The Bible Is God's Word Series

We start a new Message Series today with the Word of God from the Word of God. Our key passage for this Message Series is 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Open your Bibles to 2 Timothy 3; this letter is the second letter sent to Timothy, a disciple of the Apostle Paul, then called as a Pastor. And so, what we read is God speaking through the Apostle Paul guiding Timothy in life and ministry. Read along with me 2 Timothy 3:1-5….

And so we read Timothy being warned of ungodly people. This letter was written about 2000 years ago! We read that all of those things listed in v1-5 will happen during terrible times in the last days. Take a look again at the list of ungodly activities…. Are any of those activities happening today? Aren’t all of those things listed happening today?

We are living in the last days according to God’s schedule and the instructions for Timothy is even more important for us today!

And so, read along with me now v13-17 of 2 Timothy 3….

And so we note that deception from the truth will continue to get worse; how much fake news are we be bombarded with? It seems everyday on the news or internet we are told fake news or halftruths! There will be lies after lies as we live our lives today; it is part of God’s plan. We are living in the last days; Jesus Christ will return to earth soon to judge the living and the dead! In the meantime while we wait for Jesus, God tells us a couple of things here in this passage for our lives.

Timothy was told to continue in what he has learned, especially what made him wise to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ! And so, we should also take an inventory of our faith which leads to salvation. What are the Basics of the Christian Faith??

1. There is a Holy God who created us!

2. God speaks through the Bible!

3. Every person has sinned against God and deserves eternal judgment and separation from God.

4. Jesus Christ is God but became a human being who never sinned to die on a cross for people’s sin.

5. Only by trust and belief in Jesus Christ can a person be forgiven of their sins and be able to go to heaven.

After the affirmation of salvation, Timothy was then reminded in v16-17 “All Scripture is ….. Let us note that Timothy was reminded in v15 of Old Testament Scriptures; and so, when God states All Scriptures is God-breathed, it means both Old and New Testament Scriptures!

For today, let us elaborate more of this statement “All Scripture is God-breathed!” Some English Translations states “All Scripture is inspired by God!” The original Greek Word was breathed out by God! And so, All Scripture is spoken by God, the Word of God! As I review Statement of Faith of many churches today, I find it sad that many never specifically state that the Bible is God’s actual words! Many churches today state that the Bible is inspired by God, which is open to many interpretations, like I can say I was inspired to write a song; and so many may think that writers of the Bible were just encouraged by God (inspired) rather than God actually speaking through the writers.

I shared something similar about 11 years ago, let us make sure that we believe the Bible is the spoken word by a Holy God. Everything we do must be based on the Bible and we should be able to give many reasons why the Bible is God’s Word.

Before I share my thoughts, if someone asks you why you believe the Bible is the Word of God, what would you tell them? Write down on you notes at least 3 answers….

1. Archaeology and History lines up with the Bible! More than 25000 sites (digs) have confirmed the Bible. The Smithsonian Department of Anthropology has this to say about the Bible. “Much of the Bible, in particular the historical books of the Old Testament, are as accurate historical documents as any that we have from antiquity and are in fact more accurate than many of the Egyptian, Mesopotamian, or Greek histories. These Biblical records can be and are used as are other ancient documents in archeological work.” The New Testament was accepted as historical records for 300 years! History and Archaeology will confirm the Bible, because the Bible is true, because it is the Word of God!

2. The Bible in our hands are writings so close to the original events that they are like news flashes in a newspaper! The earliest manuscripts of OT books go back to 200 BC and NT manuscripts back to 100-200 AD! How significant is this? The world accepts writings of historians like Aristotle, and Caesar. Existing Bible manuscripts are only 100-200 years after the actual events; Aristotle’s is 1400 years after the actual events! Caesar’s earliest manuscripts are 900 years after his death.