The Word of God: to be Written Down                                                           2011 by Jack Kettler

In this study we will see that God's Word was to be written down and set forth as truth that is superior to the oral traditions and experiences of men. The inscription of God's Word is the prima facie blueprint that is set forth in the Scriptures. As will be seen, there are good reasons for the inscription of God's Word. One important reason is that all men have to deal with the question of authority and having God's Word in written form makes it possible to know the Lord's commands. Along with this is the issue of certainty. Before submitting to commands, we need to have certainty that the authority is grounded in the Word of God and not some nebulous tradition made up by men.

Is ultimate authority found in God, man, or the church? How are questions answered? Do we look to oral traditions for answers? If so, how many traditions are there and do they all agree? Are we guided by subjective feelings? Do we just simply follow the leaders or the head guy? Or, are the Scriptures reliable as the standard to guide us and settle disputes? This idea of following the leader is the approach used by some religions. The inscription of God's Word gives us an objective divine standard to determine truth. We will see that it is normative and God's design for the inscription of His Word.

Observe the clear commands that are set forth in God's Word about this:

For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning... Romans 15:4 (underlining emphasis mine throughout this study)

And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord..." And he [Moses] took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people... Exodus 24:4, 7

Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever. Isaiah 30:8

Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day. Jeremiah 36:2

Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersover thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou have good success. Joshua 1:7, 8

And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. Habakkuk 2:2

Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book and send it unto the seven churches... Revelation1:11

God's word was to be written down so that His people could know how to live in a way pleasing to Him and be able to know right from wrong. Apart from the objective written standard of Scripture, man is left with his own subjective opinions. In addition to the scriptural pattern just seen, there are numerous examples of the appeal to what had been previously written.

A few examples are:

Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerrubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God. Ezra 3:2

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. Matthew 4:4

And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. Luke 4:4

For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 1 Corinthians 1:19

Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. 1 Peter 1:16

When Jesus says, "because" "it is written" this was the end of the debate for Him. Christ used this very phrase when He rebuffed Satan during the wilderness temptation. In fact, Jesus used "it is written" to preface His teaching or to end an argument numerous times. Moreover, there is not one example in Scripture where Christ's human opponents questioned the authority of Scripture after Jesus used this argument. Jesus clearly used the Scriptures as the final court of appeal. Christ and the apostle Paul viewed the written Scripture as authoritative and cited them frequently.

Consider the following examples of this normative pattern:

And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. Luke 24:27

Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. John 5:39

Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come. Acts 26:22

Where did the prophets and Moses say certain things should come? This passage in Acts 26:22 recounts how the Old Testament prophets and Moses were recorded in Scripture prophesying the coming of Christ and His work of redemption.

For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Romans 4:3

It is beyond dispute that God commanded His word to be written to provide His people with directions for life. Not only did Israel have the Scriptures, so did those beyond the boarders of Israel. The Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:27-39 is a case in point. The Ethiopian eunuch was reading from the prophet Isaiah 53:7,8 about Christ when Philip meets him. Philip takes over as recorded in verse 35 and starts with the passage from Isaiah that the eunuch was reading and told him about Christ and how to be saved.

What should be done with the written word? Consider Paul's command to Timothy:

What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you, guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. II Timothy 1:13, 14 (NIV)

In the above verse, Paul commands Timothy to guard this apostolic "deposit" of truth. What precisely was this "good deposit," or "good thing?" We can extrapolate that this "deposit" was a distinguishable collection of writings. This is clearly presupposed from Paul's command to "guard it." You cannot guard a nebulous collection of oral traditions. It should also be noted there is no indication that this "deposit" was inadequate. The apostolic teachings are described as "traditions" II Thessalonians 2:15, "form of sound words" II Timothy 1:13, "the faith" in Jude verse 3, "that good thing" II Timothy 1:14, "the holy commandment" II Peter 2:21, "the apostle's doctrine" Acts 2:42, and "the faithful word and sound doctrine" in Titus 1:9. These passages referring to apostolic teaching also demonstrate evidence of the New Testament canon during the apostolic age.

During the lifetime of the apostles their "traditions" or teachings i.e., the revelation of the New

Testament was conveyed in two ways: first, orally by their teaching and preaching and second by their writings, II Thessalonians 2:15. It is important to note, there is no evidence that there was any difference between their oral teaching and preaching, and their written epistles. This holds true for God's spokesmen in the Old Testament well. Any oral traditions that were in conflict with the written Scriptures would have been rejected in accordance with Isaiah 8:20, "because there is no light in them." Apostolic teaching was restricted to the Scriptures alone like the prophets of old which were recorded in the Old Testament canon. Surviving oral traditions and non-canonical writings may have value, but only as secondary sources.

It should be self-evident that after the apostles died; their writings were the only means the church had to distribute its teachings or "traditions" with accuracy. Why is so someone might ask? Many may recall classroom exercises where the teacher would give a student a word or sentence and then instruct the student to pass the word or sentence verbally around the class room in such a way that the previous student in the process could not hear what was being passed on. When the last student in the process received the word or sentence they would announce it to the class. The teacher would then make known the original word or sentence. The original word or sentence had changed in this process and was never the same thing as at the beginning. This exercise demonstrates the inferiority of oral verbal communication.

