It is written

 
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It is written                                           It is written

The Bible ALONE is God's word written to us all

Many religions have a different opinion about the Bible being the only book that is God inspired. Equally distressing are those who are Catholic that challenge God's written word by saying where does the Bible say it alone is our source of truth and not tradition also.

“Christ gave his disciples no command to write, but only to teach.” (Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, p. 767).  

As you read this please look at your heart and your attitude toward what God has said, even if it challenges other teachings. Whenever tradition or men say things such as the word is not all there is, they are challenging what God himself said.

God is into communicating to man His heart His mind as instruction for us. And has never left us without a witness. He has commanded those who He revealed himself to, whether prophets, judges or Kings to write down what He has said. We do know that the book of Job is from the Abrahamic period. from the time of Adam until Moses we do not find God commanding anyone to specifically write what  he said down. During this period he was dealing with individuals and families, but when we come to the time of Moses he starts to communicate with a nation that He will eventually commission to go to all people. So it became necessary as God was going to reveal himself and how man can approach him that his instructions be written. This began with Moses when he went up Mt. Sinai to receive what is called the law. The first installment God himself wrote down with His finger on the tablets of stone (Exodus 31:18). He also spoke to Moses 603 other commandments that were written down after he came off the mountain. Because of this written word of God we have an accurate record today of what had been said. The term  “the Bible alone” was the principle given from God. God gave Moses the record and it was written down so there would be no discrepancy. Exod.24:4 “And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord.”v.12 “Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.” Exodus 31:23  “The Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words: Exod. 34:27-29, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” God told Moses to write all of His words down and put them in a book because these words were a covenant between God and Israel.    Deut. 4:1-2 “Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers is giving you “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take anything from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.”


 Gods commands were written, so there would be no mistake but it was later that traditions were added and Jesus said it were these laws of the Pharisees that negated Gods.V.22 “These words the LORD spoke to all your assembly, in the mountain from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and He added no more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.
Deut. 13:4 “You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice.” Whatever he told Moses as instructions was written down. Obeying God’s voice is equal to hearing it from Scripture. God’s commands are written, so there would be no mistake. But it was later that traditions were added that Jesus said were laws that negated God’s word. God also said Deut. 8:3  “that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.” It is God’s written word that Jesus said, “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63)

Exod.24:7,  “Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people.”

Deut.8:11 “Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today.” Not reading and studying what is written, is equal to forgetting God himself.

Deut.11:18-20, “Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.19 “You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,” To do this one would have a source to refer to so that everyone was not writing different things, this is the same words God told Moses to write for all to have.

Deut.29:21, “And the LORD would separate him from all the tribes of Israel for adversity, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this Book of the Law,”This book was all the 10 commandments as well as the instructions for the priesthood and the tabernacle and the cleanliness laws

Deut.28:15, “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you Josh 8:34,” And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and the cursings, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law.” Obeying Gods voice is equal to hearing it from Scripture

Num.15:40 “and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God.” To remember means we read what was written to us otherwise we would forget. The king made a covenant before the LORD, 2 King 23:3 “to follow the LORD and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book.”( same recorded in 2 Chron.34:3)

Nehemiah's testimony shows that tradition does not help keep people in obedience or on track Neh.8:2 they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses,” Scribes were to copy the writings for the people to have.

Neh.8:14, “And they found written in the Law, which the LORD had commanded by Moses.” Neh.8:18, “ Also day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day there was a sacred assembly.”
Dan 9:13 “As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth.” Where did Jesus say we would find the truth “Thy WORD is truth.”

When we come to the New Testament when the wise men seek the birth of the Lord 2:2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” Herod asks where the Christ would be born. In v.5 They responded to Herod by saying”, In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet” and they quote Micah. Without Scripture they would have never known this, as consistently seen in the New Testament we find Jesus referring back to what is written.

Mary obeyed the written law Luke 2:22, “Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord.”

