Doctrine of Scripture

The scripture claims to be true. It claims to be the word of God. It claims to be God-breathed. It verifies those claims by internal evidence, by external evidence that is experiential and scientific and prophetic. You see, every way you cut it, inside, outside, objective, subjective, the scripture verifies itself.

Welcome to Grace to You with the Bible teaching of John MacArthur. I am your host, Phil Johnson. But what sets the Bible apart from the Koran or the Book of Mormon? Why believe that Scripture is true and all other religious texts are false?

Well, for answers, I urge you to stay here as John MacArthur looks at the doctrine of scripture. That's the title of John's message today on Grace to You. But before the lesson, we've been so encouraged by the many friends like you who have reached out to us in the days since John MacArthur went to heaven. We're so thankful for the condolences and to hear what John's ministry has meant to you. I'd like you to hear one of the messages we received.

Thank you so much for this opportunity to leave a quick message. My husband and I have been transformed by the ministry of John. I specifically For the last five years, have been listening to John. But most recently, within the last two years, I've really connected to his message of what God's plan is for women. I quit my job.

I stay home full time. And it has been such a blessing to me. I really fought against it for a long time. I almost. Even felt like I didn't really care for John because I felt like he was calling me out.

And and in in highlighting where I was being rebellious against the Lord.

So I want to thank you, my husband and I. Have been blasted.

so deeply by Sutton's ministry. Yeah. Our hearts are with you. We miss and we feel. is if our spiritual grandfather has passed away.

And we're so grateful that we can hear his voice still. I'm sure that's a comfort to you all. We're continuing to pray. We'll never forget what he's done for us. And we just can't wait to see it, Kevin.

God bless you all. We're going to continue to pray for you. That's just one of many encouraging messages we've received from listeners like you. And, friend, John MacArthur's teaching continues to be relevant and helpful. That's because he was committed to one thing, making the Word of God clear.

I trust you'll see that commitment to clear biblical truth in today's lesson. And with that lesson, here is John. It's important at the beginning of any study of theology to start with the Bible because if you don't have the Bible, you don't have anything else, right? If you deny the truth of the Bible, what do you have left? Absolutely nothing.

All right, I want to basically share with you several points. Point number one. The claims of scripture. The claims of Scripture.

Now, if we're going to understand the Bible to be the Word of God, how are we going to do that? First of all, we're going to have to hear what it says about itself. Does it make that claim? Here's what the Bible claims. First of all, it claims to be infallible.

What does that mean? Makes no mistakes, right? Errorless. Let's say it's errorless in total. Infallible speaks of the total.

And there are many passages that refer to this. For example, thy word is very pure. Thy law is truth. All thy commandments are truth, The sum of thy word is truth, and that's a marked one. The sum of thy word is truth.

The total of it. And every one of the righteous ordinances endures forever, for all of thy commandments are righteous.

Now that's just out of Psalm 19, Psalm 119. There's one key verse in Psalm 19:7, and it sums it up and says this. The law of the Lord is what? Perfect. perfect, and the law being a term for the total of God's Self-disclosure and revelation.

Paul in Romans 7 verse 12 says the law is Holy righteous and good. And again, a sweeping statement of the infallibility of Scripture. And in John 10:35, he says the scripture can't be broken.

So, and this, that's a sample of literally myriads of verses that make the same claim. The Bible says it is infallible, that is what it claims. Secondly, It claims to be inerrant. And if infallible speaks of the totality, inerrant speaks of the parts. It is infallible, as the old reformers used to say, as a rule of faith and practice.

It is also inerrant in every several part.

So that it is not only watch now, infallible in the truth it conveys, but it is inerrant in every word. And that means it is without error. Proverbs 30, verse 5 says, Every word of God is flawless.

Now you can't get much more specific than that. Every word of God is flawless. That's hard sometimes to distinguish those two terms. But one means it is a reliable guide and the other says that's because every word is true.

So, in totality, it can be trusted because every individual part is utterly true. And we could take those two words, infallible and inerrant, and sum them up into one word, true. It's true. That's simply it.

