The Revelation of God: The Bible
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What does it mean to be a Pentecostal, pt. II
13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
Introduction
Pentecostals believe it is important to be led of the Spirit.
When Jesus’ disciples were in despair because He announced His impending departure from the world, Jesus promised He would send the Spirit of Truth who would guide them into all truth. (John 16:13)
This desire to be led by the Spirit does not conflict with our high view of Scripture.
The Spirit living within us is not the source of Truth in our life, it is our guide TO Truth.
The Holy Ghost is our guide to Truth, not our source of Truth!
Why is this important?
We worship God in Spirit and in Truth.
If we believe in God, we should also believe in God’s Word.
This is primarily how God communicates with His people.
If you want to learn what the voice of God sounds like, go to the Word.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
All rational, intelligent beings seek to communicate. God, as the supreme rational, intelligent Being, also seeks to communicate.
For these two reasons – God’s intelligence and His status as our Father – we expect to find the Word of God among us.
How can we know what is God’s Word?
The Bible answers four questions about life and humanity:
Our origin Meaning Morality Destiny
No other book or religion can adequately answer these four questions by itself. The Bible does effortlessly. It is evident by examining world literature that the Bible is the unique written Word of God to humanity.
It tells us that all have sinned and need a savior. (Romans 3:23)
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
The Bible is not worried about competing with other books and religions - It tells us to investigate truth for ourselves, confident that we will find truth within its pages.
I Thessalonians 5:21 says to test, to prove all things; Once identified, hold fast, keep, grab ahold of what is good, what is true.
The Bible tells us to be prepared to explain the basis of our faith to others (I Peter 3:15) The Bible asserts its unique status as the Word of God, and it speaks with self-vindicating authority.
The prophets and apostles who wrote scripture testified that the Spirit of God moved upon them as they wrote. Jesus endorsed the Old Testament as scripture, and He commissioned the writers of the New Testament to proclaim His message.
Thus, if you accept Jesus as Lord and Christ, you will accept the authority of the Bible. We can establish that the Bible is God’s Word by carefully examining its claims, character, historical and scientific verification, and impact upon human society.
(The Book that Made Your World by Vishal Mangalwadi) The verified, fulfilled prophesies of scripture are an amazing test of its divine origin. Finally, most simply, we know the Bible is God’s Word when we apply it to our lives, receive its promises, and experiences its power. These points – the fact the Bible says it is the Word of God, the fact it addresses the questions of origin, meaning, morality, and destiny, and the fact that we can see its results throughout history and in our lives – prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the Bible is God’s revelation to us.
God challenged us to prove His Word.
I can tell you from personal experience that you will find it to be true in every way. The Spirit of Truth guides us to Truth, and the Bible reveals to us Truth, showing us that the Bible is the standard of Truth by which everything else is measured. The Inspiration of the Bible
Who wrote the Bible?
The ultimate author of the Bible is God.
II Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. This word “inspiration” means “God-breathed.”
Like seeing your breath on a cold morning or the fog on your mirror when you breathe on it, the Bible is the tangible breath of God. Matthew 4:4 …Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Psalm 33:6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
In other words, the Bible, came directly from God.
The Bible is God’s direct line to humanity. This word “inspiration” is more than an artistic impulse that prompts a musician to compose a hit song, it refers to an action by God.
It means the work of the Holy Spirit upon divinely chosen authors whereby specific writings are trustworthy and authoritative. Inspiration refers to the original writing process and the original text of scripture.
Inspiration does not mean that subsequent efforts to copy and translations of scripture are inspired. There are translations of the Bible that have mistakes and deficiencies.
These are mistakes and deficiencies of textual transmission and translation, not of God or His inspired authors. We will discuss it further, but we can have great confidence in the text we have today and affirm it as God’s revelation to us. The authority of the Bible
The Bible is God’s authoritative revelation to us.
Imparts saving knowledge Teaches Rebukes Corrects Trains Euips