We should respect the word no less than what Jesus did. He never referred to His own authority by itself, but pointed back to the inspired prophets and the written word, giving the correct interpretation when necessary.
He used terms toward the religious leaders as “search the Scriptures” (John 5:39), “is it not written in your law?” (John 10:34; Luke 10:25) “have you not read?” (Matt.12:3; 12:5; 19:4; 21:16; 22:31), This clearly shows that the people had access to and were recommended to read and interpret the Scriptures for themselves not rely on their religious teachers. Since Jesus would argue often with the religious leaders about their traditions outside Gods word.

Jesus always quoted the Scriptures as the final source of authority (Matt. 22:29 32; Mark 7:9 13) he never appealed to his own authority alone. He always showed the people how they had a wrong understanding because of their following the religious teachers traditions, “You err, not knowing the Scriptures. This eventually led the people Mark 12:10 “Have you not read this Scripture: 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.”

“Jesus said, If a man love me, he will keep MY words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings; and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent Me” (John 14:23-24) The Lord himself looked to the authority of the Scriptures alone, as did His apostles after Him. They confirmed the very message of the Old Testament. “The law of the LORD is perfect converting the soul” (Psalm 19:7). No word no conversion, no salvation. The believer is to be true to the way of the Lord, holding alone to what is written: “Thy Word is truth.” Jn.4:23, “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him., “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” Jesus said he was the truth incarnate (the word), that his word is spirit and truth. There is a correlation of life within the word when it is practiced and obeyed.

Luke 24:44 “Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” Notice where Jesus points to for the fulfillment of his ministry, the OT prophets and writings. We would never have been able to identify him without theses things written down. Ps 40:7, “Then I said, “Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me.” His purpose was to fulfill what was written of him by the prophets.

The prophets that wrote of Messiahs coming were commanded to record what was said by writing. Isaiah, “Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and note it on a scroll, that it may be for time to come, forever and ever”(Isa.30:8)  “Thus speaks the LORD God of Israel, saying: ‘Write in a book for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you”(Jer.30:2). Jer. 30:2, “Thus speaks the LORD God of Israel, saying: 'Write in a book for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you.” Jer. 36:6, “You go, therefore, and read from the scroll which you have written at my instruction, the words of the LORD.”  “Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon?” (I Kings 11:41)  All of Israel's history and acts are written in the Chronicles of the Kings. I King 14:29, “Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?” I King 15:7, “Now the rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did,”   I Kings 15:7 “Now the rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did,   I Kings 15:31, “Now the rest of the acts of Nadab,”  I King 16:5 “Now the rest of the acts of Baasha.” I Kings 16:20, “Now the rest of the acts of Zimri.”   I King 16:27, “Now the rest of the acts of Omri.”  I Kings 22:39, “Now the rest of the acts of Ahab.”   I Kings 22:45, “Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat.   II King 1:18, “Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah.”   II Kiings 8:23 “Now the rest of the acts of Joram.” II Ki.10:34, “Now the rest of the acts of Jehu”   Esth. 10:2, “Now all the acts of his power and his might, and the account of the greatness of Mordecai”. 

The point is...

All is written so that there would be no mistake. The question that now comes up is whether what is written was ever authorized by God or only men, even though it may be accurate. They would not have recognized who Jesus was unless they read their Scriptures.

2 Tim. 3:16, “ALL Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,” ALL means ALL. Now we need to comprehend what is meant by this. The Scripture written down from the beginning was all inspired by God meaning God breathed, he moved the men, prophets scribes to write the words down. So it is not on their own initiative but God instructed them and it is Gods communication to mankind.

2 Pet. 1:20-21, “knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”  Prophecy as well as the writings are all From God as the source.

The Catholic position is that the Scripture was Not intended to be circulated “Since it is clear from experience that if the Sacred Books are permitted everywhere and without discrimination in the vernacular (the common language of the people) there will by reasons of the boldness of men arise there from more harm than good...” (Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, p. 274).

“As it has been clearly shown by experience that, if the holy Bible in the vernacular is generally permitted without any distinction, more harm than utility is thereby caused...” (Great Encyclical Letters of Leo XIII, pp. 412-413).

The New Testament starts off with this Acts 1:2-5, “ until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen.” They were already following what the prophets did in the OT by writing what were commanded down for all to have.

John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”

Why is the spirit sent? To Remind the apostles exactly what Jesus spoke, so they can write it accurately.

