Bible Intake

What is the Bible?

Inspired of God

To begin with let’s look at what the Bible is. It is the only book that is inspired of God, in the sense that God personally guided the authors. This book that we hold is given by God for man, so man can live his life righteously before God. It is also so man can come to know God and worship Him how we should. But, what is inspiration exactly?

Inspiration of the Bible is defined as follows:

God so directed the human authors that, without destroying their own individuality, literary style, or personal interest, His complete and connected thought toward man was recorded.

God employed human authors to write the Scriptures, but He guided them in what should go on the paper. All may have not fully understood what they were writing, but they wrote nonetheless. Under God’s guiding hand they produced the sixty-six books that have amazing unity and constant evidence of the holy Spirit directing what was written.

No matter how the men obtained the material they wrote of, whether by direct dictation, copying of ancient records, results of research, thoughts, aspirations, or their own personal fears, God guided them. This was done so as whatever was written was precisely what God intended.

Now how can this be? How can an author write his thoughts, yet be guided by God to write only what God wanted? To answer this, we will look at the theories that have arisen from studying this topic.

Theories of Inspiration

1) Verbal, Plenary Inspiration: Orthodox view (My View)

Verbal inspiration means- The Spirit of God guided in the choice of the words used in the original writings. (Key words here are original). We have many indications from Scripture that show human authorship- Books reflect personal characteristics, personalities-thoughts, prayers, opinions and fears.

So, human elements being present just shows that God directed them in the right way and made sure that all words were equally inspired; even the ones of the man that were not a direct saying from God, but their experience.

· Plenary: Full inspiration

· Infallible: Unfailingly accurate

· Inerrant: Does not contain an error as a statement of fact.

The Scriptures have untruths recorded in them Genesis 3:4-5 is a prime example:

But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Faithful recording of events, does not equal error in the Bible.

So, in stating that the Bible is verbally and fully inspired (plenary), infallible and inerrant in its statement of truth, it is held that God’s supernatural and perfect guidance is given to every word. So, the Bible can be trusted as an accurate statement of divine truth.

The inspiration is only applicable to the original autographs (writings), not the copies of the manuscripts. We have around 5,800 New Testament manuscripts that are within somewhere near a 95% accuracy of each other. It is safe to say that what we hold in our hands today is the accurate preserved word of God. Basically put, our Bibles are solidly God’s word and we need not worry about them.

2) Mechanical dictation theory:

This view holds that God dictated the words directly to the authors, as if they were stenographers. The personalities, fears and heartfelt moments such as Romans 9:1-3.

I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.

These would not be there if this were the case. The fact that the whole of Scripture has different writing styles and different vocabularies, shows that this is not how God guided the authors along. The Bible itself claims and affirms human authorship in places such as Luke 1:1-4 and Acts 1:1-2. Now there are some places in the Bible that is direct dictation from God. Anywhere you see thus says the Lord or I the Lord etc.… The law of Moses is direct dictation, but for the majority of the Bible, it is not.

3) Concept Theory:

This states that God inspired the concept but not the precise words. This leaves room for error to be found in Scripture. In the Bible we find many texts that speak of the importance of words, Exodus 20:1 “And God spoke all these words, saying,” John 6:63- It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life- John 17:8 “For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.” 1 Corinthians 2:13 “And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.” Quotes from the Old Testament assumes the very words are inspired, John 10:34-35- Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— Galatians 3:16- Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. And the frequency of the Bible as the word of God, Ephesians 6:17; James 1:21-23- Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror- 2 Peter 2:21 “For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.” Then there is the solemn vow to those who add to or take away- I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. (Revelation 22:18-19).

4) Partial Inspiration:

This claims that only parts of Scripture are inspired. Also, that some parts are more inspired than others. This allows for truth and error to become a matter of degree. It also allows for the authority of Scripture to become the authority of the reader.

5) Neo-Orthodox view:

This view acknowledges that there are errors in the Bible. This means it cannot be taken as literally true. Under this view the Bible becomes true only as it is comprehended and truth is realized by the individual reader.

6) Naturalistic Inspiration:

This view holds that the Bible is no different than any other book. This view believes that God gave the authors extraordinary abilities to express concepts, but it is not inspired, rather, it is just a human product. This destroys any distinctive claim to divine authority.

