Independent Baptist Connection
How Did We Get the Bible?
Separating truth from error in a world of confusion and doubt is no easy task. The same crowd that helped spread deceit throughout the world in the past also focused itself on destroying God’s Word by whatever means it had at its disposal. Some tried burning it while others tried cutting it into pieces along with the holy men of God that wrote it and preached it. Modern times are no different with the exception that Satan uses different weapons as he tries to water down the impact of God and His Word.
God’s Word is settled forever in heaven and though heaven and earth may pass away, God’s Word will never pass away. That’s because it’s His eternal word and not man’s word. What do you think about the Bible? Be careful about your answer. It may expose your faith as one planted firmly in the solid rock foundation of Jesus Christ or as a faith resting on nothing more than the shifting sands of society. Regardless of your answer, let’s peel away the veneer for a moment and learn a little more about God’s amazing book, the Bible.
God knows men need a standard of truth that doesn’t rely on their own ideas. The testimony of God’s Word gives us a flagstone for all other truth. Our God, who knows all things because he is omniscient, is the only One who has all the facts and knows the end from the beginning. While the opinions of men matter to those around them, the truth of God’s Word carries more weight than the fallible notions of the best of us. Thus the need for a record of God’s unchangeable truth! We understand the Bible is the flagstone of all truth that stands above the rising and falling opinions of nations throughout the record of time.
Verbally Inspired
The Bible is verbally inspired, meaning every word is as much the Word of God as though He spoke it from His own lips. Another term used to describe this same event is plenary inspiration.
A. W. Pink once said, “Surrender the dogma of verbal inspiration and you are left like a rudderless ship on a stormy sea…at the mercy of every wind that blows.”
The world sees Scripture as little more than fables passed on around the campfire at night. Such an idea can’t stand when it's confronted with fact that the Bible contains a phrase: “thus saith the Lord”. This introduction appears 1800 times in the Bible before the Word quotes what God actually said. The rest of the Bible was superintended by God’s Spirit and it still remains completely God’s Word even though it isn't direct quotes from God.
The Bible is the world’s only completely true book. Peter told us how God did it in 1 Peter 1:21. In the process, God laid it on the hearts of men to write the words as well as speak them. These men wrote on whatever surfaces were available at a given time and location. The moment of inspiration of the original writing was doubtless a special event in the life of each person God used to preserve the record of God among men.
Throughout history, men have voted on what part of the Bible is God’s Word. Is it all God’s Word or is only a part of it God’s Word?
God used Paul to write most of the New Testament. He told Timothy, his son in the ministry, that all scripture was given by inspiration of God. 2 Timothy 3:16
Paul’s peers in the ministry also considered his words as inspired scripture, according to 2 Peter 3:15-16.
Consider what the world’s greatest authority said about it. Let’s take a look at the testimony of the living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He saw all of the Old Testament as His father’s words. This was his testimony to the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Read it for yourself in Luke 24:25-27.
Christ went into more detail in Luke 24:44, where he classified inspired scripture as the law of Moses, the prophets and the psalms.
Now it is complete
In Revelation 22:18-19, God warned future generations about either adding to God’s Word or taking away from it. It seems the key here is not an accidental change but a knowing one. These verses also seem to address much more than just the verses found in the book of Revelation.
Do you see the impact here? This eliminates new “prophecies” coming from songwriters or authors as being on the same level as God’s word itself. People may be inspired or moved by God to work for Him but not in the same way as the men God used to write the Word. The complete writ of scripture has been here for nearly two thousand years though it wasn’t compiled in its present form until much later.
What we enjoy today is the complete Word of God. The moments of inspiration that brought us the Scriptures ended with Revelation. Yet, men remain inspired in the sense that they are motivated by our Lord to write a book or a song that points us back to God and the God of the Word. While this work inspires others, it isn't equal to the actual inspired Word of God itself. As a music minister with many years of experience, I enjoyed many songs that weren't completely scriptural. I still used them, though, because words could be changed or even new verses written. This website is one the Lord laid it on my heart to create. Though I do my best to adhere to God's Word, my human nature still allows a few things to creep in that disqualify my words from being completely God's words.
