Our Footsteps: Reasons to Believe the Bible is God's Book

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Reasons to Believe the Bible is God's Book - Part 1

Reason #1 - Its Amazing Unity.

Here are a few interesting and amazing facts about the Bible:
1). There are 66 books in the Bible. 39 OT, 27 NT 2). There are 1,189 chapters; 31,173 verses; 774,746 words.
3). The Bible was written over a period of 1,500 years (ca. 1405 BC to AD 95).
4). The Bible was written by almost 40 different human authors. There were kings, priests, a doctor, fishermen, shepherds, statesmen, a tax collector and prophets.
5). The Bible was written in Hebrew (OT) and Greek (NT) with a few passages in Aramaic.
6). The Bible was written from different places, such as deserts, caves, prison, palace and beaches.
7). The Bible was written from different moods (sadness and joy).
8). The Bible was written in different times (war and peace).
9). The Bible was written with different literary styles: history, parables , songs/hymns, proverbs, genealogies, laws, gospels, letters, apocalypses, narratives, doctrines, ethical teachings, prophecies, sermons, confessions of faith, and thank-you notes.

We see all this variety, yet the Bible is without errors or contradictions.
How is unity achieved despite the variety mentioned above?

Consider the divine author:

2 Timothy 3:16-17 states that "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." "Inspired" in the original Greek language means "breathed out" – God breathed out (or dictated) what He wanted the human authors to write; God superintended the writing of scripture.

Consider also, 2 Peter 1:20-21: "But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God." In other words, nobody came up with this stuff on their own accord. God, through the Holy Spirit, caused these 40 human authors to pen His very thoughts and words.

And despite all the variety mentioned above, the Bible has one unified message to mankind: how one may enter into a right relationship with this God who 'breathed out' these words of scripture.

Amazing.

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I Believe...

1). I believe that there is one God. I believe God consists of three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
2). I believe that God is holy, righteous, loving, and just.
3). I believe that mankind is separated from God by sin; that sin entered the world through Adam and death through sin.
4). I believe that, because of sin, man is condemned. Because of God’s utter hatred for sin, there is an eternal conscious punishment in hell for all those who do not come to God on His terms, dealing with their sin.
5). I believe that confessing our sins and confessing Jesus Christ as Lord is the only way to properly deal with the sin that has infected everyone. Jesus Christ paid our sin debt on the cross; reconciliation by substitution. There is nothing we can do to add to the finished work of Christ.
6). I believe in the security of the believer, that once he is truly born-again, there is nothing that would cause him to lose his salvation.
7). I believe that upon the death of a true believer in Christ, that he is ushered immediately into the presence of the Lord, where he will live in everlasting joy in Heaven, experiencing eternal fellowship with God.
8). I believe in believer’s baptism by immersion. I don’t believe baptism is necessary for salvation, but it is a beautiful outward profession of an inward possession.
9). I believe in a literal 6-day creation where God created the heavens and the earth and then rested on the seventh day.
10). I believe that the words written in the Bible are truth. I believe that the Bible is inerrant in its parts and in its whole. I believe that the 66 books that make up the canon of scripture make the Bible complete and that God inspired the words written therein. The things that were written down in the Bible are sufficient for every need we have. Not only is God’s Word sufficient, but it is far superior to any other method of handling the problems that man faces, since He has given us all things pertaining to life and godliness.