John 15:26-27 “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. “And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

Why is the spirit sent? To testify, give witness of Jesus to all the ends of the earth. As we have seen God said to WRITE in the Old Testament. He says the same in the New Testament.

John 16:12-14,  “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.  “He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.

Why is the spirit sent? To guide them into the truth he will speak what Christ said when he was with them as well as things in the future.

The law was written by Moses Jn.1:14, Jesus said Luke 16:16, “The law and the prophets were until John.” Jesus also referred to the law as his place of authority to prove what he said and did was true “Or have you not read in the law” (Matt 12:5.)

Paul writes Rom. 3:21 “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, Paul rebukes the Jews who had the oracles of God as they copied it memorized it and taught others Rom. 2:20-24, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. For “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written. 'Paul even states Rom 4:13-15   “For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.” Yet he also makes the qualifying statement in   Rom 10:17 “faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the WORD OF GOD.”

Paul said to the Thessalonians 1Thes 2:13, “For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.” He's saying they accepted what he said as what God has said and what God has written.

Paul had no less of a respect and authority in the word of Gospel Acts 24:14 “But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets.” Notice what  he refers to for his found faith,
Paul constantly referred to the word not tradition1 Cor.14:21 In the law it is written: 1 Cor.14:37, “If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord.”

2 Peter 1:20-21, “knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation. For prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost”. The expression is apparent that Peter makes it clear that Scripture was given to Gods chosen prophets by God himself. To maintain the purity of God's instructions it became the written word, the source is a pure source, the Scripture itself. Look what Peter says in v.19 previously, and so we have the prophetic word confirmed which you do well to heed.” A more sure word of prophecy, which is written.

Gods word is unchangeable and pure. Matthew 24:35, And then again “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words shall not pass away” The word is not as tradition that changes. Heb.4:12, 'the word is living, active” and powerful.  If one does not submit to the word they protest. Instead of the Protestants will not submit to tradition not in the word.

John says 1 Jn.1:4, “and these things I write to you.” 1 Jn.5:13 “these things I have written to you who believe.” “I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read to all the holy brethren.” (1 Cor. 1:2 and Eph.1:1)

1 Pt.1:23, “we are born again not with corruptible seed but with incorruptible seed through the word of God which lives and abides forever.” Here Peter states the word is not mans which decays and does not have staying power but as from God “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.” (John 21:25) The Apostle Peter speaks about the writings of the Apostle Paul when he states, “even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all 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” (2 Peter 3:15-16). Peter also declares that he was writing so that the believers could remember what he said. So he wrote, “Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth” (2 Peter 1:12).

Rev 1:11 saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”

Rev 1:19 ”Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.”

Rev 2:1 “To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, 'These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands”
There is only one time Jesus specifically tells John not to write, Rev 10:4, “Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.”

Rev 14:12, “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Both of these statements are connected with the Scripture itself. Rev 22:14, “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.” Only those who are obeying His Word will be able to enter.

Rev 14:13, “Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.'“ “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.”

Rev 19:9, Then he said to me, “Write: 'Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!'“ And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.”

Rev 21:5, Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”

The book ends with Revelation 22:18-19”For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book: If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the Book of Life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book” This is not just about this book, Revelation is the consummation of all prophecy, as Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Luke 1:3, “it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, “Remember all that is recorded as Scripture is God authorized, not just an undertaking of man.

Paul's recommendation for our spiritual health, “that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.” 1 Corinthians 4:6, “Do not exceed beyond what is written exceed beyond what is written.” Means that the word alone is to be our guide. When we do not esteem the word as our authority and look to something other than Scripture it becomes prompted by pride. All those who add to the Scripture do this whether it is the book of Mormon, Science and Scripture, the NWT of the Jehovah's Witnesses, or tradition that is claimed to be equal with or a supplement to Scripture.  

Jesus said John 17:8 “I have given them your words you have given me, and they (the disciples) have received it” John 17:14. “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”  These words were recorded, by being written as commanded by Him after He resurrected. Shouldn't we be reading and obeying these words above the words of men, any men?

He has given it to all, to you. The question is what will you do with it?

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