His speech shaped the entire cosmos. Immersed in the practice of creating, all things that exist were birthed in Him. His breath filled all things with a living, breathing light—
– John 1:3,4 (VOICE)
…in Him we live and move and have our being…
– Acts 17:28 (NIV)
God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul!
– Genesis 2:7 (MSG)
For the Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
– Job 33:4 (NLT)
He Himself gives life and breath to everything, and He satisfies every need.
– Acts 17:25 (NLT)
I will give them a new will—an undivided heart—and plant a new spirit within them; I will remove their cold, stony heart and replace it with a warm heart of flesh.
1. Does the Bible claim to be uniquely inspired by God?
A. The Bible claims that it is uniquely inspired
1. 2 Timothy 3:16 – “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness”
2. 2 Peter 1:20, 21 – “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.”
B. The writers claimed to be inspired
1. David (2 Samuel 23:2 – “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me”)
2. Jeremiah (Jeremiah 2:1-2 – “Thus says the Lord”)
3. Paul (1 Thessalonians 4:1,2 – “commandments…by the authority of the Lord Jesus”)
4. John (Revelation 1:1 – “The revelation of Jesus Christ…to his bondservant John”)
C. Jesus claimed that the scriptures were inspired (Matthew 5:18; Luke 24:44 – “all fulfilled”).
Note: The Forms of Inspiration
God directly revealed parts of scripture to some writers (prophets in particular) who spoke exactly the words God gave them (Moses – Deuteronomy 4:2; Isaiah – Isaiah 59:21; Paul—Galatians 1:12, etc.).
God otherwise superintended the writing of men who wrote exactly what God intended. They used their own styles and expressed their thoughts freely knowing what they meant. Yet, through the Holy Spirit, God at the same time determined the content and controlled the accuracy of all they wrote. This is the miraculous aspect of inspiration.
2. What other evidence is there that the Bible is inspired by God?
A. Supernatural change
The Bible causes supernatural change in people’s lives when its message about sin and salvation is accepted. A visit to any Bible-believing church will give plenty of examples.
B. Fulfilled prophecy
C. The Bible contains many prophecies recorded and then later fulfilled. Here are some examples:
1. Israel’s Rebirth as a Nation after being dispersed many centuries ago was predicted by the Bible (Isaiah 11:11 – written circa 750 B.C.; Ezekiel 37:1-14 – written circa 600 B.C.). For almost 2,000 years (since A.D. 70) the nation of Israel did not exist. Then, on May 15, 1948, Israel became a nation. In 1967 (The Six-day War) its area quadrupled and Jerusalem became Jewish property.
2. The Destruction of the city of Tyre was predicted in detail by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 26 – written circa 600 B.C.). In 332 B.C. Alexander the Great completed the destruction begun by others. Each detail Ezekiel predicted was fulfilled.
3. Four great successive world kingdoms (Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome) were specifically prophesied and described by Daniel (Daniel 2 & 7 – written about 535 B.C.). Each detail was fulfilled as these empires rose and fell in the coming centuries.
4. Over 300 prophesies in the Old Testament describe the details of Christ’s birth, life, death and resurrection. The odds of even a few of these coming true in one person are staggering – much less 300 of them.
D. The Distribution and Indestructibility of the Bible
1. The Bible is far and away the world’s “best seller.” By 1932 it was computed that 1 billion copies of the Bible had been published. By the 1960’s it is estimated that over 2 billion were published. Currently, a total of 3-4 billion is reasonable. No other book is even close.
2. The Bible has been translated into well over 1000 languages, representing about 90% of the world’s population.
3. Throughout the centuries, various enemies have tried to destroy the Bible (Diocletian Edict, circa A.D. 300). Voltaire, the French philosopher and skeptic, predicted in the 18th century, that the Bible and Christianity would soon be obsolete. In 1828, fifty years after his death, the Geneva Bible Society was using his press and his house to publish Bibles.
4. Jesus had predicted, “Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away” (Mark 13:31).
E. Archeology supports the Bible
1. Numerous archaeological finds have supported the Bible’s accuracy. Otherwise unknown places, events and dates have proven to be historically accurate. Nelson Glueck, a leading Jewish archaeologist said, “It can be categorically stated that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference” (Rivers In The Desert, Farrar, Strauss and Cudahy. 1959. P.31). This does not prove inspiration, but it confirms the credibility of writers who also claim that they wrote with God’s authority.
