The Scope of God’s Word

Loading Scripture… 2 Timothy 3:16–17 (ESV)

If you have not already done so, I encourage you to read the “How to Use the Book and Website” section. It will set your expectations as you read each chapter and section of the book. For chapter 1, I’ll restate the expectations for chapter content here:

What you will receive as you peruse the chapters is the guidance of an experienced curator of the library of options available to you. In each chapter, I will provide:

• A brief explanation of the topic and why it matters
• What you should seek to understand as you study the topic
• My high-level views on the topic
• Recommended books on the topic.

Let’s begin with the scope of God’s Word.

What is it and why does it matter?

With the phrase “The Scope of God’s Word”, we seek to determine what properly belongs in Scripture and what does not. “Scripture,” “the Bible,” and “God’s Word” are often used interchangeably. The book commonly referred to as the Bible represents God’s revelation of Himself to man. In it, we read of His power, His purpose, and His kingdom. God communicates historical facts, truths about Himself, the sinfulness of man, and His plan to save a people for Himself and rescue them from His wrath. Faith in the work of Christ laid out in this book is God’s intended means of salvation for His people.

In the next chapter, we will consider claims about the Bible – its authority, its sufficiency, its inerrancy, its inspiration. But before we get there, shouldn’t we know precisely what “it” is? Which writings constitute the Bible? If I pick up a Catholic Bible, I get bonus books. Are they supposed to be there? Did the Baptist bookstore cheat me out of part of God’s Word? If “All Scripture” is what the Bible claims it is in 2 Timothy 3, isn’t it important to know what constitutes “All Scripture”? Isn’t it also important to know what does not constitute “All Scripture”? Jesus declares in Matthew 4:4 “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Paul speaks in Acts 20:27 of “declaring to you the whole counsel of God.”

Rightly defining “every word”, “whole counsel”, and “All Scripture” is crucial to the Christian walk. I introduced this section of the book with the controversial statement “don’t read your Bible”. The point was to encourage you not to just read the Bible but to know your Bible. You can be confident of this about your Bible: it contains “every word”, “All Scripture”, and “the whole counsel” of God. You can also be content knowing that nothing in your Bible strays from that definition. In the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, you have the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Pretty important stuff.

What should I seek to understand about the topic?

• Often, the term “canon” is used to describe the content of the Bible. What does that mean, and how does it impact my understanding of what I hold in my hands?
• What is meant by aprocryphal and pseudoepigraphal writings and why are they not considered part of the Protestant canon?
• What "rules" contributed to determining whether a particular text should be part of the canon of Scripture?
• How has the text of the canon been preserved over the centuries?
• How reliable are the manuscripts and translations we have available to us today?

My thoughts on the topic

There is nothing more important than getting this right. What we know of God comes from the Bible. It is often called “special revelation” because we have no way of knowing the way of salvation without God revealing it to us in His Word. In the next chapter, we’ll consider the truth claims about the Bible. But none of those truth claims hold water unless you first have confidence that you know what does and does not constitute God’s Word. Satan has manipulated people concerning God’s Word since the Garden of Eden. If you hold in your hands every word of God and Satan comes calling, as he did in Genesis 3:1, asking, “Did God actually say?” You can reply with confidence, “Yep.”

Consider the temptations of Jesus by Satan in the wilderness in Matthew 4. Three times, Satan tempts Jesus to sin. And three times, Jesus responds with “It is written.” Written where? In the case of Jesus’ three responses, he was quoting the Book of Deuteronomy. He wasn’t using some self-help book he picked up in the local Jewish bookstore. He wasn’t quoting some televangelist to whom he donated his life savings for a magical handkerchief. No, he referenced Scripture. God’s Word. The Bible. All those terms mean the same thing and speak of the “every word”, “All Scripture”, and “the whole counsel” by which “the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”