ONE: The Holy Bible

I. WHAT IS THE HOLY BIBLE?

The Holy Bible is the only true word of God to humanity. That is a bold statement, but it is true. The Holy Bible tells us that God has revealed Himself to mankind, that is, God has given man information about Himself that mankind could not know in any other way except that God Himself should disclose that knowledge. God has made Himself known in a general way through nature (Romans 1:18-21), our conscience (Romans 2:14-16) and God’s management of the universe (Colossians 1:16, 17). But these avenues many times leave us contused about what God is like and how He relates to us.

Because of this, God has revealed (disclosed, unveiled) Himself to man in a special way with very specific information. Let me illustrate. Living life on an island can be very isolated while at the same time many things happen overseas. Millions of people live in America, New Zealand, Australia, England and other places. People there do things and live a life that we know nothing about - unless someone sends or brings the news by magazines, newspapers, letters, radio or whatever. In a similar way, God has revealed, or sent, special information to us - information we could never know unless He were to bring or send that “news”.

Hebrews 1:1, 2 says that during Old Testament times God revealed Himself and/or His message in many ways. Some of those ways were through judges, laws, ceremonies, kings, and prophets. When God sent Jesus, however, He gave his final special revelation to man, until He comes again.

The words in verse 2, “has spoken,” indicate a final and completed action. Jesus communicated His revelation through the original Apostles and confirmed it with mighty miracles and signs (Hebrews 2:3, 4). God then terminated any further special revelations to man. In the last few verses of the last book of the Bible Jesus strongly orders that no one should add or take away from the Bible (Revelation 22:18, 19). Revelation was the last book written in the New Testament.

According to the Holy Bible, then, we have no need for people or other books claiming to have messages from God. Peter said that we already have everything we need that pertains to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). What good news that is, to know that God did not forget to tell us something that we must know in order to be saved, to go to Heaven, have our sins forgiven or to live life pleasing to Him!

I do not mean that the Bible is just a dry rule book to follow, because Christianity is a living, dynamic personal experience with Jesus Christ. But our Christian experience is defined, instructed, and affirmed by the Bible as taught to us by the Holy Spirit.



The Holy Bible tells us more specifically how God communicated to us through the Bible. In 2 Timothy 3:14-17, it says that “all” the Scripture is “inspired” by God. Inspired means “God breathed,” that is, the Bible is the result of the breath of God. Breath carries our words as we communicate. The Bible then, is the very words of God. “All” Scripture refers to all the parts of Scripture, whether it is history, culture, geography, or matters dealing with our life and faith. The word, “all” also limits the scope of God’s special revelation to the Bible. He did not say, “all Scripture and newspapers, and some novels.”

What an encouragement to us, knowing that we do not have to guess which parts of the Holy Bible are from God and which are not! Jesus even went on to say that His word would never pass away (Matthew 24:35) and that Scripture cannot be broken (John 10:35). What a confidence that gives when we face problems in life, problems such as death, economic crisis, or family trouble.

We are told in 2 Peter 1:20, 21 the mechanics of how God gave Scripture to His messengers. It says that Scripture is not of any man’s opinion or will, but that they were moved along by the Holy Spirit to speak the words of God - much like the wind fills a sail and carries the boat along over the swells of the beautiful blue sea. In other words, we can say that God directed the human authors so that without hindering their individual personalities and styles, they wrote without error God’s exact and complete thoughts in the original manuscripts.

II. HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT THE Holy BIBLE IS?

It would not be reasonable for us to say these wonderful things about the Bible without offering evidence that what we say is true. For example, let’s say that we want to buy a boat to go fishing. Perhaps we see a used boat advertised on the bulletin board down at the local store. The owner said that the boat, tied up at the wharf, had a new engine, paint job, no rot in the hull and made many other great claims about the vessel. We would not just take the owner’s word, but we would drive down to the wharf to see for ourselves if the evidence matched up to the owner’s claims. In the same way we need to examine the evidence about the Bible.


Though there are many convincing proofs that the Holy Bible is the Word of God, we offer only four in this short space.

A. First, the Bible itself claims to be God’s word. Adding to the verses we have already referred to, we see that the Old Testament Prophets, Jeremiah, Isaiah and Ezekiel said their writings were the Word of God (Jeremiah 1:9; Isaiah 8:1, 5, 11; Ezekiel 3:4). Even Moses said that “... the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God (Exodus 32:16).

Scriptures are called by Paul the “Word of God” and the “Oracles of God,” and the “Sacred writings” (Ephesians 6:17; Romans 3:2; 2 Timothy 3:15). The examples go on, but suffice it to say that the Bible claims to be the Word of God.

B. Second, we have the amazing facts of fulfilled prophecy. If men could predict the future we would be rich. If we could predict where the fish were biting, how good the pumpkin and copra prices would be, and then we could become rich. But no one can predict the future except God. According to Bible scholars, 27% of the Bible deals with predictive prophecy. There are over 1,800 predictions recorded.

Some of the predictions are to be fulfilled in the future, and some have already been fulfilled in past history. Prophecies in the Bible are clear and with pinpoint accuracy, not like the fuzzy talk by some so-called prophets.

For example, there are over 300 prophecies concerning the first coming of Jesus Christ. I offer just six to illustrate the amazing quality of Bible prophecy.

