Who Do You say that I'AM?
Why do I Believe the Bible is the word of God? This is a question that every believer never thought he or she would have to answer. Not only has this topic brought such controversy among non-believers of all generations but it’s also happening today among evangelicals. We can understand the position of the nonbelievers because the truth of the word of God has been blinded to them and the only way to ‘see’ is to come into the light of Jesus Christ (Eph 4:18), but it is particularly saddening to see this doubt among born again Christians.
This fact shouldn’t need defending, or better yet, even be brought up among fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. But, the question remains: Is the Bible the complete living, breathing, word of God? The obvious answer to this question is YES! With the word of God as the base, it will be demonstrated that there are no contradictions or errors in the Bible because Heb 4:12 tells us "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart". This is God’s divine revelation for the whole world to read.
Some liberal, so-called believers, say God’s word is not inspired. D.L. Moody had the right idea when speaking of the possibility of man’s wisdom being the source of the inspiration of the Bible. He said "It is easier for me to have faith in the Bible than to have faith in D.L. Moody, for Moody has fooled me lots of times". Is the word His divine revelation? Yes. We see all through scripture God communicating in many different ways: as He did with Adam (Gen 3:9), through the use of prophets (1 Sam 3:4), in dreams (Gen 20:3), and visions (Isa 6), even through historical events such as creation itself (Gen1:1), and the flood (Gen 7:1-24), and the use of angels (Dan 9:20-21, Luke 2:10-11). These are only a few examples of God’s complete divine revelation. The Bible is a reliable picture of God’s plan which has been revealed to the human race. The word of God is full of history and His truth concerning Himself (Dan 4:35). It’s a book about His holiness and sovereignty (1 Sam 2:2, Job 42:2, Rom 8:28). The Bible is singularly God-centered in focus. It has to do with God and how all things relate back to God. Because it comes from God and speaks with the authority of God, there is a tone of greatness and seriousness in the Book that is unlike anything else. There is another controversy among people over the Bible: Is the Bible the inspired word of God? The answer to this is undoubtedly, YES! 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us "All scripture (the key word being all!) is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works". The Bible is fully inspired which means God actually ‘breathed’ all scripture! The Bible itself assumes inspiration and frequently claims inspiration: there are over 3,800 claims of "thus saith the Lord". This should not be a debate among believers. The words on the pages of scripture are the supernatural workings of the Holy Spirit who chose godly men with their individual personalities and writing styles to pen the pages of scripture. The Bible is the final authority of God, not man (Ps 119:160, John 17:17). Even though these men were imperfect, God used them in a mighty way to show God’s glory and majesty (Deut 28:58, Ps 19:1, Hab 2:14). It is our responsibility to humble ourselves and believe. We need to accept by faith the method that God chose to reveal to us His truth. Though inspiration is beyond our finite minds, it is clear that the human authors were not left to their own wisdom, but it was God’s breathing the words through them which was the Source of inspiration (1 Pet 1:20-21). How do we get the Bible to survive all these years through generation after generation without distorting the original transcripts? The answer is simply God’s divine sovereignty. God once again, in His divine plan, chose to preserve His word by using godly men to translate the original manuscripts of the Old and New Testament writers. The seventy two scholars who translated the Old Testament from Hebrew to Greek put together the Septuagint (200 BC), Jerome a man who translated the Bible into Latin from the original Hebrew and Greek (400 AD), and Tyndale who was used by God to translate the Bible into English (1525), are all examples of these godly men. It has even continued into more modern days such as translations commonly used today; versions like the King James (1611), NASB version (1971), and the ESV version (2001). God will continue to preserve His word throughout all ages as we are so firmly reminded in Isaiah 40:8 "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever".
We serve an amazing God, who will always stand the test of time because He is infinite and holy and will display His glory to all generations from the past, to the present and into eternity. We were created in His image; we were created to display His glory to the lost world who were and continue to be slaves to sin (Eph 4:18, Rom 2:5). We were not created to question His authority or His sovereignty. This is a topic of discussion that should never happen among Christendom. Lord forgive us for our pride and the arrogance of people to debate the validity of Your Holy Word (John 1:1). By calling the Bible into question, we would be thinking ourselves smarter than God and denying that the Bible could be divinely inspired. This would be a clear indication that we don’t believe the Bible, and ultimately don’t believe God or all He represents (Rev 19:13, 1 John 1:1). If a person were to keep this prideful view until his or her death bed, they would be eternally separated from a God who created them, gave them life, and most of all gave them His Word so that they could grow and learn the truths of our Lord and Saviour, the only One who can forgive you of sin (John 14:6).
We need to trust and have faith in the written word of God, to desire the pure milk of the word which is displaying His glory (1 Pet 2:2), love and trust those truths and put them on your heart because it is the heart He sees. (1 Sam 16:7) "But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart". (Rev 22:19) And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city , and from the things which are written in this book. Lord we are thankful for your grace and mercy toward us as Your Word teaches us all we need to know about Christ-likeness. A.W. Tozer couldn’t be any bolder in his statement when he said "The Word of God well understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection. And we must not select a few favorite passages to the exclusion of others. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian." So my question for you is: What are you?
