FALSE STATEMENT 2: The OT is not the Word of God - FALSE
In every age, there are false prophets and false teachers that come up and try to attack the authenticity of the holy scripture.
2 Peter 2:1-2 - “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.”
People say that if many different people have spoken in the Bible, how can the Bible be called the “Word of God”?
Agreed, in the Bible we see many different individuals speak:
God speaks
Satan speaks
Men speak
Angels speak
Animals speak
So how then can we consider the Bible the "Word of God"?
Let me explain.
Take a look at the White House.
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the President of the United States, located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. It has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800.
From the outside when we see this building, we call it the White House. However, when we go inside, we see office rooms, study rooms, dining rooms, restrooms, conference rooms, prayer rooms, etc.
You can’t say all the office rooms in the US are part of the White House.
You can’t say all the conference rooms in the US are part of the White House.
But in the White House, there are these different rooms used for different purposes.
The same way, the whole Bible is called the Word of God - but when we get into the Bible we see various different speakers.
God inserts all of these speakers’ words into the Bible.
The Bible is not wrong on any subject and Jesus certified the Old Testament as accurate, true, and inerrant, and therefore, it is infallible.
Let us look at the following passages that our Lord and His apostles referred as the Old Testament:
Luke 4: 21 “He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture (OT) is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Jesus preached from the Old Testament)
Matthew 22:29 “Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures (OT) or the power of God.” (Jesus want His people to have knowledge of the Old Testament)
John 5:39 ”You study the Scriptures (OT) diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me.” (Jesus said it is needed to study the Old Testament diligently because there is eternal life in the Word)
Acts 3: 21 ”Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised (OT) long ago through his holy prophets.” (Old Testament is full of promise of God to be fulfilled)
1 Corinthians 15:3. ”For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures (OT)” ( The Old Testament is full of prophesies to be fulfilled in Messiah)
2 Timothy 3:15 ”How from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures (OT), which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (From his infancy Timothy learned the Old Testament that helped him to attain the salvation through Christ)
Luke 24: 44-45 ”He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.” (Our Lord divided the Old Testament into three parts and opened the minds of His apostles to understand it)
When Jesus and His apostles ministered, there were no New Testament scriptures, it came to existence only after the first century.
So, the above-mentioned word “Scripture” by our Lord or our apostles refers to the Old Testament.
If it was not the Word of God, our Lord and His apostles would never refer to it as the scripture during their ministry.
The conclusion is that:
The Old Testament is accurate, true, and inerrant, and therefore, it is infallible.
We need to read, meditate, study, and preach the Old Testament scriptures.
FALSE STATEMENT 3: There is no revelation of God in the OT - FALSE
The truth is that the OT is full of God’s special revelations.
What is a special revelation?
A special revelation is God speaking directly to a special man and that revelation is written under the "inspiration" of God, by the Holy Spirit.
A special revelation is God's specific information and instructions to man.
The sixty-six books that comprise our Bible is a special revelation from God.
It tells us about God.
2 Peter 1:21- “For prophecy (OT) never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
God spoke directly to Moses, God called Moses by name – He spent forty days, twice, on the mountain with God in fasting and received the tablets of the Ten Commandments.
God spoke directly to Samuel, called him by name and used him to anoint two great kings of Israel.
God spoke directly to David, a great musician of God – a true worshipper of God.
God spoke directly to Solomon, and he was given divine wisdom from the Lord.
And all the other prophets such as Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, to name a few, received from the Lord.
2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture (OT) is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”
2 Timothy 3:16 is proof that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. This text indicates that all Scripture is inspired by God (or “God-breathed”) and useful for teaching.
That is, every writing in the Bible is a revelation from God that can be trusted as factually true. Clearly, if the Bible is given by revelation of the God of truth, then it can be trusted at every point as an accurate description.
2 Peter 3:2 ”I want you to recall the words spoken in the past(OT) by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.”
All these Old Testament writers are called “holy prophets”, they were not ordinary people, rather they all had a special and personal encounter with God.
Jesus took the Old Testament Bible to be God’s Word, true in every Word and entirely trustworthy as also the apostles accepted the Old Testament as the revelation of God.