The Word
Notes
Transcript
Today we are going to start a study on the Bible, your probably thinking well I hope your teaching us about the Bible. But this will be different, let me ask you something why do you believe the Bible—last week Ms. Kathy said something during her devotional about the Word and it got me thinking. We always tell you that you need to be in the Word, and that the Bible is authoritative in our lives, but why do we believe that. So, over the next few Sundays I am going to do my best to show you why we believe the Bible. We are going to look at the inspiration of Scripture, the authority of Scripture, the inerrancy of Scripture, the preservation of Scripture, the preaching and teaching of Scripture, and the obligation to Scripture.
God has chosen to reveal Himself to us in what we call general revelation and special revelation. General is through the observation of creation, and special is when He reveals Himself directly and in more detail, direct acts, dreams, visions, Scripture and ultimately Christ. We are going to look at Scripture. God uses the Bible as a disclosure and revelation of Himself. First we are going to look at the inspiration of Scripture. 2,500 times in the Old Testament the Bible asserts to be from God, that is God spoke what was written. The phrase “the word of God” occurs over 40 times in the New Testament. Okay we must define inspiration before we start. What we are talking when I say inspiration is verbal, plenary inspiration. God through His Spirit inspired every word penned by human authors in each of the 66 books of the Bible. Inspiration defines the causation behind the authorship of Scripture. It refers to the direct act of God on the human author that resulted in the creation of perfectly written revelation. The Holy Spirit used each individual personality of each writer to produce divinely authoritative writings. The Bible is truly a work of both the human author and the Holy Spirit.
2 Timothy 3:16 (ESV)
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
Other translations say “inspired” instead of “breathed”. But the Greek word “theopncostus” carries the sense of God breathing out. What does this tell us about Scripture? Well the fact that God produced Scriptures by influencing the human author’s own thought which resulted in divinely authoritative and inerrant words we have in the Bible.
The Process of Inspiration
The Process of Inspiration
The actual process of inspiration by which the Bible was composed are many and varied. For example Moses wrote under the direct supervision of God, and God sometimes gave Moses specific words to write.
27 And the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”
David wrote many of the Psalms from specific life events and some are from general life experiences. Some writers researched before writing such as Solomon.
9 The Teacher was full of wisdom, and he taught the people with knowledge. He carefully considered many proverbs and carefully arranged them.
Matthew and John wrote their Gospels from their personal experiences with Jesus. Luke not being an eyewitness investigated everything before he wrote.
1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.
Some writers were given special revelation through a dream or a vision, like John when he wrote Revelation.
9 I, John, your brother and co-sharer in the affliction and kingdom and steadfastness in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony about Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a great sound like a trumpet 11 saying, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”
Sometimes they would dictate to someone to write the words out. No matter the Holy Spirit inspired every word.
20 recognizing this above all, that every prophecy of scripture does not come about from one’s own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
All Scripture from cover to cover is breathed out by God. Because of this it is profitable to the man and women of God. The divine authorship is what makes it profitable, and it is the divine authorship that makes it inerrant and infallible. If we think otherwise we compromise the integrity of God. What we have today is the Word of God, and it should be viewed as such.
18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
The Word
The Word