Proof that the Apostolic writings are inspired Scripture

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books and scrolls_smallMany people are, mainly because of the influence of anti-missionaries, convinced that the Apostolic writings are not inspired Scripture. In other words, they do not believe it is the Word of YHVH. This may shock you, but we have even heard people who proclaim to be believers refer to it as garbage.

Think about this logically. What does it imply when you make the statement that the New Testament or Apostolic writings are not inspired? It basically invalidates this part of the Bible and reduces it to the level of commentary, stripping it of all authority. This is a problem, because if the Apostolic writings are not inspired writings, why do we need it or why do we even read it? This belief also invalidates all that is written about Y’shua, His teachings, His followers, the writings of Paul, those who followed after him and the book of Revelation.

We, however, believe that the Apostolic Writings is the inspired word of YHVH and will show you why.

We first need to determine how these writings were considered by those who had it. However, before we do that, let us start with Y’shua. What did He consider as the Word of YHVH?

What did Y’shua consider as inspired Scripture?

Luke 24:44
44 Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

Y’shua refers to the three sections of the Tanakh here. Traditionally, the Tanakh was divided into the Law or Torah (the first five books), the Prophets and the Writings. We see from this that, to Y’shua, all these books were important. You will understand later why this is significant for us to know.

What did his followers consider as inspired Scripture?

Paul was a follower of Y’shua. What did he consider as inspired Scripture?

The Gospels

In the Epistle to Timothy, Paul quotes:

1 Timothy 5:18
18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing,” and “The laborer is worthy of his wages.” ”

The first quote here is from Deut 25:4, and the second is a paraphrase from Lev 19:13 and Deut 24:15. What is interesting is that this paraphrase uses exactly the same words as it was spoken by Y’shua and written in Luke 10:7. Paul is quoting the very words written in Luke. A scholar like Paul would not quote words from the book of Luke and call it Scripture if it was not. This is, however, not a very strong argument, because it could have been a well-known saying at the time.

Let us continue to the next quote. The next quote is from the second book of Peter.

2 Peter 3:1–2
1 This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Master and Savior spoken by your apostles.

David Stern comments thefollowing on this verse.

Predictions (literally, “words spoken previously”) of the holy prophets, either those of the Tanakh or recent New Covenant prophets (Ac 11:27&N). The rest of the chapter suggests the latter, even though at 1:19 “the prophetic Word” refers to the Tanakh.

Kefa regards the command given by the Lord and Deliverer through your emissaries as having as much authority over believers’ lives as the predictions of the holy prophets, as is also clear from v. 15&N2

This is very important, especially the second part of this passage. As David Stern said, it is clear from this passage that Peter sees the words of the apostles as authoritative as the writings of the prophets. This is confirmed by Jude 17.

Jude 17
17 But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Master Y’shua Messiah,

From this, we understand that the words of the Apostles, the Gospels, have as much authority as the prophets have.

Paul’s writings

In the next passage we see Paul’s writings being referred to as part of Scripture by Peter.

2 Peter 3:15–17
15 and regard the patience of our Master as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness,

Here is David Stern’s commentary on this passage.

This is the only place in the New Testament where one of its authors refers to another of its authors as such. In fact, with the phrase, “the other Scriptures,” Kefa gives Sha’ul’s letters the status of Holy Writ.

Kefa commends Sha’ul as our dear brother; there is no conflict between them, some nineteenth-century scholars to the contrary notwithstanding. It is possible, however, says Kefa, to distort what Sha’ul writes. The most common distortion is in the direction of antinomianism; this happens especially when Sha’ul’s letters are read apart from their Tanakh and Gospels-Acts background. 2

All Scripture

When Paul refers to all scriptures in the Epistle to Timothy, what did he mean?

2 Timothy 3:16–17

16 All Scripture is inspired by Elohim and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of Elohim may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

All Scripture is God-breathed. Others have translated this, “All God-breathed Scripture is valuable.… ” As I have rendered it, we learn here that the entire Tanakh, every verse of it (all Scripture), is inspired by God. Because of this, the Bible is incomparably more authoritative than anything else ever written or spoken. Opinions come a dime a dozen and a mile a minute, but assured truth from God about himself and humanity is found in the Tanakh and the New Testament, and nowhere else.