Now why is it true? Because it is breathed out by God. And the Bible says that God can not what? Why? If Scripture emphasizes anything, it emphasizes the truthfulness of God.

The third claim the Bible makes for itself. And I think this is an important one, is that it is authoritative. And by that, we simply mean that the Bible affirms that it is. To be heard. And Isaiah says, Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken.

It is authoritative. And it makes that claim for itself. In fact, in Revelation nine teen nine. It says, These are the true sayings of God. And in Revelation 21.

Five. These words are true and faithful. They reflect again that truthfulness of God and they are authoritative. If it is infallible, If it is inerrant. then it must be authoritative.

A fourth thing the Bible claims for itself is that it is complete. It is complete. Deuteronomy 4:2 says this. Ye shall not add unto the word which I commanded you. neither shall you take away from it.

You shall not add to it. You shall not take away from it. And you know what it says, don't you, at the end of Revelation? Verses 18 and 19 of the last chapter, chapter 22. I testify unto every man that hears 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 the book.

And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of the prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life and the holy city, the things written in the book. You can't add, you can't take away. That's not just Revelation 22:18. That's Deuteronomy 4:2. That is a comment that appears in the Old Testament and the New Testament.

It is not to be added to. It is not to be diminished. It is complete. And then A fifth. Principle that the Bible claims for itself is that it is effective.

It is effective. That it? Dramatically affects people. Isaiah 55, 10 and 11. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish.

So it yields forth seed for the sower and bread for the eater.

So is my word that goes forth from my mouth. It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Isaiah 55, 10 and 11. God says, when I send my word out, it is effective. It does what I send it to do.

Now, those are some marvelous claims that the Bible makes, infallible, inerrant, authoritative, complete, and effective. Amazing claims. That leads us to the second point. How can we know the claims of the Bible are true? How do we know all this?

I'm going to give you some internal evidence, some external evidence, okay? First of all, internal. How do we know the Bible is what it claims? I mean, it goes around saying it's effective, authoritative, infallible, inerrant, and so forth. How do we know this?

First of all, is the testimony of the writers. There just seems to be a A sort of an air of infallibility. I mean the Bible writers were Common Everyday people. And for the average common person to just say, Thus saith the Lord. You'd feel a little self-conscious, wouldn't you?

There's none of that in the scripture. There's no sense of self-consciousness about being the mouthpiece of God. They make direct claims to inspiration without any comment. And that's what I like to see as the air of infallibility. Then, secondly, under this testimony of the writers, there are direct claims to the inspiration of the scripture.

I mean, they actually claim to be inspired by God. For example, Galatians 1. where Paul says in verse 11, I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not from man. I neither received it. Of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Now, where did he get his message? From Christ. Verse 15: When it pleased God, separated me from my mother's womb, called me by his grace to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles. Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood. He got his message directly from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now look at 1 Timothy 5 verse 18. Paul. does a wonderful thing here. For the scripture saith, You get that and see that there in verse 18? The scripture said.

Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treads out the grain. That basically means pay the preacher because he shouldn't muzzle him while he's working. And the laborer is worthy of his reward.

Now, do you know what's interesting about that verse? The first quote. Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treads out the grain comes from Deuteronomy 25, 4. The second quote. The labor is worthy of his reward comes from Luke 10, 7.

What is Paul saying about Luke? That Luke wrote what? Scripture. You see it in verse 18? The scripture saith.

And then he quotes Luke.

So there you have a New Testament writer corroborating another New Testament writer. In a sense, then you have the Apostle Paul. Affirming the scriptural reality of the gospel records. In this case, Luke. is the example.

Paul calls the Gospel writers scripture. Look at 2 Peter 3.15. And he talks here about our beloved brother Paul. according to the wisdom given unto him hath written to you Paul has written to you, he says, in all his epistles, and he's speaking in them of these things, some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable rest. As they do also the other what?

