From the first
commandment given to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, to our present
day, the Word of God has and is being challenged. Throughout history
attacks upon the scriptures have been so aggressive as to attempt to
eliminate it from the face of the earth. However, those who have
endeavored to do so failed not realizing the power that exists to
fulfill the words found in Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers, the flower
fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.” Since it is the
very foundation of our spiritual direction, food, instruction, wisdom,
knowledge, etc. etc., or as Paul states in 2 Timothy 3:16 “All
scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness:”, a deeper understanding of its unique and authentic
characteristics will be sought throughout this outline. For as the
Psalmist writes (138:2b) “………..for you have magnified Your Word above
all Your name.”
Understanding Absolute Truth
Webster’s
defines “absolute” as:
1. Free from restriction; unlimited; unconditional.
2. Complete or perfect.
3. Unadulterated; pure.
4. Positive; unquestionable.
5 Not dependent on or relative to anything else.
Webster’s defines
“truth” as:
1. the state or character of being true.
2. That which is true.
3. Conformity to fact or reality.
The Word of God makes claims to being absolute truth. Psalms 33:4
states, “For the Word of the Lord is right, and all His work is done
in truth.” Jesus states that our sanctification comes through truth.
John 17:17 says, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your Word is truth.
Truth is not a matter of what is acceptable for the day. It does not
stand on majority rule. It was established from the foundations of the
earth. Psalms 119:160 “Thy word
is true from
the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments
endureth for ever.” For it is a
characteristic of our God. Hebrews 6:18 tells us, “ …it is impossible
for God to lie…”
Moral Relativism
mor al; Principles or
standards with respect to right or wrong conduct
rel a tive;
Not absolute
Morals are dependent upon a standard, an absolute. Who’s to say what is
right or wrong? Where do we get that standard that absolute? The
majority of a culture, or possibly the desire of a dictator? Many people
believe that truth changes with different lifestyles, cultures, times,
situations, and so on. However, we read in Psalms 119:142 that, “Your
righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Your law is truth.”
Moral relativism says there is no right or wrong. Its attitude
states we can make our own rules and attempt to tolerate each other to
obtain a peaceful culture. This is not an original thought. Judges 21:25
states, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what
was right in their own eyes.” Or as it is more commonly stated, “If
it feels good, do it.”
Unfortunately this thought has permeated the church. It is sad to see
how many Bible believing churches accept this attitude. It may not be
openly stated. The actions often times speak louder than words. Martin
Luther was infuriated by the actions of the Catholic Church. After
attempts to live to manmade standards, he rested in the truth of God’s
Word. He has left us with his thoughts summed up in one phrase “Sola
Scriptura”, the Scriptures only. The bible has made us aware of the
short comings of many would be followers of Christ. Paul says in 2
Timothy 4:3, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound
doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves
teachers, having itching ears…”
How do we authenticate the bible?
Authentic -
genuine, trustworthy and
reliable; uncorrupted; undisputed credibility; receive assurance
1.
Examine its claims
2.
Check the veracity of the claims
a. The basics
i. Is the message authoritative?
ii. Is it accurately reported?
iii. Is it accurately transmitted?
b. Extraordinary proof
i. Is there extraordinary, or supernatural proof.
What does the bible claim of itself?
The Bible claims to be the inspired, inerrant, infallible
and final revelation of God.
Inspired…God
breathed
2 Timothy 3:16 “All
scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness:”
“In some way, which we
cannot fully understand, God directed these men with the very words to
write, yet He did not destroy the individuality, or style of the
writers. God did not give a general outline or some basic ideas, then
let the writers phrase them as they wished. The very words they wrote
were givenby the Holy Spirit.” William Macdonald, Believer’s Bible
Commentary, p. 2293
Jesus’ View
Mat 5:17, 18 “Think
not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to
destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven
and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the
law, till all be fulfilled.”
The jot is the smallest letter in the alphabet. A tittle is a
marking to distinguish letters that look alike.
Prophetically
Proven
2 Peter 1:20, 21 Knowing this
first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private
interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of
man: but holy men of God spake as they
were moved by the Holy Ghost.
One third of the bible is prophetical and has never erred in any prophecy.
Inerrant….making
no mistakes; preserved and protected
Psalms 100:5 For the
LORD is good; his mercy
is everlasting; and his truth
endureth to all generations.
Inspiration Implies
Inerrancy:
Inspiration is stripped of its meaning if there is no inerrancy.
How can we be sure it
wasn’t changed along the way?
The Dead Sea Scrolls (Old Testament)
Bibliographical Test (New Testament)
The Bible is without error in its original autographs, accurately
reporting all matters, which are written in the sixty six books of the
old and New Testaments.
Two Types of Errors
Error in fact
Error in internal contradiction
Neither of these exist within the scripture.
Infallible…..incapable of
error; never wrong; dependable; reliable
Num 23:19 God
is not a man, that he should lie;
neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall
he not do it? or hath he
spoken, and shall he not make it good?
Infallibility is a matter
of reliability. Reliability has two issues:
Accuracy - Rev 21:5 And he that sat
upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto
me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
Authority - Rev 19:9 And he saith unto
me, Write, Blessed are they which are
called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These
are the true sayings of God.
Two Christian Camps
Only
infallible rule of faith and practice
Only
infallible when it speaks of faith and practice
Jesus’ View
“Thy Word is truth (John 17:17).”
“The scripture
cannot be broken (John 10:35).”
Final
Revelation….the last words God
ever wrote to man.
