"You study the scriptures diligently, supposing that in having them you have eternal life; their testimony points to me," (John 5:39, REB)
"There were indeed many other signs that Jesus performed in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. Those written here have been recorded in order that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this faith you may have life by his name." (John 20:30-31, REB)
"Moses said, 'The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among yourselves. Listen to everything he says to you, for anyone who refuses to listen to that prophet must be cut off from the people.' From Samuel onwards, every prophet who spoke predicted this present time." (Acts 3:22-24, REB)
"This salvation was the subject of intense search by the prophets who prophesied about the grace of God awaiting you. They tried to find out the time and the circumstances to which the spirit of Christ in them pointed, when it foretold the sufferings in Christ’s cause and the glories to follow." (1Pet 1:10-11, REB)
By whose ultimate authority do we believe the Bible?
"We accept human testimony, but surely the testimony of God is stronger, and the testimony of God is the witness he has borne to his Son. He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in his own heart, but he who does not believe God makes him out to be a liar by refusing to accept God’s witness to his Son." (1John 5:9-10, REB)
How was Scripture authenticated and made safe from man's visions, emotions, feelings and lies?
"‘But they will never believe me or listen to what I say,’ Moses protested; ‘they will say that it is untrue that the Lord appeared to me.’ The Lord said, ‘What is that in your hand?’ ‘A staff,’ replied Moses. The Lord said, ‘Throw it on the ground.’ He did so, and it turned into a snake. Moses drew back hastily, but the Lord said, ‘Put your hand out and seize it by the tail.’ When he took hold of it, it turned back into a staff in his hand. ‘This’, said the Lord, ‘is to convince the people that the Lord the God of their forefathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, did appear to you.’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Put your hand inside the fold of your cloak.’ He did so, and when he drew his hand out the skin was white as snow with disease. The Lord said, ‘Put your hand in again’; he did so, and when he drew it out this time it was as healthy as the rest of his body. ‘Now,’ said the Lord, ‘if they do not believe you and do not accept the evidence of the first sign, they may be persuaded by the second. But if they are not convinced even by these two signs and will not accept what you say, then fetch some water from the Nile and pour it out on the dry land, and the water from the Nile will turn to blood on the ground.’" (Exod 4:1-9, REB)
"The Lord listened to Elijah’s cry, and the breath of life returned to the child’s body, and he revived. Elijah lifted him and took him down from the roof-chamber into the house, and giving him to his mother he said, ‘Look, your son is alive.’ She said to Elijah, ‘Now I know for certain that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord on your lips is truth.’" (1Kgs 17:22-24, REB)
"So after talking with them the Lord Jesus was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God; but they went out to proclaim their message far and wide, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed their words by the miracles that followed." (Mark 16:19-20, REB)
"...what escape can there be for us if we ignore so great a deliverance? This deliverance was first announced through the Lord, and those who heard him confirmed it to us, God himself adding his testimony by signs and wonders, by miracles of many kinds, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed at his own will." (Heb 2:3-4, REB)
"Then he called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out unclean spirits and to cure every kind of illness and infirmity... Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. You received without cost; give without charge." (Matt 10:1 & 8, REB)
God's word/scripture is our ultimate and final authority
"But first note this: no prophetic writing is a matter for private interpretation. It was not on any human initiative that prophecy came; rather, it was under the compulsion of the Holy Spirit that people spoke as messengers of God." (2Pet 1:20-21, REB)
"The Jews here were more fair-minded than those at Thessalonica: they received the message with great eagerness, studying the scriptures every day to see whether it was true." (Acts 17:11, REB)
"And he said to them, ‘This is what I meant by saying, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms was bound to be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. ‘So you see’, he said, ‘that scripture foretells the sufferings of the Messiah and his rising from the dead on the third day, and declares that in his name repentance bringing the forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed to all nations beginning from Jerusalem." (Luke 24:44-47, REB)
"...remember that from early childhood you have been familiar with the sacred writings which have power to make you wise and lead you to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All inspired scripture has its use for teaching the truth and refuting error, or for reformation of manners and discipline in right living, so that the man of God may be capable and equipped for good work of every kind." (2Tim 3:15-17, REB)
"Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience is an opportunity for salvation, as Paul, our dear friend and brother, said when he wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him. He does the same in all his other letters, wherever he speaks about this, though they contain some obscure passages, which the ignorant and unstable misinterpret to their own ruin, as they do the other scriptures." (2Pet 3:15-16, REB)
"My friends, I have applied all this to Apollos and myself for your benefit, so that you may take our case as an example, and learn the true meaning of ‘nothing beyond what stands written’, and may not be inflated with pride as you take sides in support of one against another." (1Cor 4:6, REB)
When I began collecting the verses that form my personal confession of faith, 50+ years ago, I used the KJV. In recent years I'd compared those passages to the 1989 Revised English Bible from the UK. I only remember one verse from the KJV that was totally different in the REB, so that I could not use as a proof text, Isaiah 8:20.
