A Voice Crying in the Wilderness

While most people would agree that the Bible is the word of God, many do not believe that the Bible is the entire word of God. That is, they believe the Bible is part of God’s word but there are other places where we can find God’s word as well.

The scriptures do in fact tell us that the Bible is the entire word of God. First, consider these passages:

Matthew 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Deuteronomy 32:4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

Psalms 7:9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.

Revelation 15:3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.

When the Lord Jesus Christ was tempted by Satan (Matthew 4:4), Jesus rebuked Satan and said that man is to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. If it is coming out of the mouth of God, then by definition it is God’s spoken word. Deuteronomy 32:4, Psalms 7:9, and Revelation 15:3 tell us that God is just and righteous. Certainly, if a just and righteous God requires that we live by every word that proceeds out of his mouth, he would give us every word that proceeds out of his mouth. Does that mean that every word that proceeds out of his mouth is written down and handed to us? No, not alone – but let us look at another passage:

John 17: Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

Jesus tells us that the word of God the Father is truth. Now, consider these passages:

John 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

Romans 2:2 But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.

Here, we see that God’s spoken word will judge those that reject him and that God judges according to truth. So far, we see that God expects us to live by every word he speaks, that he is just and righteous, that his word is truth, and that he judges according to truth – or according to his word. Now, let us consider just a few more passages:

Revelation 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

In the final judgment, God judges by the things written in the books. God expects us to live by every word that he speaks and whatever he speaks – his word – is truth. God is just and righteous and judges according to his word and truth. While he is judging according to his word, we see he is referring to what is written.

The Bible is the entire word of God.

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But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

Often times, I’ve heard people say that we will have to give an account of every idle word that we speak. Actually, this passage tells us that every idle word that we speak will give an account for us. Read on in verse 37:

For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

Every idle word we speak can and will be used against us in court – God’s court.

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And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

I often hear people call Eve a “help meet” for Adam. I’ve heard men call their wives help meets. Eve is not a help meet. A wife is not a help meet. God said he would make a help meet – or a help suitable – for Adam. Consider the use of “meet” in this passage:

2 Timothy 2:21 (KJV) If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.

We are to be a vessel meet for the master’s use – a vessel suitable for the master’s use.

Meet = suitable.

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And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

A lot of people will use this passage to encourage church members. Because it says the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church, we are often told the devil can’t defeat the church. I think too many people have been influenced by Hollywood’s portrayal of hell as the kingdom of the devil. Preachers say that the church needs to go on the offensive and attack the devil and the gates of his (Satan) kingdom cannot prevail against the church’s attack. There are couple of problems with this. First, I find nowhere in the Bible where we are instructed to attack the devil. We are told to resist the devil – but that is different than attacking. Second, the devil is not in hell today. One day he will be but he is not there now. Hell is not the devil’s kingdom – it is a place of torments.

So what do the “gates of hell” mean? In the Bible, hell can refer to two places: the place of torments where lost souls go until the final judgment when they will be cast into the eternal lake of fire, and hell can also refer to the grave. When Jesus said the gates of hell will not prevail against the church, he meant the church will not die when members die. This is where the idea of church perpetuity originates. Jesus promised the church would still survive when members die because he would add new members to the church.

Gates of hell = the grave.

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But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The commonly misunderstood part of this passage is “they are spiritually discerned.” I’ve heard several people explain that “they” refers to the natural man – or the lost person. The root of this confusion is because the meaning of discerned is misunderstood. Some think discerned means “unable to understand” and thus they equate “they” to the natural man – or the natural man is spiritually discerned. The dictionary defines discerned as: distinguished, seen, discovered. With that definition, it is now easy to see that “they” cannot mean the natural man because the natural man is not spiritually discovered. The verse is talking about receiving – or discovering – the things of God. “They are spiritually discerned” means the things of God are spiritually discovered – something the natural man cannot do.

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I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

I see two misunderstandings with this passage. First, people think because they are saved, they have the power to do all things. But this passage really says that everything I do, I can do it through Christ – and that ought to be the goal of every saved person. Second, people believe that the Lord Jesus Christ goes around willy nilly giving them strength. But this passage really tells us that what gives us strength is doing things through Christ. To illustrate, a bodybuilder gets stronger because he exercises his body. A Christian gets stronger because he or she exercises his or her spirit. Your spirit will never get stronger if it is never exercised – if you never do things through Christ.

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Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

This passage is commonly quoted when a person wants to convey the idea that the Bible cannot be privately or individually interpreted – that each reader cannot say the Bible means something different for each individual. While I agree that the Bible must speak for itself and that the Bible does not mean something different for each individual, this verse does not support that. Let’s look at the surrounding passages:

2 Peter 1:19-21 (KJV) We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

As you can see, the passage is talking about the origin of scripture – that the scriptures did not come about from the private interpretation of events as viewed by the penman. The scriptures came about as God moved holy men by the Holy Spirit and not as the result of the penman’s will. This passage does not address how a person can or cannot reach a conclusion as to the meaning of the scriptures.

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