F. A Logical Argument for Inspiration
Charles Wesley proposed the following logical argument:
“The Bible must be the invention either of good men or angels, bad men or devils, or of God.
1. It could not be the invention of good men or angels; for they neither would or could make a book, and tell lies all the time they were writing it, saying, “Thus saith the Lord,” when it was their own invention.
2. It could not be the invention of bad men or devils; for they would not make a book which commands all duty, forbids all sin, and condemns their souls to hell to all eternity.
3. Therefore, I draw this conclusion, that the Bible must be given by divine inspiration.”
(Robert W. Burtner and Robert Chiles, A Compend of Wesley’s Theology, Abingdon Press. 1954. p.20)
3. Hasn’t translating the Bible over and over ruined its reliability?
No. The English translations we have are not the end of a long chain of translations; they are translated directly from Hebrew (O.T.) and Greek (N.T.) originals.
Not
Hebrew —Greek —Latin —English
But
German —English —Hebrew —Greek
The reason we have many different English translations is that scholars have continually updated them to incorporate new linguistic research and to keep up with changes in modern English.
4. How do we know that we have what Moses, David, Jesus, or Paul really said or wrote?
Since there were no copy machines, the texts that the human authors wrote had to be recopied by hand as they wore out or as more copies were needed. Here’s how the text was preserved so accurately.
Old Testament – The Jewish people had scribes who were in charge of the manuscripts. They were so meticulous about doing it perfect that they counted all the paragraphs, words and even letters so they would know if they had copied correctly. They even knew the middle letter of each book so they could count back and see if they had missed anything.
The oldest complete copy of a Hebrew Old Testament in museums today are dated about A.D.1000. That’s a long time after the originals were written (1450-400 B.C.), so one could question if after many centuries of copying we really have the original words. That’s where the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 is so helpful. These well-preserved texts date back to 100 B.C. Amazingly, there is virtual agreement between the Dead Sea Scrolls and those dated 1,100 years later! This proves we can trust the Hebrew copies of the Old Testament that are existing today.
Example of Isaiah: Virtually identical through all the years of copying.
Written 700 B.C. by Isaiah
Copies found among Dead Sea Scrolls 100 B.C.
Complete Hebrew Manuscripts A.D. 1000
Today’s Bible
New Testament – The reliability of the New Testament Greek texts is even more certain than the Old Testament texts. The New Testament was written A.D.45 – A.D.90. Some fragments of Greek texts exist that date back to A.D.120 and A.D.150. That’s only 35-100 years after the originals that Paul, John, Luke and others wrote! Another big help is that there are 4000-5000 New Testament Greek manuscripts existing today. By comparing these many copies, scholars can weed out possible copying mistakes. Compare these two factors of Date and Number of existing manuscripts and copies with other literature that historians consider accurate:
Manuscript
Date of Oldest Manuscript Existing
Copies
Plato
1,200 years later
7
Ceasar
900 years later
10
Herodotus
1,300 years later
8
Aristotle
1,400 years later
5
New Testament
Only 35-100 years later
4,000-5,000
5. Doesn’t the Bible contradict itself?
No. The Bible was written over a period of 1,600 years by about 40 authors on three continents in two major languages. The writers included and Egyptian-trained scholar (Moses), a general (Joshua), Kings (David, Solomon), a farmer (Amos), a fisherman (Peter), a tax-collector (Matthew), and a rabbi (Paul), but amazingly they present a consistent viewpoint of life and set of facts.
Can you imagine 40 different writers today form such different backgrounds agreeing on any subject today? But in all its 66 books, the Bible is self-consistent on such significant issues as where we come from (special creation by God), why we’re here (to serve and glorify God) and where we’re going (eternal life or eternal judgment).
Critics allege that there are many discrepancies in the Bible. But the seeming discrepancies in particular details can generally be explained in one of the following ways:
a. Logical explanations – Sometimes two seemingly contradicting statements are both actually true. When Matthew refers to one angel at Jesus’ tomb and John describes two, there’s no contradiction. Where there’s two there’s one. Matthew wasn’t counting. He just described what one of the angels said.
b. Copyist’s mistakes – There are occasions where existing manuscripts (Greek or Hebrew) disagree on certain words or phrases. A few times when two books of the Bible record the same event a number has been changed. It’s not hard to imagine that someone copying the manuscript by hand (not the original inspired author) miscopied a number, name or accidentally inserted some margin note into the text.
c. Interpretive misunderstanding – Critics sometimes allege that Jesus and Paul or Paul and James disagree on something. But those are dubious claims based on what an interpreter thinks a verse means. The burden of proof is on those who claim to see disagreement. Seemingly contradictory statements can be shown to harmonize well by understanding the contexts in which they were written.
