Which words do you believe?
There is a growing tendency among liberal
evangelicals to believe that only the words in red (i.e. direct quotes from
Jesus) are the inspired Word of God. Various translations have faithfully
attempted to aid the reader by changing the font color but, from this godly
desire, has arisen an unholy viewpoint. While the recorded words of Christ during His earthly ministry are of
eternal importance, those who hold to this view have lost sight of the fact
that every single word in Scripture,
both Old and New Testaments, are the very
words of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In Revelation 1:17, Jesus Himself
says,
…I AM the First and the Last…
Notice that not only are His words in
red, but He claims for Himself the All-Supreme title of the Eternal and Sovereign
God! This brings us to the Old Testament
book of Isaiah chapters forty through forty-eight. The prophet Isaiah
spends these nine chapters quoting God regarding Israel’s sin of idolatry. What
does this have to do with Jesus, you ask? Everything! The Sovereign God,
Jehovah, emphatically declares this title for Himself and assures His people
that He will give this title and His glory to no other (Isaiah 42:8).
In Isaiah 44:6 (along with 41:4 and
48:12), Jehovah God says,
Thus says the LORD, the
King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: “I
AM the First and the Last; besides Me there is no god.”
Did you notice the choice of font
color? You will likely not find it colored red in your personal study Bible,
but may I remind you that the publishing company does not determine our Lord’s
words or even where they are found in Scripture. What this means then, is that
the God who is audibly speaking to the prophet Isaiah is none other than Jesus
Christ. Therefore, if one claims to believe and submit only to the words of Christ, then they are accountable to every
quotation of Christ, not just in Isaiah, but in all of the Old Testament.
In Zechariah 12:10, Jesus Himself
says,
And I will
pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of
grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on ME, on HIM
whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for HIM…
In Hosea 13:4 (along with Isaiah
43:11), Jesus Himself says,
But I AM the
LORD your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but Me, and besides Me there is no Savior.
We know this is Jesus speaking
because we know that there is no other Savior apart from Him. He is the One. He alone willingly chose to die on the cross
for our sins and rise again on our behalf because He alone has the power to do
just that! And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of
Christ’s affirmation of the Old Testament Scriptures, His choosing and
commissioning of His apostles with His New Testament message, His sovereignty
over the protection and proper distribution of His Word throughout the ages,
and even of His glorious appearing and bold declarations consumed in His
Revelation.
The Apostle Peter wrote in 2 Peter
1:20-21,
Knowing this first of
all, that 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.
Who’s Holy Spirit? Christ’s! Jesus
Christ is the Eternal God and He is the One who spoke, inspired, and guided
both the prophets and scribes to accurately record His faithful and true
message. Not only should the quotations of God throughout the entire Old
Testament be colored red, but this passage from Peter means that the entire Bible should be in red. This is
Peter whom Jesus Christ spoke to and through in order to get His Word into the
hands of His people.
Conclusion
To conclude, you will see that the
idea that only Jesus’ words are inspired is actually a true statement—because every word in all of Scripture, Old and
New Testament, are Christ’s words. And, not only are they His spoken words, but
they are all together summed up in Him as the Apostle John has written in John
1:1,
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