OceanSide church of Christ

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The Bible, God’s Book
by: Dalton Gilreath

I.              Introduction

A.   The way we approach God’s book is critical

                                          i.    The skeptic approaches it looking for mistakes and never learning the Truth

                                        ii.    The open minded student approaches it as a life changing book of eternal importance

B.   Can we be sure the Bible is the inspired word of God and not just a big hoax?

                                          i.    There is plenty of evidence externally which has been discussed in previous lessons

                                        ii.    Consider the internal claims of inspiration

1.    A convicted criminal has the opportunity to defend himself in court

2.    The Bible certainly has the right to defend itself as it is put on trial by the skeptics daily

3.    Consider 5 primary passages with me

II.            2 Peter 1:21

A.   Men spoke and wrote as the Holy Spirit guided them

                                          i.    The Bible internally claims that its source of information came from God, not man

                                        ii.    Good men who were chosen by God were moved by the Spirit as they wrote the holy scriptures

B.   A specific example can be seen in Acts 1:16

                                          i.    Notice the Holy Spirit did the speaking

                                        ii.    David was the medium by which the Spirit spoke

                                       iii.    Notice this combination results in scripture

III.           Galatians 1:11-12

A.   Paul explains that his information did not come from man

                                          i.    Man did not give it to him in written form

                                        ii.    Man did not teach it to him in any way

                                       iii.    His source was none other than the Lord Himself

B.   We see this to be true of all the apostles (John 16:13)

                                          i.    Whatever these inspired apostles and prophets wrote came from God alone

                                        ii.    The same is true of the Old Testament writers (Matt 22:31-32)

1.    Notice Jesus quotes from Moses’ writing

2.    However, He says God spoke it

IV.          2 Timothy 3:16-17

A.   All scripture is inspired, or God breathed

                                          i.    Some say this doesn’t include the New Testament because they did not have it at this point

                                        ii.    However, Peter describes Paul’s writings in the New Testament as scripture (2 Peter 3:15-16)

B.   The New Testament is a bit distinct in that Christ came down and taught in the flesh (Heb 1:1-2)

                                          i.    The Holy Spirit simply reminded the writers of what they saw and what Christ taught while on Earth

                                        ii.    Anything they wrote is as good as God Himself calling out of Heaven and speaking

V.           1 Corinthians 2:9-13

A.   Paul says the eye, ear, and feeling do not teach the mind of God

                                          i.    He isn’t referencing Heaven here because he claims the information has been revealed

                                        ii.    Nature may demand a creator but it doesn’t teach us about that Creator and His will

                                       iii.    We need the mind of Christ revealed to us in writing

B.   The Spirit makes the will of God known to us through these writings

                                          i.    He uses man’s language to teach us in a way we can understand

                                        ii.    An example would be John 8:58

1.    Jesus uses the term “was” and “I am”

2.    In our language He describes His eternality in this way

                                       iii.    Another example is in Galatians 3:16

1.    Paul describes Christ as one seed

2.    He specifically says that it isn’t seeds with an “s”

VI.          1 Peter 1:21-23

A.   The word of God claims to live and abide forever

                                          i.    We must have faith that this book have been preserved for centuries

                                        ii.    We do not serve a God who is unable to preserve His will for us

B.   A God who would give us His Son would also give us the proper reading of that event and His Will forever (Rom 8:32)

                                          i.    Let’s approach His Word with the understanding that God is speaking to us and not man