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Standards are something that all of us use everyday. They can be defined as "models set up by law or general acceptance to be followed by everyone". The clock is a good example. Universal rulers ensure that we all have a common unit for determining lengths. Also, calibrated scales measure weights to make sure that we are all treated fairly when we buy things by the ounce or pound. Even traffic laws become standards to avoid the "every man for himself" approach to commuting. Without these and the many other standards that our government has established, there would be chaos. If such things avoid chaos in our everyday lives, then why is it not just as natural for us to have a common standard to avoid chaos in our religious lives? God has provided just such a standard. It is called the Bible.
The Bible has both internal and external
evidences to show it is the inspired Word of God. First let's understand
just what the word inspired means. It comes from the Greek work
"theopneustos" (
) used in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and literally means "God Breathed".
Our English word traces back to the Latin word "inspirare" which means
"to breath into". Inspiration then means that the writers of the Bible
penned words that were breathed into them by God through the Holy Spirit. This
makes the Bible a completely trustworthy book, containing in its original
state the precise words of God.
However, we would not want to make a claim for the writers that they did not make for themselves. None credit themselves with what they wrote. For example, Moses said "And God spoke all these words to me saying…" (Exodus 20:1-17) and Jeremiah said, "Now the word of the Lord came to me saying," (Jeremiah 1:4). Paul said, also, in 1 Corinthians 2:12-13 that they (the Apostles) had received their words from the Spirit of God and in Galatians 1:11-12, he said that he had received the Gospel by revelation from Jesus Christ. Finally, Peter wrote
"But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God" (2 Peter 1:20-21)
These are just some of the verses of the Bible that reveal the internal claims of inspiration.
Jesus quoted freely from the Old Testament during His lifetime without mentioning any concern about textual errors. The Old Testament was completed some 400 years before His birth – plenty of time for it to see serious corruption of the original manuscripts. In fact, originally written in Hebrew, it had already been translated into Greek (~270 BC). There are over 275 direct quotations from the Old Testament in the New Testament. Surely the Lord would not have remained silent if error had encroached upon the inspired pages.
Another evidence of inspiration is the fulfillment of the predictions contained in the prophecies of the Old Testament. Many of the Prophets did not even understand what they were predicting (1 Peter 1:10-12) and even though they lived at different times, their predictions were in perfect harmony. For instance, about 700 BC Micah foretold accurately the birthplace of Christ (Matthew 2:6); Jeremiah foretold in 606 BC the weeping of the mothers whose infants were killed by King Herod during the time around Jesus' birth (Matthew 2:8); and about 700 BC Isaiah (53) told precisely about the suffering that Jesus would undergo. There are many more specific predictions about New Testament events in the Old Testament that give testimony to the Bible’s inspiration.
The Bible, although not designed as a scientific textbook, has been shown to be in complete harmony with scientific discoveries. None have contradicted the Bible.
God being the creator of all things set up the authority structure. He granted to Christ All Authority (Matthew 17:5; 28:18) and Christ passed on certain authority on earth to the Apostles with the Holy Spirit to guide them (Matthew 18:18; John 16:13). The Apostles then wrote the words as breathed into them by the Holy Spirit for our learning (2 Thessalonians 3:14; 2 Timothy 4:1-2) and these words produce the faith in Jesus, The Christ (Romans 10:17).
The Bible provides the complete revelation of God. If complete, there is no need for additional revelations and no other sources of Spiritual guidance are required (2 Peter 1:3). In fact, it contains many warnings in this regard. Galatians 1:8-9 places a curse on anyone who preaches any other gospel and Revelation 22:18-19 tells us that God will take away our place in Heaven if we add or take away from His word, The Bible.
Should not The Bible then be our sole authority in religious matters and our standard for determining our relationship to God?
