Why Do We Believe the Bible Is the Word of God?
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
(2 Tim. 3:16)
If I were
to ask you, “Do you believe the Bible is the Word of God?” I am sure that all
of you would say, “Yes, I believe the Bible is the Word of God.” But suppose I asked you, “Why do you believe
the Bible to be exclusively the Word of God?” The Muslims claim that the Qur’an is the Word of God. The Mormons
claim that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God. Why do you believe exclusively that this book, the Bible, is the
Word of God?
We are
living in a period we call the “Islamic Awakening.” Moslem missionaries are working very hard to discredit the
Bible. Ahmad Deedat wrote a book
entitled 5000 Mistakes in the Bible. He wrote another book entitled Is the Bible the Word of God? Moslem missionaries have a small book, which
fits in the pocket, that has some verses from the Bible that seem to contradict
each other. Their goal is to plant
doubt in the hearts of nominal Christians concerning the Word of God. And when they put doubt in their hearts, it
will be easier to win them to Islam.
This idea
is not new at all. When Satan came to Eve and tried to put
doubt in her mind as to what God had truly said to her, he said, “Has God
indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’” (Gen.
3:1)
I would
like to give you ten reasons why we believe that the Bible, and the Bible
alone, is Word of God.
1. We
believe the Bible is uniquely the Word of God because of its ability to meet
the needs of all mankind.
The Bible has the answer to all your questions. It gives you the answer to “Where did you
come from?” “Why are you here?” and “Where are you going?”
If you need comfort, you can read Psalm 42.
If you
need forgiveness, read Psalm 51.
If you
need faith, read Hebrews 11.
If you
need caring, read Psalm 23.
2. We
believe the Bible is uniquely the Word of God because of its perfect unity.
Forty men
from all walks of life wrote about one theme and about one person over the
course of 1500 years. They wrote
without contradicting each other. Some
of the writers were kings and some were very simple men. Some were lawyers and some were fishermen.
The entire Bible is one book, has one author, the Holy Spirit, and has
one theme, one purpose. For example,
you cannot understand the book of Revelation unless you study Genesis and
Daniel. You cannot understand the book
of Hebrews unless you read the book of Leviticus.
The
apostle Peter wrote,
”For
prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were
moved by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Pet. 1:21)
And in 2
Timothy 3:16-17, Paul wrote,
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God
may be complete [mature], thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
The
Holy Spirit empowered the writers to write everything that He dictated
to them. We read,
“But the
Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach
you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to
you.” (John 14:26)
The Holy
Spirit led Matthew to depict Christ as King.
Mark
speaks about Christ as a servant.
Luke
speaks about Christ as the perfect Man.
John
speaks about Christ as the Son of God.
The Holy
Spirit reminded them of what to write.
3. We believe the Bible is uniquely the Word of God because it predicts the future.
The Bible
declares “the end from the beginning:”
“Remember the
former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there
is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times
things that are not yet done,….”(Isa. 46:9-10)
“And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the lord has not spoken?’–when a prophet
speaks in the name of the lord,
if the thing [which he says] does not happen or come to pass,… the prophet has
spoken it presumptuously….” (Deut. 18:21-22)
“Known to God from eternity are all His works.” (Acts15:18)
There is
no other book in all the religions of the world that contains specific
predictive prophecies. Consider, for
example, the prophecy in the book of Isaiah concerning the city of Babylon:
“And
Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, The beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, Will be as
when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
It will never be inhabited, Nor will it be settled from generation to
generation; Nor will the Arabian pitch tents there, Nor will the shepherds make
their sheepfold there. But wild beasts
of the desert will lie there, and their houses will be full of owls; … The
hyenas will howl in their citadels And jackals in their pleasant palaces. (Isa.
13:19-22)
Historically, when a city was
destroyed, the people would rebuild it on top of the old city. Babylon was destroyed and was not rebuilt.
Consider
also the prophecy of Christ concerning the city of Jerusalem:
“For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment
around you, surround you and close you in every side, and level you, and your
children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone
upon another….” (Luke 19:43-44)
In AD 70 Titus the Roman came and
surrounded the city and destroyed it and did not leave one stone upon another.
If God
said it, it is guaranteed.
We believe
the Bible is uniquely the Word of God because it predicts the future, but even
more specifically because of the fulfillment of over 380 prophecies concerning
Christ. Forty-eight of them were
fulfilled in the last week of His ministry.
“You
search the Scriptures,” Jesus said to the Jews, “for they testify of me.” (John
5:39) Luke wrote, “To Him all the
prophets witness that, through His name,….” (Acts 10:43)
Daniel
chapter 9 gives us the time of His birth.
Isaiah
7:14 predicts that He will be born of a virgin.
Micah 5:2 gives us the town where He will be born. (Mary and Joseph had not planned that Jesus
would be born in Bethlehem.)
Isaiah 53 is
an amazing chapter about the crucifixion of Christ.
Psalm 16 predicts His resurrection.
4. We believe the Bible is uniquely the Word of God because the most influential people in the world believe it.
This book
has been published in more editions, it has been printed in more versions, and
it has been distributed more widely than any other book. Queen Victoria, when she was asked what made
England great, lifted the Bible and said, “This is what made England great.”
5. We believe the Bible is uniquely the Word of God because of its perpetual survival.
The
apostle Peter wrote,
“…having
been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of
God which lives and abides forever, because ‘All flesh is as grass, And all the
glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower
falls away, but the word of the Lord
endures forever.’” (1 Peter 1:23-25)
In the
year AD 303, The Emperor Diocletian, who
hated the Christians, ordered that all the Scriptures be destroyed throughout
the Empire. Less than ten years later
Constantine became the Emperor of the Roman Empire. He was converted to Christianity and among the first things he
did was order multiple copies of the Scriptures to be produced.
