Does Jesus Believe that the OT Bible Was Divinely Inspired?

How did Jesus view the Old Testament? - bethinking.org
We could cite many reasons for the Old Testament being God’s Word, but the strongest argument comes from the Lord Jesus Himself. As God in human flesh, Jesus speaks with final authority. And His testimony regarding the Old Testament is loud and clear.

Jesus believed that the Old Testament was divinely inspired, the veritable Word of God. He said, ‘The Scripture cannot be broken’ (John 10:35). He referred to Scripture as ‘the commandment of God’ (Matthew 15:3) and as the ‘Word of God’ (Mark 7:13). He also indicated that it was indestructible: ‘Until Heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the law, until all is accomplished’ (Matthew 5:18).

When dealing with the people of his day, whether it was with the disciples or religious rulers, Jesus constantly referred to the Old Testament: ‘Have you not read that which was spoken to you by God?’ (Matthew 22:31); ‘Yea; and have you never read, “Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babes thou has prepared praise for thyself”?’ (Matthew 21:16, citing Psalm 8:2); and ‘Have you not read what David did?’ (Matthew 12:3). Examples could be multiplied to demonstrate that Jesus was conversant with the Old Testament and its content. He quoted from it often and he trusted it totally.

Throughout the Gospels, we find Jesus confirming many of the accounts in the Old Testament, such as the destruction of Sodom and the death of Lot’s wife (Luke 17:29, 32) the murder of Abel by his brother Cain (Luke 11:51), the calling of Moses (Mark 12:26), and the manna given in the wilderness (John 6:31–51).

The list of examples goes on, and the evidence is clear: Jesus saw the Old Testament as being God’s Word, and his attitude toward it was nothing less than total trust. Many people want to accept Jesus, yet they reject a large portion of the Old Testament. Either Jesus knew what he was talking about, or he didn’t. If a person believes in Jesus Christ, he should be consistent and believe that the Old Testament and its accounts are correct.

Taken from Reasons Skeptics Should Consider Christianity Tyndale House printing. Copyright 1981 by Campus Crusade for Christ. All rights reserved.
All Scripture references are taken from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) unless otherwise noted.

When Did the Idea of Mary Being a “Virgin Forever” Begin?

When Did the Idea of Mary Being a “Virgin Forever” Begin?

...The Protoevangelium of James contains the first known mention of Mary’s continual virginity. Likely, this book influenced subsequent people to write of the perpetual virginity of Mary. But the book was not the work of the Apostle James, the brother of Christ. The work’s demotion by the early church, especially its non-inclusion with other books of the canon due to its numerous errors, is further verification it was not authentic.

Keep in mind that no passage of Scripture states Mary perpetually remained a virgin and many state the opposite. So to make a case for the perpetual virginity of Mary, one must use ideas that come from outside the Bible and then reinterpret Scripture with some wild hermeneutical gymnastics. This would be appealing to fallible, sinful ideas that originate in the minds of mankind—not God. Why not trust God when He speaks? After all, it would not be a sin for Mary to have sexual relations with her husband Joseph, but it would have been sinful for her to withhold herself from him throughout their marriage (1 Corinthians 7:3–5). There is no biblical or logical reason why Mary would have needed to remain a virgin following the birth of Christ.

The issue is quite simple: should we trust the imperfect sources and traditions that come from outside of Scripture and contradict it or should we trust God’s Word?

Before Time Began, Jesus Was | Desiring God

Before Time Began, Jesus Was | Desiring God

Message Excerpt by 

John Piper

Topic: The Deity of Christ ( click the link)

John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word.” Those words “in the beginning” in Greek are identical to the first two words of the Bible: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). I don’t think that’s an accident.

What John is saying is that before there was any matter, before anything had been made, Jesus was. “In the beginning was the Word.” So, there at the beginning, when those things were brought into being, he was there already. That’s the point of “in the beginning.” And another confirmation that John is thinking that way is that the very next thing he tells us about Jesus’s action is everything was made through him. So, creation is in his mind as he writes the words, “in the beginning.” Jesus was there as the Son of God in the beginning.

“Jesus was there not only before matter; he was there before time. He did not come into being; he just was.”

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Let me say it in an Einsteinian way, and then I will give you the biblical phrase for Einstein’s theory of relativity. Jesus was there not only before matter; he was there before time. Because the twentieth century brought the discovery that matter and time are coextensive. No matter, no time. Kind of a controversial thing biblically sometimes. But listen to the great doxology. Now, I don’t think the biblical writers knew the theory of relativity. They just knew truth. Jude 25:

To the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

He’s lifting up his doxological praise of Jesus Christ and he says, “Before all time, and now in these times of the ages, and forever, glory be to him.” Or take 2 Timothy 1:9:

[God] gave us grace in Christ Jesus before the times of the ages.

So, when John says, “In the beginning was the Word,” echoing Genesis 1 — the wider references to being before time is meant to communicate that beforeanything else was, he was. So, get the time right. He did not come into being — he just was.

(*For further thinking, click the link below*)

• Some Insight about Trinity God