the Holy Spirit, the final authority (2 Pe. 1:20-21)
-Two titles ‘word of god’ and ‘scripture’ are
synonymous, both in OT and NT
-In the OT Scripture were the ‘law’ and the ‘prophets’. There were also
other ‘writings’
-Scripture
cannot be broken (Jn 10:34-36)
-Authority behind NT is Holy Spirit
(Jn 14:25-26)
-Jesus gave the disciples all they
could bear (receive, understand) at the time.
He trusted the Holy Spirit to reveal all further truth (Jn. 16: 12-14).
-No
room for doubt (Matt. 4: 4, 7, 10);
he used it as a sword (Eph 6:17)
-Not
even the smallest part of the written word is insignificant (Matt. 5:17-18)
-Whatever
came through Moses was from God whose word is eternal (Matt. 22:31-32)
-References
in NT (about 18 times) “……..that scripture might be fulfilled”
-All
of the events in his life were in accordance with scripture (birth, life, death
resurrection etc.)
-You
read the bible, the bible reads you! (Heb. 4:12; alive/effective/discerning)
-When received in faith it will do
what it is intended to do (1 Thess. 2:13).
-Makes us partakers of God’s own
nature (2 Pe.
1:3-4)
-Produces
faith (Rom. 10:17)
-Is
the seed of new birth; incorruptible seed; it produces incorruptible life (1 Pe. 1: 22, 23)
-Provides spiritual nourishment
Milk
(1 Pe. 2:2)
Bread
(Matt. 4:4).
Solid
food (Heb. 5: 12-14)
-Provides
mental illumination, (Ps. 119:27-30) by making available the
wisdom of god
-Provides
physical healing (Ps. 107:17-20)
-Provides victory over
sin and death (Matt.4: 4, 7, 10; Ps 119: 9, 11)
-Provides cleansing
and holiness (Eph. 5: 25-27)
-Acts as a mirror (Jas.
1:23-25)
Notes: The Apocrypha
The word "Apocrypha" means that which
is veiled secret or closed'.
In theology, the term apocrypha refers to the
14 books added to the OT by the Roman Catholic Church in 1546 AD (at the Council of Trent). These books are: 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras, Tobit, Judith, Book of Esther, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, Song of the Three Holy Children,
History of Susanna, Bel and The Dragon, The Prayer of
Manasses, 1 Macabees and 2 Macabees.
Most of the rest of
Christendom rejects these books as having a place in the canon of Scripture., for the following reasons:
1.None of these books had a place in the
Hebrew canon, which forms our Old Testament.
2. They were written in the 400 years between
Malachi and John the Baptist, the period between the two testaments which is
referred to as "the silent years" because of the lack of inspired
prophetic utterances. This is why the Jews themselves had rejected these
writings from inclusion in the Hebrew canon
3. Jesus endorsed the Old Testament Books
specifically during his ministry, quoting authoritatively from them. But he
never quoted from any of the apocryphal writings listed above. Neither did any
of the Apostles, who used the OT scriptures to testify about Christ.
4 None of these books was ever included in any
catalogue of Canonical books during the first four centuries of the Church.
5. None of these writers claims divine
inspiration and authority for
their writings. This is in contrast to "The Law and The
Prophets" that Jesus and the Apostles upheld as authoritative.
6. None of these writers speaks with a message
from God.
7. They teach doctrines and uphold practices
which are contrary to the Canonical scriptures.