2 Peter 3:15-16 - The New Testament Canon

2 Peter 3:15-16
15 and regard the patience of our Lord 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.

Message: The New Testament Canon

Time: Peter wrote this letter from Rome soon after he wrote 1 Peter in AD 64–66. Peter is encouraging believers to stand firm as they face false teachers. Peter emphasized the importance of learning and clinging to the proper knowledge of God

What the Lord is Saying:

It is important in the study of Scripture to know which books constitute scripture. Thus, deciding what is inspired or not inspired is a process because many have stated having received a word from the Lord.

In identifying the books for the New Testament Canon or the inspired scriptures that would become part of our Bible there were some books that were universally accepted - the four Gospels, the Pauline epistles, Acts, 1 Peter and I John. Early believers had questions though about 2 and 3 John and Revelation. The other books added were added because of apostolic authorship and the fact that by the 4th century these books were well read throughout the World.

The conclusion though was in the fact that these Scriptures were confirmed by the Holy Spirit in his speaking to believers of there authenticity. The Spirit spoke to the writers and spoke to those who evaluated the Scriptures, thus our trust is on God.

What I saw earlier was the idea that Paul's letter to Timothy mentioned Scripture and the question at the time when he said, All Scripture is inspired by God is what was the scripture that he was speaking about. Was he simply speaking about the Old Testament Canon? That was my thought at the time as I wouldn't think he would be speaking of his own writings. But perhaps Paul was in fact claiming his words as authoritative. One, i think about which words of the New Testament were in existence at the time of his writing I Timothy. If the time of that book is dated between 60 and 65 some of the Gospels would have been available (not John), but his writings would still be in development. Clearly, he does seem to be talking of Old Testament books.

Yet Paul does sort of parallel his writings with Scripture:

I Thessalonians 2:13 - For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us.
2 Thessalonians 2:15 - So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.
Ephesians 3:3-5 - that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit;

Luke wrote in Acts 15:28 - For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials

John states in Revelation 22:18-19: I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.

Thus, it is interesting that these texts, written by these writers, self-describe that the words coming from themselves are inspired by God. And what Peter does here in these verses is sort of align his words with Paul's words and then remarks the rest of the Scriptures. Thus, as he writes the words, he affirms Paul's words and brings them altogether his words, Paul's and the rest of Scriptures.

I know I have memorized 2 Timothy 3:16-17 with the idea that the All Scripture it speaks about is the the Canon of the Bible. Perhaps we can take that application from that verse, but the reality is that the conclusion of the Canon came outside of the written words of the Bible. And it was in those proceedings that we can conclude then that All Scripture of the Bible is inspired by God.

Promise: The authority of the books to be included in Scripture and therefore Scripture itself comes from God, though his Spirit, to His people. The Holy Spirit convinces us of all truth. Only the Spirit can make us trust God's word.

Prayer: O Lord, I thank you for the depth of your truth and as I dig into it more and more each day I discover more truths of it. I thank you for this and praise You for what it says. You are a great God and I praise Your name. Keep giving me understanding as I not only learn from these devotions but as I engage with others about truth. Draw people to yourself.


Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines with February being about the doctrine of revelation and the various aspects of the doctrine of Scripture that sola Scriptura seeks to preserve.