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We Believe ... That The Bible
Is The Inspired Word of God

Introduction:  

Do you believe that the Bible is inspired?  I'm sure that most will answer, "Yes!"  The next question is: What do you mean by "inspired"?  Even among many so-called religious folks you will find a wide range of definitions for that term.  A very popular idea is that God gave the Bible writers the basic ideas, but they put these ideas into their own words.  This view is faulty and dangerous.  In this lesson we hope to prove the verbal inspiration of the Bible.

Discussion:

I.   THE SCRIPTURES ARE VERBALLY INSPIRED.

A.   What does this mean?

1.   2 Tim. 3:16,17

a.   “all scripture" literally means "everything written".

b.   "is given by inspiration" literally means "God-breathed".

c.   Thus, "everything written is God-breathed".

2.   "...the original documents of the Bible were written by men, who, though permitted the exercise of their own personalities and literary talents, yet wrote under the control and guidance of the Spirit of God, the result being in every word of the original documents a perfect and errorless recording of the exact message which God desired to give to man" (The Meaning of Inspiration, Frank E. Gaebelein, Inter-Varsity Press, Chicago, 1950, pg. 9)

3.   "Verbal inspiration of the Scripture is what I believe.  I mean by this that when prophets of the Old Covenant or apostles of the New spoke or wrote that they spoke or wrote by inspiration, God giving them the idea and selecting and choosing from their vocabulary the words that they were to use in making the idea known... I simply affirm that the original manuscripts were spoken and written by men as they were guided by the Holy Spirit, both in thought and words in which the thoughts were made known.  I believe the Bible sustains this proposition."  (Inspiration of the Bible, Homer Halley, C. E. I. Publishing Co., Athens, AL, 1971, pg. 7)

B.   What the Bible says about itself:

1.   Some Old Testament passages:

a.   Deut. 18:18,19

b.   2 Samuel 23:2

c.   Jeremiah 1:9

2.   Some New Testament passages:

a.   How Jesus viewed inspiration:

1)   Matthew 5:17,18; 22:31,32

2)   Matthew 10:19

b.   Testimony from Paul:

1)   1 Cor. 2:11-13

2)   1 Thess. 2:13

II.   PROOF FOR THE BIBLE CLAIM OF INSPIRATION

A.   Unity of the Scriptures

1.   Written by approximately 40 men, over a period of 1600 years, on 3 continents, and yet it has no contradiction.

2.   A single theme, the redemption of mankind from sin, runs throughout.

B.   Flawless accuracy of the Bible

1.   It is historically and geographically correct.

2.   Scientifically accurate in such fields as medicine, physics, astronomy, oceanography, biology.

C.   Prophecy

1.   Easily confirmed prophecies about people and nations are numerous in the Old Testament.

2.   Messianic prophecies incredibly predicted the details of Jesus' life.

III.   DO WE HAVE A RELIABLE COPY OF THE ORIGINAL?

A.   We have thousands of manuscripts of the Bible in the original languages.

B.   We have several very reliable translations into the English language.

Conclusion:

The Holy Scriptures are inspired of God!

 

Glory to God in the church by Christ Jesus
Franklin Church of Christ