"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
- 2 Timothy 3:16
There are many people who will say that the Bible is merely a collection of myths and legends. There are even some who will say that it is made up completely of lies. And then there are those of us who believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are true and trustworthy because they are the very words of God.
Mark Twain once said, "(The Bible) has noble poetry in it; and some clever fables; and some blood-drenched history; and some good morals; and a wealth of obscenity; and upwards of a thousand lies." On the other hand, Woodrow Wilson once said, "When you have read the Bible, you will know it is the Word of God."
What would persuade Woodrow Wilson to come to a different conclusion about the Bible than Mark Twain? For that matter, why should anybody believe what Christians believe about the Bible at all? How do I know the Bible is true? Paul offers three reasons for concluding that the Bible is absolute truth without any mixture of error. Consider...
1. The Divine Nature Of It - v. 16a
The Bible has the stamp of God upon it. Consider...
A. Its Inspiration -
Paul says that Scripture is "God breathed," that is, it finds its source and origin in God. Just as I breathe out the words that I speak, the words of the Bible are the very words of God Himself.
This having been said, we need to make it clear that the Bible didn’t just fall from heaven. Rather, the Lord moved upon men to write, communicate and transcribe His Word. This very fact, ironically, offers the greatest evidence that the Bible is truly inspired by God Himself.
You see the Bible is not one book. The Bible is a compilation of 66 different books written by 40 different authors from 3 different continents in 3 different languages and written over a period of 1500 years. The 66 books of the Bible, 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament, contain different literary forms or genres, such as historical writings, poetic writings, prophetic writings, gospel biographical writings and the letters. Yet, within each of the 66 books, we read an incredible unity of themes from Genesis through Revelation, progressively revealing God’s plan to restore His creation.
One area that points powerfully to the divine inspiration of the Bible is the area of prophecy. The prophecies of the Bible are precise. Many times they’re given hundreds, even thousands of years in advance of the event.
Of course, the ultimate example of fulfilled prophecy has to do with Jesus.
Let’s go over these prophecies together now.
1. The Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.
The Old Testament (Micah 5:2) says:
"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."
The New Testament (Matthew 2:1) says:
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod...
2. The Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah.
The Old Testament (Genesis 49:10) says:
This passage talks about a ruler coming from the Tribe of Judah, one whose rule will be all-powerful:
"The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his."
The New Testament (Luke 3:23-34 and Matthew 1:1-16)
Here you’ll find a list of Jesus’ ancestors, going back to Judah, who was one of the 12 sons of Jacob. (Jacob’s 12 sons were the fathers of the 12 Tribes of Israel).
3. The Messiah would enter Jerusalem on a colt.
The Old Testament (Zechariah 9:9) says:
Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
The New Testament (Luke 19:35-37) says:
They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen.
4. The Messiah would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver.
The Old Testament (Zechariah 11:12) says:
I told them, "If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it." So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.
The New Testament (Matthew 26:14-15) says:
Then one of the Twelve--the one called Judas Iscariot--went to the chief priests and asked, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" So they counted out for him thirty silver coins.
5. The Messiah would be spit upon and beaten.
The Old Testament (Isaiah 50:6) says:
I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.
The New Testament (Matthew 26:67-68) says:
Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him and said, "Prophesy to us, Christ. Who hit you?"
6. The Messiah would be wounded by His enemies.
The Old Testament (Isaiah 53:5) says:
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
The New Testament (Matthew 27:26) says:
Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
7. The Messiah would have his hands and feet pierced.
The Old Testament (Psalm 22:16) says:
Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.
The New Testament (Luke 23:33) says:
When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals--one on his right, the other on his left.
8. The Messiah would be crucified with thieves.
Old Testament (Isaiah 53:12) says:
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
New Testament (Matthew 27:38) says:
Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.
Now what do you suppose the odds are for these eight prophecies being fulfilled in one man’s life? What are the odds of Jesus being born in Bethlehem, a little town in the midst of hundreds of towns and cities in Israel?
