Lesson 3

THE BIBLE: THE BASIS OF WHAT WE BELIEVE

I. How can we know if the Bible is the word of God and not just words of men?

o The Bible as we shall see, in this discussion is the Word of God revealed to mankind. It contains the only authoritative and reliable source of precise knowledge about God and His relationship to creation and humanity. All that man can arrive apart from Scripture is merely speculation.

o There is evidence:

1. There is evidence from apostolic testimony.

2. There is evidence from prophecy

3. There samples of fulfilled prophecy

4. The other evidence that the Bible is the word of God includes the unity of the Bible.

II. HOW CAN WE KNOW THAT THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD?

o Everyone has some basis for what they believe. It may be a book or the teachings of his parents, or the ideas of other people. We all believe something about the real issues of life and we all have a basis for those beliefs. Many people base their beliefs on a book which they claim was revealed by God. Is there any book which can support the claim that it is the word of God?

o People sometimes observe that the things Christians say about Christ are found only in the Bible. How do we know whether the Bible is the word of God, as Christians claim, or is it just another book written by human beings? Our faith in Christ and His words depends upon whether or not the Bible is really from God.

o To answer this question we need to examine the evidence that demands a verdict. This will in turn help us examine and compare the Bible with other religious books which claim to be revelations from God.

1. EVIDENCE FROM APOSTOLIC TESTIMONY:

a. The Bible was written by men who are recognized as the prophets and apostles of God.

b. The Bible is the revealed word of God to mankind.

2. The Bible was written by men who are recognized as the prophets and apostles of God. An example in the Old Testament would be Moses.

3. Jews, Muslims and Christians all recognize that Moses was a prophet of God.

4. In the New Testament we have the apostle John as an example. He wrote the gospel of John. There are other books written by other men under the authority of the apostles, as in the case of Luke.

o Some people may ask, “What makes you think the Bible is God’s word to man?”

1. There are several good reasons to believe in the divine inspiration of the Scriptures.

III. THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD

o When one embarks on a mission to try and determine if the Bible is the word of God or not, it’s important to take note of the following facts:

1. First of all, the Bible declares itself to be the word of God.

2. The Old Testament (OT) affirms time and again that its message comes directly from God. Deut. 4:2 “Ye shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.”

3. The prophet Jeremiah says, “But the Lord said to me,… Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.” (Jer. 1:7-9)

4. These are but only two of the many passages out of many, which come directly from the mouth of God.

5. William Evans mentioned in his book, The Great Doctrines of the Bible, that Genesis 1 has the words “God said” ten times.

6. Others have said that the Old Testament contains phrases like “the Lord said,” “the Lord spake,” and “the word of the Lord came,” some 3,808 times.

7. The Old Testament writers thought of themselves as the revealers of the will of God, and often began their messages with the words, “Thus saith the Lord.”

8. The Old Testament is a book which declares itself to be from God.

9. THE NEW TESTAMENT DECLARES ITSELF TO BE
The New Testament writers also declare divine inspiration for themselves and for each other, as well as for Old Testament writers.

o EVIDENCE FROM PROPHECY

1. No one in the world can completely know the future except God. A book which can correctly predict the future 100% of the time, must be revelation from God. The only book which does that is the Bible. In the book of Isaiah God says, “Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him foretell what will come”(Isa. 44:7). Every sacred book in the world except the Bible is found lacking because no other book correctly predicts the future at all times.

2. In Deut. 18:21 God suggests a question which many people have: “How can we know a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” God answers in verse 22. His answer is very simple. “If what a prophets proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true.”

3. The test of whether or not revelation is from God, is fulfilled prophecy. Among the books which claim to be revelations from God, the Bible stands alone as the only book whose prophecies always come to pass. All other books fail this test.

IV. SOME EXAMPLES OF FULFILLED PROPHECY:

o In Psalm 22, written about 100BC by King David, there is a very detailed description of the crucifixion of a man. The details of this description fit one person and that person is Jesus Christ. (Psalm 22:16-18. says, “Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet…” How could anyone write such a description as this without having seen the event?

o OTHER EVIDENCE THAT THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD

1. There is also other evidence which shows us that only the Bible is the inspired word of God.

2. The Bible was probably written by more than 40 different human authors. It was written in different times of history and in different places by men who did not know each other personally. Yet it reads as one book written by one author. The reason is that the real author is God, who spoke through the human authors.

3. Although the Bible is not a book about science, it speaks correctly about many discoveries of science long before these discoveries were made by men.

4. Jesus Christ, who died and rose from the dead, testifies about the Old Testament that it is the word of God.

5. The study of ancient civilizations in the Bible lands (the study of archaeology) has confirmed many historical details found in the Bible.

6. Those who read the Bible and believe its message about salvation in Christ are consistently changed in their character from sinners to godly persons even when they have been very evil persons.

7. The writers of the Bible knew they were given the word of God and they said so! (1 Thess. 2:13).

8. There is a consistent testimony from Christians of all cultures in the world that the Bible is the word of God.