Because the Bible is God-breathed, it is valuable for the four pastoral purposes named. Anyone who belongs to God and who lets Scripture pastor him in all four of these ways (however, not apart from associating with the community of God’s people; see MJ 10:24–25) may be fully equipped for every good work.2

We see from the above quotes that both Paul’s writings, and the Gospels were considered as part of the Scriptures, together with the whole Tanakh. We could therefor not exclude any of the books we currently have in our Bibles as inspired Scripture.

Adding to Scripture

Some may say yes, but… they added to Scripture. They use Deuteronomy 4:2 to support their statement. Is this the truth?

Deuteronomy 4:2
2 “You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of YHVH your Elohim which I command you.

If we were to understand this verse as these people do, then we have a huge problem. We would have to exclude all the prophets and the writings as well, because including them would be adding to the word of YHVH, because they were written after this commandment was given. Alternatively, maybe we don’t really understand this verse in Deuteronomy correctly. Let’s look at the context of this verse. Just reading the preceding verse shows us that verse two refers to YHVH’s commandments, His statutes and judgments. This is repeated in Deuteronomy 12.

Deuteronomy 12:32
32 “Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it.

And in Proverbs…

Proverbs 30:5–6
5 Every word of Elohim is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. 6 Do not add to His words Or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar.

What does this mean then? What does it mean to add to His words? We find the answer in the book of Mark. This is a good example of how the Pharisees added to YHVH’s commandments.

Mark 7:3–8
3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing the traditions of the elders; 4 and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots.) 5 The Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?” 6 And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. 7 ‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ 8 “Neglecting the commandment of Elohim, you hold to the tradition of men.”

Adding to YHVH’s word, is to add commandments of men. The Pharisees did that, and we see that in Judaism too. They have added many so-called “fences” around the commandments to make sure the commandments are not broken. These “fences” lay a heavy burden on the people. Not only did they add these commandments, but also have elevated it to the same level as YHVH’s commandments. If you consider the blessing that is pronounced over the washing of hands, they say, ” Blessed are you Adonai, King of the Universe for giving us the commandment to wash our hands” Where exactly did YHVH gave a commandment to wash hands?

So, how are we to understand this then?

The Bible is progressive revelation. YHVH did not just speak to Adam and Eve or to Israel at Sinai and then stopped speaking. Through the ages, YHVH revealed Himself more and more to His people. He gave them His prophets and so revealed more of Himself, then He manifested Himself in the flesh (1 Tim 3:16) to show His great love for mankind and to give all salvation.

In all this YHVH did not change, neither did He change any of his previous instructions. The prophets and later Y’shua and His followers, furthermore, never taught anything contrary to YHVH’s commandments. The Apostolic writings is not in contradiction with YHVH’s commandments; therefor it does not add to it. Y’shua didn’t start a new religion; He walked and taught YHVH’s commandments and so did His followers. Those who say He or His apostles changed anything or added to YHVH’s word, is either twisting the Scriptures or does not understand it.

So are we adding to Scripture when we consider the Apostolic writings as inspired writings? No, on the contrary. To say the Apostolic writings is not Scripture would in a way be denying Y’shua as Messiah. For stating that these books are not inspired, makes His words and everything written about Him meaningless.

Reliability of the manuscriptsgreek document_small

Another argument that is often used to invalidate the Apostolic writings, is that it was not as well preserved as the Tanakh. This is simply not true.

The early Christian literature is almost silent about the original manuscripts, a silence that implies that enough faithful copies were in existence that the loss of an original posed no concern. It is doubtful that the early church set apart a specific group of professional scribes for this particular purpose; scribes were more likely hired, or individuals in the church copies the letters. This would explain why there are so many copies of the New Testament books and why there are more mistakes in the New Testament books than there are in copies of the Old Testament: “In the early years of the Christian Church, marked by rapid expansion and consequent increased demand by individuals and by congregations for copies of Scriptures, the speedy multiplication of copies , even by non-professional scribes, sometimes took precedence over strict accuracy of detail.”

According to the evidence from the beginning of the forth century (shortly before the date of Codex Vaticanus) scribes were paid well for their work3

What about accuracy then?

According to New Testament textual criticism, it is important to note that the verbal agreement between various New Testament manuscripts is closer than between many English translations of the New Testament and that the actual number of variants in the New Testament is small (approximately10 percent), none of which call into question any major doctrine.

