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The word “bible” simply means “book.” It has sometimes been called “The Book” or “The Good Book” because it is the most widely published book of all time and because of its content.
Actually, the Bible is not really a single book. Its content was written over a period of about 1,500 years by approximately 40 authors. The subsections of the Bible, also called “books”, consist of various types of literature; from historical narratives to poetry, proverbs, letters, and prophecies. These books are grouped into two main sections: The Old Testament, originally written almost exclusively in Hebrew, and the New Testament, originally written in the common Greek of the first century A.D.
The first 5 books are called the Books of Moses, or the law (“Torah” in Hebrew). They tell us about the creation of man, how we came to be separated from a personal relationship with God, and the consequences of that. They also tell us about the beginnings of God’s plan to bring us back to Himself.
First God called a man, Abram (later called Abraham), to have faith in Him. From the descendants of this one man, God promised to bring blessing and created a nation known today as the Hebrew or Jewish people. Early in their existence, the Hebrews became enslaved in Egypt. So, God called another man, named Moses, to lead the Hebrew people out of slavery and give them laws and regulations to become the nation known as Israel. In this process, God entered into a covenant with the Hebrews such that they would become a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” with the task of revealing God’s Word to others. The history of Israel and God’s revelations through them make up the rest of the Old Testament until we come to the time of Christ, the Messiah.
Many people do not realize that the word “Christ” is a title and means the same thing as “the Messiah”. The term “Christ” is from the Greek and “Messiah” is from the Hebrew. Translated into English, these terms mean “anointed one.”
As God had sent a deliverer to lead the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt, God spoke to the Hebrew prophets, priests, and kings about a coming anointed one who would be a deliverer to redeem all people of all nations from their bondage to “sin”, i.e., their acts and attitudes that fall short of God’s holiness and perfection. This sin is what separates us from God and from each other leading to conflicts. The Bible says:
“for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God;” Romans 3:23
The arrival the Christ and the consequential changes brought about in people’s lives is the story of the New Testament. The New Testament describes Christ’s coming as Jesus of Nazareth, his ministry on earth, his death on a cross, his resurrection to new life, and the development of the early church. The New Testament ends with prophecies of things to come.
The New Testament tells us that Jesus Christ’s death redeemed us from our sins and through his resurrection we are given new life, His life, in and by the Holy Spirit. That is, we can now have a spiritual rebirth through the spirit. The Bible says:
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23
Thus, the Bible is sometimes referred to as “the gospel” which means “good news.” Yes, the Bible has some hard things to say about us, and the people whose stories it recounts. But it also tells us how we can now be reborn spiritually, and in the future, experience a resurrection to life with God eternally and restoring the relationship we were created to have with Him.
How do you avail yourself of this opportunity for new birth, for a spiritual reset? The Bible says:
8 “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10“For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11“For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12“For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:8-13
You can call upon the name of the Lord by prayer. Prayer is simply talking to God by faith, out loud or silently in your heart. Express to Him your need for a Savior, or Redeemer, and invite Christ into your life to change you into the person He would have you to be. Then thank Him for His death on the cross for the forgiveness of your sin and for the promise of the Holy Spirit in your life. You will now experience a new life, Christ’s life in your heart.
To grow in your understanding and to express worship to God and to experience fellowship with other believers, seek out a good Bible-teaching church and go there. Ask God to lead you to the right church. As with anything new, it will take some time for you to adjust to what God is doing in your life now that you have placed your faith and trust in Christ. Also, spend some time reading the Bible each day to better understand what is happening in your life. I’d recommend that you start with the New Testament section of the Bible, the section that recounts the Life of Christ on earth and the teachings of the early church. In time you will learn about the Old Testament section of the Bible that recounts what led up to the arrival of Christ on earth and it will give you more foundation for your faith.
Additional Notes about the Bible Quotes:
The words after the biblical quotes, for example, “Romans 10: 8-13”, refer to where the quote came from in the Bible. First is the name of the book within the Bible (Romans 10: 8-13). In this example, the book is called “Romans.” The numbers after the book’s name refer to the chapter and verse, or range of verses where the quote is found (Romans 10: 8-13). In this example, it is chapter 10, verses 8 through 13.
