Today’s message is an introduction into a very detailed study of Matthew 16, especially verses 18 and 19. No passage of Scripture in the Bible contains more Biblical doctrine concerning the three Persons of the Godhead. Contained in these verses are the five major Biblical sciences—theology, anthropology, soteriology, ecclesiology, and eschatology. These are very controversial verses because the subject involves doctrine.

The correct way to think of the Scriptures is to start with the Biblical idea that the Scriptures are “the living oracles (sayings) of God.” Stephen’s apology (defense) was for his Savior, not for himself (Acts 7). He was arraigned upon a charge that was partially true and partially false. It consisted of a false accusation with a semblance of truth. For any charge to be effective, a twisted accusation with a little truth serves the accuser’s purpose better than if it were completely false. Therefore, the believer is at a greater disadvantage before the world because he does not believe in distorting things. Thus, Stephen’s historical statements proved that he was not opposed to Moses. He said, “This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness together with the angel who was speaking to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living oracles (logia—sayings or words; dzonta—present active participle of dzao) to pass on to you” (Acts 7:38 NASB). Paul said, “THEN what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God” (Rom. 3:1, 2 NASB).

When God communicated things to Moses, they were not connected with the natural man after the flesh, because man in the flesh is spiritually dead. The whole system of the tabernacle, priesthood, and offerings was “living,” because it spoke of Jesus Christ and His work by way of shadows, types, etc. Hence, Moses, who had the Spirit of God and with whom God spoke face to face (Ex. 33:11), had the living sayings of God for the Israelites of his time. Today, we have the completed message of God. Now the living oracles are operating in living people by means of the living Redeemer’s work at Calvary. As living stones (I Pet. 2:5), Christians today are experiencing the living word (completed Bible) operating in the presentation of our bodies as living sacrifices, because we are motivated by the living hope.

Modern-day religious crusades are equated with the Biblical term “revival,” but such equation is serious error. Humanly organized crusades and revivals are not synonymous. The sovereign work of the Holy Spirit is ignored. It is the sole prerogative of the Spirit to give a true revival. A mere profession of faith does not regenerate. Regeneration is the work of the Spirit on the passive, chosen sinner, and this is something that cannot be controlled by zealous church members. It is controlled by the sovereign God.

A denominational man in charge of his denomination’s Department of Evangelism once said, “Three things will help to assure big attendance and phenomenal results. They are (1) organization, (2) involvement, and (3) proper publicity. Lead people to pray, create a deep spiritual concern, and promote complete surrender; and organizational preparation is vital. Evangelistic singing is an essential part of revival. A stirring song service brightens the atmosphere and assimilates the motley crowd into a congregation of worshippers. Testimonies by successful businessmen, celebrated athletes, and theatrical personalities will be helpful. Last but not least, universal redemption and free will produce a great harvest.” There is quite a difference between this and Peter’s message on the day of Pentecost. Read Acts 2:22-24 and 37-44.

Religionists who try to explain the human authors of the Bible can be marked as being untrustworthy. Proof of this can be easily demonstrated. Anyone who tries to explain created reality without first considering God is doomed to failure. The whole modern thought concerning creation directly contradicts the Bible. God did not begin with a process, but whatever He commanded came to be at the instant of His command.

Those who approach Christology by emphasizing Christ’s human nature conclude with the false theory that Christ was peccable (capable of sinning). If Christ could have sinned, He was not anyone’s Savior. On the other hand, Christians approach Christology by recognizing that God’s eternal Son assumed a human nature. They view His humanity only as an aspect of His Divine Person that exists for the benefit of the elect. A false concept of Christology leads to a false concept of salvation.

Most religionists have a false concept of the new birth because they begin with human faith not God-given faith. Conversely, recipients of grace know that the passive sinner cannot produce a spiritual grace by which he can embrace Christ.

Only the errant person says the truth of God has come to us through the fallible words of men. Contrarily, the Christian believes the “sayings of God” came to mankind through Divinely inspired men, who were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (See II Tim. 3:16, 17; II Pet. 1:16-21.) Holy Scripture is God-breathed. God’s Word, as it came straight from Him through one of His chosen men in the original autographs, is not fallible. The mistakes found today are those made by printers and by people who translate, but this was not the case in the original autographs. What God has given is complete.

Neo-liberalism is the false philosophy that evolution was God’s way of effecting creation, that divinity is found in Christ’s peccable humanity, that man is in charge of his own destiny, and that the word of God has come through the fallible words of men. When one weighs this teaching, he has no problem recognizing the reason for a raging battle over every major Biblical principle. Scripture is man’s only authoritative standard. This standard is disputed when the inerrancy of Scripture is questioned.

Christians agree that Divine and human qualities are recognized in Scripture, but they believe in both plenary (the whole Bible) and verbal (the words of the Bible) inspiration. Therefore, the Holy Spirit not only inspired the writers, but He also guided them in the choice of the words that they used. Although the Son of God is also the Son of Man, anyone claiming that the Son of Man was not free from sin during the days of His flesh would be heretical. Likewise, the holy sayings of God have come through men, but anyone demanding that men erred in their writings would be as heretical as those who say Christ could have sinned.

The Incarnate Word (Jesus Christ when He assumed human flesh—John 1:1, 14) and the written word (the Bible) have some of the same characteristics. Persons who distinguish between the Bible as an errant book and the inerrant truth contained in it are guilty of Biblical Nestorianism. Nestorianism is the false teaching of Nestorius, a patriarch of Constantinople in the fifth century, who denied the hypostatic union. His error lay in not distinguishing between a nature and a person. Hence, his heresy gave Jesus Christ a dual personality, two natures and two persons rather than two natures and one Person.