The greatest number of variants are differences or errors in spelling. For example, the author of Codex Vaticanus spells “John” with only one n instead of the common spelling with two… This type of variant makes no difference in the meaning of the text.

The second largest group of variants arises because of omissions of small Greek words or variations in word order. For example, in Greek a person’s name may or may not be preceded by an article (“the”). And the phrase the good man could also be written as “the man, the good one,” although in English both phrases are translated as “the good man.”

These types of variants also make no difference in the meaning of the text.3

From these two quotes from the book “The Journey from Texts to Translations” we learn that many manuscripts of the Apostolic writings exist and have a high enough level of accuracy. The variances and mistakes found in these manuscripts are such that it does not influence the message or doctrine. It is therefor a false statement to say that the manuscripts were not preserved or are inaccurate.

Kabbalistic writings

It is taught by anti-missionaries that the Apostolic writings are kabbalistic in nature. In order to make a good judgment of this statement, we need to understand a bit more about what kabbalism is about without having to spend time studying it. I found an article written by Maria Marty about this topic, and in this article, she gives a list of the main beliefs of the followers of Kabbalah. You can find a link to the article under references. It is very well-written and warns of the dangers of Kabbalah as people discover their Hebrew roots.

We can use this list to see if we find any resemblance between this and the Apostolic writings. Here is the list:

What does Kabbalah believe in?

-They believe in the Zohar or Book of Splendor with supernatural revelations in addition to the Torah

-Reincarnation

-Red strips on their wrists and waist to prevent bad/evil energy

-Read verses of the Torah backwards to find hidden meanings

-Read the palm of their hands and lines in the face (divination)

-Consult astrology

-Combine Hebrew letters, repeating them they reach their petitions and protects them from the evil eye.

-Contemplate on the letters to accomplish their wishes.

-Move their heads according to the forms of the letters.

-Light candles and make specific prayers.

-Call on a number of angels. They believe in Metraton, a superior angel. Messianic people whom I know and believe in Kabbalah say that this angel is Yeshua.

-They study Sefirot, which are the 10 divine emanations. There are ten demonic sefirot and ten divine sefirot according to Kabbalah.

-Mystic contemplation – access to the deep regions of the soul.4

Read through this list and consider these beliefs. Kabbalah is occult in nature, full of magic, divination and idolatry. Compare this with the teachings in the Apostolic writings and you will see that the Apostolic writings bear no resemblance to Kabbalah. On the contrary, Y’shua and His followers taught against it. We shall look at a few examples from Scripture.

Reincarnation

The Apostolic writings teach about eternal life. Some twist this to say it is thesameas reincarnation, but it is not. By definition reincarnation is

re·in·car·na·tion

noun \ˌrē-(ˌ)in-(ˌ)kär-ˈnā-shən\

: the idea or belief that people are born again with a different body after death

: someone who has been born again with a different body after death5

Eternal life is nothing like that, it is spiritual not physical. Moreover, even if you want to call resurrection reincarnation, it won’t hold water because after Y’shua was resurrected the marks of the nails in His hands were visible (John 20:27.) Y’shua did not get another body.

Divination

Kabbalists read the palm of their hands and lines in the face and also consult astrology. This is divination

and is condemned in both the Tanakh and the Apostolic writings. In the book of Acts, mention is made of a slave-girl who practiced divination. This was not condoned; the spirit was cast out of her by Paul.

Acts 16:16–18
16 It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. 17 Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, “These men are bond-servants of the Most High Elohim, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.” 18 She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Y’shua Messiah to come out of her!” And it came out at that very moment.

Meaningless repetition of words

Y’shua specifically taught against the meaningless repetition of words. In Kaballah, it is believed that the name of YHVH has creation power, thus they would meditate while repeating the name of YHVH many times in succession.

Matthew 6:7
7 “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.

Peter taught that we are to be of sound judgment and sober for the purpose of prayer.

1 Peter 4:7
7 The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.

These two scriptures teach that these practices that are common in both Kaballah, and new-age meditation are wrong. We will go into more detail about the dangers of this kind of meditation in a future article. It is something that has infiltrated the believing community and many are drawn into new age, idolatrous practices because of that.

These are just two examples of how the Apostolic writings teach against practices similar to those in Kabbalah.

Magic and idolatry

Kabbalists contemplate on letters to accomplish their wishes, move their heads according to the forms of the letters and do other rituals as part of their prayers. These are all superstition and magic. They, moreover, call on angels, which is nothing less than idolatry. Furthermore, the wearing of red strips on their wrists and waist to prevent bad/evil energy, is also the practice of magic.

