Questions to ask of the Bible

Introduction

If you have been attending the last four weeks, we have learned a lot about a worldly theory called Critical Race Theory that is quite dangerous. The beliefs that are taught, and the contradiction it is to what the gospel is, it is something Christians consider is wrong.

But what we carry with us, what we have on our phones, what we hang on our walls, this book called the Bible. We call this book true, but what I am afraid of is that as Christians we confess this book to be true, to be the Word of God, believe what it says and we live as if none of that is true.

Let me share with you some statistics:

Americans who read the Bible at least once a week:

1991: 45%

2009: 46%

2016: 33%

Elders/Pastors: 49%

Millennials: 24%

Americans who believe there is no God behind the Bible

In 2011: 10%

in 2016: 22%

Americans who strongly agree that the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches:

in 1991: 46%

in 2016: 33%

Americans who believe the Bible is sufficient for meaningful living:

Elders: 65%

Boomers: 56%

Gen X: 40%

Millenials: 27%

Now Millennials’ beliefs about the Bible:

Too little influence in society: 30%

Too much influence in society: 34%

How would non-Christian Millennials describe the Bible

Story: 50%

Mythology: 38%

Symbolic: 36%

Fairy Tale: 30%

Dangerous book of religious dogma: 27%

Senior pastor’s beliefs about Bible study:

Intentional, systematized study of the Bible is an essential element of spiritual formation: 64%

In depth education about the Bible is essential to spiritual growth:60%

(From “The Bible in America: The Changing Landscape of Bible Perceptions and Engagement,” a 6-year Barna study produced in parternship with American Bible Society.)

We hear objections like

The Bible is an human invention.

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,

The Bible is offensive

Genesis 1:1 ESV

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Like this reminds us that it is God who has every right to dictate to us how we live.

The Bible is outdated, the Bible is full errors

2 Samuel 24:9 ESV

9 And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to the king: in Israel there were 800,000 valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were 500,000.

1 Chronicles 21:5 ESV

5 And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to David. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 men who drew the sword, and in Judah 470,000 who drew the sword.

So the question becomes what happened here? Why are the numbers different? The authors may have used different census records, counted different men, whatever that case may be this does not prove that any truth or principle found in the Bible is not true. The discrepency found in the report of who the two authors were including in their final count.

The Bible is insufficient for the church.

The Bible is irrevelant in the world.

Are any of those statements true? No.

So what must we do tonight.

Is the Bible Divine

Is the Bible True

Is The Bible Clear

Is the Bible Sufficient

Is the Bible Good?

(Taken from Secret Church 17)

So question one

Is the Bible Divine?

So what we have this book, is considered the Canon.

Lexham Survey of Theology The Canon

The canon is the divinely authorized collection of books that God has given to govern his people.

Lexham Survey of Theology The Canon

By inspiration God identifies human words with his own, so that they are the word of God. But he also acts to gather such books together so that some of them form a larger document, a canon, which serves to rule the people of God.

So inspiration then is how these men would begin to write the very words of God.

1 Corinthians 2:9–11 ESV

9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

So no one comprehends the thoughts of God unless the Spirit is revealing to us the thoughts of God.

God communicates through

General Revelation

Psalm 19:1 ESV

1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Job 12:23 ESV

23 He makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away.

We have a sense of morality

Romans 2:14–16 ESV

14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

We can say that everyone even unbelievers know that there is a God meaning that general revelation leads to everyone is condemned in the eyes of God. There is not a single person who can claim innocence. Everyone is guilty in the eyes of God.

So there is General Revelation and then there is

Special Revelation

Hebrews 1:1–2 ESV

1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

God’s revelation is clear.

Carl F.H. Henry said

Divine revelation palpitates with human surprise. Like a fiery bolt of lightning that unexpectedly zooms toward us and scores a direct hit, like an earthquake that suddenly shakes and engulfs us, it somersaults our private thoughts to abrupt awareness of ultimate destiny. By the unannounced intrusion of it omnipotent actuality, divine revelation lifts the present into the eternal and unmasks our pretensions of human omnicompetence. … Confronting us with a sense of cosmic arrest, it makes us ask whether the end of our world is at hand and propels us unasked before the Judge and Lord of the universe. Like some piercing air-raid siren it sends us scurrying from life’s preoccupations and warns us that no escape remains if we neglect the only sure sanctuary.

See God’s revelation is clear to us, but we do not always understand it clearly. How many arguments, disagreements, or even caused division because someone did not understand the Bible clearly.

2 Corinthians 3:14–16 ESV

14 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.

When you, when I was not saved we did not understand God’s Word or God’s thoughts.

We know that God’s Word was inspired.

“The Lord says” is mentioned over 3000 times.

And with this book we see prophecies fulfilled.

Over 300 prophecies are fulfilled in the coming of Christ.

R.A. Torrey said

We are told where Jesus would be born, the family of which he should be born, the condition of the family at the time of his birth ( a condition entirely different from that existing at the time the prophecy was written, and contrary to all the probabilities in the case), the manner of his reception by his people ( a reception entirely different from that which would naturally be expected), the fact, method, and details regarding his death, with the specific circumstances regarding his burial, his resurrection subsequent to his burial, and his victory subsequent to his resurrection. These predictions were fulfilled with the most minute precision in Jesus of Nazareth.” - R.A. Torrey

We are certain that the Scriptures are inspired by God. The mysterious aspect of inspiration is how God inspired Scriptures.

