The Perfect Preservation of The Scriptures
The aim of this article is to present the biblical doctrine of the perfect preservation of the Scriptures. This doctrine states that God’s Word is not only perfect but eternal, and that every word of Scripture has been preserved and shall ever be preserved with none perishing.
The doctrine of the perfect preservation of Scripture is first based on the nature of God’s Word.
We first see that God’s Word is of a Divine nature. Though we do not worship the Bible and we do not make an idol out of a book, Scripture is indeed God’s Word and has Divine characteristics. We have already seen that inspiration means the Scriptures are God’s Word and God speaks to us therein. We also find that God’s Word is associated with God’s presence (Genesis 3:8-9). We find that it is the very Word of God that created the world and sustains the world, and this Word is spoken of as being eternal in nature: “LAMED. For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth. They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants.” (Psalm 119:89–91) Scripture even speaks of the Scripture as being one with Christ: “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” (Hebrews 4:12–13) God is eternal in the length of His days as well as His attributes and His Word is likewise, having God’s nature and character as the perfect expression of His person and will.
God’s Word is also imperishable or incorruptible. To be incorruptible means Scripture is incapable of corruption. This does not mean that there are not those who misuse and misapply the Word of God. Peter spoke of such (2 Peter 3:15-16), and Paul did also, saying, “For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 2:17) This sort of corrupting of the Word is not the same as the Word being or becoming corrupt in nature, however. The misuse and abuse of Scripture by corrupting the Word cannot make the Word any less than the incorruptible Word of God. The incorruptible nature of the Word means that it is not subject to decay and is immortal in nature. God’s Word says the saints are, “born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” (1 Peter 1:23–25) If the least portion of Scripture should become lost that would be proof that it is subject to decay and is not eternal, being corruptible in nature. Coming forth from God Himself, the Word is of Divine nature and is thus, eternal and incorruptible. Scripture shall never perish.
Paul also spoke to Timothy about the Scriptures being holy: “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:14–15) The Word is also God’s means of making His people holy (John 17:17;Ephesians 5:25-27). For this to be so, the Scriptures must of a necessity be incorruptible in holiness and in the ability to retain all the words thereof perfectly so as to be suited for the task of sanctifying the saints.
Scripture shall also be perfectly preserved because God and His Word are faithful. God’s faithfulness and the faithfulness of His Word are why the universe continues in existence: “LAMED. For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth. They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants.” (Psalm 119:89–91) Not only so, but we also find that God’s faithfulness is such that He and His Word are true and faithful even when we do not believe: “It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” (2 Timothy 2:11–13) Numerous are the places where we can read that God and His Word are faithful. God’s Word shall be perfectly preserved because God is faithful to His Word.
Scripture has been perfectly preserved to this point in time and shall ever be perfectly preserved because of God’s promises. God has made eternal promises to His people and the only way that we can know those promises as we need to know them is if God’s Word is eternally preserved. “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.” (Jeremiah 31:33–37) Notice that God’s faithful Word that preserves the universe is the same Word in which we receive His eternal promises. God will not forget His promises nor His people because He is faithful to His Word, which He will preserve forever in faithfulness.
Not only so, but God has also promised that His Word will abide forever. He did this first by telling us that the Scriptures would not pass away: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” (Matthew 5:17–18) The fulfillment of the law and the prophets is not completed until Christ establishes the new heavens and new Earth. This means that even the most minute parts of Scripture will remain until that time, not passing away, according to God’s promise. This is very important because doctrine is preserved and promoted even in the smallest of things. Jesus based His doctrine of the resurrection greatly on the fact that God spoke in the present tense concerning Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying that He is their God (Matthew 22:31-32). The seemingly very small issue of present tense versus past tense is necessarily preserved, as we can easily see. Paul also used the reality of singular versus plural in Galatians 3:16 to establish the truth that Jesus is the promised seed of Abraham. These things had to have been perfectly preserved until his day, and they must and shall continue in perfect preservation until the coming of our Lord Jesus.
