Part: 01

What do we mean when we say the Bible is God's Word? Is the Bible literally "His Word" (as some would say) or does it just contain His word (the view of others)? If it just contains His word, what else does it contain and whose word is that? And how can we tell which is which?

IT'S GREEK TO ME

It's interesting to me how the Bible uses two Greek words that are both translated believe. One of them also means faith and the other also means obey.

In John 6:29 the Lord says, "the work God requires is this. Believe in the One he has sent." The Greek word is pisteuo. It's root form is translated faith in passages like Matt 9:29 "According to your faith, it will be done for you." In 1 Peter 2:8 we read, "They stumble because they disobey." This word, apeitheia, is translated disobey here and unbelief in Hebrews 4:11.

Do you suppose that some who claim the Bible only contains God's Word really lack the faith to believe it all, while others refuse to believe it so they can avoid obeying what it says?

A QUESTION OF ACCURACY

Another issue often raised is the reliability of the New Testament translations, especially the more contemporary ones. Even among source documents, there is no single original manuscript.

There are, however, more than 15,000 partial manuscripts that have been deemed reliable by experts and that date back to the first century. Many of these were written during the lifetimes of eyewitnesses and would have been denounced if inaccurate. (Indeed, this has been the case with some; the Gospel of Thomas for example.) These early documents present a huge volume of evidence for the historical accuracy and theological validity of the New Testament. There is much more evidence of this kind for the Bible than for any other book of its kind.

In the Old Testament, because of an obsession with accuracy among Jewish scribes, there are fewer than 100 LETTERS in dispute in the Torah (the Bible's first five books). The copy of Isaiah found among the Dead Sea Scrolls is 900 years older than the next oldest manuscript yet there are only a few words that differ, and those are mainly articles (a, and, the) that don't impact the overall meaning.

Of course what most skeptics, believer or not, won't admit is that the entire gospel message is clearly put forth in the Old Testament. The only way a Jewish believer has ever met the Messiah is through Old Testament prophecies that clearly foretold His Mission. But because many scholars regard the Old Testament as being a different book for a different people the church is left without this valuable reference to validate New Testament theology.

WHO'S KIDDING WHOM?

And oh how those who reject the accuracy of the New Testament distort and manipulate its meaning for their own purposes. Those who want to judge and control the behavior of others ignore the doctrine of Grace so clearly presented. Those who rebel against the notion of accountability to our Creator deny the need for a personal relationship with Him. Those who think we should earn our right to eternity reject the vicarious atonement of a Savior. Those who think man is basically good dismiss the notion that it took God's Own Life to pay for man's evil. Those who think God is only Love discard the thought that eternal damnation is the penalty for refusing His Act of Love. Is it just my imagination, or is this really an attempt to interject Satan's lies into God's truth?

A MATTER OF EXTREMES

Note the extremes here. Some think the Bible has been watered down and is too permissive; full of cheap and empty promises. They add qualifications and conditions to what it says. Others think it's too narrow and restrictive, written for an earlier age, so they "modernize" it in a way that lets them off the hook. Both extremes offer "new revelation" of God's intentions.

Listen. If God ever had to change either His mind or His plan, then He either isn't omniscient or else He had previously misled His people. If He stood idly by while His original writers made mistakes or introduced errors then He broke His promise to them. (John 14:25-26). If He subsequently let His word be distorted and perverted then He broke His promise to us. (2 Tim 3:16)

If any of this was true then God couldn't be God. To be His Word, the Bible has to be of supernatural origin; timeless and accurate. Those who bring us "new revelation" want us to think of God as only a more powerful version of man, changing His mind and correcting His mistakes. Some even promote the notion that He used to be just a man.

We believe by faith, and because we believe we strive to obey. But there is a more certain answer to our question above; one that allows us to accept His word with greater confidence than anything else we know. "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:20-21.)

Part: 02

"Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:20-21.) So ended the last Selah, promising a way to prove the Bible is the Word of God with greater certainty than anything else we know.

WHAT IF YOU WERE GOD?

If you were God trying to send a message to your people, how would you prove yourself to them? Since everyone wants to know the future why not predict their future, then when it happened as you had described it, that would authenticate your message. Well that's what God has done, over and over, and with 100% accuracy. It's called predictive prophecy and it comprises more than 40% of the Bible. It's is the test He gives us to verify that He's God and no one else is. Here's how it works.

A TWO QUESTION TEST

"This is what the Lord says--Israel's King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come-- yes, let him foretell what will come." (Isaiah 44:6-7)

So if you want people to accept you as their God, tell them everything that's ever happened, and then tell them everything that ever will... with 100% accuracy. This is exactly what the Bible does for Israel and the Church., and as it impacts these two, for the world. No other so-called Holy Book authenticates itself like this. It's been done through the writings of certain men and women, called by God to speak to the people for Him and to write down His Words, preserving them not only for their time but for all time. This explains Peter's statement above.

THERE WILL BE FALSE PROPHETS AMONG YOU

From time to time some falsely claimed that they spoke for God, even though He had instituted a few safeguards. One is found in Deut 18:20-22. "A prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death. You may say to yourselves, "How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?" If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.

So if what the "prophet" predicted didn't come true, every time, he was a false prophet. What he had said was to be ignored and he was to be executed. (Where would that leave Edgar Cayce, Jean Dixon, Nostradamus, Joseph Smith, and all the other so-called prophets?)

THE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT

Some prophecies were given for a time far beyond the life of the prophet. In that case a partial fulfillment often took place in the life of the prophet to validate the ultimate fulfillment.

Jesus said, "I come in my father's name and you reject me. Another will come in his own name and him you will receive." A little while later the people had Jesus condemned. and Barabbas released. Some day soon, the world, having rejected Jesus as the Messiah will receive the antichrist. Immediate partial fulfillment to validate the long term prophecy. Safeguard number 2.

A third safeguard is found in Hebrews 1:1-2. "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe."

Jesus is the Prophet for our age. Every word spoken by Him in the name of God has to agree with what God had said before. Also every word spoken in the name of God for the last 2000 years has to agree with what Jesus has said. Otherwise either God doesn't really know the end from the beginning, or Jesus was a false prophet, or the one speaking in His Name is.

IF IT'S NEW IT CAN'T BE TRUE.

That's the simple rule. If you hear some one say, "God is doing a new thing," or preaching from some book other than the Bible, run the other way. "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!" Galatians 1:8.

The Bible contains countless prophecies that validate it as the Word of God. They were part of the public record hundreds of years before the fact. Even a casual comparison of world history to Old Testament prophecy will lead you to the undeniable conclusion that the Bible is God's Word. In the life of Jesus alone, there are over 300 specific fulfilled prophecies. A mere handful would be enough to defeat the laws of chance. By any standard available, the Bible can be proven reliable beyond reasonable doubt.

Psalm 14 says, "the fool has said in his heart, there is no God." That's because he can't say it in his mind. Denying God isn't something rationally or logically done following examination of the evidence. It can only be done emotionally by one rejecting the evidence. The same is true of His Word.

A Bible Study by: Brother Jack Kelley

Source: http://www.gracethrufaith.com/