6. How do we know the right books are in the Bible? It was just people who decided wasn’t it?
Yes and No. It was human councils such as the one led by Athanasius in A.D.367 which listed the 27 books in our New Testament today. But they didn’t determine which books were inspired; they merely recognized the supernatural character those books already had. The following tests were used to conclude that a book or letter was indeed scripture (tests of “canonicity”).
a. Is it authoritative (Does it claim or exhibit God’s authority – “Thus saith the Lord”)?
b. Is it prophetic (Is it written by a known “man of God”- 2 Peter 1:20)?
c. Is it authentic (Is it consistent with other revelation of truth)?
d. Is it dynamic (Is it shown to be life-changing)?
e. Is it received (Is it accepted and used by believers)?
(Norman L Geisler & William Nix, A General Introduction to the Bible, pp. 137-144)
7. How do you know if you’re interpreting the Bible right? So many different groups claim to follow the Bible.
There are three basic approaches to Bible interpretation.
a. Used by cults. Cults use the Bible to try to prove views they already have. The real authority of their view is always some single leader who has his or her ideas in writing. The cult considers those writings as equal in authority (actually greater) than the Bible. They then lift some Bible verses out of context to support their views.
b. Misunderstood by liberal scholars. Scholars who don’t accept the authority and inspiration of scripture interpret the Bible in purely human terms. They feel free to call the Bible “wrong” on issues if society’s standard is different. So they also take the liberty to water down statements that they deem unacceptable. (The seriousness of sin; the need to trust in Christ for salvation, etc.)
c. Taken literally in its historical and grammatical contexts. Conservative Bible scholars who take the Bible at face value consistently arrive at the same interpretations on major issues. Some detailed interpretations will always vary, but the major messages are clear. Literal interpretation simply means “take it as it was meant.” A figure of speech is taken that way. A grammatical form is assumed accurate. What a term or phrase meant at the time in history is worth researching and then understood accordingly. This view let the Bible speak for itself.
Banish bitterness, rage and anger, shouting and slander, and any and all malicious thoughts—these are poison. Instead, be kind and compassionate. Graciously forgive one another just as God has forgiven you through the Anointed, our Liberating King.
– Ephesians 4:31-32 (VOICE)
I’m not there yet, nor have I become perfect; but I am charging on to gain anything and everything the Anointed One, Jesus, has in store for me—and nothing will stand in my way because He has grabbed me and won’t let me go. Brothers and sisters, as I said, I know I have not arrived; but there’s one thing I am doing: I’m leaving my old life behind, putting everything on the line for this mission. I am sprinting toward the only goal that counts: to cross the line, to win the prize, and to hear God’s call to resurrection life found exclusively in Jesus the Anointed.
– Philippians 3:12-14 (VOICE)
No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.
Abide in Jesus as your wisdom. Seek to maintain the spirit of waiting and dependence that always seeks to learn and will not move but as the heavenly light leads on. Withdraw yourself from all needless distraction, close your ears to the voices of the world, and be a docile learner, ever listening for the heavenly wisdom the Master has to teach. Surrender all your own wisdom; seek a deep conviction of the utter blindness of the natural understanding in the things of God; and wait for Jesus to teach and to guide what you have to believe and have to do. Remember that the teaching and guidance do not come from without: it is by His life in us that the divine wisdom does His work. Retire frequently with Him into the inner chamber of the heart, where the gentle voice of the Spirit is only heard if all is still. Hold fast with unshaken confidence, even in the midst of darkness and apparent desertion, to His own assurance that He is the light and the leader of His own. And live, above all, day by day in the blessed truth that, as He Himself, the living Christ Jesus, is your wisdom, your first and last care must ever be this alone: to abide in Him. Abiding in Him, His wisdom will come to you as the spontaneous outflowing of a life rooted in Him. I abide in Christ, who was made unto us wisdom from God: wisdom will be given to me.
– Andrew Murray
You are partners with Christ Jesus because of God. Jesus has become our wisdom sent from God, our approval, our holiness, and our ransom from sin.
– 1 Corinthians 1:30 (GW)
Abide in Me, and I will abide in you. A branch cannot bear fruit if it is disconnected from the vine, and neither will you if you are not connected to Me.