The evidence, the best evidence, is found in the fact that the book supports its own claims to divine inspiration. Many internal evidences, and its awesome power to transform and influence mankind, confirms its evidences.

Now that we know what the Bible is, let us now look at our intake and its importance.

Hearing God’s Word

Do you listen to God’s word? Do you hear it speak to you?

Luke 11:28 says, “But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”” hearing the word of God is a blessing. It gives us strength.

It also gives us an ability to have faith. Rom. 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” This gives us an ability to have faith and believe but it also gives us the faith to continue on in any difficult situation.

Hearing the Word is very important. This is why church is so important. Why coming together is so important. We are to hear and grow and put the word of God to work in our lives.

1 Tim. 4:13 “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.” This is Paul telling Timothy to publicly proclaim the word of truth and to teach it to all people. it is important. It is very important that we spend time listening to God’s word taught, read on an app to us, or amongst one another listening and learning the word.

As important as hearing the word is it is even more important to...

Read the Word of God

In 1990 USA Today reported a poll that showed only 11 percent of Americans read the Bible every day. More than half read it less than once a month or never at all” (Whitney, “Spiritual Disciplines,” 1991, 32).

This was a poll performed on all Americans. not Christians alone. This is not a comfort though because “A survey taken less than a year earlier by the Barna Research Group among those claiming to be “born-again Christians” disclosed these disheartening numbers: Only 18 percent—less than two of every ten—read the Bible every day. Worst of all, 23 percent—almost one in four professing Christians—say they never read the Word of God.” (Whitney, 32).

That is a sad statistic. It is depressing. How are we to follow the command of 1 Tim 4:7 “Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;” if we do not read the Word and learn?

We must (Matt. 4:4) “not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ””

We also must know: (2 Tim. 3:16-17) “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

And that (Rev. 1:3) “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.”

We receive a blessing but more importantly, we receive godliness when we read the Word.

There was a man who asked how often we should read our Bibles. He said:

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life Reading God’s Word

Surely we only have to be realistic and honest with ourselves to know how regularly we need to turn to the Bible. How often do we face problems, temptation and pressure? Every day! Then how often do we need instruction, guidance and greater encouragement? Every day! To catch all these felt needs up into an even greater issue, how often do we need to see God’s face, hear his voice, feel his touch, know his power? The answer to all these questions is the same: every day! As the American evangelist D. L. Moody put it, “A man can no more take in a supply of grace for the future than he can eat enough for the next six months, or take sufficient air into his lungs at one time to sustain life for a week. We must draw upon God’s boundless store of grace from day to day as we need it.”

I want to give three points for how to do this.

Find time. Do not become discouraged by the size of the Bible. It is a large book. But studies have found that even the average reader can read it in 72 hours. That is 3 days time total to read the Bible.

15 minutes a day will get you through it in one year. 5 minutes will get you through it in 3 years.

To accomplish this we need to discipline our selves to find the time. This requires sacrifice on our part. maybe get up a little bit earlier in the morning. Maybe knock off some tv watching. Maybe take it with you and read at lunch.

Seek to make it the same time of day. It takes time to develop a habit. Spend time each day at the same time reading God’s word and before long you will realize you are craving that time of day.

Try to make it a time that is not right before you go to sleep.

You are less likely to retain then.

We need to be filled with Scripture to be able to go through the day. The Word will guide us and help us to live godly for the world to see.

Find a Bible reading plan. If you cannot find a plan, reading around 3 chapters a day will carry you through the Bible in a year.

If you want to do more, 5 will get you through in 8 months.

10 a day will get you through in around 4 months.

20 a day will get you through in 2 months.

If you want to read 3 in the OT and 3 in the NT, you will read the OT once and the NT twice in a year.

You do not have to read straight through from Genesis to Revelation. Read in Genesis then read Matthew. Alternate back and forth if you need to. If you get off track, do not beat yourself up, but do keep track of what you have read. Keep a journal or something of the books completed. This will give encouragement and aid you in completing your reading goal.

Do set a goal. Strive to read something by a particular day. Set it on the calendar and do your best to meet that goal. Goals written down are easier to achieve because you are seeing them.

