The Bible does not have authority in the lives of most believers. Dr. Tony Evans says many Christians doubt the Bible's power because they misunderstand its source. A lot of us believe it's the Word of Man about God rather than the Word of God to man. This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. When it comes to hearing from God, people may ask, why just the Bible? Well, today Dr. Evans explains why the collection of books we call Scripture is complete, trustworthy, and final.
Let's join him as he presents this important look at how God chose to speak and why that matters today. When we talk about canon, we're not talking about a gun that fires. The word canon was used, it meant a reed, and this reed was used like you would use a ruler today to measure something. While this reed or canon became that which measured a standard, something that would be the standard for something that would become the rule or the guideline or the boundary. Well, when applied to the Bible, the word canon came to be used of the completed list of books that make up the Bible. When we talk about the canon, we're talking about the books that make up the Bible. Remember, the Bible is one book composed of 66 books written by over 40 different authors over a period of 1500 plus years, and these 66 books—39 in the Old Testament, 27 in the New Testament—make up the canon or the rule that God established for the revelation that He wanted recorded inspiration and passed down to man. The Bible is the complete and binding, determinative standard for rule, faith, and life by which every other writing, every other concept, and every idea must be measured.
So that's where canon is. It's the standard or the measuring rod for anything else that's written, for anything else that's thought, idea, for anything else that's communicated, or any other concept. The Bible is the standard. The question of the canon is, how do we know which books should have made up the Bible? There were plenty of books written that are not in the Bible. How do we know that somebody else can't come up with a new book and say, this book should be in the Bible or part of the canon, part of the collected books that make up the Bible? At the heart of this, we must understand a very fundamental principle, and that is, man does not determine the canon, God does.
Man only recognizes the canon that God has set up. The chief standard is this, that the books placed in the Bible had to have been written by a prophet or an apostle, prophet in the Old Testament, apostle in the New Testament, or someone operating under their authority. The first prophet that God spoke through is Moses. We get a little bit of that in Exodus chapter 24, verses 3 and 4. Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of the Lord, and all the ordinances, and all the people answered with one voice and said, all the words which the Lord has spoken we will do. And Moses, here it is, wrote down all the words of the Lord. So God spoke, revelation. Moses wrote it down, inspiration.
Then he arose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with 12 pillars of the 12 tribes of Israel. So then, there was a record, Moses heard from God, he made a record of what God had said so that there was now a recording of events that God wanted recorded. How do we know what happened in Genesis 1?
In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth. Well, there's only one way we know that. It was written down.
That's how we know that. Who wrote it down? Moses. Where did Moses get the information? Well, remember all the nights he was spending up there in the mountain?
He was getting private consultation on events that had already taken place that no human being was around to witness when they took place. God told him directly. How do we know there's a heaven? The same way Moses found out that the earth was created by God. God wrote it down. The reason we know that there's an eternal future is because God had it written.
So when it was written down, it became part of the written documentation that later on would be made part of this canon. In fact, the Scripture goes on to say that there was strict guidelines. When God spoke to a prophet, and this is some information you can even use today, look at Deuteronomy chapter 18. God says in verse 18, Deuteronomy 18, 18, I will raise up a prophet from among the countrymen like you, and I will put my words in his mouth. And he shall speak to them all that I commanded. Because God spoke through the prophets. And it shall come about that whoever will not listen to my words, which he shall speak in my name. Please notice that. He's speaking, but I'm talking.
Okay? He's just the mouthpiece. I am the spokesperson. I myself will require it of him. But the prophet who shall speak a word presumptuously in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he shall speak in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. Now, don't be in a hurry to be a prophet.
Okay? In other words, if you're gonna say, God said, and you're speaking on behalf of God, so you walked out there and you said, let me tell you what God told me to tell you, and God says, and I didn't tell him to say that, you will know that I didn't tell him to say that. There will be no question about whether I told him to say that. You know why? Because he won't be saying anything else.
He will die. Now, do you think there was a long line of people volunteering to be a prophet? No, because that person was responsible for speaking the very words of God. He had to communicate what God had said. So God spoke through the prophet.
It was recorded in a book, but now we go one step further. The book became the standard by which the people of God were supposed to live. So what made it canonical or part of a canon, God said it, a prophet got it, the prophet wrote it, but it became now the measuring stick or the standard by which the people of God were to live their lives and function. In other words, God didn't give the Bible so you would have reading every day. He didn't give the Bible just so you could have some spiritual words to pick up. No, no, he gave the Bible so that it would be the standard for the life of the person who received it. Look at Joshua chapter 1 verse 8, talking about the book that Moses had composed, which basically are the first five books of the Bible. Joshua, who's the next generation, verse 8, this book of the law—so now we've already got a book that's a very small book because this is the only part of the Bible that's been written—this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it, for then you will make your way prosperous and you will have success. So why are we failing? Because we're not following.