If you are not familiar with the books of the Bible you can look them up in the table of contents in the front of most Bibles.
Through the sands of time, God has used men/people to chronicle history (mostly of the Children of Israel), from the beginning of time to near the end of the first century A. D. In this article, I will attempt to show you how we can know that the Holy Bible is our Word from God that we can hold to be true and infallible so that we can use it and ONLY IT as our road map through life.
The Holy Bible is compiled of 66 books, ranging from Genesis to Revelations, including the Old Testament and the New Testament. We hold that the WHOLE Bible has been compiled by men by the inspiration of God to become the Holy Bible that we hold today.
The Scripture is Verbally Inspired Directly BY God:
Verbally – Verbal means that every word of Scripture is God-given. The idea is that every single word in the Bible is there because God wanted it there.
Plenary – Plenary means that all parts of the Bible are equally authoritative. This includes such things as the genealogies of the Old Testament. All parts of the Bible are of divine origin. Jesus said:
Luke 16:17; “But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.”
Paul wrote: “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4).
After having that said, I want to emphasize that Scripture contains the exact words, forms of words, and wording that God desired. The fact that a certain word in Scripture is found in the singular rather than the plural is all part of the divine work. Everything in Scripture is there because God wanted it to be.
II Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
It is important to emphasize that the Bible contains the exact wording that God wanted. When the Holy Spirit worked with the various writers of Scripture He moved them in a mysterious way to bring about exactly what God wanted to say. We have to remember that the inspired words of God are the words that are found in the original manuscripts.
There are many different translations and interpretations today that do NOT convey the words and thoughts that God had in mind when they were originally given. When choosing a translation that is more “inspired” than the rest, you need to look at the texts and compare them to the original GREEK (New Testament) and HEBREW (Old Testament). There were no original texts that were written in Aramaic or Latin except for several chapters in Daniel and a brief passage in Ezra, which were written in Aramaic. These were later translated and, in a lot of cases, adulterated by “not-so-inspired” men that did not believe that God had a reason for putting certain words in certain places. They changed words, removed words and added words to be able to meet their agenda. DO NOT be deceived by these translations. Other supporting scriptures include; I Corinthians 2:13; II Peter 1:19-21; Titus 1:2, 3; Hebrews 6:18).
God’s Word has been preserved down through the ages.
God’s Word is important enough to Him that He would go to any extreme to preserve His Word so that it will say the same thing now as it did 4000 years ago (the originals – not in some translated manuscripts). We have available to us now, the same truths that the Hebrew children memorized in Torah school and knew by memory by the time they were adults. In Matthew 5:18 Jesus says, “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”. In Matthew 24:35 Jesus also says, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away”. And in I Peter 1:25 it says, “But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you”.
God, Himself, has vowed that absolutely nothing, even the end of the heavens and earth, would change His words and that they would be preserved, or stay the same, from the time they were written down the first time to the end of the heavens and earth. Other supporting scriptures: Psalm 12:6, 7; Proverbs 30:5; Psalm 19:8; Psalm 119:140; Matthew 24:35; Luke 16:17; Revelation 22:18, 19; Deuteronomy 12:32.
The Bible is Truth without any error whatsoever (John 10:35; Matthew 5:18, 19).
It is the complete and final revelation of the Will of God to humanity (Deuteronomy 12:32, Revelations 22:18, 19).
The Purpose of the “Testaments”
In the Old Testament, we see allusions to the coming of a new testament or covenant to mankind. That being the case, we can see that God never intended for the Old Testament (the Law) to be the final testament or covenant.
The Old Testament was incomplete in the fact that it never provided a way to forgive our sins and to provide a way for us to be able to spend eternity with God in Heaven:
Hebrews 10:1 “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
Hebrews 10:2 “For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
Hebrews 10:3 “But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
Hebrews 10:4 “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.”
The Old Testament foretold the coming of a new testament:
Galatians 3:19; “Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.
Galatians 3:20; “Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.
