What the Bible Claims for Itself

By Kevin Moore

There are approximately 130 occurrences in the Old Testament of the expression (or one comparable to it), "The word of the Lord came to..." (Isaiah 1:2; Joel 1:1; Micah 1:1; etc.). This record of divine communications and supernatural activities was regarded and revered by early Jews and Christians as having been inspired by God’s Spirit (cf. Acts 1:16; 28:25; Hebrews 3:7; 10:15-17). While human instrumentality is understood, the heavenly throne is recognized as the ultimate source of biblical revelation (2 Timothy 3:15-16; 2 Peter 1:1-21; etc.).

Although the divine will has been revealed in various ways throughout history, it is now conveyed through God’s Son, Jesus the Christ (Hebrews 1:1-4; 4:14). From the earliest days of the Christian movement, the teachings of Jesus were considered authoritative (cf. Acts 11:16; 20:35; 1 Corinthians 7:10; 11:23-25; 1 Timothy 5:18; 1 John 1:1-4). The content of the preaching of Christ’s 1st-century representatives was not viewed as the "word of men" but rather the "word of God" (1 Thessalonians 2:13; 4:8).

The term "scripture," which essentially means "a writing," is typically employed in the special sense of a sacred writing, i.e., that which has ultimately emanated from divine causation. Not only do the Old Testament documents comprise the holy scriptures, but the New Testament is included as well. The apostle Paul acknowledged the writings of Luke, along with the Old Testament, as belonging to "the scripture" (1 Timothy 5:18; cf. Luke 10:7). The apostle Peter accepted the letters of Paul as a well-known collection of authoritative compositions included among "the rest of scriptures" (2 Peter 3:15-16). In fact, the spiritual message proclaimed by Paul and his associates was not of human derivation but came "through the revelation of Jesus Christ" (Galatians 1:11-12), was "received from the Lord" (1 Corinthians 11:23), and constituted "the commandments of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 14:37). God is regarded as the originator of Christian dogma, and God’s Spirit is identified as the agency of revelation and inspiration (1 Corinthians 2:7-13; cf. Ephesians 3:1-6).

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