Many believers who grow up in a Christian environment become complacent in their attitudes toward the Bible. They lose sight of the priceless gift of the Word of God. It is easy for the Bible to become “just another book”. Today we are going to remind ourselves that the Bible is supernaturally given to us from God for our good.
How do we know the Bible is the Word of God? One theologian put it this way, “The strongest witness to the inspiration of the Bible is the Bible itself.” At first this argument may seem like circular reasoning – saying a conviction is true because we believe it, and we believe it because it’s true.
After all - - someone might say, “the fact that a person claims something about him or herself doesn’t make his or her claim valid, right? If you put a known liar on the witness stand, he or she may profess to be telling the truth, but how would you know for sure? But consider the opposite.. if you put a man known to be truthful on the stand, why should his witness be doubted?
The best place to start to prove whether someone is telling the truth or not is to start by examining a person’s claim about themselves. Similarly, we need to examine what claims the Bible makes about itself.
Supernatural Origin: II Tim. 3:16 – All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and instruction in righteousness.
According to II Tim. 3:16, all Scripture is inspired by God. Unlike the English word inspire, which means to “breathe in” the greek word is translated “inspire” means “to breathe out.” When we read that all Scripture is given by “Inspiration of God” we are to understand that Scripture is literally breathed out by God.
According to II Peter 1:21, inspiration is all the work of God, in God’s words. No other book can make such a unique claim.
II Peter 1:21 - for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God[a] spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
This is not to say that God dictated the Bible word by word to His prophets. God used men of His choosing to write the exact message He wanted in words that were appropriate to their backgrounds and personalities. For instance, the style of the writings of the apostle John is recognizably different from that of the apostle Paul, but yet it was God who caused each man to write. They were “moved by the Holy Spirit”.
Verbal (words) and Plenary (full, entire)
Two important terms associated with the doctrine of inspiration are verbal and plenary. Verbal inspiration refers to the fact that the words and writers used are the exact words God directed them to use. Some people believe that the thoughts, but not the words, of the Bible are inspired. However, exact words must be used to convey an exact thought. When God “breathed out” His words to holy men of His choosing, He caused them to use the very words He wanted written.
II Tim. 3:16 says that all Scripture is equally inspired by God. The words David or Jude or Hosea are of equal authority with the words spoken by Moses or Jesus Christ. We use the word “plenary” to speak of this complete inspiration of God’s Word in every part.
The English word “Bible” comes from the Greek word biblos. The Greeks borrowed the word from the Egyptians, who used the word for parts of the papyrus plant. Since the Greeks made a kind paper from papyrus, biblos came to be applied to writing material generally and, especially, volumes of written work; examples…. Scrolls, books.
Internal Claims:
Phrases like “and God said” and “God spake all these words” and “thus says the Lord” are used throughout the Old Testament to indicate that God gave His words to men. Besides references in the Old Testament about itself, scores of passages in the New Testament refer to statements recorded in the OT or actually quote OT passages.
The writers of the NT knew they were guided by the Lord in what they wrote, Rev. 22:18 says, “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add[b] to him the plagues that are written in this book.”
Paul realized that he wrote the revelation God’s Spirit gave him, Eph. 3:5 - For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles— 2 if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, 3 how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, 4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), 5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets.
In I Tim. 5:18 he also quoted from the Gospel written by his traveling companion Luke (Lk. 10:7).
For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,”[a] and, “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”
In II Peter 3:15-16 Peter equated the writings of Paul with other Scriptures. When Paul declared that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, “ he was speaking of both the OT and NT.
Jesus Christ spoke of the Scriptures as being authoritative!
· Matt. 4:4 – man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
· Matt. 21:42 – Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD’s doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes’?
· Mat.. 22:29 – Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God
· Matt. 26:54 - How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?”
He also frequently quoted from the OT and referred to numerous OT events and people, such as the creation of man and institution of marriage (Matt. 19:4-6). The death of Abel (Matt. 23:35), the days of Noah and Flood (Matt. 24:37-38), the appearance of God in the burning bush Mark 12:26.
Luke recorded that Jesus opened the Scriptures and showed His disciples that the OT prophecies were fulfilled in Himself in Luke 24:27.
And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
There are over 400 prophecies in the Old Testament which point to the coming Messiah and to His life and death. Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled every single one of them. The odds of someone doing that who was not the Messiah are too great to even figure. It is impossible.
We have to come back to this truth from Romans 10:17 – Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
The Word of God searches and examines us. It reveals to us the very thoughts and intents of our hearts (Heb. 4:12). It convicts us of our sin and leads us to a Savior. We are first saved by the Word of God and then sanctified and cleansed by it. (Regular Baptist Press)
