The Bible: The Word Of God Series

Is the Bible God’s Word? You will get a couple different answers depending on who you ask:

•Some may say it is a book written by men, not God, even though those who wrote it say otherwise

•Some say it is not from God because of all the “errors and contradictions” that are in it, but are not willing to say exactly where those “errors or contradictions” are. Even if they do point some out, they are unwilling to listen to why those verses are not contradictions.

•I believe that the main reason people believe that the Bible is not from God is because they don’t want to believe it or obey it! I believe that if anyone opened up the bible with a heart searching for truth would come to the conclusion that it is from God

Read 1 Peter 3:15

We must be ready to stand up for what we believe. We must remember that everything we believe; every reason we live the way we do is because of what we have revealed to us from the scriptures. We believe the bible to be the word of God, and we need to be able to give a defense of our belief with evidence.

Read 1 Thes 2.13-14

Do we believe this book was written by men or by God. The Thessalonians believed it was from God and were even willing to suffer for their belief.

I will examine eight evidences that the Bible is from God, beginning with:

1. THE BIBLE CLAIMS INSPIRATION

Read 2 Timothy 3:16-17: All of it is inspired (God Breathed)

2 Peter 1:21: gave God’s word. “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” This verse is talking about where scripture comes from. It doesn’t come from the mind of man, but the writers gave what the Spirit gave them.

2 Peter 3:14-16: Paul’s writings and scripture are one in the same!

If the Bible didn't make these claims, we could stop the lesson here. There are books, such as the book of Mormon, that do not make such claims. The Bible does make these claims. But the question we must ask is: Is this enough to believe it is the word of God? It is since God cannot lie. He says it is, so we as Christians believe it. Jesus is Lord, and He says it is from God. Many may think this is not a logical position to hold, but it is a Biblical position. If God exists, and He says this book is His word, I do not have a right to question it. Those who say that you cannot prove the Bible is from God by using the Bible are wrong. God says it is His book, and then He gives us an abundance of evidence within it's pages to prove that such is the case.

There are other reasons to believe the Bible is the word of God beyond God saying it is from Him.

2. UNITY OF THE BIBLE

The Bible, a book composed of a library of 66 books, written by about 40 men of different backgrounds, cultures, and occupations. It was written in 3 languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek) over a period of 1500 years on 3 continents.

Illustration: Say we interviewed 40 people who all speak the same language, that work at the same job, in the same city, at the same time, and we lined all 40 up in a line. If I whispered something in the first person’s ear and then he whispered it in the next person’s ear, then so on down the line, would what the 40th guy whispers in my ear be anything like what I whispered in the first guy’s ear. More than likely not.

Say we take those same 40 men, and ask them to tell us what they think about one controversial biblical issue, such as homosexuality, fornication, or the biblical role of women. Would all 40 give us the same answer? I would be shocked if they did!

3. VALUES TAUGHT

The moral standards of the Bible are the highest known to man. They are impossible for man to achieve without divine help. Man would never set such unreachable standards for himself. This shows me that it was not just men that wrote the Bible.

Matthew 5:38-42 These are different from what any man would come up with. The world teaches way different values than this. The bible gives the greatest standard of living.

Matthew 5:43-48 These don’t come from the wisdom of men. Men don’t say these things.

James 1:2-4 Be joyful when you suffer? That’s just backwards than what the world teaches!