There is further prove from the Apostolic writings that the practice of magic and any form of idolatry was condemned among believers in Y’shua. In the book of Acts, we see new believers burning their books on magic and Paul calls these deeds of the flesh. He adds that those who practice these will not inherit the Kingdom of YHVH.

Acts 19:19
19 And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.

Galatians 5:19–21
19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of Elohim.

We can find many more references to prove this further. This may be a nice study for another time. However, to us this proves that you cannot make the claim that the Apostolic writings are full of Kabbalah. The teachings of Kabbalah and the Apostolic wrings are fundamentally different. There may be spiritual principles that overlap, but that you will find when you compare any other religion with the Bible. There are, for example, similarities between the Tanakh and the Koran, but I don’t see anybody throwing out the Tanakh…

Conclusion

So, what have we learned? We have through this study proven to you on four levels that the Apostolic Writings are the inspired word of YHVH. We have, firstly, learned from the Apostolic writings that the Gospels and Paul’s writings were considered as a part of Scripture by followers of Y’shua. It is seen to have as much authority as the Tanakh. We, furthermore, have concluded that to say the Apostolic Writings are inspired Scripture is not adding to Scripture.

We have, thirdly, refuted the statement that the Apostolic writings are kabbalistic in nature, and we have, fourthly, determined that the Apostolic writings were well preserved throughout the ages and that the errors therein of no consequence to us in regard to doctrine or message.

From this, we must conclude that the Apostolic Writings are a valuable, inspired part of Scripture, preserved for us through the ages in the same way the Tanakh was.

We are to be careful who we regard as teachers. To give credence to statements made by anti-missionaries is unwise. They will never tell you that the Apostolic writings are valid or inspired, it goes against their agenda. Their agenda is, to ultimately, prove to you that Y’shua is not the Messiah. If they can convince you that the Apostolic Scriptures are not inspired, it would not be very difficult for them to persuade you that Y’shua is not the Messiah. We have seen it so often in the believing community.

We do hope this article will help you in your understanding, and we pray that it may help you discern truth from error. We do need Y’shua; Y’shua is YHVH’s salvation to each of us. Do not reject a part of YHVH’S Word and deny His Salvation.

References

    1. All quoted passages are from the New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995. We have substituted YHVH for LORD and Y’shua for Jesus.
    2. Stern, D. H. (1996). Jewish New Testament Commentary : a companion volume to the Jewish New Testament (electronic ed., 2 Pe 3:2). Clarksville: Jewish New Testament Publications.
    3. Wegner, Paul D; The Journey from Texts to Translations; Baker Academic, ISBN 978-0-8010-2799-4
    4. http://abbapeople.com/us/kabbalah-versus-the-hebraic-roots-of-the-new-testament-faith/
    5. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reincarnation

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7 responses to “Proof that the Apostolic writings are inspired Scripture”

  1. Chana White

    have you read the book Yeshua by dr. Ron Moseley. helps you to see the writings are truly Hebrew.

    Reply
  2. Vicki Brady

    Shalom! Yet another wonderful article!

    I do have just a bit of disagreement concerning the interpretation of 2 Peter 3.15-17. First, let me preface it by stating my belief on the entire matter. I do believe that the NT writings are inspired by YHVH, as a record of fact that Yeshua HaMashiach indeed has come, and of His teachings, and walking the Torah. I am fully convinced these writings are necessary in order for one to understand who Yeshua is/was. Without them, we would still be “waiting” on the Messiah’s first coming.

    With that said, I must convey that I disagree with the interpretation of the 2 Peter verse, and I also disagree with Daniel Stern’s commentary (of which I own a copy).

    Here is the passage as quoted in the article:

    2 Peter 3:15–17
    15 and regard the patience of our Master as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness,”

    In particular, verse 16, which in my estimation has never rendered Sha’ul’s writings or letters as Scripture themselves. Here is the way I view verse 16’s (and 15b for continuity) meaning:

    according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you,

    [What is this wisdom? It is the wisdom of the Tanak, not his own writings, as his writings further teach the Tanak, and Torah in particular]

    16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort,

    [Very true, and very prevalent even today. Paul’s letters are used for instruction way more often than Yeshua’s or Yeshua’s life example]

    as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

    [To me, this is saying that as Paul is teaching the Torah, the gentiles, or the untaught ones, finding the Torah difficult to understand and also Paul’s teaching of the Torah difficult to understand, they therefore “distort” what Paul is teaching about the Torah, as they also “distort” the rest of the Tanak, including Torah, “to their own destruction.” This does not refer to Paul’s letters as “Scripture.” Kefa is talking about the people distorting Paul’s words just like they do Scripture itself.]