This fact shouldn’t need defending, or better yet, even be brought up among fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. But, the question remains: Is the Bible the complete living, breathing, word of God? The obvious answer to this question is YES! With the word of God as the base, it will be demonstrated that there are no contradictions or errors in the Bible because Heb 4:12 tells us "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart". This is God’s divine revelation for the whole world to read.
Some liberal, so-called believers, say God’s word is not inspired. D.L. Moody had the right idea when speaking of the possibility of man’s wisdom being the source of the inspiration of the Bible. He said "It is easier for me to have faith in the Bible than to have faith in D.L. Moody, for Moody has fooled me lots of times". Is the word His divine revelation? Yes. We see all through scripture God communicating in many different ways: as He did with Adam (Gen 3:9), through the use of prophets (1 Sam 3:4), in dreams (Gen 20:3), and visions (Isa 6), even through historical events such as creation itself (Gen1:1), and the flood (Gen 7:1-24), and the use of angels (Dan 9:20-21, Luke 2:10-11). These are only a few examples of God’s complete divine revelation. The Bible is a reliable picture of God’s plan which has been revealed to the human race. The word of God is full of history and His truth concerning Himself (Dan 4:35). It’s a book about His holiness and sovereignty (1 Sam 2:2, Job 42:2, Rom 8:28). The Bible is singularly God-centered in focus. It has to do with God and how all things relate back to God. Because it comes from God and speaks with the authority of God, there is a tone of greatness and seriousness in the Book that is unlike anything else. There is another controversy among people over the Bible: Is the Bible the inspired word of God? The answer to this is undoubtedly, YES! 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us "All scripture (the key word being all!) is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works". The Bible is fully inspired which means God actually ‘breathed’ all scripture! The Bible itself assumes inspiration and frequently claims inspiration: there are over 3,800 claims of "thus saith the Lord". This should not be a debate among believers. The words on the pages of scripture are the supernatural workings of the Holy Spirit who chose godly men with their individual personalities and writing styles to pen the pages of scripture. The Bible is the final authority of God, not man (Ps 119:160, John 17:17). Even though these men were imperfect, God used them in a mighty way to show God’s glory and majesty (Deut 28:58, Ps 19:1, Hab 2:14). It is our responsibility to humble ourselves and believe. We need to accept by faith the method that God chose to reveal to us His truth. Though inspiration is beyond our finite minds, it is clear that the human authors were not left to their own wisdom, but it was God’s breathing the words through them which was the Source of inspiration (1 Pet 1:20-21). How do we get the Bible to survive all these years through generation after generation without distorting the original transcripts? The answer is simply God’s divine sovereignty. God once again, in His divine plan, chose to preserve His word by using godly men to translate the original manuscripts of the Old and New Testament writers. The seventy two scholars who translated the Old Testament from Hebrew to Greek put together the Septuagint (200 BC), Jerome a man who translated the Bible into Latin from the original Hebrew and Greek (400 AD), and Tyndale who was used by God to translate the Bible into English (1525), are all examples of these godly men. It has even continued into more modern days such as translations commonly used today; versions like the King James (1611), NASB version (1971), and the ESV version (2001). God will continue to preserve His word throughout all ages as we are so firmly reminded in Isaiah 40:8 "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever".
We serve an amazing God, who will always stand the test of time because He is infinite and holy and will display His glory to all generations from the past, to the present and into eternity. We were created in His image; we were created to display His glory to the lost world who were and continue to be slaves to sin (Eph 4:18, Rom 2:5). We were not created to question His authority or His sovereignty. This is a topic of discussion that should never happen among Christendom. Lord forgive us for our pride and the arrogance of people to debate the validity of Your Holy Word (John 1:1). By calling the Bible into question, we would be thinking ourselves smarter than God and denying that the Bible could be divinely inspired. This would be a clear indication that we don’t believe the Bible, and ultimately don’t believe God or all He represents (Rev 19:13, 1 John 1:1). If a person were to keep this prideful view until his or her death bed, they would be eternally separated from a God who created them, gave them life, and most of all gave them His Word so that they could grow and learn the truths of our Lord and Saviour, the only One who can forgive you of sin (John 14:6).
We need to trust and have faith in the written word of God, to desire the pure milk of the word which is displaying His glory (1 Pet 2:2), love and trust those truths and put them on your heart because it is the heart He sees. (1 Sam 16:7) "But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart". (Rev 22:19) And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city , and from the things which are written in this book. Lord we are thankful for your grace and mercy toward us as Your Word teaches us all we need to know about Christ-likeness. A.W. Tozer couldn’t be any bolder in his statement when he said "The Word of God well understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection. And we must not select a few favorite passages to the exclusion of others. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian." So my question for you is: What are you?
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