• It was predicted that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:3; Matthew 2:1-6).
• Isaiah predicted that Christ was to suffer and make atonement for our sins (Isaiah 53:4-6; 1 Peter 2:24, 25).
• The Psalmist said Christ would be given gall and vinegar to drink (Psalm 69:21; Matthew 27:34, 48).
• Again, that men would divide Christ’s garments and cast lots for His clothing (Psalm 22:18; Matthew 27:35).
• Finally, the Psalmist predicted that Christ’s body would be resurrected from the dead (Psalm 16:9, 10; Luke 24:1-47).

All of these predictions came true. Only God can predict the future; therefore, the Bible is from God.

C. The third proof I offer is the testimony of Jesus Christ. He called the Old Testament the Scriptures (Luke 24:44, 45). Jesus believed as true the Old Testament creation story of Adam and Eve, the miracles of Jonah and the big fish, and of Moses and the burning bush (Matthew 19:4; 12:39-41; Luke 20:37). Christ communicated His New Testament revelation to us through His appointed apostles and confirmed His message by many miracles.

It was climaxed by that grandest miracle of all, His resurrection from the dead (John 20:30, 31; Acts 1:1-3: Romans 1:1-4). Think of it this way, Jesus rose from the dead to prove what He had to say. Nobody can offer evidence like that. Further, to say the Bible is not of God is calling Jesus a liar! Nobody in their right mind would do that!

D. The last proof I offer is the character of God. God loves us. He is kind, honest, and cannot lie. He is holy, righteous, and true - beyond defect in character. God knows everything, is everywhere and is all powerful. In a word, God is perfect. We must, then, ask ourselves the question: would God lie to us? Would He mislead or deceive us? No, God forbid such a thought! The conclusion is this: the character of God extends to His Word, and the Bible is His Word.

When we decide to take a trip to an outer island, for example, we take the word of the boat operator that the boat will survive the sometimes rough and choppy sea. We get in the boat and entrust ourselves to the captain and boat as it chugs out through the waves. We trust him because he is a man of good character and skill, we can believe him. In the same way, God is of perfect character, so surely we can trust Him and His Bible.

We must believe that whatever we say about God we must say about His Holy Bible - His special revelation to mankind. We can trust God. We can trust the Bible. To the farmers in the bush who grow talo, manioke, siaine and ‘ufi: you can believe and trust the Bible. To the fisherman who takes his little boat and nets and goes to fish on the reef or beyond into deep ocean: you can take the Bible seriously. The house wife pounding out tapa, feeding the pigs, washing clothes, making school uniforms for the children: you, too, can trust the Bible.

To the wife and children whose husband and daddy is overseas or out somewhere on a ship: believe God and His Bible. To the government workers and leaders who try their best to run the country: take God and His Bible seriously.

In the Bible you will find comfort, wisdom, encouragement, instruction, correction, and blessing. Through the Bible you will find the mind of God. Through the Bible you can find how to have your sins forgiven, go to Heaven, have peace with God through Jesus Christ, and have fulfillment in this life.

The Bible is incapable of teaching deception. It is sufficient in all questions of faith and practice. It is understandable. Just every day people can comprehend what it says. The Bible is authoritative. It is not forged, and the texts are truthful. The Bible is a wonderful treasure that God has given us. Now let’s go to the third question: Why did God give us the Bible?

Ill. WHY DID GOD GIVE US THE BIBLE?

A. The first of three reasons is that the Bible is the standard of judgment used against those who reject our precious Savior, Jesus. Christ Himself said, “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:48).

When a thief, or someone who is convicted of a crime, comes before the judge to be sentenced, the judge bases his sentence upon the constitution and laws of that country. In the same way, Jesus is saying that when those who reject Christ step up before the judgment seat of God, that person will receive his or her sentence based upon the Bible.

B. A second reason God gave us the Bible is to tell us how to be saved - that is very good news! God revealed this wonderful news to us through His great Apostle Paul, “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15).

When a ship or fishing boat comes in to a harbor there is a great danger of running aground on the jagged reefs. That would mean loss of the ship. To help ships to come safely through the channel, governments have put up a series of lights and markers to guide the ship. If the captain or pilot goes by those lights, then they will safely berth at the wharf.

The same is true of the Bible. It is a light and marker to point us safely to the harbor of salvation, spiritually speaking. Just as the harbor is salvation for the ships, Christ is our harbor of salvation. And just as the deep channel is the way to the harbor, faith is the way to Jesus Christ, according to the Bible.

There is nothing we can do to get safely to heaven except to personally receive Jesus Christ as our Savior. Just as we place our trust in those channel markers (to turn the metaphor a wee bit), we place our trust in Christ to save us from our sins and take us to heaven when we die. That is faith. Baptism, good works, church membership (even religion) or anything else cannot get us to heaven, only faith in Jesus Christ, according to the Bible. Salvation is a personal relationship with Christ, not keeping a set of religious rules or rites.

C. The third reason for the Bible is to give the Christian doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction that we may be adequate and equipped for good works in this life (2 Timothy 3:16, 17). We do not do good works to become a Christian, but because we are Christians. We must be careful to keep the cart after the horse and not before. This brings us to a close for this lesson. I have answered the three key questions: what is the Bible? How do we know what the Bible is? Why did God give us the Bible? Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation - Mark 16:15.Sing His praise... you islands and those who dwell on them - Isaiah 42:10.

NEXT, CHAPTER TWO: Doctrine of God

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