Galatians 3:21; “Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
Galatians 3:22; “But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
Galatians 3:23; “But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Galatians 3:24; “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”
The Old Testament foretold of the coming of a Messiah which will provide permanent forgiveness of sins:
Isaiah 53:10; “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Isaiah 53:11; “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.”
Galatians 3:25; “But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.”
A final way for mankind to obtain final absolution from our sins:
God, through His Holy Scriptures, has provided a final way for mankind to obtain final absolution from our sins through the sacrifice of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and His shed blood on the cross:
Acts 5:31 “Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins”.
Acts 13:38; “Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:
Acts 13:39; “And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the Law of Moses.”
Ephesians 1:7; “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;”
Colossians 1:14; “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:”
God has provided a final sacrifice from our sins:
The next statement is made referring to Jesus Christ:
Hebrews 10:9; “Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
Hebrews 10:10; “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
Hebrews 10:26; “For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins”.
The New Testament became the fulfillment of the Law by the shed blood of Christ Jesus, His death, burial and ultimate resurrection. Other supporting scriptures: Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25; Hebrews 9:15, 20; Psalm 119:105; Proverbs 30:5,6; Isaiah 8:20; II Timothy 3:16; Revelation 22:18, 19.
The Bible is Truth without any error whatsoever. As we have seen above, if the scriptures were given by God verbal plenarily, and if He has preserved it through the ages, then there is no way the scriptures can change from being the Truth and, as such, would continue to be without errors. (John 10:35; Matthew 5:18-19)
It is the supreme standard by which all human conduct, Christian unity, creeds, philosophies and opinions must be tried:
We have seen that the Word of God (Scripture/Bible) has been inspired by God and that it is perfect in all that it says. God gave us His Law that gives us a guideline for personal activity – what should be done or not, and if something should not be done what the consequences would be if it is done and sometimes it will tell us that if we actually do something that is good, what the reward will be.
God has given us the ability to choose in all aspects of life. He has given us these guidelines and tells us the good and the bad of things and lets us make the choice from there. He then tells us what will happen if we make the wrong choice or what the blessing will be if the correct choice is made.
There are more verses through the Bible giving us these guidelines than I can even begin to list. Here are just a few for you:
Proverbs 28:26; “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.”
1 Thessalonians 5:12; “And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;
1 Thessalonians 5:13; “And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves.
1 Thessalonians 5:14; “Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.
1 Thessalonians 5:15; “See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
1 Thessalonians 5:16; “Rejoice evermore.
1 Thessalonians 5:17; “Pray without ceasing.
1 Thessalonians 5:18; “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
1 Thessalonians 5:19; “Quench not the Spirit.
1 Thessalonians 5:20; “Despise not prophesying (Teachings).
1 Thessalonians 5:21; “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
1 Thessalonians 5:22; “Abstain from all appearance of evil.”
This list covers almost everything regarding human behavior. If it isn’t written here, it is implied within at least one of them.
It is the only unerring canon that determines truth:
Deuteronomy 4:1; “Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you.
Deuteronomy 4:2; “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you”.
Deuteronomy 17:19; “And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them”:
Psalm 119:11; “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee”.
Psalm 119:105; “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path”.
Romans 15:4; “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope”.
Hebrews 4:12; “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”.
These scriptures, as well as many prior to this, are excellent statements that prove that the canon of the scriptures (66 books) is the truth. Yes, there are many books, many authors and many different statements within the Book, but these scriptures have been studied by scientists to verify the manuscripts are from the time period that it would have been written in, scholars have studied the words, statements, phraseology, writing styles, etc. to verify that the works were written by ONE true Author – God – at the hands of humans. The true manuscripts have been vetted and the false (non-Spirit inspired) manuscripts weeded out so that we finally end up with the final 66 books. All prophesies made that were to have been fulfilled, have been fulfilled when they were supposed to be fulfilled, save the ones that are still yet to be fulfilled regarding the End Times and the Second Coming of Christ.
We also have to remember that if there were any one place in the Book (The Holy Bible – all 66 books) that contradicts another place/statement therein, then we could not trust anything within the Bible to be true. If there were any inconsistencies within the covers of the Bible, then we would not be able to trust ANY other words in the Bible to be true.
We have to believe all of the Bible or none of it at all.
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