No other book has been attacked over the course of 2600 years more
repeatedly and viciously than the Bible, but Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will
pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” (Matt. 24:35)
Thomas
Paine, the infamous infidel who wrote The
Age of Reason, said, “Fifty years after I die, the Bible will be
obsolete.” Paine is in hell, but the
Bible still stands.
Voltaire said, “Another century and there will not be
a Bible on earth!” It is reported that
the Geneva Bible Society bought his house and used it as a bookstore that sells
only Bibles.
6. We believe the Bible is uniquely the Word of God because from Genesis to Revelation it testifies of one person and that is the person of Jesus Christ.
The Old
Testament says that Christ is coming.
In the Gospels,
we have found Him.
The
Epistles tell us about Him.
In the
book of Revelation He is coming again.
In Genesis
He is the Seed of the woman.
In Exodus
He is the Passover Lamb.
In
Leviticus He is the ultimate sacrifice.
In Joshua
He is called the Redeemer.
In Psalms
He is the Good Shepherded.
In Isaiah
His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor.
In
Jeremiah He is called the Lord of Righteousness.
In Daniel
He is called the Anointed One.
In Haggai
He is called the Desire of all Nations.
In
Zechariah He is called the King of kings and Lord of lords.
In Malachi He is called the Messenger of the Covenant and the Sun of
Righteousness.
In Matthew
He is called Immanuel.
In Mark He
is called the Holy One.
In Luke He
is called the Horn of Salvation.
In John He is called the Word, the Lamb of God, the Son of God, the I
AM, the Good Shepherd, the Living Water, the Light of the world, the
Resurrection and the Life.
In Acts He
is called the Judge.
In the Epistles He is called our Passover, The Rock, the Chief
Cornerstone, the invisible image of God, the Mediator, the Advocate, the God
who was manifested in the flesh.
In Revelation He is called the Almighty One, the faithful and true
Witness of God, The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Alpha and Omega, the First
and the Last, the bright and morning Star, and the King of kings and Lord of
lords.
“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the
fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom
He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who
being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and
upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged
our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high….” (Heb. 1:1-3)
7. We believe the Bible is uniquely the Word of God because of its scientific accuracy.
The Lord
questioned Job and said to him,
“Where
were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements?…. Or who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundation fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, When the morning stars sang
together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4-7)
“He
stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing.” (Job
26:7)
“Even the
moon does not shine,….” (Job 25:5)
“It is He
who sits above the circle of the earth,….” (Isa. 40:22)
“The sun
shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night.” (Ps 121:6)
“Then God
said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the
fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind,….“ (Gen. 1:11)
“The Lord
is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is
longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should
come to repentance. But the day of the
Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away
with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the
earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” (2 Peter 3:9-11).
8. We believe the Bible is uniquely the Word of God because of its noble teaching.
When Mahatma
Gandhi returned from exile, he stood on the shore and read the Sermon on the
Mount to his people:
“You have
heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your
enemy.’ But I say to you, love your
enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for
those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your
Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and
sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what reward have you?” (Matt.
5:43-46)
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will
be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your
brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me
remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite!
First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly
to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matt.7:1-5)
The Bible is uniquely the Word of
God because it contains the greatest teachings of the greatest man who ever
lived on earth, the Son of God himself.
Jesus said to his disciples,
“This is My commandment, that you love one another as
I have loved you. Greater love has no
one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:12-13)
“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if
you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)
See also Col. 3:8-17, Rom. 8:26-39, Eph. 4:25-32.
1. He reveals to us about
Himself–His love, His justice, His mercy, and His omniscience.
2. He reveals to us about ourselves.
“The heart is deceitful above all things….” (Jeremiah 17:9)
3. The
Bible reveals to us life after death.
9. We believe the Bible is uniquely the Word of God because it has one theme. The cross of Christ is the center of the Bible. It is seen in every book of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.
In Genesis, we see the cross in the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice
his son Isaac and in God’s provision of the sacrificial animal. (Gen. 22:8)
In Exodus, we see the cross in the Passover Lamb. “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.”
(Ex. 12:13)
In Leviticus, we see the cross in the sacrificial offerings. (Lev.
17:11)
In Numbers, we see the cross when Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness. (Num. 21:8-9) “Just as
Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up.”
(John 3:14)
In Deuteronomy, we see the cross in the smitten rock; the Rock was
Christ Jesus. (Deut. 8:15; 1 Cor. 10:4)
When you
study the Bible you can see a scarlet cord that goes from Genesis to
Revelation.
In
Revelation: “To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own
blood,….” (Rev. 1:5)
No wonder
Paul wrote,
“For I determined not to know anything among you,
except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” (1Cor 2:2)
“But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ.” (Gal 6:14)
10. We believe the Bible is uniquely the Word of God because of the
effect it has on those who believe.
I read
about a drunkard who, after hearing how the Lord Jesus changed the water into
wine, said God had changed wine into clothes and food on the table and
furniture. People said, “How did He do
that?” “Well,” he said, “I used to take
all the money I made and bought liquor with it and would leave my family
without food and without medicine. But
after the Lord saved me and changed my life, I now buy food for my family and
buy furniture and a lot of things.”
Many lives have been changed
because of the power of the gospel. Who
can change a drunkard from the “guttermost” to the “uttermost” but Christ? Who can change the gambler and make a new
creature?
Holy
Bible, book divine,
Precious
treasure, thou art mine;
Mine to
tell me whence I came;
Mine to
teach me what I am.
______________________________________
Copyright
© 2003 by Asper Ajaj. All rights reserved.