We like parts we like, we don't like parts we don't like, we do the parts we like, we don't do the parts we don't like, and we wonder why we have unsuccessful lives. The canon were the books God chose that the people were supposed to follow, not simply the book God chose that the people were supposed to read. And so that would be the canon. Let's look at another verse in Joshua, Joshua 24, the last chapter of the book, verse 26, Joshua 24, verse 26. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord.
Now please notice this. Moses wrote the book, but guess what Joshua does? Add to the book. So God is building his book over time. He said something through Moses.
Now he's giving additional data through Joshua. He tells Joshua to write it down. Why does he tell Joshua to write it down? Because God wanted it as part of his canon.
He wanted it to be passed on to the next generation. So the Bible is an accumulated document over time, not a one-book wonder that was written by one person, because it was written in stages as the people had need for more information. So you have an accumulated document, again spoken by God to a prophet or somebody functioning underneath of a prophet that was to be the standard whereby the people of God were to live. And that standard didn't stop with the Old Testament. We'll see how divine revelation continued through Jesus and the gospel message when Dr. Evans returns in just a moment.
Stay with us. The thing about serving an infinite God is that no matter how much you know about Him, there's always more to learn. So whether you're brand new to Scripture or an experienced ministry professional, there's something for you at the Tony Evans Training Center.
You'll find online courses covering core concepts of the faith. Working at your own pace and schedule, you'll dig deep into the historical context of the book, uncover the key teachings, and learn how to apply them in real-world situations. There's lots of exclusive content from Dr. Evans to keep you interested and motivated, and an online forum where you can ask questions, get answers, and collaborate with other students. The more you learn, the more you'll want to learn.
Give it a try. The Tony Evans Training Center, a world of discovery anytime, anywhere. You can find out more about the Tony Evans Training Center when you visit our website at tonyevans.org. And while you're there, be sure to check out how you can receive a copy of Tony's current audio series, The Glory of God's Word. This 10-message collection explores the nature, purpose, and divine power of Scripture, showing how God's Word can renew your mind, direct your steps, and transform your life from the inside out. When you make a financial contribution to help support the alternative, we'll send you this complete series as our thank-you gift. And if you'll do that today, we'll also include an added bonus, Tony's book, The Transforming Word. It's designed to help you go deeper in your understanding of the Bible and learn how to actually receive and apply its life-giving truth. Request your copy of this exclusive resource package online today at tonyevans.org, or call us at 1-800-800-3222, or someone from our resource team will be glad to assist you.
Right now, let's get back to Dr. Evans with more of today's message. Let's look at Galatians chapter 1. This is how the last days, things were spoken by Jesus Christ. He's spoken to the disciples, and they recorded it at the proper time, and so the Old Testament through prophets, the New Testament through Jesus Christ, that is, through his apostles. In Galatians chapter 1 verse 11, we read these words, For I would have you to know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached to me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
So he's saying, no, I didn't go to school for this. Nobody sat me down and told me to write it. I got this directly from God. A lot of us believe it's the word of man about God, rather than the word of God to man. It had to bear the testimony of the Holy Spirit. That is, its content had to square with biblical truth.
Its content had to square with biblical truth. You couldn't be writing something that contradicted everything else that had been accumulated up to that point, because a contradiction cannot be God, because God is a non-contradictory being. God is totally consistent with himself. God never gets confused, so everything must always be consistent. So therefore, it had to line up with the Holy Spirit. That's why it says the prophets, 2 Peter 1, spoke by means of the Holy Spirit.
That's why the best way to interpret Scripture, the Scripture says, is to compare Scripture with Scripture. Now, one of the keys to knowing that it was canonical is that the church or the people of God accepted it as such. In other words, it found a hearing among God's people.
Why? Because their spirit witnessed with the information that was given them. One, it came from an apostle. Two, it was consistent in doctrine. But three, it found wide hearing no matter where it went, because it was indeed the word of God, and they would refer to it as the Scripture.
So God's people recognized it as such. That's why the people in Nehemiah chapter 8 cried, the Bible says, when they heard the word of God. They just wept.
They cried like a baby, and then it says they got up and threw a party. They cried because they had missed it for so long, then they threw a party because they finally had it, because they had what was the word of God. There were all these books out there, but they began narrower and narrower as meant to recognize what was written by a prophet or authorized by a prophet or an apostle, what was consistent in doctrine, what was widely accepted by the church, what was validated by Jesus's own words. It was composed of a canon or the closed book. Now let me say something about the Bible now, as we wind down here. The Bible is finished, complete. There are no new revelations.
There are new illuminations. The application of the Bible. But God is not writing anymore. You can't write past Revelation. You can't write past the end.
When you come to a book and the last thing on the page is the end, if you're writing something else, then you just didn't have the end. Revelation is the end. Now look at what Revelation 22 18 says. I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to them, God shall add to him the plagues which are written in this book.
