Teaching The Scriptures

The practical takeaway is simple: before asking, “What does this passage mean to me?” ask, “What has God spoken here, and how does this passage fit the whole counsel of Scripture?”

Authority, Inspiration, Unity, and Canon

Authority - the right to command belief and action. Scripture has authority because its ultimate source is God. Isaiah 8:20 gives a clear test: “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” The standard is not the teacher’s creativity but God’s revealed Word.

The Hebrew word commonly translated “word” is dabar. It can refer to a spoken message, a matter, or an authoritative declaration. In Scripture, God’s dabar is active and dependable. Psalm 119:89 says, “Forever, O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.” The Word is not temporary advice. It stands.

Jesus also treated Scripture as binding. In John 10:35 He said, “Scripture cannot be broken.” His statement means that Scripture cannot be dismissed, overturned, or made void. When Jesus quoted the Old Testament, He did not treat it as a loose record of past religious ideas. He treated it as God’s settled testimony.

Inspiration - God’s work of giving Scripture through human writers. Second Timothy 3:16 states, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” The phrase “breathed out by God” translates the Greek word theopneustos, meaning “God-breathed.” It points to origin: Scripture comes from God.

Inspiration does not erase the personalities, vocabulary, settings, or writing styles of the biblical authors. Luke investigated events carefully, as he explains in Luke 1:3-4: “It seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you... that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.” Peter, however, explains the divine source behind prophetic Scripture: “No prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20-21).

The Greek expression translated “carried along” is related to pherō, “to carry” or “bear.” The writers genuinely spoke and wrote, yet the Holy Spirit directed the process so that their writings communicated God’s truth. Therefore, a teacher should study both the human setting and the divine message.

Unity - the agreement and purposeful connection of Scripture as one revelation. The Bible contains different genres, authors, languages, and historical periods, but its central message remains coherent: God creates, humanity falls into sin, God promises redemption, Christ accomplishes salvation, and God brings His people into final restoration.

Jesus taught this unity after His resurrection. “Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). Later He said, “Everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44). The threefold description - Law, Prophets, and Psalms - summarizes the Hebrew Scriptures and shows that Christ’s mission fulfills the whole biblical story.

A useful teaching example is the relationship between Genesis 12:3 and Galatians 3:8. God told Abraham, “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Paul explains that “the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham.” Paul does not force an unrelated message into Genesis. He reads the promise as part of the unified plan that reaches its fulfillment in Christ.

Canon - the recognized collection of writings that function as Scripture. The word comes from the Greek kanōn, meaning “measuring rod,” “rule,” or “standard.” Canon does not mean that a church made a writing inspired by voting. Rather, recognition identifies writings that already bear the marks of God’s authority.

The Old Testament books were received as God’s covenant revelation. Jesus repeatedly referred to them as authoritative Scripture. The New Testament writings were recognized through their connection to Christ’s apostles, their agreement with received apostolic teaching, and their use among the churches. Peter placed Paul’s writings alongside “the other Scriptures” (2 Peter 3:15-16), showing that apostolic writings were being treated as Scripture during the apostolic period.

A teacher can use three questions when explaining canon: Does the writing come from a prophet or apostle, or stand directly under that authority? Does it agree with the truth already revealed by God? Has God’s people received it as Scripture? These questions are not a replacement for the Bible’s own testimony, but they help students understand why the canon is not a random library.

Ask yourself: if a teaching contradicts the clear message of Scripture, can it claim biblical authority? No. If a passage is difficult, does difficulty cancel inspiration? No. Difficulty calls for careful study, comparison with the whole Bible, and humility.

The practical takeaway is to distinguish the Bible’s authority from the teacher’s authority. Teachers serve under Scripture; they do not stand over it.

Worked Example: Testing a Claim About Scripture

Consider this claim: “The New Testament is only a later collection of religious reflections, so its teaching about Jesus has no binding authority.” A teacher can answer it without depending on vague tradition by tracing the biblical evidence in an ordered way.

1. Identify the claim. The claim denies that the New Testament carries divine authority. It is not merely questioning a difficult passage; it is questioning the status of the apostolic writings as Scripture.

2. Start with Jesus’ promise. Jesus told His apostles, “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 that I have said to you” (John 14:26). He also said, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13). The immediate audience is the apostles, and the promise explains how their witness would be preserved and taught.

3. Check the apostolic message. Paul writes, “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you” (1 Corinthians 11:23). The verbs “received” and “delivered” describe a message handed on under divine authority, not an invention created by later communities. In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, Paul gives the core gospel: “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” The apostolic message is rooted in the Old Testament and centered on Christ’s death and resurrection.

4. Compare apostolic writings with Scripture. Peter refers to Paul’s letters and says that some things in them are hard to understand, “which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures” (2 Peter 3:16). The comparison matters. Peter does not merely say Paul writes useful letters; he places Paul’s writings in the category of “the other Scriptures.”

5. Test the conclusion against the whole Bible. The New Testament presents itself as apostolic witness under the Spirit’s direction, agrees with the Old Testament’s redemptive message, and is recognized alongside Scripture within the apostolic community. The claim that it is only late religious reflection fails those biblical observations.

6. State the result carefully. The conclusion is not that every later religious document is inspired. The conclusion is that the apostolic writings have a unique place because they bear witness to Christ under the authority He gave His apostles.

Final result: the New Testament is authoritative Scripture, grounded in Christ’s promise, delivered through apostolic witnesses, and consistent with the unified message of the Bible.

This example also shows how teachers should reason. Begin with the exact claim, gather passages that address it directly, explain important terms, compare the passages, and state only what the evidence supports. Do not answer a challenge with volume alone. Answer it with a clear chain of biblical truth.

The practical takeaway is that Scripture’s authority is demonstrated through Scripture’s own testimony, not through pressure or personal confidence.

Guided Practice and Answer Key

1. Why does Matthew 4:4 matter for teaching biblical authority? Hint: Notice the words Jesus quotes and the way He treats the written text. Consider whether His response presents Scripture as optional advice or as a binding word from God.

2. **What does theopneustos mean in 2 Timothy 3:16, and what does it tell us?** Hint: Break the Greek term into its basic idea of God and breath. Focus on Scripture’s source rather than imagining that the human writers were passive instruments.

3. How does Luke 24:27 support the unity of Scripture? Hint: Ask what Jesus found in Moses and the Prophets. The answer is not that every verse uses the name Jesus, but that the whole biblical story points toward God’s saving work fulfilled in Christ.

4. What does canon mean, and why is canon more than a list of books? Hint: Remember the meaning “measuring rod” or “standard.” Canon identifies writings received as authoritative Scripture.

5. How should a teacher respond when a difficult passage seems to conflict with another passage? Hint: Do not discard inspiration quickly. Compare context, translation, genre, and the whole counsel of Scripture before drawing a conclusion.

Answer Key: Matthew 4 shows Jesus submitting to the written Word as God’s authority. Theopneustos means “God-breathed” and identifies Scripture’s divine source. Luke 24 shows that the Law and Prophets form one unified story fulfilled in Christ. Canon is the recognized standard collection of Scripture, not a random religious library. A difficult passage should be studied carefully in context and compared with the whole Bible.

A faithful teacher stands beneath the authority of the Word, handles its parts in light of its unity, and helps learners see why the Bible can be trusted from its first promise to its final fulfillment.

End of chapter one. 7 more chapters in the full book.