The Eternal Word or The Eternal Words
Many individuals misunderstand the Bible simply because they fail to notice the precise words God chose to be in the Bible. Every letter of every word on the tablets of stone were placed there by God. This is the nature of revelation and inspiration of His message to man. As the Old Testament was being written and completed, He had preserved the inspired word—including every jot and every tittle the prophets wrote (Matt. 5:18).
Every Word is Preserved.
The same is true of the New Testament. Jesus affirmed that the New Testament would be kept intact. He said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Matt. 24:35). Note that He did not say that His word would not pass away, but His words would not pass away. We do not in some generic way have the word of the Lord; we have His words. If one single word has been lost, then His statement is false.
Look at what He said again. There is absolutely no means by which His words would be lost. For those who ask how we know that in the copying and transmission of the text some of it has not been lost, here is God’s answer. There is no way that the words of the Lord have been lost. Worldly scholarship cannot be compared to Christ’s scholarship.
Jesus taught the same idea in the book of John. Read His words carefully. “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). He had taught that His words were more permanent than the universe itself and implied their eternal nature by saying that men would reject His words—not just His word. When the last day comes, these will be the basis of the final judgment.
The last book of the Bible describes this judgment scene. In Matthew He promised that heaven and earth would pass away. John described One who sat on the great white throne and says, “…from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them” (Rev. 20:11). There is no place for heaven or earth after the judgment. Then notice John’s description of the basis of the judgment. Men were not judged by the Book of Life but by the things written in the books. All the books, all sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament will be opened. The fact they are there shows their eternal nature!
Read carefully Paul’s description of the accuracy of the revelation. “Which things also we speak, not in words man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Spirit teacheth; combing spiritual things with spiritual words” (1 Cor. 2:13). He has given us His words and they are eternal!