How do we know we have the right books in the canon of scripture in our possession today and that the Bible is our final authority?
The authoritativeness of scripture implies that all the words in scripture are God’s words in such a way that to disbelieve or disobey any word of scripture is to disbelieve or disobey God.
There are frequent claims in the Bible that all the words of scripture are God’s words. In the Old Testament, this is seen in the introductory phrase, “Thus says the LORD”. This is synonymous to the phrase, “Thus says the King” which means the edict from the King could not be altered or changed, but that simply had to be obeyed. When the prophets say, “Thus says the LORD”, they were claiming to be messengers of God and that their words were the authoritative words of God. When a prophet spoke in God’s name in this way, every word had to come from God, or he would be a false prophet.
Furthermore, God spoke through the prophets. (1 Kings 14:28; 16:12, 34; 2 Kings 9:36; 14:25; Jer 37:2; Zech 7:7, 12). Thus, what the prophet says in God’s name, God says. In these verses of scripture, words that the prophets spoke can equally be referred to as the word of God and to disobey them was to disobey God.
In the New Testament, several passages indicate that all the Old Testament writings are thought of as God’s words. 2 Tim 3:16. Here, “scripture” (graphe) must refer to the Old Testament because that is what it refers to in all sections where it is used. Paul affirms that all of the Old Testament writings are breathed out by God. Peter also affirms that the Old Testament writings are the words of God. 2 Pet 1:21 notes that the prophets did not utter their own words but made utterances as they were inspired by the Holy Spirit. This indicates that the New Testament writers believed the Old Testament writings to be the words of God. In 2 Pet 3:16, Peter also classifies all of Paul’s writings as the word of God. This indicates that, the early church classified all of Paul’s epistles with the other scriptures. Similarly, in 1 Tim 3:16, Paul quotes the words of Jesus Christ and calls them scripture.
OBJECTION
In 1 Cor 7:12, Paul gives a directive to the church at Corinth concerning marriage. His directive did not come from the Lord but was his own personal command. How can we then say that all of his epistles are scripture?
This verse does not in any way put a dent on the trustworthiness of the epistles, as God’s word. Paul gave his own directive because he considered his judgement on the same authoritative level as the words of Jesus Christ. This is revealed in verse 25 and 40.
1 Cor 7:25; Now regarding your question about the young women who are not yet married. I do not have a command from the Lord for them. But the Lord in his mercy has given me wisdom that can be trusted, and I will share it with you.
1 Cor 7:40; But in my opinion it would be better for her to stay single, and I think I am giving you counsel from God’s Spirit when I say this.
Paul did not give any personal directive that was not framed by wisdom from the Holy Spirit. We can conclude that all of Paul’s writings are inspired and is considered scripture.
The confidence we have as Christians that the canon of scripture contains the right books is rooted in the faithfulness of God. We know that God loves His people, and it is supremely important that God’s people have His own Words, for by them we have life. (Deut 32:47; Matt 4:4).
Deut 32:47; “These instructions are not empty words—they are your life! By obeying them you will enjoy a long life in the land you will occupy when you cross the Jordan River.”
Matt 4:4; “But Jesus told him, ‘No! The Scriptures say, “People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
Another reason which boosts our confidence in the purity of the canon is rooted in Rev 22:18-19, which reveals the punishment brought unto anyone who adds or takes from God’s Word.
Rev 22:18-19; And I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the words of prophecy written in this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book. And if anyone removes any of the words from this book of prophecy, God will remove that person’s share in the Tree of Life and in the holy city that are described in this book.”
This shows that God places supreme value on our having a correct collection of God-inspired writings.
The process by which we become convinced that the present canon is correct is also backed by historical data. We can be rest assured that the decisions made by the early church were correct because God Himself was involved in the whole process. Some church fathers were careful to distinguish their own writings from the writings of the apostles. Other books that had the possibility of being included in the canon proved unworthy due to inconsistencies and doctrinal beliefs that were contradictory to the rest of scripture.
The Words of scripture are also self-attesting. They cannot be proved to be God’s word by appealing to some higher authority. If we ultimately appeal to human reason, logic, scientific truth or historical accuracy as the authority by which the scripture is shown to be God’s word, then we have assumed the thing to which we appeal as a higher authority with the scriptures subordinate to it.
The Holy Spirit also works to convince spirit filled believers that the books in the canon are inspired by God. As we read the scriptures, the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that these words are not the words of humans, but of God. There are several testimonies of lives being transformed after an encounter with God’s Word. This confirms Heb 4:12.
Heb 4:12 “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two‑edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.”
There are no strong objections to any books in the canon today. Most of the New Testament books that were slowly accepted by the church was not because of any doctrinal error or inconsistencies. Rather, they were slow to gain approval by the church because they were not widely circulated at the time, so the content of these books were not initially known by many. There is therefore historical confirmation for the correctness of the current canon. It should be noted that the approval for these books by the church is not attributed to the named author but were accepted because of divine authorship. However, these authors were vessels who were inspired by the Holy Spirit to write the Words of God.
In conclusion, are there any books present in our canon that should not be there? The answer is no. We can rest our confidence in this fact that in the faithfulness of God our Father, He will not lead His people for nearly two thousand years to trust His word that is not. God’s faithfulness also convinces us that no book has been lost from the canon, scriptures we need today to obey and trust Him. The canon of scripture today is exactly what God wanted it to be, and it will stay that way until Christ returns.