The prophecy of Jesus having his hands and feet pierced was written hundreds of years before the Roman Empire invented crucifixion as a form of execution.
Who would believe a King would ride into a great city on the back of a donkey? Who else would be silent and not speak a word in his own defense, after being beaten, spit upon, and having the hairs of his beard plucked from his cheeks?
The prophecy that Jesus would be born into a family from the tribe of Judah is a 12-to-1 shot because there are 12 tribes of Israel.
Professor Emeritus of Science at Westmon College, Peter Stoner, has calculated the probability of one man fulfilling the major prophecies made concerning the Messiah. The estimates were worked out by twelve different classes of 600 college students.
The students carefully weighed all the factors, discussed each prophecy at length, and examined the various circumstances which might indicate that men had conspired together to fulfill a particular prophecy. They made their estimates conservative enough so that there was finally unanimous agreement even among the most skeptical students.
But then Professor Stoner took their estimates and made them even more conservative. He also encouraged other skeptics or scientists to make their own estimates to see if his conclusions were more fair. Finally, he submitted his figures for review to a Committee of the American Scientific Affiliation. Upon examination, they verified that his calculations were dependable and accurate in regard to the scientific material presented.
For example, concerning Micah 5:2, where it states the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, Stoner and his students determined the average population of Bethlehem from the time of Micah to the present; then they divided it by the average population of the earth during the same period. They concluded that the chance of one man being born in Bethlehem was one chance in 300,000.
After examining eight different prophecies, they conservatively estimated that the chance of one man fulfilling all eight prophecies was one in 1017. That’s a 1 with 17 zeros after it!
To help us understand how large the number 1017 is, professor Stoner gave this illustration. Imagine covering the entire state of Texas with silver dollars to a level of two feet deep. The total number of silver dollars needed to cover the whole state would be 1017. Now, choose just one of those silver dollars, mark it and drop it from an airplane. Then thoroughly stir all the silver dollars all over the state.
When that has been done, blindfold one man, tell him he can travel wherever he wishes in the state of Texas. But sometime he must stop, reach down into the two feet of silver dollars and try to pull up that one specific silver dollar that has been marked.
Now, the chance of his finding that one silver dollar in the state of Texas would be the chance the Old Testament prophets had for eight of their prophecies coming true in any one man’s life.
But of course there are many more than eight prophecies. There are over 300 Old Testament prophecies fulfilled in the life of Christ.
It is clear that what the Bible claims for itself is true - it is God-breathed!
B. Its Preservation
Paul says that "all" Scripture is God-breathed, which means that God has preserved His Word in the Bible so that none has been lost. For example, consider how the scribes would copy the Bible down through the ages.
They had very strict laws for copying. They would count every word of the book they were working on in the original, identify the middle word, then the middle letter. Say a book had 7,000 words. Say the middle word was God. The middle letter of God, of course, would be "o". They would write all this down. Then they’d begin copying word for word. When they were done, they would go back and count the words. 7,000, good. They would then find the middle word, and middle letter. If the middle letter, say, was G instead of "o" they’d rip up the copy and start over.
Such was the care taken in copying the manuscript of the Bible.
In the summer of 1947 a young Arabian boy lost track of one of the goats. The region was Qumran, in the Middle East, the hillsides overlooking the Dead Sea. When his goats wandered into a cave, the boy chased it. He threw a rock into the cave hoping to scare the goat out and heard the sound of pottery breaking. Upon investigation, he found several clay pots containing scrolls.
Eventually the scrolls found their way into the hands of some Israeli scholars. They looked in the caves and found over 20 caves full of scrolls. The Dead Sea scrolls--the oldest manuscripts of the Old Testament ever found. Every book in whole or fragments of the Old Testament, except Esther. These scrolls would answer the question...is our Bible today different than these older records. What’s been changed? The conclusion? Nothing! There were some minor misspellings and variant words, but there was no substantial difference between ancient scrolls and the words you and I have in our Bibles today.
