Bible Authority

Bible Authority: What Do Jesus and Paul Say?
By Steve Singleton

The claims of Jesus and Paul
Just before ascending back to heaven, Jesus announces, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me" (Matthew 28:19). We would do well, therefore, to listen to what Jesus has to say about the Old Testament. Paul, whom Jesus Christ called to be His apostle, writes, "If anyone considers himself to be a prophet, let him acknowledge that what I write to you is the command of the Lord." The One with "all authority" inspires Paul to write what he does. Therefore, we should listen closely to what Paul says about the Old Testament as well.

Jesus' use of the Old Testament
When Jesus disputed with the religious leaders of His day (specifically the Sadducees), He told them, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God" (Matthew 22:29). Again and again He declared, "It is written," a phrase that does not mean the same as "Someone once wrote," but "It stands written," or more literally, "It continues in the state of having been written." An accurate paraphrase of "It is written" would be "It remains valid." (See Matthew 4:4,7,10; 11:10; 21:13; 26:31; etc.)

Jesus also talks about the meaning of Moses and all the prophets (see Luke 16:29, 31; 24:27), a reference to the entire Hebrew Bible, composed as it is of the Law of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy) and the Prophets (the rest of the Old Testament). In another passage, Luke 24:44, He refers to the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms, which corresponds to another way of dividing the Hebrew Bible into the Torah (Law of Moses), the Neviim (former and latter prophets), and the Kethuvim (the Writings, of which Psalms is the leading book).