QUESTION: How do we know that the bible was written by God and not by men?
A very excellent question. This question MUST BE resolved so that every Christian, from the week-old Christian to the ninety year Christian, can faithfully depend upon God’s written word for truth, guidance, teaching, inspiration, and correction through one’s spiritual walk.
This question is SO important that it is the very FIRST discussion from the “Baptist Faith and Message“.
“The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is the record of God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. It reveals the principles by which God judges us; and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. The criterion by which the Bible is to be interpreted is Jesus Christ.”
First, and most importantly……
2 Timothy 3:16 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.
What did that say to you?
- It didn’t say that “some” scripture was breathed by God….or that some scripture was written by men….it said that “ALL” scripture is God breathed.
2 Peter 1:19-21 (NIV) And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
- Men wrote it, but men spoke from what God wanted them to say, carried by the Holy Spirit…..which IS GOD!
1 Peter 1:25 (NIV) but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.
- Not man’s word, but the Lord’s Word!
Heb 1:1-3 (NIV) In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
- Old times, God used the prophets.
- New Testament, God used his Son’s speech, which was witness by thousands, written and recorded in the scriptures.
Heb 4:12 (NIV) For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
- Only God is that powerful. Man’s words can not penetrate the soul and the spirit, man’s words can not give us the holy spirit that judges our thoughts and attitudes and teaches right from wrong, time without end. Only God’s Word will last for all eternity.
Romans 15:4 (NIV) For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
Romans 16:25-26 (NIV) Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, 26 but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him–
Acts 17:11 (NIV) Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
- All men want the truth…no man wants to be deceived.
- We know that the Word is truth….and knowing that, we should thirst for it, so that the Holy Spirit will show us all things in His own time.
Luke 21:33 (NIV) Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
- Only God could promise such a statement. As far as “writtings” go, only God’s Word is eternal.
Luke 24:44-46 (NIV) He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day.
- Recorded history proves the bible. All 60+ “prophecies” that were recorded in the Old Testament, BEFORE Jesus was born and walked the earth, came true during the life of Jesus.
- Man can not prophesize with 100% accuracy….only God can do that. The bible tells us how to know a true prophet, if ANY prophecy that a man delivers is ever false, then he was not a true prophet.
John 16:13-15 (NIV) But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.
- The Holy Spirit can help you come to a belief in the bible as the true Word of God.
- The Spirit revealed to men the Words in the Bible, and made it know to us.
John 17:17 (NIV) Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
Matt 5:17-18 (NIV) “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. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
- Prophecy after prophecy has come true from the writings of the bible. Time will tell all things.
Matt 22:29 (NIV) Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.
- Jesus testified that those who do not know, who do not believe, in the scriptures are in error.
- Jesus was talking about the Old Testament Scriptures, which also state that the Lord wrote the Bible….and don’t change it.
Psalms 19:7-10 (NIV) The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. 9 The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous. 10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
Ex 24:4 (NIV) Moses then wrote down everything the LORD had said. He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel.
Deut 4:1-2 (NIV) Hear now, O Israel, the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you.
Deut 17:19 (NIV) It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees
Josh 8:34 (NIV) Afterward, Joshua read all the words of the law–the blessings and the curses–just as it is written in the Book of the Law.
Psalms 119:11 (NIV) I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
Psalms 119:89 (NIV) Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.
- Man’s words would not stand firm in the heavens.
Psalms 119:105 (NIV) Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
Isaiah 34:16 (NIV) Look in the scroll of the LORD and read: None of these will be missing, not one will lack her mate. For it is his mouth that has given the order, and his Spirit will gather them together.
Isaiah 40:8 (NIV) The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”
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