The Bible is true. We believers know and believe that, but not
everybody does. If we were to place it on trial, there are seven witnesses that
could step forward to prove the case of the veracity of this Bible, the only
book God ever wrote. The first witness we would bring forward is:
1. Declaration The Bible declares itself to be the Word of God. The Bible says, “All scripture is given by inspiration of
God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness” (II Timothy 3:16). The Greek word:
transliterated “theopneustos” which we translate “inspired” means
“God-breathed” or “breathed-out-by-God.” The Greek word transliterated “pas”
which we translate “all” means in the sense of "each (every) part that
applies." The emphasis of the total picture then is on "one piece at
a time." We believe in the plenary inspiration of the Bible. Plenary means
unqualified and absolute, complete and fully. We believe that all parts of the
Bible are equally authoritative.
Listen to the way David expressed this truth of his understanding of
inspiration: “The Spirit of the LORD
spake by me, and his word was in my tongue” (II Samuel 23:2). Luke
reconfirms this truth in Acts 1:16, “Men
and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy
Ghost by the mouth of David spake….” More than 3,800 times in the Old
Testament the claim is made that the Scriptures are the word or words of
God. For instance, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book…”
(Exodus17:14). “Then the LORD put forth
his hand, and touched my mouth. And the
LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth” (Jeremiah1:9).
The Scriptures are exalted as the Word
of God some 175 times in Psalm 119 alone! Psalm 119:160 says, “Thy word is true from the beginning: and
every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.” In the New Testament Paul made a most
dogmatic stance in declaration of the Word of God when he said, “For this cause also thank we God without
ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye
received it not as the word of men, but
as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that
believe” (I Thessalonians 2:13).
We believe God authored the
Bible over a period of 1,500 years using the vocabularies, culture and
personalities of 40 different men, choosing not only the thoughts but the very
words to be placed into Holy Writ. “The
Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it”
(Psalm 68:11). “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their
trust in him” (Proverbs 30:5).
2. Duration
Our
second witness speaks to the fact that the Bible has outlasted its enemies. One
preacher likened the Bible to the old massive anvil in the blacksmith shop. The
hammers over the decades were worn out on the anvil, but the anvil
remained. The atheists, who have
attempted to denounce the Word of God, die and perish, but the Word of God
remains. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth
shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.” (Matthew 24:35; Mark
13:31; Luke 21:33). “The grass withereth,
the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever” (Isaiah
40:8). This infallible Word of God
brings us salvation. Like the Word of
God our salvation is eternal: “Being born
again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which
liveth and abideth for ever” (I Peter 1:23). “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:89).
3.
Preservation Just as great
as the miracle of biblical inspiration is biblical preservation. It would be contradictory to believe that
since the Bible cannot and will not be destroyed to believe that man could in
his puny existence do away with the Word of God. The Bible says, “The words of the LORD are pure words: as
silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them,
O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever” (Psalm
12:6,7).
God is not only interested in preserving His
Word to the Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic and Latin languages of the world, He wants
His Word to go with His gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth. How
thankful I am that for the English speaking peoples of the world we have a
perfectly preserved copy of the Word of God in the King James Translation of
1611.
Satan desires to destroy the Word of God. If
he cannot destroy it, he wishes to devalue it.
It is revealed in Genesis; his first attack was the Word of God. We see
this in his wording, “…Yea, hath God
said…” (Genesis 3:2b). Here the
Devil questions God’s word, then he denies it, saying, “…Ye shall not surely die…” (Genesis 3:4b). Satan’s methods have not changed. Take for
instance the mad rush for new translations of the Scriptures. Do you realize
that most all the modern translations of the Scriptures base their reliability
on what is called the Critical Text? The
critical text is, in turn, based on impure and flawed manuscripts, whereas the
King James Translation is based upon the Textus Receptus or what is called the
Received Text. The Received Text is
based upon over 5,000 manuscripts that agree on all major points of
translation, whereas the Critical Text is based on a mere handful of
manuscripts that don’t even agree within themselves. If you have a copy of the
King James Bible, I am safe in saying you have the Word of God as it has been
preserved throughout the ages. And Satan has not been able to water it down or
take one thing away from it.
4.
Information. Another witness to step forward is the witness
of information. The Bible provides us
with information about ourselves that irrefutably tells us of its truth. The
Bible tells us, “For all have sinned, and
come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). It tells us who we are, where we are going
and what we can do to live peacefully in this life with heaven at the end of
our life. One Man of God commented, “I know
the Bible is the Word of God because man would not say those things about
himself.” Although the Bible tells us the truth about ourselves negatively, the
Word of God also tells us what we can do about it: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm
119:105).
5. Validation. The
Bible is not a science book as such, but everything it says about science is
true. The earth was declared round before man discovered it (Isaiah 40:22.) The
Bible is not a history book, but everything it says about history is true. The Bible prophesied the reign of Cyrus by
name over 150 before he was born (Isaiah 44:28).
6.
Transformation. Our sixth witness to come to the stand is the
transformed life! I have never heard a testimony of people reading other books
and finding deliverance from alcohol, drugs or other addictions. Myriad is the
number I have heard testify of the Lord through His word converting and
changing people. “The law of the LORD is
perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise
the simple” (Psalm 19:7).
7.
Volition. The seventh and final
witness I call is our own personal volition.
We have a free choice in this life and I chose to believe the Bible is
the Word of God. You may think this is not as good a reason as some of the others
I listed, but it is perhaps the one thing that makes the difference. If you don’t believe, it is because you don’t
want to believe. I want to believe that
if I call on the name of the Lord I will be saved (Romans 10:13). I want to
believe that God answers my earnest prayer (Matthew 7:7). I want to believe when this world is over we
have a place prepared for us in Heaven by Christ as He promised (John
14:1-3). This is evidence that demands
a verdict; what say you? I say the Bible is the Word of God!
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