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!
Paul and Silas in prison (Acts16:24-25). These men had been suffering, but were joyfully singing hymns!
4. SCIENTIFIC FOREKNOWLEDGE
The bible has foreknowledge about the earth that science has just figured out over the last 700 years.
Isaiah 40:22 (2500-3000 yrs ago) The circle of the earth? This was written by Isaiah in about 700BC, way before it was discovered that the earth is round! We can see this today with satellite pictures of the earth.
Job 26:7 (Time of Abraham-written later?) Earth is hung on nothing. This is obvious to us. But this wasn’t always believed by men! Atlas holding up, or held up by an elephant and a turtle. We can’t prove this by just looking.
Job 38:16 There are springs that arise from the ocean floor. The earliest secular writings that spoke about this was at the time of Christ, over a thousand years after it was written in Job.
Hydrological cycle (Job 36:27-28, Eccl 1:6-7)
THIS DOESN’T PROVE THIS IS THE WORD OF GOD. BUT IF IT WAS WRONG IT WOULD DISPROVE IT IS THE WORD OF GOD. THE BIBLE IS NOT A SCIENCE BOOK, BUT WHEN IT SPEAKS OF SCIENTIFIC THINGS, IT IS CORRECT.
5. MEDICALLY ACCURATE
Life is in our blood (Leviticus 17) During George Washington's day, the practice of blood-letting to treat various kinds of illnesses was common. In fact, George Washington died from this very treatment. In 1830 AD, Dr. Marshall Hall came out in strong opposition to this practice. However, had any of the doctors who practiced this treatment read these Bible verses, they would have known that it could have fatal consequences.
Circumcisions should be performed on the eighth day after birth (Genesis 17:12) The reason for this has been found out. On day 8 of a child’s life, vitamin K, which helps in the healing process, is in its highest concentrations!
6. ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE
The first proof we have testifying to the reliability of the Bible is the archaeological evidence. Nelson Glueck, a respected Jewish archaeologist claims: "It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever contradicted a biblical reference." This is not true of other religions. The Mormon claim for inspiration of the Book of Mormon has been categorically condemned by the Smithsonian Institute because of the fallacies shown by archaeology; this is not so with the Bible. A.N. Sherwin-White, a respected classical historian at Oxford says, "For Acts the confirmation of historicity is overwhelming..."
Hundreds of statements in the Bible, which in times past have been held untrue by enemies of the Bible, have recently been proven true by archaeologists. Here are 3 examples:
•The Hittites were once thought to be a Biblical legend, until their capital and records were discovered
•It was once claimed there was no Assyrian king named Sargon as recorded in Isaiah 20:1, because this name was not known in any other record. Then, Sargon's palace was discovered in Iraq. The very event mentioned in Isaiah 20, his capture of Ashdod, was recorded on the palace walls.
•Another king who was in doubt was Belshazzar, king of Babylon, named in Daniel 5. The last king of Babylon was Nabonidus according to recorded history. Tablets were found showing that Belshazzar was Nabonidus' son who served as coregent in Babylon. Thus, Belshazzar could offer to make Daniel “third highest ruler in the kingdom” (Dan. 5:16)
The more that archaeologists find from the past, the more the Bible is proven accurate historically.
7. PROPHECY
Isaiah 44:24-28. This prophecy speaks of Cyrus. It was written 200 years before the birth of Cyrus!!!
Fulfillment is in Ezra 1:1-4
We can’t predict what’s going to happen in our country ten years from now, or even 5 years from now. This is just one of hundreds of prophecies that are fulfilled! We a few months ago looked at about 50 Old Testament prophecies that Jesus fulfilled!
The greatest proof that the bible is from God:
8. The RESURRECTION
I will examine this topic in much more detail in a later sermon. The resurrection of Christ is the miracle that proves that Jesus was who He claimed to be. Everything He said was true; including the fact that He said his Apostles (Matthew, John, Peter, Paul) and Prophets (Luke, Mark, James, Jude) would speak on His behalf and be inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus says in John 14-16 that the Spirit would come to His Apostles, dwell with them, bear witness of Christ, and lead them into ALL truth.
Jn 16:13 "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.
CONCLUSION
When we examine all of these facts, I believe it is enough evidence to prove that the bible is from God. And with that being the case, if our lives and beliefs are contrary to what it teaches, we are wrong! We need to repent!
We need to desire God’s word, study it, and apply it. The Lord tells us what we need to do to be right with Him. What a great privilege we are given.
