How The New Testament Confirms Divine Inspiration

Citations in New Testament

The New Testament is replete with citations and direct and indirect allusions to the Old Testament. The Blue Letter Bible1online has a list of over 900 references. These statistics alone are impressive evidence of the interdependency of the two major sections of the Scriptures. It is clear from the sheer number of connections that the New Testament narrative and teaching is tightly coupled to that of the Old Testament, whether by prophecy, comparison or contrast. Every New Testament writer cites or alludes to the Old Testament. Each one treats the text as divinely inspired for the purposes of either storytelling (for example, the four Gospel writers and Luke with Acts), or for doctrinal exposition (Paul, James, Peter and the writer of Hebrews).

Paul, in particular, was raised as a student of the Law and the Prophets. As a Pharisee, he knew his Bible inside out (Acts 23:6, Phil 3:5). Yet, even though his previous religious convictions put him violently at odds with Christ, after his conversion he wrote with full conviction that “all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Tim 3:16 ESV). The Scripture he referred to here is what we call the Old Testament. So, post-conversion, Paul continued to accept the divine inspiration of the Old Testament, albeit with a different understanding. The extensively reasoned arguments for faith in Christ we find in Romans are based heavily on Paul’s exposition of Old Testament texts. The implicit assumption he made is that those texts are “God breathed”. For example, Romans 4 cites the promises to Abraham in Gen 15:5,6, Gen 17:5,10 and Psa 32:1,2 to prove that believers in Christ are counted righteous by faith and consequently forgiven. This teaching is in direct contrast to that of the Pharisees who taught that righteousness was attained by works. Yet astonishingly, Paul, rather than renouncing his belief in the inspiration of Scriptures, confirmed it by continuing to refer to Old Testament texts in building his arguments for the truth of the Christian faith.

Peter also relied heavily on Old Testament passages to prove the resurrection of Jesus Christ, in Acts 2 and onwards. In that seminal public speech in Jerusalem, Peter quoted extensively from Joel 2, Psalm 16 and Psalm 110 to prove that God raised Jesus from the dead. He gave a radical interpretation of Old Testament texts that, up until this point, had only been understood as if through a cloudy lens. Peter presented them with a fresh, reasonable and life-saving application. In expounding Psa 16:10 in particular (“You will not abandon my soul to Hades or let your Holy One see corruption”), Peter sensibly and logically asserted:

“Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses” (Acts 2:29-31).

Peter’s newfound courage and, undoubtedly, inspired speech resulted in three thousand converts to Christ that day. The crowning point of his speech, and the one that brings about a conscience-riven reaction from his audience, relied on the most quoted2Old Testament passage in the New Testament: “The Lord3said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool” (Acts 2:34, citing Psa 110:1). Peter’s exposition of this is plain: “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:26). The prophetic validity and moral force of this Old Testament text are powerful, and because Peter’s words fell on the fertile ground of the minds of many present, they were also life-saving. This is divine inspiration in its most creative effect: the new creation of the ecclesia of God is founded upon the truth of the death and resurrection of Jesus, and his exaltation to God’s right hand as the Christ. Peter’s speech is a practical demonstration of Paul’s assertion: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Rom 1:16).

Jesus from a child

Perhaps even more significant than Paul and Peter’s acceptance of the divine inspiration of the Old Testament is Jesus’ attitude towards it. From a child he was taught to love the word of God. Luke recounts how, at the young age of twelve, Jesus was so enthralled with learning that he remained with the teachers of the Law, “sitting among” them, listening to them (first) and asking them questions (second). Bro. Harry Whittaker and others4speculate on the nature of the questions he asked them, as later in his ministry: “What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is He? If David call Him Lord, how is He then his Son?” “Which is the first and great commandment?” “Who is my neighbor?” Whatever his questions were, the teachers clearly asked Jesus questions in return, for “all who heard him were amazed at his understanding, and his answers” (Luke 2:47). Already, Jesus was confident and familiar enough with the text to engage in adult discussions regarding its meaning.

The Old Testament

As he matured to full manhood we see Jesus use the OT Scriptures in a number of ways. Here are some examples:

  • As a bulwark against temptation — Matthew 4.
  • For comfort and reassurance (in conjunction with prayer) — Matt 27:46, John 19:28.
  • Prophetically — Matt 11:7-11; 21:42; most of ch 24; 26:54-56.
  • Exposition about his person and work — Matt 12:1-8; 12:38-42; 13:13-16; 21:15-16; 22:42-45, Luke 4:16-22; 24:27, 45, John 3:14-16; 5:39; 6:35-59; 7:38; 15:25; 17:12.
  • Moral and practical teaching — Matt 5:21-48; 18:15-20; 19:3 – 9, Luke 18:18­ 22.
  • First principles teaching — Matt 5:2-12; 22:35-40, Mark 18-27; 12:28-34, Luke 4:25-30.

