TRUST THE BIBLE AS GOD’S WORD

“But holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” – 2 Peter 1:21b

A unique virtue of Believers in Christ is the ability to TRUST THE BIBLE AS GOD’S WORD: “And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 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: 19-21). The word “moved” is the same word used to describe a ship moving along under the power of a prevailing wind. The Bible is the very words that God wanted communicated! The Bible is the Word of God in such a way that when the Bible speaks, God speaks!

Many people want a word from God, but they don’t really cherish the WORD of GOD. They know enough to own a Bible but not enough for the Bible to own them. They pay Scripture lip service, but fail to give it “life service”! In a world where the only absolute is that there are no absolutes, there seems to be little room left for the authoritative Word of God as revealed in the Bible. But we can trust the Bible as authentic, authoritative, credible, and reliable, based on its nature and what Scripture says about itself. Let’s briefly examine the qualities of Unity, Revelation, and Inspiration of Scriptures.

UNITY: The Bible is unique in that its parts conspire to form a unified whole. The Bible is a “Library” of sixty-six books collected and collated in one volume. These sixty-six separate documents were written over a period of more than sixteen hundred years by more than forty human authors who came from diverse backgrounds. Yet the Bible is unified by the theme of God and His relationship to humankind. Each book, section, paragraph, and verse works together with the others to reveal God’s truth. That’s why Scripture is best understood by relating its individual parts to the whole.

REVELATION: The Bible is God’s Revelation – His revealed truth. Revelation means “unveiling”: like pulling back a curtain to show what is behind. Paul wrote: “But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God” (1Cor.2:10). Again, “How that by revelation He made known unto me the mystery” (Eph.3:3a). In Scripture, God reveals things that would otherwise not be known at all – not speculations, conjectures or guesses – but absolute truths, entirely consistent, never controverted, compromised, or contradicted by other parts of the revelation.

INSPIRATION: “All Scripture is given by Inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2Tim.3:16). The word translated “inspiration” or “inspired” means “God-breathed,” conveying the idea of God “breathing out” words through human writers. The Bible is “God-breathed”! God supernaturally used human authors to pen the words, without compromising the perfection, integrity, or purity of the finished product. God superintended the human authors so that, using their individual personalities, writing styles, and perspectives, they composed and recorded, without error, His revelation to humanity in the words of the original manuscripts (2Pet.1:21).

Beloved, as for me and my household, we are absolutely convinced that “we did not follow cunningly devised fables” (v.16). We know, believe, and trust the Bible, not as the musing of men but a supernatural product, the very Word of God!