Skip to content

Disciples Defend the Faith: The Bible

DISCIPLES DEFEND THE FAITH: THE BIBLE IS GOD’S WORD

A FIRM FOUNDATION

It is a basic principle of architecture that every building requires a solid foundation. It is the element that connects it to the earth, providing load support and stability. Without an adequate foundation, anything built on top, no matter how impressive, is compromised and its collapse is inevitable. This truth was known to the ancients as Jesus used it to illustrate the appropriate response to His teachings; to hear and obey Jesus’ words is like building one’s life on a solid rock. 

So, for Christianity, or any religious system, to be trustworthy and true, it must be founded on something strong and substantial enough to bear the weight of divine truth. The foundation must be adequate to answer life’s great questions (Who am I? What is my purpose? What is wrong? How can it be made right?), to explain reality, to give moral guidance, and to provide purpose and meaning for our lives. Such a foundation is not only suitable for a religious system, but for our lives, and even society itself.

What is the Bible?

The Bible is a collection of sacred scriptures, comprised of 66 books written over 1,500 years by over 40 authors in three languages and on three continents. 

  1. General (Natural) Revelation: Creation informs every person of God’s greatness (and our creatureliness), conscience informs every person of God’s goodness (and our sinfulness). 


Psalm 19:1-4a

1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
    night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 They have no speech, they use no words;
    no sound is heard from them.
4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.

Romans 1:18-20

18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

  • Special Revelation: Through the prophets, the Scriptures, and the person and work of Christ, God has revealed truth about Himself and His will that could not be understood through merely natural means. The Bible has been providentially preserved, translated and published the world over, so as to be the most accessible and clear mode of divine revelation for people living today. As such, is held by Christians to be the inspired, written Word of God.

What Does Inspiration Mean?

  1. Inspiration, as it relates to the Bible, means God speaking to and through man.
  2. Every word—every jot and tittle—are inspired by God to say exactly what He wants it to say. This is called verbal plenary inspiration.
  3. By implication, inspired Scripture must be (a) infallible, (b) inerrant, and (c) authoritative.

Self-Attestation

The Bible claims to be the Word of God, not mere human thoughts about God. 

2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Peter 1:19-21
19 We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 22:29-32
29 Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. 30 At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 31 But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”

Other Attestations to Inspiration:

  1. the Old Testament authors used specific phrases hundreds of times. These terms indicated that God inspired them. These expressions include:
  2. “God said” (Gen. 1:3)
  3. “says (or declares) the Lord” (Isa. 1:11, 18; Jer. 2:3, 5)
  4. “the Word of the Lord came” (Jer. 34:1; Ezek. 30:1)
  5. God told Moses, “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him” (Deut. 18:18).
  6.  David defines God’s inspiration in 2 Samuel 23:2. He said, “The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me; his word is on my tongue” (emphasis added).
  7. Both the divine origin and the human instrument of Scripture are mentioned here
  8. The writings came from God but were mediated through a prophet of God (David)
  9.  the prophet Isaiah wrote, “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth” (Isa. 59:21, emphasis added)
  10. The prophet Zechariah wrote the Old Testament writings were Holy Spirit-inspired (Zech. 7:12).
  11. Jesus confirms the inspiration of the Old Testament.
  12. As being the very “word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4)
  13. He used David’s 2 Samuel 23:2 definition when questioning the Pharisees (Matt. 22:43)
  14.  Peter speaking in the Spirit (Acts 4:24), declares God’s inspiration of David “by the Holy Spirit” (Acts 4:24–25)
  15. The writer of Hebrews confirms God’s inspiration of David (Hebrews 4:7)[1]

Self-Authentication

The Bible bears unique characteristics that support its claim to inspiration.

  1. Unity of the Bible
  2. Literary Brilliance
  3. Fulfilled Prophecy
  4. Accurately describes reality and the human condition
  5. Manuscript Evidence
  6. Proximity to the people and events described
  7. Extrabiblical confirmation from history and archaeology
  8. Foundation of Western Civilization
  9. Billions of changed lives the world over

Matthew 7:24-27

24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

[1] https://binmin.org/6-facts-for-understanding-proving-the-inspiration-of-the-bible/#:~:text=Fulfilled%20prophecy%20proves%20inspiration%20of,ascension%20of%20Jesus%20of%20Nazareth.