Scriptures. What does Peter say about Paul? Paul writes what? Scripture. Scripture.

So Paul corroborates the Gospels. Peter corroborates the Pauline epistles. 2 Peter 3-2 would be a good thought too. He says to be mindful of the words spoken before by the holy prophets and the commandment of us the what? The Apostle, so he equates.

The apostles' writings and commandments with the holy prophets of the Old Testament.

So you've got Paul corroborating the Gospels, Peter corroborating Paul. Would you like to have somebody corroborate Peter? Trijude 17. But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. How they told you there should be mockers in the last time who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.

You know who he's referring to? Peter. 2 Peter. The apostles of our Lord who Who spoke the words of God? And so it goes.

And in John's Revelation, by the way, at least three places, he claims to be writing the very direct word of God.

So, the first line of internal testimony to the validity of scripture is the testimony of the writers themselves. Second. Is the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. What was his view of scripture? And it's summed up in John 10:35.

Very clearly. The scripture cannot be Broken. What he means is it can't be violated. It is absolute.

Now Christ said You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life and they are they that bear witness to me, right?

So his view of Scripture was that it was a true testimony about himself. In Matthew 5:17, he says, Think not that I am come to destroy the law of the prophets, I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. In Matthew 26, 24, he looked at the cross and said, The Son of Man goeth as it is written of him. And a few verses later, in verse 54, he told Peter he didn't need the protection of Peter's sword. Because if he wanted to, he could call down a legion of angels.

But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled? In other words, the Lord knew that every single Word, every single letter of scripture had to be fulfilled. He believed it to be the word of God. In fact, in Luke 16, 17, he said, it is easier. for heaven and earth to pass away than one tittle of the law to fail.

He talked in Mark 12 about those who erred because they did not know the scripture.

Now When you deal with people on this subject, there are only three options. And they are these. One. There are errors. In the Bible, but Jesus didn't know about it.

Okay? That's one option. Two There are errors in the Bible. Jesus knew about them, but covered it up. Or three, there are no errors.

The first two do disservice to Christ, right? If there are errors in the Bible and didn't know about him, he's not God. If there are errors in the Bible and he didn't. Let us know he covered him up, then he's not a holy God. The other alternative is there are no errors.

Third line of testimony. Is the testimony of the Holy Spirit? And I think the best text that you can jot down is Second Corinthians 2. 1 Corinthians 2, I'm sorry. Verses 7 to 14.

It talks about The scripture, the truth of God in this text, starting at verse 9: I hath not seen, ear heard, neither enter the heart of the man the things that God love prepared for them that love him. But God has revealed them unto us by his Spirit. By his spirit. And he goes on to say, We have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is of God. that we might know the things freely given to us of God.

Which things we speak not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual, and so forth.

so that the Spirit of God gives testimony to the Word.

Now those are internal Areas of testimony. Let's look at external. External. and will go from the worst to the best. The first thought I would give you is The testimony of experience.

is the overwhelming impact of a transformed life. And I would dare say that in your case, For the most part. The real reason Gut level that you believe the Bible is not because you figured out all these arguments. But because you know what it does in your life when you respond to it, right? Because you've seen God work.

That's experience. Millions of Christians would support this by the very reality of their transformed lives. And as I've said before, a Bible that is falling apart usually belongs to somebody who isn't. And that's basic. You apply the things of Scripture and they work.

Now, that is a helpful line. Of evidence for the scripture, but it has weaknesses. Because whenever you use experience as a verifier of truth, you've always got people who've got other experiences, right?

So it has limitations. But but its impact nonetheless is powerful. All right, now secondly, is the testimony of science. And the Bible, whenever it speaks related to science, is always accurate. It's always accurate.

It is a phenomenal verification of scripture. Science. I'm always fascinated by the study of hydrology, which is the process of the cycle of water. You can go back to probably the oldest book in the Bible, which is Job. Chapter 36 You could do a whole hydrological dissertation on the Bible.

