The NEW TESTAMENT in THE CANON OF SCRIPTURE (i.e. the list of all the books that belong in the Bible)
The New Testament's development starts with the writing of
the apostles.
Who are these guys and what makes them so special?
These apostles had a special ability given by the Holy Spirit, to recall accurately the words and deeds of Jesus and to interpret them rightly for subsequent generations.
These apostles even claimed an authority equal to the Old Testament prophets.
They are so validated as God's spoken word, that in 2 Peter 3:16, Peter was willing to classify all of Paul's epistles with the "other scriptures."
1 Timothy 5:17-18 also quotes, "as the scripture says," and then goes on to quote both Deuteronomy and Luke together. This is giving Luke the validiay of being "scripture" or a part of the Biblical canon.
So most of the books of the New Testament were written by Jesus' apostles, and the few exceptions, including Mark, Luke, Acts, Hebrews, and Jude, had a historical process of being included based on their close association with Apostles or even with Jesus brother James.
Hebrews was urged to be included as it was probably written by Paul, but that is not certain.
As Wayne Grudem says,
"The majestic glory of Christ shines forth from the pages of the epistle to the Hebrews so brightly that no believer who reads it seriously should ever want to question its place in the canon."
Interestingly, Mark, Luke, and Acts had the personal testimony of a living apostle to confirm that what was written was true and solid.
So, in 367 and in 397, the eastern churches and western churches (i.e. Alexandria and Carthage) agreed on the same New Testament canonical list of accepted books.
Can we expect any more books to come in the New Testament?
Hebrews states very well, "In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world" Hebrews 1:1-2
So this is a clear contrast of prophets being used "of old" and a final culmination of the Son, Jesus to speak to mankind.
Grudem says, "the New Testamet writings contain the final, authoritative, and sufficient interpretations of Christ's work or redemption."
Revelations 22:18-19 continues in saying, "I warn every one who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if any one adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if any one takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
This verse refers to the book of revelation itself, but as Grudem says, "it is, however, not accidental that this statement comes at the end of the last chapter of Revelation, and that Revelation is the last book in the New Testament."
How do we know that we have all the books that we need in the Canon of the New Testament? Grudem says that our confidence is based on the faithfulness of GOd. "We know that God loves his people, and it is supremely important that God's people have his own words, for the are our life."
Some other candidates for inclusion in the canon of the New Testament have shown themselves to be contradictory to the rest of Scripture. The encourage, among other things, the necessity of penance, the possibility of forginveness of sins at least once after baptism, that the trinity only formed after Christ was taken up into heaven, "Let Mary go away from us, for women are not worthy of life." , etc. Here's a photo apparently of some gnostic books according to this website:
http://bibleopedia.blogspot.se/
And so we can rest in God's faithfulness to provide us with his word in a complete manner so we are able to know him and understand our redemption through his word.
Here is a much better summary of what I have just written: http://life.biblechurch.org/slifejom/nurturing-audio-video/2293-the-canon-of-scipture-new-testament-by-dr-wayne-grudem.html
Up next, The Authority of Scripture, "how do we know that the Bible is God's word."
And one last thought. What if all "Christians" really did believe that all of scripture was God breathed and right and true?
We might be despised even more by the world, but isn't it ALWAYS worth it to be in right standing with God? Accepting the whole word of God might not be easy but it is RIGHT, and it is not our place to question or explain away things that are clearly written there.