There is a wide variety of authors. The number is above 40 human writers writing the words of God from laws, genealogies, psalms of praise, laments, oracles of judgement, gospel accounts, narratives of theological history, letters to churches, apocalyptic prophecies.

These words written by God were the exact words written by man. Every word you read is inspired by God up to the word order. Every word is what God wants in his Word.

The Canon

Lexham Survey of Theology The Canon

The canon is the divinely authorized collection of books that God has given to govern his people.

When we discuss the canon we must remember that the writings became canonical immediately when God inspired them to be his Word.

We also know that God intended from the beginning his people would be ruled by a written document as the Jews were ruled by the Old Testament, and we today have the entirety of the Bible. The Bible is what we go to. To know God, Jesus, salvation, and the issues of life the Bible is our source of truth.

One more thing to think about before we move on, we learn about different historical characters in school.

Plato wrote Tetralogies and we have 210 manuscripts of that story.

Caesar and the Gallic Wars we have over 250.

Homer writing Iliad has 1,757 copies.

We have no problem believing this is true, but the Bible has over 23,000 manuscript copies. Is the Bible Divine? Yes

Is the Bible True?

2 Samuel 7:28 ESV

28 And now, O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant.

Is every word true? Are some words true? Is the history of the Bible true? When the Bible speaks to matters of geography and science is it true?

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,

A group of men gathered together and wrote “Articles of Affirmation and Denial” concerning the inerrancy of Scripture. Inerrancy meaning the Bible is without error.

These articles are not meant to be considered authoratative, but are meant to be a confessional document of what these men who had gathered to create this statement what they believe.

Article I

We affirm that the Holy Scriptures are to be received as the authoritative Word of God.

This makes sense as there are several Scriptures that point this truth out.

1 Thessalonians 2:13 ESV

13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.

We deny that the Scriptures receive their authority from the Church, tradition, or any other human source.

These words that we read did not come from men, and they did not receive authority from men. This is from God. This is His Word.

Article 2

We affirm that the Scriptures are supreme written norm by which God binds the conscience, and that the authority of the Church is subordinate to that of Scripture.

We deny that Church creeds, councils, or declarations have authority greater than or equal to the authority of the Bible.

The Scriptures are the highest authority. Over everything in this world that is created and said to be greater nothing holds up to the Bible.

Article 3

We affirm that the written Word in its entirety is revelation given by God.

We deny that the Bible is merely a witness to revelation, or only becomes revelation in encounter, or depends on the responses of men for its validity.

Article 4

We affirm that God who made mankind in His image has used language as a means of revelation.

Genesis 2:15–17 ESV

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Now the question becomes, “Isn’t language not perfect. Language when used wrongly can convey wrong messages. You have conversations with people in here where you misunderstand them. But Article 4 denies this

We deny that human language is so limited by our creatureliness that it is rendered inadequate as a vehicle for divine revelation. We further deny that the corruption of human culture and language through sin has thwarted God’s work of inspiration.

Inspiration we talked about how God inspired the authors to put the words that he wanted in the order that he wanted while the authors still put their personality into the writing.

But we deny that language cannot be used to communicate truth.

2 Peter 1:21 ESV

21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Article 5

We affirm that God’s revelation in the Holy Scriptures was progressive.

These are read in how they were written. This is important as we always want to read with context. Who is the author? When was this written? To whom was it really written to? We can’t take things out of context. We can’t look at the Bible as a reference book or a how to book. This is the story of God. This is the story of how everything began, how everything got screwed up, and how everything was made right by God.

We deny that later revelation, which may fulfill earlier revelation ever corrects or contradicts it. We furter deny that any normative revelation has been given since the completion of the New Testament writings.

This reminds us that we do not look as the New Testament as a correction of the Old Testament. The New Testament has a purpose just as the Old Testament has a purpose. We are not Christians if we do not have the Old Testament. I know there was a group of Christians and probably still is the belief that we could “unhitch the Old Testament.” We didn’t need to teach the Old Testament anymore.

There are serious problems with this claim.

How do we know why Jesus needed to come?

Why is there a problem in the first place?

How do we know who Jesus really is?

These and many other questions can be asked if we unhitch the Old Testament.

Matthew 5:17 ESV

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

Along with this truth is the fact that no new truth revelation has been given.

Article 6

We affirm that the whole of Scripture and all its parts down to the very words of the original, were given by divine inspiration.

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,

We deny that the inspiration of Scripture can rightly be affirmed of the whole without the parts, or some parts but not the whole.

Matthew 5:18 ESV

18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

Article 7

We affirm that inspiration was the work in which God by His Spirit, through human writers, gave us His Word. The origin of Scripture is divine. The mode of divine inspiration remains largely a mystery to us.

We deny that inspiration can be reduced to human insight, or to heightened states of consciousness of any kind.

Article 8

We affirm that God in His work of inspiration utilizted the distinctive