In spite of the inferiority of verbal or oral communications, some religious practices make use of oral "traditions" which have caused much confusion and doctrinal deviation in church history. There are traditions that exist outside of the Bible, some of which are good as well as bad. The elevation of questionable oral traditions to a status of equality to the Scriptures has allowed doctrinal perversions to creep into the church in much the same way, as an experience dominated hermeneutic will subtly cause Biblical misinterpretation.

It is interesting to note that an oral tradition ultimately has to be written down or it will be lost, thus proving the superiority of the written Word of God. Once this oral tradition is written down it then stands along side Scripture in some religious traditions as an equal authority. There are many religious groups that maintain oral traditions that are now written down. What one finds, is that there are many extra-Biblical writings that were once oral now written that conflict with each other. It seems that ultimately if accepting these traditions, you have to then depend upon what the leaders tell you as to the meaning an validity of this oral now written tradition. As will be seen, Christ denounced a number of man made traditions quite strongly in the Scriptures. Extra-Biblical traditions must always be evaluated in light of Scripture.

Did Jesus ever refer to traditions or teaching of the religious leaders of His day? Yes, and these traditions are unlike and do not command the authority in the same way as His appeal to "it is written" in Matthew 4:4, 21:13; Mark 9:12; John 8:17. The phrase "it is written" is a clear reference to the finality of the Word of God. It should be noted that when Jesus says, "it was said by them of old time" he is referring to something other than the Scriptures. Jesus was simply correcting or setting the record straight. This was the traditions of men and not the commandments of God He was speaking against.

An example of this is when Christ was referring to the commentary of the Jewish elders that was in error, not the Old Testament Scriptures themselves:

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. Matthew 5:21

We find another example in Matthew's gospel where Christ was referring to the traditions or teaching either written or oral of the Pharisees. Consider from Matthew where He says, it hath been said:

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. Matthew 5:43

Once again, Christ is referring to false teaching of the Pharisees. Jesus mentioned the tradition of

the elders in Mark 7:3. Christ goes on in the gospel of Mark 7:9 to say that the Pharisees had substituted the traditions of men for the commandments of God. This was a serious error. We must always be on guard against false traditions being substituted for the Word of God. Hopefully the reader sees how Christ always corrected the false traditions of the Pharisee's by citing the written Word of God.

Christ condemned the teaching and tradition of the Pharisees in the strongest terms in Matthew chapter twenty-three. Christ's denunciation of Pharisaical teaching is so strong that it should give any one pause before attempting to elevate their own traditions or revelations to a status of equality with the Biblical Scriptures. In addition, Christ places tremendous emphasis on the Scriptures and knowing them correctly.

In fact, Jesus rebuked the religious leaders for not knowing the Scriptures:

And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the Scriptures, neither the power of God? Mark 12:24

The religious leaders of Christ's day erred because they did not know the Scriptures. This strongly

implies that the Scriptures are reliable and trustworthy as evidenced by Christ's rebuke of the leaders for not knowing them. If the Scriptures are reliable and trustworthy, it follows that they are sufficient. This rebuke of Christ makes no sense if the Scriptures are incomplete or were unavailable. If the Scriptures were incomplete, then if follows that whatever knowledge was possessed would be incomplete and the leaders whom Christ had rebuked could claim justifiable ignorance.

When Jesus quotes the Old Testament or says, "it is written" this should inspire confidence in the Scriptures because Jesus is establishing them as God's highest authority. He obviously knew that the Scriptures were reliable and He quoted them as authoritative. Again, we see that the Scriptures existed and were widely known in Israel.

There are numerous places where Christ and the apostles quote the Old Testament directly. For example, in Matt.19: 4, 5 Jesus quotes Genesis 2:24. In Hebrews 1:5 the writer is mentioning Psalms 2:7. In fact, there are literally hundreds of examples of the New Testament writers quoting the Old Testament. In Acts 18:24, 28 we learn of Apollos who was "mighty in the Scriptures" and convinced the Jews publicly that Jesus was Christ from the Scriptures. What Scriptures were these? They were the Old Testament Scriptures. This sheds important light on how important the Scriptures are. Apollos did not use testimonials, or new revelations to convince the Jews, he used the Scriptures.

The early Christians and the Christians today have both preached orally, and have written sermons and books. There is a major difference between our preaching and writing and that of the apostles. The Word of the apostles was revelatory, where as ours is simply repeating the divinely inspired Word of the apostles. The apostle's words were original and authoritative. The Church and ours is derivative and only authoritative as long as it is completely faithful to the word of the apostle's i.e., the Word of God.

The astute reader will see the clear pattern in Scripture of appealing to what had been previously written. This establishes a normative pattern of using the Scriptures to determine truth. Therefore, using the Scriptures to interpret the Scriptures and allowing them to be the highest or final court of appeal is Biblical and it is the duty of God's people to submit to their authority. This is so because when the Scriptures speak, it is God speaking!

And finally, in light of our Lord's perennial emphatic declaration "It is Written," the apostle Paul sets down the rule for the Church of God:

Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written." Then you will not take pride in one man over against another. 1 Corinthians 4:6 (NIV)

It seems beyond dispute, that God's Word, written in the Scriptures are the only sure infallible source of truth!

                                
Mr. Kettler is an ordained Presbyterian Elder and the owner of http://www.Undergroundnotes.com where his theological, philosophical and political articles can be read. He has worked in corporate America for over 30 years and is now realizing his dreams as a successful home business entrepreneur.