Jesus
Himself supports the Bible as the very voice
of God and the very Word of God
(Matt. 4:4). God did not write the Bible
from His own hand. It did not fall from
heaven. Rather, Scripture was written by
human authors. Each author has his own
style. Each author has his own usage of
words. Each author has a unique
highlighting. It pleased God to rightly
use men of God to accomplish His appointed task. It does not devoid the Bible of any spiritual
substance to concede it was penned by God’s special people. Human beings wrote Scripture, but does this
mean it should not be called the voice of God?
We must remain truthfully consistent and consistently truthful about how
to respond to this question.
The Bible
claims to be God’s Word. It is titled
the Word of God due to its claim. The
authors of Scripture did not write their subjective opinions. Rather, the words of Scripture are divinely
inspired. God Himself inspired
Scripture. Scripture is not man
speaking, but ultimately God speaking to man.
The final source of Scripture is God Himself. The Scripture is of God and from God through
the instrument of holy, God-appointed men.
The prophets of old began with Thus
saith the Lord. Jesus Himself prayed
unto His Father concerning His truth.
Jesus believed the very authority of God’s Word. The inspired Word also refers to God the Holy
Spirit’s superintended production of Scripture.
The Spirit of truth directed God’s appointed to write the Word of God. But God did not dictate His Word. The dictation theory is denied concerning
inspiration. The Spirit of truth speaks
through the human authors; it is truly God’s word.
God’s
beloved church of Christians believe not only in the
inspiration of Scripture but also the infallibility and inerrancy of
Scripture. Is God a liar? Does God inspire falsehood? The answer to these questions is in the
negative. No, God is completely truthful
and trustworthy. His Word is truly
trustworthy and trustworthy in truthfulness.
The Bible is without error because God inspired and superintended
it. Inerrancy is affirmed in knowing the
translations are subject to error. We
know the original manuscripts were totally correct. Every statement of Scripture could be true or
false. For example, Satan told Eve she
would not die (Gen. 3:4). Is this
statement true? Of course not! Because of Eve’s decision, her life resulted
in death. The consequence of sin is
physical death and spiritual death. The
statement of Satan is false, because it came from him in falsehood and
deception, but it is still historically true that Satan deceived Eve. The message is divinely preserved and
trustworthy.
If God
inspired and superintended His Word, it is certain He has a divine artifact of
history that is worthy and credible of rightful acceptance. There is a totality of sixty-six books of
Scripture. These sixty-six books are
considered canonical books. All of the
books of the Protestant canon are God’s Word.
God purposed these books as His Word.
The church received these books from God Himself. The books we have in the Old and New
Testament are God-appointed and God-ordained.
It pleased God to ordain and appoint sixty-six books to speak as His
inerrant, inspired word; the sole infallible and final authority for faith,
morals and conduct.
Spiritual
Discernment
Spiritual foolishness of
depraved men subverts his ways (Proverbs 19:3), but that which is truly
spiritual discernment is actually of the Spirit of truth and illumination:
Now we have received, not the spirit of the
world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are
freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which
man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual
things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the
Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all
things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the
Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ. (1 Cor. 2:12-16
KJV).
No Thwarted Purpose of God
Some of the characteristics of the purposes of God
are irresistible (Is. 14:26-27) irreversible (Jer. 4:28) and no purpose of God
can be withheld from Him (Job 42:2). It
pleased God to purpose His word in sixty-six books of the Old and New
Testament.
The New Testament
The Gospel of Matthew is the first gospel in the New
Testament. Eusebius refers to the
inscription of early manuscripts, according
to Matthew. Matthew is referred to
as a tax collector (Matt. 9:9), he is called Levi (Mark 2:14) and selected as an
apostle (Matt. 10:2-3). Matthew is a
God-appointed disciple (Acts 1:13).
Paul is approved by Jesus
Himself (Acts 9:1-19; 10-18). The
writings of Paul are therefore acceptable.
It includes the epistle of Romans, First and Second Corinthians,
Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, First and Second Thessalonians,
First and Second Timothy, Titus, and Philemon.
The author of Hebrews, although uncertain, could be Apollos or
Paul. Apollos was approved (Acts 18:24-28;
1 Cor. 1:12) and we know Paul was acceptable.
Paul approves Mark (2 Tim.
4:11); the Gospel of Mark is acceptable.
Paul approves Luke (Col. 4:14); the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts
are acceptable. John is appointed as an
apostle (Matt. 10:2). Jesus Himself
approves of the apostle John; therefore the Gospel of John, First, Second and
Third John and the book of Revelation are up to standard.
Peter himself is approved by Jesus
(John 1:42). Therefore First and Second
Peter are acceptable epistles of the New Testament. Jesus approved of James (1 Cor. 15:7; James
1:1) and Jude (Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3) as being a bondservant of Jesus Christ
(Jude 1:1).
The Old Testament
Jesus Himself affirms the
writings of Moses (John 5:46-47). The
writings of Moses are acceptable. Jesus
affirms Old Testament writings (Luke 24:44) and “all the Scriptures” (Luke
24:27 NKJV). Jesus is the impeccable
Incarnate historian. The commentary of Jesus must be accepted as
fact; for Jesus is Incarnate Truth.
The Approval of the Father
Concerning God the Son
The voice of the Father proclaims, “…This is My
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
(Matt. 3:17 NKJV).
At the transfiguration of Jesus Christ the Father said, “…This is My
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Hear Him!” (Matt. 17:5 NKJV).
The Approval of God the Word
The approval of the gospel of Christ (Gen. 3:15), the
birth of Jesus (Is. 7:14) and His mission to atone for sin for His chosen (Is.
53:4-12). Jesus Himself testifies of the
seal of approval He has from God (John 6:27).
The Approval of God the Spirit
John the Baptist (approved,
Is. 40:3) spoke of the Holy Ghost descending upon Jesus Christ (Matt. 3:16;
Mark 1:10; John 1:32; Acts 10:38). The
sign of God the Holy Spirit is the Messiahship of Jesus of Nazareth. The baptism of Jesus Christ involved all
three distinct persons of the Godhead.
The baptism of believers’, involves a Trinitarian formula (Matt. 28:19).
Summary
The Bible is a collection of God-Breathed
books: “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 Tim.
3:16-17 NIV).
Indeed, Sacred Writ is
inspired, inerrant, infallible, clear, sufficient and efficacious whether
people care to acknowledge this precious truth of God or not.
