The book called Bible is significant as far as our Christian beliefs and religious practice are concerned. Without the Bible, the things we are doing today in the name of Christianity are all futile and vain. But because we firmly believe that the Bible is the WORD OF GOD, we have all the reason for doing what we do in the name of God and his Word.
According to D. L. MOODY;
I prayed for faith and thought that someday faith would come down and strike me like lightning. But faith did not seem to come. One day, I read the tenth chapter of Romans, ‘Now faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.’ I closed my Bible and prayed for faith. I opened my Bible and began studying, and faith has grown ever since.”
What can you say about his testimony?
D. L. Moody’s experience regarding the power of the Word of God in his life is a miracle. We can verify that in the Word of God itself. Let us look at Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
Have you ever had this experience in your life before?
This verse tells us that the Word of God is compared to a double-edged sword, wherein like a sword, the word can penetrate man’s mind, soul, and heart and cause changes in their life. That is the very reason why Scripture is authoritative. Its power emanates from God himself. Let us consider these testimonies.
“My conscience is subject to the Word of God” Martin Luther
“The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon God (who is the truth Himself), the author thereof; and therefore it is to be received because it is the Word of God.” Westminster Confession, I. IV
In these testimonies regarding the power of Scripture in the lives of these men, we might as well discover the miracle by which the Bible came into being.
Do you have any preconceived ideas about how the Bible came into being?
This lesson will help the Bible student recognize the matchless composition of the Bible and become familiar with its structure.
The Nature of the Bible
The Bible was written by men and divinely inspired and is the record of God’s revelation of Himself to man (See Exodus 24:4; 2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Timothy 3:16). To comprehend this truth, one must consider these three words:
Revelation– is the process by which God unveils Himself and His will to human messengers.
Illumination– Is the Holy Spirit’s work as He enlightens the human mind with spiritual understanding so that persons might grasp the revealed truth.
Inspiration– refers to God’s in-breathing into the chosen messengers through the Holy Spirit, enabling them by divine guidance to deliver or record God’s revealed truth.
According to John Stott, “Inspired” comes from the Greek word translated as “God-breathed.” “The meaning, then, is not that God breathed into the writers, nor that He somehow breathed into the writings to give them special character, but that what was written by men was breathed out by God. He spoke through them. They were His spokesmen.”
God reveals Himself through;
Psalm 19:1; Romans 1: 19-20 – Nature
Romans 2:14-15 – Human Conscience
Hebrews 1:1 – The prophets
Hebrews 1:2; John 1:18 – His Son (Jesus Christ)
The Composition of the Bible
The Bible comprises sixty-six books (39 in the O.T. and 27 in the N.T.) written by more than forty human authors from different periods in the history of man for over fifteen long centuries (1600 years). Most authors did not meet each other except for some of the Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Bible was written in three different languages, Hebrew, a little of Aramaic, and Koine Greek, or the common Greek language during the New Testament times.
But suppose one is going to examine the Bible today. In that case, they will discover that this is one book with one subject, with fantastic consistency in its content, and there is what we call the progressive revelation of its truth, how the Bible came to be, without a doubt, a great miracle!
The different names of the Bible are found in the following passages.
1 Corinthians 15:3-4
Ephesians 6:17
Psalms 119:105
