There is much confusion on which books belong in our Bible. There are a lot of liberal scholars who try to claim that there are other books in the Bible such as the book of Enoch, that the Orthodox Christian Church has rejected.
The reason why they are pushing that is because they know that those books in our Bible contradict Christian doctrine, and they want to use that as an excuse to teach some liberal teachings and to criticise Christianity. We’re going to look at the Bible to see that the books in our King James Bible, and the books that traditional Protestant Christianity has always used, are the right books in our Bible.
What books did God approve in the Bible?
The reason why we believe we have the right books in our Bible is simply, what did God think about it. What books did God approve of in our Bible?
If God says that the book of Genesis is right, then that means that is the right book of the Bible. If God says it is the book of Revelation, or the book of Daniel, then that will be the right book of the Bible. But if God did not mention those as not the right books of the Bible, then we know those are not the right books in our Bible.
So let’s see what Jesus said in Luke 4:17-21.
Luke 4:17-21 “And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”
So notice right here, which are the books that God approved as part of Scripture?
The first one is definitely Isaiah. So we do know that the book of Isaiah is the right book of the Bible. Liberal scholars give this weird theory that there are two different Isaiah who wrote the book of Isaiah, trying to make the book not legit. However, who cares what scholars say! Jesus didn’t see it that way! He thought Isaiah is legit and real genuine scripture. We can discover which books are the right books in our Bible, simply by seeing what Jesus thought.
Jesus also thought that the books of Jonah and Daniel are the right books in our Bible as well.
Matthew 12:39 “But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:”
Notice here that Jesus Christ called Jonah a prophet.
Matthew 24:15 “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)”
Jesus recognised Isaiah, Jonah and Daniel as legit. When you hear these weird arguments and so-called historical explanations, they can’t prove it. They will try to say that the language eludes, and they will give some kind of historical background and information, but all of it is theory. They will try to forcibly connect some historical background and illusion in the verse language to prove a theory.
Matthew 4:4
But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Jesus considered the book of Deuteronomy to be legit. Jesus is quoting from the text, what He believed to be the right Bible.
Matthew 4:5-6 “Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.”
Notice right here that the devil is even quoting scripture, he is no fool either. He knows which book belongs in your Bible. If liberals are dumb enough to not figure out which book is in the Bible, the devil is smart enough to figure it out.
Matthew 4:7 “Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”
Notice that response, it shows that Jesus Christ does not deny the verse that Satan is quoting. He recognises that the first part is scripture, that’s why He says it is “written again”, following that, Jesus is going to respond with a different verse. Jesus quoted a verse in response to the devil quoting a verse.
Matthew 4:10 “Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”
All these verses quoted by Jesus Christ are found in Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Psalms, Zechariah, and 1 Samuel as well. All of these are in your Bible.
Luke 24:44 “And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.”
Scriptures in three sections, the law of Moses, in the prophets, and the Psalms. The Law of Moses, from Genesis to Deuteronomy, were written by Moses. The prophets are going to cover from the books of Joshua to Daniel, as well as the twelve minor prophets in your Old Testament. The Psalms cover the book of Psalms down to the Song of Solomon.
In a book called “Bible Doctrines”, page 53, Josephus the historian, a non-Christian and respected first-century history, also recognised these quotations of the Law of Moses, prophets and Psalms.
Matthew 23:30 “And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.”
Matthew 23:35 “That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.”
Abel was mentioned in the book of Genesis. “Zacharias son of Barachias” refers to the book of 2 Chronicles, where the Israelites killed him.
The King James Bible is translated from the Masoretic text, “Hebrew text”. The order is different, but it has the same books. The books include Genesis to 2 Chronicles.
Which books are in the New Testament?
Now let’s talk about the New Testament. The Gnostics were very infamous for providing wrong books in the Bible, confusing many people with the apocryphal books, and the book of Enoch, gospel of Thomas, Judas Iscariot and Mary Magdalene. These books were implanted by the Gnostics and these were the enemies of early Christians of which Paul warned about. The devil has been attacking your Bible ever since the beginning.
John 14:26 “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
We can believe the words of Jesus Christ to be true, because Jesus Himself proclaimed that the Holy Spirit will bring the words to remembrance. The liberal scholars will try to say that Jesus was a good guy, and the disciples misunderstood Him. That’s not what Jesus said, Jesus said that they will remember exactly what He said, by the Holy Spirit.
John 16:13 “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”
God is going to speak His words, the Holy Spirit will speak His word. The Scriptures are given by inspiration of God, God-breathed from the Holy Spirit. The words spoken by the Holy Spirit will become part of scripture, and be passed on to the disciples.
The liberal schools are going to attack the apostle Paul the most. Paul’s writings are also considered to be part of scripture.
2 Peter 3:15-16 “And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.”
You’ll notice that the chief leader of Christianity, Peter, recognised Paul’s writings to be part of scriptures. You’ll see right here that the Word of God already showed us which books God had approved as part of our Bible.