"There were indeed many other signs that Jesus performed in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. Those written here have been recorded in order that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this faith you may have life by his name." (John 20:30-31, REB)
"Moses said, 'The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among yourselves. Listen to everything he says to you, for anyone who refuses to listen to that prophet must be cut off from the people.' From Samuel onwards, every prophet who spoke predicted this present time." (Acts 3:22-24, REB)
"This salvation was the subject of intense search by the prophets who prophesied about the grace of God awaiting you. They tried to find out the time and the circumstances to which the spirit of Christ in them pointed, when it foretold the sufferings in Christ’s cause and the glories to follow." (1Pet 1:10-11, REB)
By whose ultimate authority do we believe the Bible?
"We accept human testimony, but surely the testimony of God is stronger, and the testimony of God is the witness he has borne to his Son. He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in his own heart, but he who does not believe God makes him out to be a liar by refusing to accept God’s witness to his Son." (1John 5:9-10, REB)
How was Scripture authenticated and made safe from man's visions, emotions, feelings and lies?
"‘But they will never believe me or listen to what I say,’ Moses protested; ‘they will say that it is untrue that the Lord appeared to me.’ The Lord said, ‘What is that in your hand?’ ‘A staff,’ replied Moses. The Lord said, ‘Throw it on the ground.’ He did so, and it turned into a snake. Moses drew back hastily, but the Lord said, ‘Put your hand out and seize it by the tail.’ When he took hold of it, it turned back into a staff in his hand. ‘This’, said the Lord, ‘is to convince the people that the Lord the God of their forefathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, did appear to you.’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Put your hand inside the fold of your cloak.’ He did so, and when he drew his hand out the skin was white as snow with disease. The Lord said, ‘Put your hand in again’; he did so, and when he drew it out this time it was as healthy as the rest of his body. ‘Now,’ said the Lord, ‘if they do not believe you and do not accept the evidence of the first sign, they may be persuaded by the second. But if they are not convinced even by these two signs and will not accept what you say, then fetch some water from the Nile and pour it out on the dry land, and the water from the Nile will turn to blood on the ground.’" (Exod 4:1-9, REB)
"The Lord listened to Elijah’s cry, and the breath of life returned to the child’s body, and he revived. Elijah lifted him and took him down from the roof-chamber into the house, and giving him to his mother he said, ‘Look, your son is alive.’ She said to Elijah, ‘Now I know for certain that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord on your lips is truth.’" (1Kgs 17:22-24, REB)
"So after talking with them the Lord Jesus was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God; but they went out to proclaim their message far and wide, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed their words by the miracles that followed." (Mark 16:19-20, REB)
"...what escape can there be for us if we ignore so great a deliverance? This deliverance was first announced through the Lord, and those who heard him confirmed it to us, God himself adding his testimony by signs and wonders, by miracles of many kinds, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed at his own will." (Heb 2:3-4, REB)
"Then he called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out unclean spirits and to cure every kind of illness and infirmity... Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. You received without cost; give without charge." (Matt 10:1 & 8, REB)
God's word/scripture is our ultimate and final authority
"But first note this: no prophetic writing is a matter for private interpretation. It was not on any human initiative that prophecy came; rather, it was under the compulsion of the Holy Spirit that people spoke as messengers of God." (2Pet 1:20-21, REB)
"The Jews here were more fair-minded than those at Thessalonica: they received the message with great eagerness, studying the scriptures every day to see whether it was true." (Acts 17:11, REB)
"And he said to them, ‘This is what I meant by saying, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms was bound to be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. ‘So you see’, he said, ‘that scripture foretells the sufferings of the Messiah and his rising from the dead on the third day, and declares that in his name repentance bringing the forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed to all nations beginning from Jerusalem." (Luke 24:44-47, REB)
"...remember that from early childhood you have been familiar with the sacred writings which have power to make you wise and lead you to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All inspired scripture has its use for teaching the truth and refuting error, or for reformation of manners and discipline in right living, so that the man of God may be capable and equipped for good work of every kind." (2Tim 3:15-17, REB)
"Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience is an opportunity for salvation, as Paul, our dear friend and brother, said when he wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him. He does the same in all his other letters, wherever he speaks about this, though they contain some obscure passages, which the ignorant and unstable misinterpret to their own ruin, as they do the other scriptures." (2Pet 3:15-16, REB)
"My friends, I have applied all this to Apollos and myself for your benefit, so that you may take our case as an example, and learn the true meaning of ‘nothing beyond what stands written’, and may not be inflated with pride as you take sides in support of one against another." (1Cor 4:6, REB)
When I began collecting the verses that form my personal confession of faith, 50+ years ago, I used the KJV. In recent years I'd compared those passages to the 1989 Revised English Bible from the UK. I only remember one verse from the KJV that was totally different in the REB, so that I could not use as a proof text, Isaiah 8:20.
