02_01 Claims of the Bible

The first Document in Section 2, Document #02_01, is a necessary step back to
look at the very Claims of the Bible.
Is it the Word of God? Can we completely trust its teachings to guide us into all
truth? If truth is what you seek, realize that we are of all men most miserable, if it is not what it claims to be! Without this anchor to God’s truth, we would be fully at the whim of fallen men, to guide us in our spiritual life! Read and heed!

CLAIMS OF THE BIBLE

Your Personal Encounter with the
Claims of an Ancient Book

It may seem more exciting to probe the strange markings on some cliff in Peru, or to speculate about the helmeted astronauts, or supposed ancient airfields of the latest paperback, than to pick up the Book that has been around longer than you can remember and which at the moment may even be embarrassingly dusty. But men’s bursts of speculation come and go like lightning flashes in the night storm, while the Book we call the Bible has, through the centuries:
*Defied every threat.
*Outsold every best seller.
*Proved itself indestructible.
But if the Bible is Divinely inspired, no wonder history has followed its predictions like a blueprint. However, much depends on the spirit, the motives, the attitudes, that are brought to the study of the Bible! If we approach the Bible like some sort of encyclopedia of religious information, or a collection of interesting facts – it won’t do much for us.
That’s nothing more than playing games with the Bible.

Some people would rather not know what the Bible says. They rationalize that “what you don’t know won’t hurt you.” But today, aren’t we too enlightened for such reasoning?
There was a day when surgeons wore overalls in the operating room – because what sensible man would want to get his regular clothes bloodstained? But what they didn’t know cost countless lives!

There are times when ignorance is tragedy, when IGNORANCE IS SIN!

Is a man to blame if he cannot believe? Sometimes he is. A man is at fault when he refuses to expose himself to truth. Realize that doubt is often more a matter of the emotions than of the intellect.
One other caution – it would be possible to paper the walls with Bible-course diplomas and yet never know what the Good Book is really all about! The heart of the Bible is the Man, Jesus Christ. No wonder Dr. J. B. Phillips said, as he translated the letters of the apostle Paul, that he “felt rather like an electrician re-wiring an ancient house without being able to ‘turn the mains off!'”

So now we turn to the Bible to find:
The Way to Truth and Life.

1. How much of the Bible is inspired by God? What does the Bible claim?
2 Timothy 3:16:
Answer: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”

2. How did the Bible come to mankind?
2 Peter 1:21:
Answer: “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

The Bible authors wrote that which Holy Spirit impressed on their minds. It was God’s thought, passed along to us through human agents.

3. What are four reasons for the Scriptures?
2 Timothy 3:16:
Answer: 1. For doctrine 2. For reproof 3. For correction 4. For instruction in righteousness

4.What else has God designed the study of the Bible to do for us?
2 Timothy 3:15:
Answer: “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.”
Paul tells us that studying the Bible will inform us, teach, instruct us, and make us wise regarding salvation. But God’s Word has saving power only as it awakens in us a faith in Jesus.

5. What did Peter say about God’s Holy Scriptures?
2 Pet. 1:19:
Answer: “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.”

The Day Star – that’s one of the many names of Jesus. So the real goal of Bible study is that Jesus, the Day Star, the Light of the world, will dwell in our hearts.

6. Do we really incorporate Jesus’ life into our life by studying the Bible? What did Jesus say on the subject?
John 14:6:
Answer: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”
On another occasion, Jesus prayed to His Father,”Sanctify them [My followers]
through thy Truth: thy Word is Truth.” John 17:17:
Jesus is truth, and His Word is truth. There is no contradiction between Jesus and His Word in the Bible. We cannot separate Jesus from His Word, and we cannot separate the Written Word from Jesus, the Living Word. We find the saving truth about Jesus in the Scriptures.

7. What interesting term did John use to describe Jesus?
John 1:14:
Answer: “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.”

So, if we want to know what God is like, or what God’s Law and His government are like, we can look at Jesus in the Bible. We find the life of Jesus revealed in the Word of God. No wonder John called Jesus the Word!