Because the Bible is complete, there is no longer any need for inspiration in its original sense but there is a need for God to preserve His own Word. And that's what God has done. No one can destroy it because God has promised to preserve His Word. We'll discuss this later, but the fact that God preserves His inspired Word makes it a mistake to focus on lost books of the Bible. If the books were lost, how were they preserved? When we look deeper into this in coming weeks, we'll understand more clearly than ever that we now have in our hands all that God ever intended for us to have.
Not only is the Bible complete, but it is infallible. By that, I mean that the original texts were without error of any kind. But where are they? Does the Smithsonian have them locked away somewhere? If the originals still exist, nobody knows for a certainty where they remain hidden. If the originals no longer exist, accurate copies remain intact for our examination today.
Think with me for a moment. If we had the originals as they were originally penned, what would we do with them? Our fallen nature would demand that we worship them more than we worship the Creator. If you don’t think so, ask yourself about what has happened to the Shroud of Turin and other religious artifacts. Read Romans 1.
This is where faith comes in. Nobody can prove what I said above. I can’t even prove it to myself. Still, I can accept this by faith and such is the case with many other matters I can’t prove but I can accept. But my faith goes beyond that.
Many believers say, “God said it, I believe it, and that settles it for me.”
Long ago the Lord taught me that God’s Word settles it, whether I believe it or not.
Evidence beyond the Scripture
Despite all the criticism, little doubt remains that the Bible is completely accurate. While this statement is accepted by faith, proof also exists outside of the religious world of the accuracy of Scripture. This is sometimes an embarrassment to the scientific community but it remains true.
For instance, the medical profession may have saved countless lives if it just read and believed the Bible. Every believer should read the book “None of These Diseases”. It's an eye opener!
Here’s a brief list of the amazing science of the Bible.
The life is in the blood. Leviticus 17:11
The earth hangs on nothing and it certainly doesn’t rest on the shoulders of Atlas. Job 26:7
The earth is round. Isaiah 40:22
There are stars without number. Genesis 15:5
There are other planets. Hebrews 1:2
There are paths in the sea. Psalm 8:8
Scientists recently “discovered” that infants seem to know good and evil and choose evil regardless of the environment they grow up in. This is an amazing discovery but it’s nothing new. In fact, it’s little more than a confirmation of God’s Word that reveals a sin nature each person is born with as the cause for choosing sin. People do evil because they are born that way, according to Romans 5:12. Look how long it took science to “discover” what God told us throughout the Bible!
Responsibility to God’s Word
Keeping all of the above facts in mind, we have no small responsibility to God and his Word. The Bible remains the perfect and all sufficient rule of faith and practice for all men.
Many people, however, have learned to rely on what they consider a more reliable foundation for life than the Word of God. God’s truths often go ignored for a “better” foundation of experience. The world is full of Christians who interpret the Bible by their experiences in life. They seem to forget that experience often proves itself a deceitful teacher. We have a more sure word of prophecy than even our experiences!
God wants us to understand this and align our lives to His revealed will. That means we should interpret our experiences by Scripture and not Scripture by our experiences. People who base their theology on experience often build their lives on shaky foundations. When shown the valid truths of God’s Word they still deny them and ask, “Hath God said?” They aren't the first ones to ask that question.
Wendell Rone wrote in “The Baptist Faith and Roman Catholicism”, the following words:“There must be a final source of authority: someone or something to speak the final word, to settle points of controversy and to establish what we must believe and be and do.”
That final source of authority is God’s Word. Our world has become so infiltrated with half-truths or lies that we find ourselves faced with a difficult choice. We can’t have it both ways. Either we are going to believe what God says in the Bible or we're going to believe a lie. That might not sound like a difficult choice, but the closer we come to the Lord’s return the harder it is to believe that God is true. Some who choose to trust the Word may find themselves both labeled and ridiculed, or worse.
What should we do with this wonderful book? The Psalmist David decided to hide it in his heart. Psalm 119:11 He also decided to heed what it said. Psalms 119:9 Lastly, he decided to trust it. Psalm 119:42
These are the basics…
Christians accept the Bible as inspired, infallible and the perfect and all sufficient rule of faith and practice for daily life. Yet, questions remain.