I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you abide in Me and I in you, you will bear great fruit. Without Me, you will accomplish nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is like a branch that is tossed out and shrivels up and is later gathered to be tossed into the fire to burn. If you abide in Me and My voice abides in you, anything you ask will come to pass for you. Your abundant growth and your faithfulness as My followers will bring glory to the Father.
…the strength of vulnerability. I am speaking of that paradoxical place where you discover the strength God has placed in you by actually risking the pain you would normally run from — especially in close relationships. You step into the difficult place and find you are not blown away. Hearing a friend’s criticism, you resist being defensive. You take the humble road, and find that it is the means of walking straight and tall. You say the words you need to say. In these kinds of moments, you can almost feel your soul expand.
Have you ever had an ‘impossible person’ in your life, with whom most of your interactions inevitably led to rejection and hurt feelings? If so, then you know the courage it takes to risk your heart – to be vulnerable – and to love in the face of that. That courage, exercised wisely, is like lifting weights in a gym, except that the strength you gain is an inner one.
In many ways, vulnerability is the last thing we would expect to combine with strength. The word literally means ‘able to be wounded,’ and therefore, vulnerability flies in the face of our usual concept of strength, certainly the one served up to us daily. To be vulnerable is to voluntarily place yourself, for the sake of a larger purpose, in a situation that could bring pain. You see something at stake — your own spiritual growth or someone else’s — and you are willing to risk your heart in a vulnerable way.
– Paula Rinehart
My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; He is mine forever.
– Psalm 73:26 (NLT)
Dear, dear Corinthians, I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
– Psalm 46:1-3 (NIV)
I imagine myself
standing on a mountain
when the ground begins to shake
and rocks start to split
the noise is deafening
and it’s hard to stay standing
I watch as mountains around me
crumble and fall into the sea
I stay standing
and I do not fear
my senses are heightened
my heart beats fast
but I do not fear
All is chaos
except inside of me
That is trust
A refusal to fear
because of who You are, God
That is the fearlessness I desire
– Susie Stewart
Do not fear [anything], for I am with you; Do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, be assured I will help you; I will certainly take hold of you with My righteous right hand [a hand of justice, of power, of victory, of salvation].
– Isaiah 41:10 (AMP)
Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.
Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks. The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat! He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn. But whenever he comes, he will reward the servants who are ready.
– Luke 12:35-38 (NLT)
I’m looking up, Lord!
I’m waiting for You!
I don’t live my life perfectly
and I don’t have it all together
But I’m gladly expecting You
Perfection, my Salvation
You promise to come for me
and I’m ready when You are
My Bridegroom, my Savior
The Reason I wait with joy
Come, Lord Jesus, come
– Susie Stewart
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died[a] will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.
– 1 Thessalonians 3:16,17 (NLT)
Everyone has to die once, then face the consequences. Christ’s death was also a one-time event, but it was a sacrifice that took care of sins forever. And so, when he next appears, the outcome for those eager to greet him is, precisely, salvation.
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!
– Psalm 34:8 (NLT)
Christianity is a religion of the Word—the written Word, yes, but also the Word made Flesh, who dwelt among us, who turned water into wine, who made the blind see and the mute speak, who washed the stinky feet of fishermen and broke bread with unsavory characters. Christianity is a religion of that Word, too. The psalmist knew that words were not the only way of knowing or even worshiping God. His songs suggest that dancing, animals, birds, trees, oil and wine all speak in their various ways of God’s infinite wisdom, beauty, and love. The trees praise God with their seasonal dressing and undressing, the mountain goats praise God as they bring forth their light-footed young, and the bread and wine and oil speak of God’s sustaining love that’s worth savoring.
– Rachel Stone
We proclaim to you the One who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw Him with our own eyes and touched Him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen Him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that He is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then He was revealed to us. We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.
As Jesus was saying this, the leader of a synagogue came and knelt before Him. “My daughter has just died,” he said, “but you can bring her back to life again if you just come and lay your hand on her.”…
When Jesus arrived at the official’s home, He saw the noisy crowd and heard the funeral music. “Get out!” He told them. “The girl isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.” But the crowd laughed at Him. After the crowd was put outside, however, Jesus went in and took the girl by the hand, and she stood up!
– Matthew 9:18-19, 23-25 (NLT)
It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose His temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, He embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on His own, with no help from us! Then He picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.
– Ephesians 2:1-6 (MSG)
God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)
Susie Stewart 