Two words will occupy our attention in this article. They are those with which

John 3: 16 opens: For God. Taken together they bring before us the twofold authority

for the good news called "the gospel".

For.--The first word, "for", takes us back to verse 14, and so to the inspiration and

authority of the Old Testament:--

A superficial view of Christianity might lead one to ask whether it really matters what

views are held as to the nature and extent of the inspiration of the O.T. Scriptures,

provided that the death and resurrection of Christ are faithfully preached. To this we

would reply by quoting the Lord's own words in the same Gospel:--

Here the matter is challenged by the Lord Himself, and a solemn responsibility rests

upon every preacher of the gospel to face its issues. If Moses did not lift up the serpent in

the wilderness, if the Book of Numbers is but a "pious fraud" belonging to a priestly

caste, if the Saviour was mistaken concerning the Old Testament type, then we have no

certainty, for the Lord may also have been mistaken concerning the reality. The cross

and its purpose are at stake.

In the same way the gospel cannot be faithfully preached if the story of Jonah be

denied, for the words of the Lord in Matt. 12: 39-41 show that a denial of the truth of

the record of Jonah imperils the truth of the resurrection, and if the resurrection be

touched, we have no gospel to preach (I Cor. 15: 14, 17). Or, again, if the record of the

flood and of the days of Noah be repudiated as "myth", what becomes of "the coming of

the Son of man" (Matt. 24: 37-41)? Or, coming to the gospel as proclaimed by Paul,

can the epistle to the Romans remain unshaken if the historical accuracy of Genesis

concerning Adam and Abraham be denied?

Our first note, therefore, is that the truth of the gospel and the inspiration of the

Scriptures are inseparable:--