    I have never viewed that the phrase “the rest of Scripture” to mean any of the NT gospels and letters, but strictly the Tanak only. Kefa is basically saying that Paul’s teachings of the Torah and the Tanak as a whole are hard for these people to understand, and Paul is trying to show them and prove to them that Yeshua is indeed the Messiah. He can only do this through the Scriptures (Tanak) and the witnesses, being Himself and the Apostles, along with hundreds of others who witnessed His resurrection. The people twisted not only Paul’s words, but also twisted the words of the writings that they had, which was the Tanak only, and not any of the gospel writings, nor other NT writings,other than previous letters from Paul. I do not, therefore, believe that this 2 Peter passage lends any credibility to the idea that the NT is “Scripture.” I do not consider the NT to technically be “Scripture” and here is why. Yeshua came and taught His Father’s Word. He came to fully preach the Word of His Father. That word is the Tanak. He walked it. He lived it. He was/is our example. He did not make any mention, nor is there any indication, that He considered anything His apostles asked or had to say as “inspired” or “Scriptural.” They were His taught ones. His disciples. He commissioned them to go out into all the earth and teach what He taught, which was His Father’s Tanak…. His Father’s Word…. His Father’s will.

    I’m not sure if you can understand what it is that I am trying to get across about this. With all of this said, let me reiterate some things. First, I do not consider the NT as “Scripture” in the purest sense.

    Is the NT inspired of YHVH? Absolutely!
    Is it valuable and trustworthy? Absolutely!
    Is it factual? Indeed it is, and there is nothing in it that contradicts the Tanak.

    Is it necessary? Most assuredly! Since Yeshua’s first coming, it is vital that we have these gospels, epistles, and the Book of Revelation.

    I see it like this, The gospels = Torah (Yeshua was the living Torah); the letters = the writings (Psalms, Proverbs, etc.); Revelation = The writings of the Prophets. They all line up side by side with one another and neither can be understood without the other side. The NT, therefore, truly does reveal much of what the Scripture taught.

    We cannot, since the advent of Messiah, do without the NT writings, for they are necessary to understand the “whole” story (I’m not saying that the Tanak is incomplete). Without them, where would our understanding be? They are necessary. They are inspired of YHVH. They should be studied. They are valid, truthful, and vital to our understanding of who Yeshua is.

    Reply
    1. Schalk_and _Elsa

      Shalom Vicky,

      Thank you for the comment. We always appreciate feedback, whether positive or negative, for it prompts us to study more.

      I understand what you are saying, but I do not understand the problem. You said yourself that the NT was inspired of Yah, valuable and trustworthy, factual, necessary and does not contradict the Tanakh. The very fact that it is inspired makes it Scripture. Scripture is the inspired word of YHVH. It is said that Y’shua is the Word made flesh, the living Torah, would His words and teachings then not qualify as being Scripture. If not, what does that make Y’shua?

      Paul taught what was revealed to him by Y’shua. He was teaching the Torah, but he was also teaching about the living Torah, much more than was revealed in the Tanakh. This is what he said about his teaching:

      Galatians 1:11–12
      11 For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. 12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Y’shua Messiah.

      Y’shua revealed what he taught to him. That makes him a prophet.

      Another time Y’shua said this to one of his disciples:

      Matthew 16:17
      17 And Y’shua said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

      Here Y’shua said to one of his disciples that the words he spoke is from YHVH.

      Did YHVH speak every word in the Tanakh? No, He did not. What about the books 1 and 2 Kings? Does that make the words spoken by these people uninspired or not worthy of being part of Scripture? No. Scripture, by definition is YHVH’s teaching. He reveals Himself through Scripture, just as he revealed himself through Y’shua. The NT is a continuation of YHVH’s revelation of Himself. That qualifies the NT as Scripture. It is instruction for us. Without it, as you also stated, we would not know about Y’shua. If we classify it as not being Scripture, we can actually discard it.