It says he maketh small the drops of water. They pour down rain according to their vapor. which the clouds do drop and distill upon men, abundantly. And so he's discussing the rain. You go to Psalm 135.

Verse 7.

So now you've got the rain coming down. And it's going to return how? Verse 7 of Psalm 135, he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. There's the next phase. You go back to the book of Job again.

Job 26, 8. It says he binds the water in the thick clouds, and the cloud is not torn. Isn't that marvelous? You got it coming down, ascending in the vapor, held in the clouds again. You know, it's held that way, isn't it, over the oceans and it's brought over the land and then dropped again.

28th chapter of Job, 10th verse: He cuts out rivers among the rocks, and his eye sees every precious thing. He binds the floods from overflowing. He puts borders, doesn't he, on the oceans? The whole thing is here. Marvelous.

And I'm just picking and choosing here, but Psalm 33. Seven He gathers the water of the sea together as a heap. He lays up the depth in storehouses. He keeps the oceans in their places. And it just, I could go on beyond that.

Then you could look at astronomy. Do you know that years ago people estimated there were a thousand and thirty stars?

Now they know there are a hundred billion in our galaxy and there are billions of galaxies. Jeremiah 31. Thus saith the Lord of heaven above can be measured. and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will cast off all the seed of Israel for all they have done. Can you go down in the earth and search it out?

Uh-uh. Can't because it's filled with something you couldn't survive in. Can you find the measure of heaven? With all of the telescopes in the world? No, no.

And if you ever do, then God... We'll move. Away from the reality of this analogy, and his word wouldn't be true. Because he says, I'll no more do that than you could ever measure heaven. It cannot be measured.

Psalm nineteen talks about the sun. And it says the sun. goes forth from the end of heaven. And his circuit unto the ends of it. That's just incredible.

Because they used to laugh at that and say the sun doesn't go anywhere. The sun stands still near Earth, goes around the sun, right?

Now we know the sun is in an orbit, and we are literally careening through space. not only as we go around the Sun, but as the Sun careens through space. Yeah. Incredible speeds. and it has an exact and precise orbit which they've now discovered.

Just as Psalm 19 said.

Well, you could talk about geology. You know what the science of isostasy is? It didn't really get started in 1959. It's a study of the balances of the Earth. You have to have as much depth in the sea as you do height in the mountains, or the thing will go over like this.

Where it rotates and we'll all be going through life like this. You take two steps and then up and two steps and then up, that's it.

So the Earth has to rotate perfectly. Perfectly. It has to be an absolute balance. That's the science of isostasy. You have to have the weight perfectly balanced that God has perfectly balanced the globe.

And that's exactly what the Bible says. And they used to think it was flat to start with, and that's ridiculous. That's the science of geodesy, now the shape of the earth. But let's see, I think it's Isaiah 40, verse. 22.

It's he who sits on the circle of the earth. They couldn't read that. It was all right there for them. And in chapter 40, verse 12. He measures the water in the hollow of his hand.

He measures the heaven with a span. He measures the dust of the earth in a measure. He weighs the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance. It says in Job, it's turned like clay to the seal. They uh if you had to sign your name on a On a piece of parchment, or you wanted to sign your name on a soft pen.

palette of clay. that they would impress you would have a signature Cylinder. With two sticks coming out of the end of it. And when you wanted to sign your name, you just roll that across. The soft clay.

Now, what does that say about the Earth? It's turned as the clay to the seal. It rotates on what? On axis.

So says Job 38, 14. It is a sphere. And then you have gravity, Job 26, 7, he hangs the earth on nothing. Then you have meteorology, the weight of air. They didn't discover that until rather modern times.

Yet, Job, the oldest book in the Bible, says he imparteth weight to the air.

Well, maybe we have time for just one other thought. That is the testimony of prophecy. And I think, without question, this is the greatest evidence that rises out of a holy inspired text. Is the Bible Just cut. constantly predicts things that come to pass.

And the critics can't do a thing with this. They just can't. You take, for example, the prophecy in Ezekiel. 26 to 28, which is a prophecy of the city of Tyre. And it says this.