That brings us to a crucial point. Not all bibles say the same thing! It’s easy to accept the basics but that raises the big question. If all bibles don’t say the same thing, then which Bible should I believe?
God’s Word is settled forever in heaven and though heaven and earth may pass away, God’s Word will never pass away. That’s because it’s His eternal word and not man’s word. What do you think about the Bible? Be careful about your answer. It may expose your faith as one planted firmly in the solid rock foundation of Jesus Christ or as a faith resting on nothing more than the shifting sands of society. Regardless of your answer, let’s peel away the veneer for a moment and learn a little more about God’s amazing book, the Bible.
God knows men need a standard of truth that doesn’t rely on their own ideas. The testimony of God’s Word gives us a flagstone for all other truth. Our God, who knows all things because he is omniscient, is the only One who has all the facts and knows the end from the beginning. While the opinions of men matter to those around them, the truth of God’s Word carries more weight than the fallible notions of the best of us. Thus the need for a record of God’s unchangeable truth! We understand the Bible is the flagstone of all truth that stands above the rising and falling opinions of nations throughout the record of time.
Verbally Inspired
The Bible is verbally inspired, meaning every word is as much the Word of God as though He spoke it from His own lips. Another term used to describe this same event is plenary inspiration.
A. W. Pink once said, “Surrender the dogma of verbal inspiration and you are left like a rudderless ship on a stormy sea…at the mercy of every wind that blows.”
The world sees Scripture as little more than fables passed on around the campfire at night. Such an idea can’t stand when it's confronted with fact that the Bible contains a phrase: “thus saith the Lord”. This introduction appears 1800 times in the Bible before the Word quotes what God actually said. The rest of the Bible was superintended by God’s Spirit and it still remains completely God’s Word even though it isn't direct quotes from God.
The Bible is the world’s only completely true book. Peter told us how God did it in 1 Peter 1:21. In the process, God laid it on the hearts of men to write the words as well as speak them. These men wrote on whatever surfaces were available at a given time and location. The moment of inspiration of the original writing was doubtless a special event in the life of each person God used to preserve the record of God among men.
Throughout history, men have voted on what part of the Bible is God’s Word. Is it all God’s Word or is only a part of it God’s Word?
God used Paul to write most of the New Testament. He told Timothy, his son in the ministry, that all scripture was given by inspiration of God. 2 Timothy 3:16
Paul’s peers in the ministry also considered his words as inspired scripture, according to 2 Peter 3:15-16.
Consider what the world’s greatest authority said about it. Let’s take a look at the testimony of the living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He saw all of the Old Testament as His father’s words. This was his testimony to the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Read it for yourself in Luke 24:25-27.
Christ went into more detail in Luke 24:44, where he classified inspired scripture as the law of Moses, the prophets and the psalms.
Now it is complete
In Revelation 22:18-19, God warned future generations about either adding to God’s Word or taking away from it. It seems the key here is not an accidental change but a knowing one. These verses also seem to address much more than just the verses found in the book of Revelation.
Do you see the impact here? This eliminates new “prophecies” coming from songwriters or authors as being on the same level as God’s word itself. People may be inspired or moved by God to work for Him but not in the same way as the men God used to write the Word. The complete writ of scripture has been here for nearly two thousand years though it wasn’t compiled in its present form until much later.
What we enjoy today is the complete Word of God. The moments of inspiration that brought us the Scriptures ended with Revelation. Yet, men remain inspired in the sense that they are motivated by our Lord to write a book or a song that points us back to God and the God of the Word. While this work inspires others, it isn't equal to the actual inspired Word of God itself. As a music minister with many years of experience, I enjoyed many songs that weren't completely scriptural. I still used them, though, because words could be changed or even new verses written. This website is one the Lord laid it on my heart to create. Though I do my best to adhere to God's Word, my human nature still allows a few things to creep in that disqualify my words from being completely God's words.