The Psalmist understood that the promises of God to keep His people would be preserved eternally, saying, “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.” (Psalm 12:6–7) As mentioned earlier, God’s Word is pure and thus incorruptible, and God promises to preserve His Word forever. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” (Matthew 24:35) Thus, the idea that portions of God’s Word were corrupted and/or lost for many years and only recovered in the nineteenth century is contrary to the very promise of God! God has preserved His Word.
Let us notice three instances that show us God’s providential preservation of Scripture in Biblical times. First, there was the time Moses broke the tablets containing the commandments of God, yet God gave them to Israel once again (Exodus chapters 32-34). During the days of Jeremiah, wicked King Jehoiakim burned the Word of God to him, yet God instructed Jeremiah to write the very same words in a scroll and explained that rather than God’s Word being destroyed it would be King Jehoiakim who would not endure (Jeremiah 36). Finally, we must note that the Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures were preserved until the days of the apostles because we find Paul declaring that the very copies of Scripture he possessed were inspired by God and profitable to saints and sinners alike (2 Timothy 3:14-17).
We can also have confidence that God’s Word remains perfectly preserved until this day because the church was given that task and has performed it. God used Paul to tell us the church is “the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” (1 Timothy 3:15) The church is given the duty of preaching the gospel, making disciples, and teaching all things Jesus commanded (Matthew 28:18-20). For this to be obeyed, the Scriptures must be preserved in all things. Not only so, but Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would accomplish the work of keeping us in mind of Jesus’ words: “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” (John 14:26) Again, He said, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” (John 16:13) God has not left us bereft of all truth but has perfectly preserved His Word by the power of His eternal Spirit.
The question remaining to us is, “Where has God preserved His Word?” The answer is first to be found in the fact that the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament and the twenty-seven books of the New Testament are where God’s Word is preserved. God’s people received the Old Testament Scriptures as given to them through the nation of Israel (Romans 3:1-2;2 Timothy 3:14-17) and as preserved by the Masoretic scribes until such time as the church was assigned the keeping of Scripture under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Since that time, Christ’s church has recognized the voice of the Good Shepherd (John 10:1-5,27-30) in the Masoretic Text of the Old Testament and in the Received Text of the New Testament. The fact that most saints used these texts throughout the ages demonstrates that God has preserved and continues to preserve His Word therein.
Just as God gave His Word to His chosen nation, Israel in their language of Hebrew and gave the New Testament Scriptures to the church in the universal language of Greek, He has demonstrated by both acceptance and use of the church that He has preserved the Masoretic Text and the Received Text in the universal language of English in what is commonly called the King James Version or the Authorized Version. While it is a blessing for each people group to have the Scriptures translated from Hebrew and Greek into their own tongue from the Masoretic Text and Received Text, it is also a blessing that God preserves His Word in the majestic English of the Authorized King James Version, so that God’s people around the world could have the Bible available in what is essentially the universal language.
Finally, a bit needs to be said about modern versions of the Scripture. There are two important things to notice about them. First, they are the products of their time, being produced by men and organizations that are extremely compromised in doctrine and/or practice or they are the works of men who are absolutely apostate. One cannot help but see the apostasy of the men who produced the Westcott and Hort Greek text upon which the British Revised Version of the Bible was based. This is also true about the English Standard Version, which is simply a revision of the Revised Standard Version that was translated and promoted by men who were greatly affected by either compromise with Communism or apostasy to Communism. Finally, it defies logic and Scriptural truth to think that the Word of God was greatly lost to the church of God until the nineteenth century when the manuscripts on which the newer versions are based were found. God did not preserve His Word by letting it lie fallow and unused for centuries but kept it pure through the use and care of the church under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. We can have confidence that the Authorized King James Version and faithful translations of the perfectly preserved Masoretic Text and Received Text are God’s preserved Word, and we can use them, counting them faithful.
The Baptist Sentinel 