Page 486 - Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible Christianity. Based on the King James Bible

PRESERVATION

“But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is Psalm 100:5 connects Bible preservation with God’s
the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” 1 goodness and mercy. It is because God loves man that
Pe. 1:25 He has given His Book. Ps. 100:5 reminds us that the
“For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of same love which motivated God to inspire the
the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto Scriptures, motivates Him to keep them.
these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that Isaiah adds his “amen” to this doctrine of
are written in this book: And if any man shall take
away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God preservation. According to Isaiah 59:21, it is the very
shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out words of God which will be preserved.
of the holy city, and from the things which are written The Lord Jesus Christ is even more specific in His
in this book.” Re. 22:18-19 teaching about the preservation of Scripture. In Mt.
The teaching of these passages is that God would 24:35 the Son of God promises that His WORDS will not
preserve His Word in detail to every generation. This, pass away. And in Mt. 5:18, He says the very JOTS AND
and this alone, is the biblical doctrine of preservation. TITTLES of God’s Word will not pass away! That is
The scholars mock this position and sneeringly label it certainly verbal preservation.
with derogatory terms such as “secondary inspiration,” The Apostle Peter tells us with absolute authority
but I am convinced the Bible teaches miraculous that the Word of God is preserved perpetually, and this
inspiration and miraculous preservation. includes the Word which has been preached to us in the
Psalm 12:6-7 summarizes the doctrine of Bible gospel writings. And by gospel writings we must
preservation. This passage promises that the pure words understand Peter to mean the whole of the New
(not just thoughts or general teachings) of God would Testament, not just the first four books, for He. 2:3
be kept to every generation. Preserved words. Not just instructs us that the gospel “at the first began to be
the doctrines. Not just the historical facts. The words! spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them
This is verbal preservation, and it is what the Bible that heard him.”
plainly promises. Capping off our brief survey of Scripture on this
Psalm 33:11 says God’s thoughts would not be lost important doctrine is the testimony of Revelation. In the
but rather would stand to all generations, and we know last chapter of this book man is given a dire warning not
from passages such as 1 Co. 2:12-13 that these divine to tamper with its contents. Obviously this applies
thoughts have been expressed through divinely-chosen directly to Revelation, but it must apply equally to the
words. “Which things also we speak, NOT IN THE entire Book of which Revelation forms the last chapter.
WORDS which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Think about it. If mankind is forbidden from taking
Holy Ghost teacheth...” Therefore we see that this away from or adding to the contents of a Book, it must
promise in Psalm 33, too, is a promise of the verbal be obvious that God intends to preserve that Book in
preservation of Scripture. every detail. And note that it is the WORDS which man
Psalm 100:5, 111:7-8, and 117:2 tell us that the truth is forbidden to tamper with. “For I testify unto every
of God will stand forever and endure to all generations. man that heareth the WORDS of the prophecy of this
This could mean that sound doctrine in general will be book ... if any man shall take away from the WORDS of
preserved, as those who take a naturalistic view of the book of this prophecy...” The WORDS! If God forbids
preservation contend, but this cannot be. We know that man to tamper with any of the WORDS of the Bible, it is
God’s truth is not expressed to man merely in general obvious that He intends to preserve those words so they
doctrinal terms. Truth is expressed in divinely-selected will be available to man. If this isn’t true, the warning of
words. Jesus said, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy Re. 22:18-19 is meaningless.
word is truth” (Jn. 17:17). He also said, “It is written, In summary, we see that the Bible teaches that God
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word will preserve His Word in pure form, including the most
that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Mt. 4:4). It is minute details (the jots and titles, the words), and that
crucial that men have the very words of Scripture. God this would include the whole Scriptures, Old and New
has not merely given man a pattern of truth; He has Testaments. This is only reasonable in light of the
given the very form of truth in the Scriptures. It is this doctrine of verbal, plenary inspiration. Of what benefit
verbally inspired truth that the O.T. is promising will be are perfect writings which no longer exist?
preserved. Does Psalm 12:6-7 Refer to God’s Words? There are
Psalm 119:160 adds the testimony that even the very those who do not believe Ps. 12:6-7 is speaking of the
earliest portions of God’s Word, Genesis and the other Word of God. These contend that this key passage refers
writings of Moses, would be preserved. rather to God’s preservation of the men spoken of in Ps.
12:1-5. An article by Doug Kutilek published in The

486 Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible & Christianity