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Which Books Make Up the New Testament? 61
And the claim was recognized by the other apostles. Peter said in his
second letter, “Our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according
to the wisdom given him” (2 Pet. 3:15). Paul said that his wisdom in
teaching the church was “taught by the Spirit.” Peter said it was “given
him.” Richard Bauckham comments, “The appeal to Paul’s teaching in
his letters is reinforced by reference to the fact that the apostle wrote
under divine inspiration.” 2
A Foundational Authority for All of History
In other words, as Jesus promised, the Holy Spirit had come and was
guiding Jesus’s apostles into truth. Jesus did not leave his people without
a real, present, objective expression of his own authority. And he
was establishing that authority by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The
risen Christ was continuing to shepherd his flock through the mouth
of the apostles. He would provide a foundation for the church through
their writings so that a canon of writings would emerge that would have
the authority of the Lord Jesus till he comes again.
The early church—and all succeeding generations—would be able to
recognize that authority because Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit, in
these writings, would “glorify me” (John 16:14). The same divine glory
that convinced his first disciples that he was the truth (John 1:14) will
shine through his new Scriptures and convince the church that these are
the very words of God.
Jesus did not intend, through the history of the church, to keep sending
more and more spokesmen with this kind of authority. That is why
the apostolic teaching is called the “foundation” of the church, not the
ongoing structure (Eph. 2:20). It is also why one of the later books of
the New Testament refers to “the faith that was once for all delivered
to the saints”:
Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common
salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to
contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
(Jude 3)
2
Richard J. Bauckham, 2 Peter, Jude, vol. 50, Word Biblical Commentary, ed. David A. Hubbard, Glenn
W. Barker, Ralph P. Martin (Dallas: Word, 1998), 329.