Now sometimes you just need to read this book, because I don't even want to deal with the plagues in the book, no less have added plagues on top of that in the book. Yet many have tried to add to the revelation of God. The reason why the books called the Apocryphal books, the additional books to the 66 you find in the Catholic Bible, are wrong.
They should not be part of the canon. Just so you know, number one is because they're never referred to by Jesus, okay? Jesus referred to the whole Old Testament that we have. He never refers to one of those books. Number two, the books themselves don't declare themselves to be the Word of God, but the books in the Bible declare themselves to be the Word of God. So there is no internal indication in the books themselves that they are, in fact, that they even believe that they are Scripture. Third, it was never accepted by the church prior to Catholicism coming on the map. Fourth, they have errors in them. For example, one of the books says that you need to give money to go to heaven.
You need to do alms to go to heaven. Well, see, that would not be consistent with the work of the Holy Spirit, because that would contradict doctrine, see? So for numbers of reasons, why are those books added on to it? I'll tell you why those books added on to it, because the church said so.
And that's the problem. I have a lot of good Catholic friends, a lot of great Catholic Christians, so I'm not talking about individual people. I'm talking about a system, a system that places the church over the revelation of God.
But I don't want to pick on them. The Mormons have the same problem. The Mormons have a Book of Mormon.
Joseph Smith, he's sitting there having a dream one day, and he hears revelation. So he doesn't just add to the Bible. He writes his own Bible.
He writes his own Bible. Book of Mormon, Jehovah Witnesses, same thing. They've got their New World Translation. They've got their watchtower, which they call Revelation. Christian scientists, they have their own revelation.
They call their piece Revelation. So people are regularly adding to the Bible. Why do people want to add to the Bible? Because they do not want to be limited to God.
They want to be able to add some man in there. God composed the canon of 66 books. One is called the beginning, Genesis. The other is called the end, Revelation. You can't start before the beginning.
You can't go further than the end. Nor can you add to it because there are no more apostles. Now I know you got guys running around here saying, I'm an apostle. There are no more apostles. Why do I know that there are no more apostles? Because the Bible says there ought to be an apostle you have had to have seen Jesus in the flesh. If you haven't seen Jesus in the flesh, there are no more apostles. You have had to have seen Jesus in the flesh in order to qualify for that. So God had a special group of people He was using to write the Bible.
However, He's given us all the Holy Spirit so that we can be illumined by the Bible and see it applied in the various aspects of our lives. God composing the canon is like going for a walk. Let's say you're going for a walk with your girlfriend or you're going for a walk with your wife and you're walking down this path, and there are some beautiful flowers on the path. And so you're walking along, talking. You pick up a flower, and you hand it to her. Then you keep walking. You pick up another flower, and you hand it to her. You walk a little further, you pick another flower, and you hand it to her. You walk a little further, you pick up another flower, and you hand it to her.
Then you walk a little further. You pick up another flower, and you hand it to her. Of course she's grinning from ear to ear by now, but you pick up another flower, and you hand it to her. After you come to the end of your journey, she has a bouquet. She has a beautiful—she didn't start with a bouquet. She started with nothing.
But along the way, things were picked up that were there that got added to, so that when you started with a flower, you wind up with a canon called a bouquet, where the full-orbed expression of beauty has been completed as you walked along the way. As God has walked through history, he'd pick up a book here and say, Moses, you write this. Joshua, you write this. Samuel, you write this. Go, Arthur, Matthew, you write this. Paul, you write this. Luke, you write this.
John, I want you to close out the bouquet. And so what you have over 1,500 years are different books compiled by God so that there would be a bouquet called the Bible, which is the canon of Scripture. Dr. Tony Evans, reminding us that the Bible isn't just a collection of ancient texts.
It's God's message, carefully woven together over centuries to reveal His truth, His character, and His heart. He'll return with a closing thought to wrap up this powerful series in just a moment. Before he does, though, don't forget to take advantage of our special double offer that ends today. All 10 full-length messages in Tony's current collection, The Glory of God's Word, along with his insightful book, The Transforming Word. As I mentioned earlier, they're both yours with our thanks when you make a donation to help keep this listener-supported program coming your way. But today is the last time we'll be bundling these two resources together, so visit tonyevans.org today to make the arrangements. If it's more convenient, give our Resource Center a call at 1-800-800-3222 any time today or tonight. That's 1-800-800-3222.
When you want to make a big purchase, the smart thing to do is to check your bank account to make sure you can afford it. Well, coming up tomorrow, Dr. Evans explains that believers have access to a heavenly account that's overflowing with God's blessings, and it's time to start drawing from it. Right now, though, he's back with this final thought to close out his series on The Glory of God's Word. So God provided you and me with a well-ordered process by which we can measure the legitimacy of His canon, because it meets the standard of faith, written by the right people, accepted by the right group, the church, consistent with the doctrine that He had proclaimed, and then validated by Jesus Christ Himself, because He referred to it. All of that makes us to know that when you read the Bible, as Paul said, it's not a book for men. It is the very word and words of God.