8. Why is it so important that we study the Bible?
John 5:39:
Answer: “Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify [“bear witness,” NASB] of Me.”
The Scriptures, you see, tell us about Jesus. They help us to become acquainted with Him. Obviously, Jesus’ words here include the Old Testament, because when He made this statement, the New Testament had not yet been written. Only the Old Testament Scriptures existed.
In fact, Jesus specifically told His disciples that the Scriptures, which today we call the Old Testament, revealed Him.
The ultimate purpose of Bible study in general and this study in particular is that we might have a life-transforming encounter with Jesus. The Word has a unique power to change the lives of men and women.

9. Into what three divisions comprising the Old Testament do we find information concerning Jesus?
Luke 24:27, 44:
Answer: 1. In the law of Moses (the first 5 books of the Old Testament) 2. In the prophets 3. In the Psalms

10. How can we test our ideas to determine whether they are truth? What did the people in the city of Berea do when Paul preached the Gospel to them?
Acts 17:11:
Answer: “They received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”

Apparently, these people brought the teaching of the apostle Paul to the test of the Scriptures. They checked everything he told them by the truth they found in God’s Word. In the same way we need to keep searching the Bible for ourselves. MOST
IMPORTANT BIBLE COUNSEL – We must test every religious teaching by the great standard of God’s Inspired Word.

11. But how can we know that we understand the Bible correctly? How can we guard against incorrect interpretations?
John 7:17:
Answer: “If any man will do His [God’s] will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of Myself.”
What an assurance! If we are willing to obey, Jesus Himself promises us that we will recognize truth. We may not know all of His will right now. We may not even understand today what our Lord may ask of us tomorrow, but whatever it may be, we need to be willing. If that is our attitude, Jesus assures us that He will direct us into all truth. Thank You, Jesus, for that promise!
That’s just what we need!

12. The Book of Daniel was sealed from man’s understanding, “till the time of the end.” How it was unsealed is of supreme importance to our being led into all truth by Jesus.
A truly earnest seeker for truth, William Miller, an obscure farmer in New England (early America), after much reading of the Scriptures, was led by Holy Spirit to recognize Isaiah 28, verses 9 to 13 (read) for what it is:
Holy Spirit’s prescription for Bible study METHOD.

Whenever a question arose about a verse or sentence in Scripture, by comparing that verse with another verse somewhere else in the Bible that uses the same wording (“line upon line”) God’s own answer to the question could be found within the Bible! Amazingly, it worked every time! God somehow got every Bible writer, and even every Bible translator of the Protestant King James Version of the Bible, to use the same key-words when writing on the same subject! This was God’s doing, so that the prophecies of the Bible, in Daniel especially, and Revelation as well, would be unsealed
for the “time of the end” just before our Saviour returns in the Advent!
A Concordance, a book developed to show every place in the Bible that a key-word is used, beginning in Genesis and progressing to Revelation, for each word, became William Miller’s constant companion. It should become yours too! “Whom shall He [Holy Spirit] teach knowledge, and whom shall He make to understand doctrine?” You, if you desire to be led into all truth, by Jesus! Jesus sent to us Holy Spirit, to be our teacher after He went away to Heaven to commence His work for our salvation in the heavenly Sanctuary! John 14, verse 26.

THINK IT THROUGH Prayer and Bible study are our tools of communication with God. In prayer we talk to Him. As we study the Bible, He talks to us!

WHAT WAS YOUR IMPRESSION?

You have read the lesson. You’ve looked up the Scriptures. You have seen God answer the questions [maybe they were even your questions].
Now, please check off, after each of the following questions, the answer you believe to be correct.

Does the Bible claim to be inspired by God?
__ definitely __not sure __ in a way.

Why do the Bible writers exhibit such remarkable agreement among themselves?
__they got together __the Bible really has One Author __we can’t know

What, or who, is the real heart of the Bible?
__its history __its predictions __Jesus

What is the most important thing to have as we begin Bible study?
__an intelligent mind __a willing heart __plenty of time

Analyze your own attitude. Do you have a willing heart?
__yes __no __I want to have

What personal benefits do we receive from studying God’s Word?   2 Tim. 3:16. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A MOMENT OF MEDITATION

Dear Father, why have I waited so long to open the only Book that counts? Why have I thought of it as something theological that I could never understand? I see now that the Book lives, because Jesus is in it. It tells me about Jesus; why He came, and why He died. I want to know the Book, because I want to know Jesus. Thank You for making that possible. Thank You for Holy Spirit’s prescription for correct Bible Study.
In the name of Jesus, our Saviour, Amen.

Download & Print Pamphlet Form