|
|
|
|
WRITTEN TRUTH GIVEN SUPERNATURALLY - NOTE TWO
Get that! He "reasoned with them out of the scriptures," being the par excellence source Book for human instruction. That is because the Holy Bible is "scripture of truth" (see Daniel 10:21), given by Almighty God and without error. The Bible, the words of God, is the Book by which it is possible to accurately measure, calibrate, judge, and correct man's notions. Paul used the scriptures extant at his time to reason with others about the things of God. But now a number of the writings attributed to Paul are recognized as being part of the scripture of truth themselves. The Apostle Peter bears witness to the God-breathed nature of such writings of Paul in the second epistle that carries his name, where it is written: 15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord issalvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;16 As also in al I his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some Things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. - II Peter 3:15,16 Peter classifies Paul's epistles with the other scriptures. That is a powerful statement. It helps Christians to know that they can reason with impunity from both the Old Testament and the New Testament as the God-given special Unit of revelation, the scriptures of truth. Notice also (from 11 Peter 3:15,16) that not all things in the scripture of truth are immediately understandable to everyone. The knowledge of Biblical teachings often comes only after much study, comparing scripture passages with other portions of Holy Writ, and yielding to what one has learned previously in humble obedience to the Lord. Apparently the Thessalonians did not follow that principle as well as they might have, for, according to the record, the Bereans: ... were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. - From Acts 17:11 - That was in response to the preaching of Paul. They examined the scripture of truth to determine the veracity of what Paul proclaimed. (It is obvious that they did not consider Paul infallible, and that is-true in general. It is not the penmen of the scriptures who are inspired and inerrant; rather it is the writings themselves that come from the breath of God and perfectly state the truth and only the truth which God decided to share with us.) After His resurrection the Lord Jesus (unrecognized at first) spoke to two disciples saying, "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory?"(From Luke 24:25,26): And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. - Luke 24:27 - Later after "their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight" (from Luke 24:31), "they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? - from Luke 24:32 - Do you have a heart that aches to know more about the Lord Jesus? Search the scriptures of truth to learn more about the One who loves you more than any mere mortal in this world ever could. Reading them can be an encounter like the two disciples had with Him (see above) as knowledge of Him and His spiritual truth is burned into your being. Do you want to know more? There is much to learn from and about the scripture of truth. RSH , 1999 Dialogue through correspondence welcome.
|
|
|