While reading find at least one word, phrase, verse, or section of Scripture to meditate on (think about, consider, think deeply on throughout the day) each time you read.

When we do this we engage our minds more with what we have read and then we are able to remember more. This is how many people can stand up and speak and quote Scripture without looking at it. They have thought long and deeply on it and read it many times. We should all strive to be like this man who was injured in a terrible explosion at a factory.

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life Reading God’s Word

His face was badly disfigured, and he lost his eyesight as well as both hands. He had just become a Christian when the accident happened, and one of his greatest disappointments was that he could no longer read the Bible. Then he heard about a lady in England who read braille with her lips. Hoping to do the same, he sent for some books of the Bible in braille. But he discovered that the nerve endings in his lips had been too badly damaged to distinguish the characters. One day, as he brought one of the braille pages to his lips, his tongue happened to touch a few of the raised characters and he could feel them. Like a flash he thought, “I can read the Bible using my tongue.”

That is commitment. Reading is great but the next thing we need to do is...

Study God’s Word

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life Studying God’s Word

If reading the Bible can be compared to cruising the width of a clear, sparkling lake in a motorboat, studying the Bible is like slowly crossing that same lake in a glass-bottomed boat.

The motorboat crosses quickly giving you a good overview of the lake but the slow glass-bottomed boat allows us to view beneath the surface in an unhurried look at the depths of God’s Word. As author Jerry Bridges put it, “Reading gives us breadth, but study gives us depth.” (Bridges, The Practice of Godliness, 1983, 51).

Three Scriptures to look at for this example.

Ezra 7:10 “For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.”

He devoted himself set his heart to do something

this was to study the law of the Lord

he also set himself to observe to do what it said

then he set himself to teach it to his people. This is what Hearing, Reading, and then Studying the Word of God will do for us. We will be prepared to take it to others because we are filled with it.

Acts 17:11 “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”

Paul and Silas had been removed from Thessalonica by force but they continued to proclaim the word of God in Berea.

The Bereans were not content with just hearing the Word, they searched it to see if what was said aligned with God’s Word. They examined the Scriptures, the OT, to see if what Paul said was in line with the Word of God. We need to do this too.

In doing this you will be like the Bereans and deemed to be of noble character. What is more noble than seeking to make sure all are in line with the word o God? Nothing. Making sure truth is being told is the noblest of all character traits.

2 Tim. 2:15 “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”

The New King James Version (Chapter 2)

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth

King James Version (Chapter 2)

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Do your best, Be diligent, Study: give great diligence to, have a zeal for, seek to be the best you can be in the learning of God’s word.

Present yourself, show yourself approved. When we study, and give diligence to God’s word, we are seeking to be approved workmen by God.

When we are presenting ourselves as true and good workmen, we will not have shame because we know our Father and what he wants. We have searched the Scriptures and know what they say about many topics.

Rightly handle, rightly divide the word of truth. When we Hear, Read, and Study God’s word we will learn what the text is saying. We will handle it rightly and not apply certain texts to us that are not meant for us. The whole Bible is for us but most all of it is not to us. When we read and study it we will soon discover that many texts are not ours to claim. Some promises in it are not to us but they do teach us something. This is what rightly handling the word of truth is.

Conclusion

The Word of God is deep and immense. it is the most amazing book you can read. It will help you to grow and know how to live. It is the greatest book ever written. It is the guide to life. It is God’s Word for us. He gave us this amazing gift, we must use it and grow.

As I always say:

Learn It

Love It

Live it.

When we do this we will become the people God desires us to be. We will be living in His will, because His will is found in the pages of His Word.

There is one final thing I want you to know about Bible intake.

“If you turn Bible study into a checklist chore, you'll probably hate it. The goal is not to read your Bible every day for a certain amount of time. Your goal is abundant life. You want more joy, more love, more peace. Those things are supported by a Bible habit. To get your mindset right, pray that God would give you an interest in His word. Remember, transformation power comes from God's Spirit. That Spirit was able to bring Jesus back from the dead. He's able to help you find joy in His words. Ask for a desire to study your Bible.”

In Pursuit Of Fruit: Grasp God's Grand Goal For Your Life by Lucas Kitchen