Because the Bible is complete, there is no longer any need for inspiration in its original sense but there is a need for God to preserve His own Word. And that's what God has done. No one can destroy it because God has promised to preserve His Word. We'll discuss this later, but the fact that God preserves His inspired Word makes it a mistake to focus on lost books of the Bible. If the books were lost, how were they preserved? When we look deeper into this in coming weeks, we'll understand more clearly than ever that we now have in our hands all that God ever intended for us to have.
Not only is the Bible complete, but it is infallible. By that, I mean that the original texts were without error of any kind. But where are they? Does the Smithsonian have them locked away somewhere? If the originals still exist, nobody knows for a certainty where they remain hidden. If the originals no longer exist, accurate copies remain intact for our examination today.
Think with me for a moment. If we had the originals as they were originally penned, what would we do with them? Our fallen nature would demand that we worship them more than we worship the Creator. If you don’t think so, ask yourself about what has happened to the Shroud of Turin and other religious artifacts. Read Romans 1.
This is where faith comes in. Nobody can prove what I said above. I can’t even prove it to myself. Still, I can accept this by faith and such is the case with many other matters I can’t prove but I can accept. But my faith goes beyond that.
Many believers say, “God said it, I believe it, and that settles it for me.”
Long ago the Lord taught me that God’s Word settles it, whether I believe it or not.
Evidence beyond the Scripture
Despite all the criticism, little doubt remains that the Bible is completely accurate. While this statement is accepted by faith, proof also exists outside of the religious world of the accuracy of Scripture. This is sometimes an embarrassment to the scientific community but it remains true.
For instance, the medical profession may have saved countless lives if it just read and believed the Bible. Every believer should read the book “None of These Diseases”. It's an eye opener!
Here’s a brief list of the amazing science of the Bible.
The life is in the blood. Leviticus 17:11
The earth hangs on nothing and it certainly doesn’t rest on the shoulders of Atlas. Job 26:7
The earth is round. Isaiah 40:22
There are stars without number. Genesis 15:5
There are other planets. Hebrews 1:2
There are paths in the sea. Psalm 8:8
Scientists recently “discovered” that infants seem to know good and evil and choose evil regardless of the environment they grow up in. This is an amazing discovery but it’s nothing new. In fact, it’s little more than a confirmation of God’s Word that reveals a sin nature each person is born with as the cause for choosing sin. People do evil because they are born that way, according to Romans 5:12. Look how long it took science to “discover” what God told us throughout the Bible!
Responsibility to God’s Word
Keeping all of the above facts in mind, we have no small responsibility to God and his Word. The Bible remains the perfect and all sufficient rule of faith and practice for all men.
Many people, however, have learned to rely on what they consider a more reliable foundation for life than the Word of God. God’s truths often go ignored for a “better” foundation of experience. The world is full of Christians who interpret the Bible by their experiences in life. They seem to forget that experience often proves itself a deceitful teacher. We have a more sure word of prophecy than even our experiences!
God wants us to understand this and align our lives to His revealed will. That means we should interpret our experiences by Scripture and not Scripture by our experiences. People who base their theology on experience often build their lives on shaky foundations. When shown the valid truths of God’s Word they still deny them and ask, “Hath God said?” They aren't the first ones to ask that question.
Wendell Rone wrote in “The Baptist Faith and Roman Catholicism”, the following words:“There must be a final source of authority: someone or something to speak the final word, to settle points of controversy and to establish what we must believe and be and do.”
That final source of authority is God’s Word. Our world has become so infiltrated with half-truths or lies that we find ourselves faced with a difficult choice. We can’t have it both ways. Either we are going to believe what God says in the Bible or we're going to believe a lie. That might not sound like a difficult choice, but the closer we come to the Lord’s return the harder it is to believe that God is true. Some who choose to trust the Word may find themselves both labeled and ridiculed, or worse.
What should we do with this wonderful book? The Psalmist David decided to hide it in his heart. Psalm 119:11 He also decided to heed what it said. Psalms 119:9 Lastly, he decided to trust it. Psalm 119:42
These are the basics…
Christians accept the Bible as inspired, infallible and the perfect and all sufficient rule of faith and practice for daily life. Yet, questions remain.
That brings us to a crucial point. Not all bibles say the same thing! It’s easy to accept the basics but that raises the big question. If all bibles don’t say the same thing, then which Bible should I believe?