Preservation

Review

Turn to Psalm 119:89.

We have seen that inspiration was the first link in the chain of revelation from God to man. The Bible claims that God breathed out His Word; that it alone is profitable for us, that it is superior to any writings of man, and that it is superior to any personal experiences that we have of God.

Inspiration was ”The process whereby the Holy Spirit influenced the writers of the Scripture to accurately record His Words, the product being the inspired Word of God." - Strouse

The entire Bible - Old and New Testaments - were fully and equally inspired, down to and including the very words of Scripture. Based on the claims of Scripture, we have confidence that the all-powerful God successfully delivered His Word to mankind exactly as He intended to do.

Introduction

Thanks to the doctrine of inspiration, the Christians of the first century could have confidence that they had the very Word of God. Since then, nearly 2000 years have passed since John wrote the final words of Revelation.

Men have tried to destroy God’s Word.

Diocletian around 302 AD ordered all Bibles to be burned

French philosopher Voltaire tried to destroy it.

The Catholic Church forbade or worked to prevent the common people from reading the Bible. Four different popes during the eighteenth century made pronouncements against giving the Bible to the people in their own language. Example: Clement XI (1713) in the Bull Unigenitus: “We strictly forbid them (the laity) to have the books of the Old and New Testament in the vulgar tongue.”

Satan has tried to corrupt God’s Word.

To summarize, both the Old Testament and the New Testament have been under attack since God gave them to us.

What has that lead to today?

To quote another individual:

“Many people have doubts about a book written so long ago. They wonder whether it is reliable for us living in the 21st century.” - Pastor Frank Camp

It begs this question: Is the Bible trustworthy?

In other words, can we have confidence today that we still have God’s Word?

I answer with a bold, emphatic, YES! As we study the doctrine of preservation, I’ll endeavor to show you why.

“Is the Bible trustworthy?”

There are essentially two different ways that people seek to answer that question today.

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Some people use a rational method to answering that question. Depending on the context, this method is sometimes called higher criticism. It treats the Bible the same as any other book. This method is chiefly a scientific exercise. It is less concerned with what the Bible says about itself and more concerned with analyzing the Greek and Hebrew copies of Scripture that exist today.

Education and science has its place, but the problem with that method is that science and one’s own conclusions become the authority that stands in judgment of the Word of God. That’s backwards.

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Instead, we are going to use a faith-based method to answering that question. We will consider the promises of God first and the claims of the Bible itself. This method treats the Bible as an entirely unique book. With this as our sole authority, we will then consider some of the historic and intellectual points.

I make no apology for the fact that what I believe about preservation is based on faith in what God has said. That is nothing to be ashamed of. Just as my confidence in my salvation is based on my faith in what God has said, so too my confidence in Scripture is based on my faith in what God has said.

Is the Bible trustworthy? Can we have confidence today that we still have God’s Word?

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Promises about itself

Read Psalm 119:89

Evidently the psalmist was confident that God’s Word was secure and would never be destroyed.

Turn to and read Matthew 5:17-19

Jesus was telling his Jewish audience that He had no intention of destroying the Old Testament. He intended to fulfill it. He refers to “the law” verse 18. This term was sometimes used by the Jews (like here) to refer to the entire Old Testament. None of the Old Testament would be lost.

In verse 19, Jesus indicated that even in the future kingdom, the commandments would be known. In other words, the Old Testament Scriptures will be preserved even unto the Millennial Kingdom.

Turn to and read Matthew 24:35

Jesus is here describing His Second Coming when He returns to earth to end the Tribulation suffering of His people and to setup His kingdom. In that context, He made this promise: my words shall not pass away.

Turn to and read John 10:31-34.

The Jews were preparing to stone Jesus for blasphemy and for claiming to be equal with God. In that moment, in verse 34, Jesus begins to quote a verse of the law.

Well, where in the law? Not in the first five books of the Bible. Jesus began quoting Psalm 82:6. Notice, Jesus uses the term “law” to refer to the entire Old Testament.

Psalm 82:6 KJV 1900

I have said, Ye are gods; And all of you are children of the most High.

In Psalm 82, the rulers of the earth are called gods because they wielded God’s authority like Romans 13 talks about. Jesus argues that if they are called gods in the inspired Psalm, how much more was He qualified to be called God because of the miracles that He could perform. In that context, Jesus says these words, “the Scripture cannot be broken.” In other words, if it was acceptable for the psalmist to call the rulers of mankind gods in Psalm 82:6, then much more, it was acceptable for Jesus to claim to be God on the basis of His miracles and sinless life. It was not wrong for the rulers to be called gods because the Scripture cannot be broken. Jesus had an even greater claim to be called God. He believed that Scripture was the Word of God, God breathed, and incapable of error.

Turn to and read 1 Peter 1:25

These are just a few of the promises that God’s Word makes about itself. On this basis, then, I have confidence that the all-powerful God has successfully preserved His Word for us today.

Application: This is the beginning of our study on preservation, but this is the critical foundation thereof. Science does not determine the preservation of Scripture because God already has. I have former friends who would mock my position as being unintellectual and unscientific. I really am okay with that. The older I get, the more I realize that science often comes to wrong conclusions. (Remember how many times science changed its conclusions about Covid during those first couple of years?)

I do not want science to be the authority for what I believe, neither should you.

Let the Bible be the authority for what you believe, even about its preservation.