All this means that the Bible we hold in our hands today is made from manuscript copies that are extremely accurate - that are practically exact duplicates of the originals. God’s not messing around with confusion on the Bible. God has done his part in giving us a reliable message.
The Holy Spirit breathed God’s message into the authors of the Bible, who faithfully wrote what God intended using their own words, culture, style and vocabularies. The writers were so inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit that they faithfully conveyed the truth and action of God: they told the true salvation story. Additionally, God providentially provided for the accurate copying of the original manuscripts, so that His message through the Bible might be preserved.
But how did these 66 books come to be our present day Bible? And why not others? There are other books that make claims to divine inspiration. What about them?
Well, the Old Testament was formalized into the particular selection of books we have today during the years before Christ and was finally fixed in 91 AD. Jesus often spoke of the Scriptures and of the Law and the Prophets, as did Paul and the other authors of the New Testament. It was to this collection of books (which we have in our Bibles today) that they were referring. The earliest Christians did not consider themselves separate from their Jewish roots, and so they still used the "Old Testament" as scripture - there was no "New Testament."
The New Testament consists of the gospels, the acts, the letters and Revelation. The gospels were written by early church leaders to teach about the life and ministry of Jesus. The letters were written to instruct and counsel the young churches and their leaders on matters of faith. Because of their great spiritual value, these writings were copied and circulated throughout the world.
In 367 A.D. church leaders gathered to determine which writings were to be considered inspired scripture - to distinguish them from other writings, which included heresies. The accepted writings had to:
a) Confirm to the rule of faith,
b) Have been written by or include the teachings of the earliest apostles,and
c) Be in general use in the churches.
Many books were rejected as unauthentic. Perhaps you’ve heard of the "Lost Books of the Bible." They weren’t lost. They just weren’t accepted. And why weren’t they accepted? Because they weren’t recognized by early believers as being inspired by God.
Which sets up the question: What if those who made these decisions chose the wrong books, or left out ones that God intended?
Well, the proof of the Bible’s inspiration is proof of its preservation. If the Holy Spirit can guide the human authors of the Scripture, couldn’t he also guide and direct those who were involved in preserving and compiling it as well? Yes!
2. The Direct Practicality Of The Bible - v. 16b
The Bible clearly guides us on how to receive and live life to the fullest, both now and for all eternity.
Teaching - The Bible provides us with the CONTENT of our faith.
Rebuking - The Bible provides us with CONVICTION when we go astray from the faith.
Correcting - The Bible provides us with guidance as to how we might CORRECT our mistakes.
Instruction in righteousness - The Bible provides us with principles to apply to life so that we might develop Christ-like CHARACTER.
3. The Dynamic Impact Of The Bible - v. 17
The difference that the Bible makes in the lives of those who sincerely seek to apply its message points to its trustworthiness.
When the American army stormed across Okinawa, soldiers found villages of unbelievable poverty, ignorance, and filth. But Shimmabuke, a small obscure community, was different. Homes and streets were clean, the villagers poised and cultured, enjoying a high level of health, happiness, intelligence and prosperity.
Why was Shimmabuke different? Thirty years previously an American missionary on his way to Japan had stopped there. Before he moved on he made two converts, left a Bible, and passed on. From that day the people of Shimmabuke had seen no other missionary, had no other visit with any Christian person or group. But in those 30 years the inhabitants had made the Bible come alive. The two converts had taught the villagers its truth until every one became a Christian.
Then came the American army. Clarence Hall, a war correspondent wrote the following: "I strolled through Shimmabuke one day with a tough old Army sergeant. As we walked he turned to me and whispered hoarsely. "I can’t figure it, fellow--this kind of people coming out of only a Bible and a couple of old guys who wanted to live like Jesus!" Then he added what was to me an infinitely penetrating observation: "Maybe we’ve been using the wrong kind of weapons to make the world over!"
The Bible clearly guides us on how to receive and live life to the fullest, both now and for all eternity.
