18 For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Rev 22:18-19
In the last few days the desire of this ministry to hold firmly to the doctrine of “sola scriptura” has been strongly slammed, by of all people other Christians. Not only that, but by Christians who themselves are committed to teaching and exhorting others through their own online ministry.
Contrary to their current article that disputes this doctrine, by no means at all do we suggest that the Spirit of God does not speak and guide His people today. Nor do we elevate a piece of text, no matter how highly regarded, to that which we worship, as is alluded to. Rather we worship the One who is the Living Word of God, and surrender ourselves to be led by His Spirit in all things. However by holding to a Scripture that is now complete and unchanging, we have a firm and true measure by which to discern that which we believe Him to be communicating to and through us, as we pick up our cross daily and follow after our Lord Jesus Christ.
The general argument against a closed canon of Scripture, both New and Old Testaments, was that at the time of being written by Paul and the other apostles, they were solely referring to the Old Testament when referring to Scripture. This cannot be so, because even from the pen of the apostle Peter, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, came the following statement when speaking about the writings of the apostle Paul:
14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation–as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.2 Peter 3:14-16
It was obvious the apostle Peter considered the writings of Paul at least, to hold the same authority as Scripture in the Old Testament. Also we have the exhortation from that same Paul, when writing to Jude:
3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.Jude 1:3
That “once for all delivered” wisdom cannot be referring solely to the Old Testament, for the Old Testament only looked forward to the coming Messiah through types and shadows, whereas the New Testament sees the fulfillment of the Old Testament in Christ so much more clearly, and equips those who will believe upon Him to know His will. Therefore if this statement of Paul written to Jude does speak of the New Testament revelation, then it also speaks of its completion too, for it has already been delivered once for all.
What is more, the testimony of Luke in the book of Acts records the authority bestowed upon Paul by God, to reveal His truth to the whole world:
12 Then a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there, 13 came to me; and he stood and said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that same hour I looked up at him. 14 Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth. 15 For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.Acts 22:12-15
We believe there is the strongest of evidence to suggest that the pages of Scripture are complete in the canon we now have recorded in the Holy Bible. We believe that the Holy Spirit Himself guides us by the Light of His already revealed Word, never contradicting what has been written, and not adding, taking away, or changing its message. We believe the Holy Bible, contained in the total of sixty six books is the complete revelation of God for faith and practice, and is able to equip us totally in our walk with Him.
With regard to the way in which the Lord communicates with us now, even if He speaks to us through dreams, visions, or an inner voice, the only tangible means available to us, given by God to discern that which He is truly speaking, is the canon of Scripture we now have, believing it to be His Word. Every word spoken to us or through us, even by the Holy Spirit dwelling within, shall be in submission to that which is already revealed in the pages of the Holy Bible, or it shall be rejected as false.
The following description of the canon of Scripture from Easton’s Illustrated Dictionary is one that I wholeheartedly agree with:
“This word is derived from a Hebrew and Greek word denoting a reed or cane. Hence it means something straight, or something to keep straight; and hence also a rule, or something ruled or measured. It came to be applied to the Scriptures, to denote that they contained the authoritative rule of faith and practice, the standard of doctrine and duty. A book is said to be of canonical authority when it has a right to take a place with the other books which contain a revelation of the Divine will. Such a right does not arise from any ecclesiastical authority, but from the evidence of the inspired authorship of the book. The canonical (i.e., the inspired) books of the Old and New Testaments, are a complete rule, and the only rule, of faith and practice. They contain the whole supernatural revelation of God to men. The New Testament Canon was formed gradually under divine guidance. The different books as they were written came into the possession of the Christian associations which began to be formed soon after the day of Pentecost; and thus slowly the canon increased till all the books were gathered together into one collection containing the whole of the twenty-seven New Testament inspired books. Historical evidence shows that from about the middle of the second century this New Testament collection was substantially such as we now possess. Each book contained in it is proved to have, on its own ground, a right to its place; and thus the whole is of divine authority.
The Old Testament Canon is witnessed to by the New Testament writers. Their evidence is conclusive. The quotations in the New from the Old are very numerous, and the references are much more numerous. These quotations and references by our Lord and the apostles most clearly imply the existence at that time of a well-known and publicly acknowledged collection of Hebrew writings under the designation of “The Scriptures;” “The Law and the Prophets and the Psalms;” “Moses and the Prophets,” etc. The appeals to these books, moreover, show that they were regarded as of divine authority, finally deciding all questions of which they treat; and that the whole collection so recognized consisted only of the thirty-nine books which we now posses. Thus they endorse as genuine and authentic the canon of the Jewish Scriptures.”
—Easton’s Illustrated Dictionary
PDF No related posts.