Heb 1:1,2 “God,
who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the
fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by
his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of
all things, by whom also he made the worlds;”
Revelation is….
John 1:1-5
“That which was from the beginning,
which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have
looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the
life was manifested, and we have seen it,
and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with
the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and
heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and
truly our fellowship is with the
Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto
you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have
heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no
darkness at all.”
No Progressive revelation
Proverbs 30:6
“Add thou not unto his words, lest he
reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.”
Galatians 1:8
“But though we, or an angel
from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have
preached unto you, let him be accursed.”
You can’t add anything to
eternity
Revelation 22:18-19
“For I testify unto every man
that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall
add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are
written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of
the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book
of life, and out of the holy city, and from
the things which are written in this book.”
Accurate in Every Way
The bible is
historically, scientifically, medically, archaeologically and
geographically accurate. If these things aren’t accurate then we are no
different than any other religion.
You cannot have inspiration without reliability, and you cannot have
reliability without accuracy. So if the bible makes statements that are
not accurate then one could begin to make a rational claim that the
bible is not the word of God.
The following items are not going to prove the existence of God, or the
miraculous events contained therein. They simply demonstrate reliability
and accuracy, as you would expect from a work that is truly inspired by
the almighty, all powerful God.
Historically Accurate
When reporting and recording
an event, the more names you give, the greater chance of error… if
indeed you were making it up. The bible does not play it safe by giving
only a few names. It goes out on a limb by stating thousands of names,
hundreds of cities, dozens of countries, all over thousands of years.
There is plenty of room for mistakes if this was indeed fiction.
Luke 19:40 And he
answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should
hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.
Psa 85:11 Truth shall
spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
The bible gives us an accurate chronological framework into which events
can be placed with confidence.
Medically Accurate
Circumcision - Genesis
17:9-12. We know that vitamin K and the protein prothrombin, both
clotting agents, rise to the highest levels in a child’s life on the
eighth day after birth (110%), then drops thereafter. Clotting is vital
to healing; it prevents blood loss and infection.
Scientifically Accurate
The bible is not a scientific
textbook, but where it speaks about scientific matters, it does so with
perfect accuracy.
The 1st Law of Thermodynamics - Genesis 1:1; Ps 33: 6, 9.
This is the Law of Conservation of Energy, which simply states that
matter and energy can neither be created or destroyed (Heb. 1:3, Col.
1:17.) Scientists have no answer, whatsoever, on the origin of matter.
In fact, this scientific law ends the Big Bang Theory before it starts.
Einstein and Hawking both knew this and it deeply bothered them.
Archaeologically Accurate
“No archaeological discovery
has ever been made that contradicts or controverts historical statements
in scripture.” Nelson Glueck, world renowned archaeologist.
Pontius Pilate stone found in 1961 at Caesarea - Luke 3:1
Inscription: “Pontius
Pilate, Prefect (chief magistrate) of Judea, has presented the Tiberium
to the Caesareans.” It was used as a stepping stone in the amphitheater.
Geographically
Accurate
The works of
Exonephes, Herodotus and other ancient works are filled with
inaccuracies. They didn’t have modern equipment, but we don’t hold them
accountable for it. However, the bible is held to a higher scrutiny.
Mt. Sinai - Exodus 19:20 Abundant and stunning evidence for the Exodus
route
Everything found
Water from rock, markers,
sacrificial alter, etc.
Video: The Newly Found
Location of the Real Mt. Sinai (800) 977-2177
Proof of Prophecy
2 Pet
1:20, 21 “Knowing this
first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private
interpretation.
For the prophecy
came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
What is prophecy?
Prophecy has two
distinct yet overlapping functions:
1.
Forth-telling
2.
Foretelling
What is the
significance of prophecy? Why is it so important?
Prophecy is simply God
authenticating His word. It is how we can know for sure that this is the
word of God
There’s no better way to
prove inspiration. Its details are fulfilled in a way that it is not
possible for anybody to predict these things, except God Himself. God
knew other books and sources would claim to be the word of God, so He
put things in His word to clearly distinguish it from bogus religious
and philosophical works.
Don’t other
religious books have prophecy?
Isaiah 41:21-24 “…show
us what will happen;”
Isaiah 44:7-8 He challenges
them again
Isaiah 45:21 …and again
Isaiah 48:3-5 Stiff-necked
people require extra-ordinary proof
How did the Jews
authenticate prophecy?
There is only one way that
the Jews determined if a self-proclaimed prophet was indeed God’s
spokesman. Deuteronomy 18:21-22 100% success rate…Not almost, but every
time.
There was accountability
….. Deuteronomy 18:20; Leviticus 20:27
Let’s look at 8
Messianic prophecies that a natural man could not manipulate.
Prophecy Fulfillment
Micah 5:2 Matt. 2:1
Zech. 9:9 Luke 19:35-37
Zech. 11:12 Matt. 26:15
Zech. 11:13 Matt. 27:5-7
Zech. 13:6 John 20:25
Isa. 53:7 Matt. 27:12-14
Isa. 53:9 Matt. 27:57-60
Ps. 22:16 Luke 23:33
Probability of one
man fulfilling just eight of the three hundred Messianic prophecies is:
1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000
Jesus fulfilled over
300 prophecies!!!!!
Questions to Consider
1.
Do you believe the bible is the written, inerrant, infallible
word of God?
2.
Why is this issue so important to settle in our hearts?
3.
How does Paul’s admonition to Timothy (2 Tim. 2:15) apply to us?
2Ti 2:15 Study
to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.