Scripture In the Wilderness – Matthew 5:17-20

 It is the best-selling book of all time and sits at the center of our cultural consciousness, yet the Bible remains a difficult element of our faith. The confusion around the Bible might simply be that we’ve lost sight of what it is; a library of ancient writings, of both divine and human origin, that tell a unified story that leads to Jesus.

Three questions–

1. Why should we trust the Bible?

2. What is the Bible?

3. And how should we engage with the Bible?

Why should we trust the bible?

“Our trust in the Bible stems from our trust in Jesus Christ… I don’t trust in Jesus because I trust the Bible; I trust the Bible because I trust in Jesus. I love him, and I’ve decided to follow him, so if he talks and acts as if the Bible is trustworthy, authoritative, good, helpful and powerful, I will too… Even if some of my questions remain unanswered, or my answers remain unpopular.” – Andrew Wilson

We trust the bible because Jesus trusted the bible.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. – Matthew 5:17 ESV (emphasis added)

What is the Bible?

“[Christ’s] sayings were no repeal of the former [the Old Testament], but a drawing out and filling up of them.” – Chrysostom

The Bible is a library of ancient writings, of divine and human origin, that together tell a unified story that leads us to Jesus.

A Library of Ancient Writings

It is a collection of writings, with well over 60 authors spanning thousands of years, composed in several genres.

of Divine and Human Origins.

David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared…– Mark 12:36a.

The Bible’s origin is a divine and human collaboration– a perspective some have called the incarnational model of scripture.

A unified story

The bible can broadly condensed into three genres–

1. Narrative (44%)

2. Poetry (33%)

3. Discourse (23%)

A unified story of scripture in five parts–

1. Creation

2. Fall

3. Israel

4. Jesus

5. New Creation

That leads to Jesus.

“And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” – Luke 4:20-21 ESV

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is they that bear witness about me.”– John 5:39 ESV

How should we engage the bible?

Studying the Bible

• The Bible Project.

• Biblia.com,

• Biblical commentaries

• Study Bibles.

Being formed by the Bible.

Jesus’ imagination and thought patterns are so thoroughly saturated in the scriptures that he puts his suffering in the context of a longer story.

“When we submit our lives to what we read in scripture, we find that we are not being led to see God in our stories but our stories in God's. God is the larger context and plot in which our stories find themselves.”― Eugene Peterson

There is no technique or strategy to shape by the Scripture, there is just a posture.