Distinguishing between the holy One of God in a peccable human nature and the inerrant Word in the fallible words of men is not the responsibility of “scholars.” Such a task would be futile. Christians view Jesus Christ as one Person with two natures—Divine and human—and the word of God as one Book with two authors—Divine and human. Although Christ had a human nature, He was more than man. He was the God-Man and is the Mediator between God and man. The person who denies Christ denies the Mediator and has no hope. Furthermore, even though the Bible has human authors, it is more than a human book.

No Christian doubts the uniqueness of either the “Incarnate Word” (Jesus Christ) or the “written word” (the Holy Scriptures). Jesus Christ is the “only begotten” Son. The Greek word for “only begotten” is monogenes, the unique One who has no like or equal. This word is made up of monos, only or alone, and genos, kind. It is used with reference to Jesus Christ (John 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18; I John 4:9). Although the same word is used in Luke 7:12, 8:42, and 9:38 and Hebrews 11:17, the meaning is not difficult in the light of each context. Luke spoke of an “only child” of earthly parents. The writer of Hebrews spoke of Isaac as the unique one born of a father whose loins were dead and a mother whose womb was dead. If anyone thinks Jesus Christ is like any noble and wise man, he will be consistent to say the Bible is like any other “good and wise” book.

The enemies of the Person and Work of Jesus Christ are expected to be the enemies of Holy Scripture. Since the Scriptures are the objective witness of Christ’s Person and Work, these enemies will oppose the Bible. No wonder neo-liberals begin to attack Scripture by saying inspiration is a thing of the spirit rather than of the letter. They conclude that anyone approaching the Bible with the view that inspiration must involve inerrancy is not reverent but arrogant. In contrast, Christians believe in the uniqueness of the Bible, because it is God’s unique Book that tells us about the unique Son.

Men do not cease being men when God uses them. Their natural abilities are not changed. They are merely controlled to fulfill God’s purpose. Thus, the penmen of Holy Scripture were different personalities used by God to communicate His sayings. God’s sayings not only tell us of preordained events worked out in time, but they also explain the purpose of these events. Zacharias, being filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people, And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of David His servant—As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old—Salvation FROM OUR ENEMIES, And FROM THE HAND OF ALL WHO HATE US” (Luke 1:68-71 NASB). Peter, as he was carried along by the Holy Spirit, said, “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (II Pet. 1:20, 21 NASB). The verb “moved” is a present passive participle of phero, which means holy men were being carried along by the Spirit of God as they spoke from God. Do not overlook the passive voice of the verb which means “they were brought along or carried” by the Holy Spirit.

Liberals assume too much to think that verbal inspiration (the words of the Bible) is commensurate with the theory of dictation. No one can either fully understand or explain the miracles of God; therefore, he cannot fully understand or explain verbal inspiration. A miracle would cease to be a miracle if it could be fully understood. However, we do know that a miracle is not a discord invading nature’s harmony, but it is a manifestation of God’s harmony entering nature’s discord which was caused by the fall.

The message of the gospel comes to the chosen person who has been born of the Spirit of God (I Thess. 1:4-10). Therefore, his faith stands in the power of God rather than the wisdom of men (I Cor. 2:5; Rom. 1:16). Holy Scripture was designed to set in order that which brought men into a state of disorder by the fall.

Inspiration includes every original word in Hebrew and Greek in the original autographs. The style of the writers of Scripture is preserved, but the human factor clearly does not result in errors in the original text. Man’s depravity made inspiration an absolute necessity. As men need grace because they are spiritually deprived of spirituality, those chosen to be holy authors must be men of grace in order to be efficient. Here lies the decisive starting point for the absolute necessity for Divine inspiration. Without belief in complete inspiration, the door is wide open to subjectivism. Inspiration involves the connection between thought and word. The seed of life becomes a man only through birth. Likewise, a spiritual thought becomes a spiritual reality only through the word. Therefore, Christ said His “words,” not His “thoughts,” were spirit and life. “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63 NASB). Hence, verbal (words of the Bible) inspiration is the only kind of inspiration.

The only persons who understand Christ’s words in John 6:63 are the elect of God. They not only understand them in a spiritual sense, but they find them living in their operation. The Holy Spirit having made one alive in Jesus Christ also makes him sensitive to the word of God used in his conversion experience (Rom. 1:16). Subsequent to one’s conversion experience, the living Word becomes the instrument of progressive sanctification (John 17:17; Ps. 19:7-9; 119:1-176—Only four verses in this Psalm fail to mention the word of God in this longest of all the Psalms).

The Spirit of God does more than work through the sanctified eye and ear gates; He operates through the gift of faith. Peter’s confession of faith is mentioned in the context of active apostates (John 6:66, 67). Christ’s teaching is a spiritual and life-giving experience to the consciousness of the elect who have been regenerated and converted. As many of Christ’s disciples were withdrawing from Him and were not walking with Him anymore, Christ said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” (John 6:67 NASB).

Conformity to popular opinion is prevalent among religionists today, but Christians are commanded to not be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12:2). God issued through an inspired apostle a double command—negative and positive. The renewing of the mind is a process. Since our faculty of discernment functions faultily, it must be continually renewed. This renewing requires an inerrant source of information.

 

Copyright ã   2003

This sermon has been written, preached and copyrighted by W. E. Best. While the author retains his copyright to this material, you are invited to copy the sermons or portions of them for your use. But you are specifically forbidden from changing any of the material and from selling it for any financial recompense.  We do not charge for getting out God's Word and we will not support others who do so.