It says Tyre will be destroyed. It says, then many nations will come against Tyre in a series of.

Sort of waves of attack. And then it says the place is going to be made flat. And bear and desolate and fishermen will dry their nets there because no no more city will be there. And then it says about it that all the rubble will be thrown into the ocean. And then it says it'll never be rebuilt.

I mean, that's at least six specifics. destroyed the mainland city. Nations rising against it in waves. Finally, it'll be decimated. Fishermen dry their nets.

The rubble thrown into the sea, never rebuilt. That is exactly what happened. Exactly what happened. And it was a great city. I mean, to say that would be like saying, you know, Denver is going to go off the face of the map.

I mean, that just didn't make sense because it was a great, great city. It controlled Phoenicia from the time of Hiram I. It was strongly fortified, had a wall 150 feet high, 15 feet thick. had a tremendous fleet protecting it from the the ocean side. And so The story is marvelous as it unfolds.

And Nebuchadnezzar did destroy the mainland city, just as the prophecy said. Later on, Alexander the Great came along, and at that particular time, the people in the mainland city that was destroyed had moved off to an island off the shore. They were living on the island. And Alexander set a boat out with some of his men and said, I want supplies for my army. He was conquering the world at the time.

He said, I want supplies for my army. And they said, forget it. You don't have a navy and we're out here on an island. We're not going to accommodate you. And so they came back and Alexander got mad.

So he took all the rubble of the city and poured threw it into the ocean and built a causeway, and marched out and destroyed the place. Just exactly what the prophet had said. All the rubble would be thrown into the sea.

Well, who would ever bother to do that? No conqueror would bother to do that. And the place became desolate. Today it's a place where fishermen dry their nets and it's never been rebuilt. That's exactly what the scripture said.

And there are such prophecies as that all over the scripture. You have the prophecies relative to Sidon. Then you have 330 plus prophecies of Jesus Christ. And just goes on and on. Read Ezekiel 30 sometime in the prophecies of Egypt.

And I'm giving you these because we all know about the messianic prophecies. We all know about the prophecies of the nation Israel. We all know about the prophecies of the Second Coming and the earth and the world around us. And we can see all of the Revelation-type prophecies, but I think these others are marvelous too. There's one in Nahum.

It says that Nineveh will be destroyed. By a flood. And That was a marvelous. Statement because Nunava was one of the largest. of all the ancient cities.

I'll just give you a little thought on this. It had a hundred-foot inner wall. 50 foot thick towers. 200 feet high, 15 gates, 150 foot wide, moat, and 7 miles circumference. Just like a It's like a fortress.

It had it beyond that. An outer wall.

So here's this inner wall. Get this a hundred feet high. 50 feet thick.

Now A half mile off of that is another wall. At its high point in 663 BC, Fifty one years later. Absolute oblivion. That little obscure prophet Nahum, chapter one, verses eight to ten, said it would happen. It happened.

There is no Nineveh. Nor has there been. for centuries. And you know what? Students of history and geography have study that place.

And they have found that it fell in the month of Ab. A B. and that is the rainy month. There is a stratum of pebbles and sand around the site that verify that it was flooded out. Just goes on and on, just marvelously accurate.

Prophecies.

Well Let me just sum it up. The scripture claims to be true. It claims to be the Word of God. It claims to be God-breathed. It verifies those claims.

By internal evidence, that is both objective and subjective. By external evidence, That is experiential. And that's subjective. And scientific and prophetic, and that's objective. You see, every way you cut it: inside, outside, objective, subjective.

The scripture verifies it so. You're listening to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur. Today's lesson is titled The Doctrine of Scripture.

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Now for the entire Grace DU staff, I'm Phil Johnson with a question. How do you know if your faith in Christ is real? How do you know you're going to heaven? Can you know for sure? Get answers in John MacArthur's study called Examine Yourself.

It starts Monday. Be here for the next 30 minutes of Unleashing God's Truth one verse at a time. on Grace to You.