Early in Jesus’ ministry, shortly after he returned from the wilderness experience “in the power of the Spirit,” (Luke 4:14) he entered the synagogue at Nazareth. He stood up to read from the scroll of Isaiah at chapter 61:1. Halfway through verse two he sat down. All eyes were then fixed on him. He did not complete the reading. In addition, he interjected a portion of Isa 58:6: “to set at liberty those who are oppressed” (Luke 4:18). At this point, Jesus expounded the text, starting with “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (vs 21). From there he continued to preach directly to them from the OT text. In subsequent verses we read of Jesus making several references to 1st Kings, to prove that the gentiles are included in God’s plan of salvation. Here Jesus clearly demonstrated his belief that the OT text is inspired and he uses it as the authoritative basis of his teachings.

Divorce and Jesus

The discussion over the applicability of divorce in Matthew 19 is a particularly powerful example for demonstrating Jesus’ belief in the inerrant inspiration of the OT Scriptures. The Pharisees challenged him on this topic in an attempt to embroil him in controversy, knowing that this was a question that was cause for division amongst themselves. They hoped that Jesus’s response would inflame that division. The school of Shammai held a conservative view while the school of Hillel understood the phrase ‘matter of shame’ from Deut 24:1 in the “widest possible sense, and declared it sufficient ground for divorce if a woman had spoiled her husband’s dinner”5.

Jesus answered them using an approach that was foreign to their own debating style. They were used to quoting different rabbinical writings or sayings in defense of their positions, rather than appealing to the original text. In contrast, Jesus cited Gen 1:27 and Gen 2:18 : “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and the two shall become one flesh?’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together let not man separate” (Matt 19:4-6). By quoting directly from Scripture Jesus both elevated the discussion and removed himself from the foolish debate of the Pharisees. His response was based on the divine authority of Genesis rather than the opinions of rabbis, and corresponded to neither school of thought. He taught them that the God’s teaching on the subject was much more conservative than any of their own. Rather than divorce being a right or privilege, it is an expediency: “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so” (Matt 19:8). Again, Jesus expounded the original text. In this case he drew a contrast between Moses’ provision in Deut 24:1-4 and God’s original intent in Genesis 1 and 2. His use of the phrase “from the beginning” draws our attention back to Genesis 1. Throughout the discussion Jesus relied on the OT text alone for his reasoning and treated it as authoritative and divinely inspired.

Jesus teaches from the Old Testament

In another encounter with the Pharisees Jesus asked them a question. His intention was not to ‘test’ them, as they did him, but rather to teach them about who he is: “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” When they replied “The son of David” he asked a follow-up question in which he explicitly expressed his acceptance of the OT Scriptures as being divinely inspired: “How is then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet’?” Amy emphasis] (Matt 22:41-45). Here Jesus told them, as on previous occasions, that he is the Son of God. But rather than just asserting that fact with no witness he used the witness of God’s word to prove it. And he applied an interpretation that previously had escaped their understanding: the reference to ‘my Lord’ by David can only mean one thing — that, even though Jesus was descended from David by birth, prophetically David regarded him as his Lord and Master. The silent response of Jesus’ audience in verse 46 speaks volumes. Jesus’ application of the text was unassailable. He had proven his sonship by relying on those texts he had learnt as a child and held dear to his heart for all those years. He unquestioningly accepted the fact of both the continued relevance and the inspiration of the OT text.

Although all New Testament writers reference the OT text in one way or another, what better witness to the veracity, reliability and relevance of the Old Testament and the New Testament’s inextricable dependency on it can we have than the evidence of Jesus’ own trust in its divine inspiration? If Jesus believed it, we can too.

  1. blueletterbible.org/study/misc/quotes.cfm.
  2. See Matt 22:44, Mark 12:36, Luke 20:42, John 12:34, Acts 2:34, 1Cor 15:25, Heb 1:13, Heb 5:6, Heb 7:17, 21, Heb 10:12,13, Rev 3:21, Rev 6:15.
  3. Both occurrences of “Lord” use the same Greek word, kurios.
  4. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown at blueletterbible.org and Studies in the Gospels, Third Impression, Harry Whittaker, page 42.
  5. Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus The Messiah, Book 3, page 335 , MacDonald Publishing Company, McLean, Virginia.