      This whole teaching that the NT is not Scripture is dangerous and came form anti-missionaries. It is the first thing they attack. I have heard a friend say that the NT is a load of garbage after she has spent some quality time with anti-missionaries in Israel. She used to be a very strong and devoted believer in Y’shua. She now is at the point of denying Him and becoming Jewish.
      Next, they attack the deity of Y’shua. If they manage to convince believers in Y’shua, firstly, that His words and His disciple’s words are not worthy of being called Scripture, and next that He was just a prophet, it makes it very easy for those believers to just discard their belief in Him. I know this, because there was a time that I was very unsure about this. I was influenced by all the teachings of people who did not believe in Y’shua. YHVH brought me back; I am grateful for I can now look back and see how I almost became deceived. This is on the increase, the great falling away has begun. Y’shua warned that even the elect will be deceived…

      Please consider my words, we need Y’shua, He is our salvation and His words are worthy of being called Scripture.

      Reply
  3. Abraham

    greetings from sofia, bulgaria, from a messianic, moadim-keeping non-jewish, but lnowlegeable in biblical hebrew believer in the lord yeshua ha-mashiach!

    since your articles covers a lot of particular things, and i do not want to write a lot at once, i would just share with you three things.

    first, that i have factual reasons to affirm that here is a certain difference in meaning between these two things: 1. the holy scriptures, on the one hand, and 2. the written word of yhvh, on the other hand.

    what’s that difference in meaning between the two?

    in short, i affirm that it is this:
    the holy scriptures contain the writen word that has been revealed and/or commanded by yhwh through his prophets, including through his son yeshua, but the holy scriptures also contain things that are neither a revelation, nor a commandment, nor a prophecy from god. they even contain the personal opinions of their writers as for example the apostle paul says in some of his epistles things that he himself says are his personal opinion. in fact, the holy scriptures also contain even words, spoken by some of god’s enemies. if necessary, i could further elaborate on this.

    so, the holy scriptures and the written word of yhwh are not synonimous.

    second, a written text does not need to be a revelation from heaven in order to be true and even holy.

    third and last for this message, with the exception of the gospel of john, the other three canonical gospels, including the one bearing the name of mathew, have not been directly written by an apostle of the lord yeshua, but by other persons who retell us their testimonies as they have remembered and understood them. though these three gospels are generally true accounts, they also contain here and there certain factual contradictions with the tanak and between themselves.

    Reply
    1. Schalk_and_Elsa

      Shalom Abraham,

      Sorry, but we are unable to grasp what you are trying to communicate to us. Can you please clarify?

      Shalom,

      Reply
      1. abraham

        hi,

        sorry for delaying my reply.

        if it’s so difficult to understand what i have written above, then let’s take just one excerpt from my post and see if there is anything in it that you don’t understand.

        here is the excerpt (I’ve added in it a few things in order to make it more clear):
        ………
        the holy scriptures do contain the written word that has been revealed and/or commanded by yhwh through his prophets, including through his son yeshua, but the holy scriptures also contain things that are neither a revelation from god, nor a commandment from him, nor a prophecy from him. the holy scriptures contain here and there personal opinions of their writers (as for example the apostle paul in some of his epistles says things that he himself acknowledges are his personal opinion, and not a commandment from the lord yeshua). in fact, the holy scriptures also contain words, spoken even by some of god’s enemies (for example, they contain things said by the pharisees and saducees, even things said by the devil as for example in the book of job, chapter 1).
        ……….

        is there any thing in the above excerpt that you do not understand, and if yes, what is it?

        Reply
        1. Schalk_and_Elsa

          Shalom Abraham,

          I do understand what you have written, I just don’t get the point that you want to make. Do you agree that the Scriptures are the inspired word of YHVH or not? When we say it is the inspired word of YHVH then it means it is good for us for instruction. Paul explains it well in timothy 3:16-17.

          2 Timothy 3:16–17
          16 All Scripture is inspired by YHVH and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of YHVH may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

          People’s opinions can also be inspired by the Ruach, we can therefor nor disregard it. However, it does not make that a commandment. I don’t think we said that being the inspired word of YHVH makes every word in it from YHVH himself, however the message it contains is inspired and every word it contains is there for our instruction, reproof and training in righteousness.

          Shalom,
          Schalk and Elsa

          Reply

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