Why I Believe the Bible is the Word of God

I believe that the Bible is the Word of God. The purpose of this study is to share the reasons why I believe the Bible is The Word of God.

Question: What is the Bible? What do you think?

Romans 1:20 (HCSB)
20 From the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse.

One reason I believe the Bible is the Word of God is because of what He has made.

When I was a sophomore at the University of Georgia, the year before I became a Christian, my roommate at the time would get up every morning and read his Bible. One time I came in to our shared room, scoffed at him and asked him, “Why do you read that book?” He said something to the effect of, “I believe the Bible is God’s Word”. When I heard my roommate’s words, my first thought was to scoff at him again but then I had an epiphany. At that time I had been taking a Biology class and we had just learned about the many bones that are in a human hand. So after my roommate said what he said and after my I looked down at my hand, it dawned on me: if God is powerful enough to make something as complicated as my hand and make it work perfectly, surely He is powerful enough to make a book and make that book say exactly what he wants it to say. So for me, even though I wasn’t quite ready to look more into the Bible at this point in my life, it made logical sense: If God can create everything that exists and make everything that exists work exactly the way He wants everything to work, surely He is powerful enough to write a book to the people He created and to make it say exactly what He wants it to say. In other words, I first believed the Bible is the Word of God because of what God has made.

Another reason I believe that the Bible is the Word of God is because the Bible itself claims to be the Word of God.

I. The Bible claims that the Old Testament was spoken by God.

2 Tim 3:14-17 (HCSB)
14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing those from whom you learned, 15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

In approximately 68 AD, the apostle Paul says, “All Scripture is inspired by God”.

What does “inspired by God” mean?

Hold your place there and turn over to 2 Peter 1:20-21. This passage will help us understand what “inspired by God” means:

2 Peter 1:20-21 (HCSB)
20 First of all, you should know this: no prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation, 21 because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, moved by the Holy Spirit, men spoke from God.

In approximately 64-68 AD, the apostle Peter says that the writers of the Scriptures were moved by the Holy Spirit and spoke from God. In other words, ‘inspired by God’ means ‘written by God’. Peter says that God used His Holy Spirit to move men to write down exactly what he wanted them to write down. An analogy to help us understand this is: When we write a letter, we use a pen to write down exactly what we want to say. The pen doesn’t argue with us or misinterpret what we write down because we have complete control over that pen. In the same way, since God has more control over men than we have over a pen, God used men to write down exactly what He wanted to write down.

So let’s go back to the first passage (2 Tim 3:14-17).

Question: What did Paul mean when he said, “All Scripture”?

Answer: Since Paul wrote 2 Tim 3:14-17 in approximately 68 AD and the New Testament was not finished at this point, it is not 100% clear that Paul was saying that the entire Bible (as we have it today) was inspired by God. The entire Old Testament, on the other hand, was completed and considered to be Scripture at the time when Paul wrote this passage. So we know for sure that at the very least, Paul was saying that the entire Old Testament was inspired by God when he said, “All Scripture is inspired by God.”

So what we have established so far is that the Bible absolutely claims that the entire Old Testament is the perfect Word of God. But what about the New Testament?

II. The Bible claims that the New Testament was spoken by God.

A first piece of evidence that supports that the Bible claims that the New Testament was spoken by God:

Even though it is not 100% clear that Paul was also referring to the New Testament when he says, “All Scripture is inspired by God”, it is very possible that this is the case. Lets just suppose for a second that Paul was only referring to the Old Testament when he says, “All Scripture is inspired by God”. Was Paul saying, therefore, that one could be instructed “for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” using only the Old Testament? I can’t see how considering the following:

Jesus Christ is never mentioned by name in the Old Testament.
The New Covenant plan of salvation is never specifically laid out in the Old Testament.
The gospel had not yet happened and is therefore never fully laid out in the Old Testament.
etc.

So a first piece of evidence that supports that the Bible claims that the New Testament was spoken by God is the fact that Paul says that the sacred Scriptures ‘are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus’ right before he says, “All Scripture is inspired by God”, strongly suggests that Paul was also referring to the writings in the New Testament as well as the Old Testament when he says, “All Scripture is inspired by God…”

A second piece of evidence that supports that the Bible claims that the New Testament was spoken by God:

1 Thess 2:13-14 (HCSB)
13 Also, this is why we constantly thank God, because when you received the message about God that you heard from us, you welcomed it not as a human message, but as it truly is, the message of God, which also works effectively in you believers.

1 Cor 14:37 (HCSB)
37 If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, he should recognize that what I write to you is the Lord’s command.

So a second piece of evidence that supports that the Bible claims that the New Testament was spoken by God is that Paul definitely considered at least some of what he said and wrote to be God’s Word.

A third piece of evidence that supports that the Bible claims that the New Testament was spoken by God:

1 Tim 5:18 (HCSB)
18 For the Scripture says: You must not muzzle an ox that is threshing grain, and, The laborer is worthy of his wages.

“The laborer is worthy of his wages” is quoted from Matthew 10:10 or Luke 10:7 and Paul called this Scripture.

So a third piece of evidence that supports that the Bible claims that the New Testament was spoken by God is that Paul definitely considered the gospels to be God’s Word.

A fourth piece of evidence that supports that the Bible claims that the New Testament was spoken by God:

2 Peter 3:15-16 (HCSB)
15 Also, regard the patience of our Lord as [an opportunity for] salvation, just as our dear brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you. 16 He speaks about these things in all his letters, in which there are some matters that are hard to understand. The untaught and unstable twist them to their own destruction, as they also do with the rest of the Scriptures.

In the last part of verse 16, Peter says, “as they also do with with the rest of the Scriptures” showing that Peter considered at least some of Paul’s writings to be Scriptures. If he didn’t consider at least some of Paul’s writings to be Scriptures, he would not have said, “with the rest of the Scriptures”. He would have simply said, “as they do with the Scriptures”.

So a fourth piece of evidence that supports that the Bible claims that the New Testament was spoken by God is that Peter definitely considered at least some of Paul’s writings to be God’s Word.

A fifth piece of evidence that supports that the Bible claims that the New Testament was spoken by God:

John 14:25 (HCSB)
25 “I have spoken these things to you while I remain with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit—the Father will send Him in My name—will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.

John 16:12-13 (HCSB)
12 “I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak whatever He hears. He will also declare to you what is to come.

Jesus said both of the things he said in the two above passages to the Apostles. This is relevant because the entire New Testament was written by either an Apostle or an Apostles’ immediate disciple.

So a fifth piece of evidence that supports that the Bible claims that the New Testament was spoken by God is that Jesus said that after he left, the Father would send the Holy Spirit to teach and remind the apostles of everything that Jesus told them and that the Holy Spirit would guide the apostles into all the truth.

Another reason I believe that the Bible is the Word of God is because of how it has changed my life.

Heb 4:12-13 (HCSB)
12 For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as to divide soul, spirit, joints, and marrow; it is a judge of the ideas and thoughts of the heart. 13 No creature is hidden from Him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account.

The Bible has allowed me to see myself the way that God sees me.

John 8:30-32 (HCSB)
30 As He was saying these things, many believed in Him. 31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you really are My disciples. 32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

The Bible has allowed me to see the truths about my life and to be set free from many of the sins that used to enslave me.

Conclusion: These are only three reasons I believe that the Bible is the Word of God. There are many others that I have not mentioned.

Decision: I challenge you to make a decision about whether or not you believe that the entire original Bible is the perfect Word of God. If you are still not convinced, I challenge you to research, think and pray about whether or not you believe the entire original Bible is the Word of God. What say you?

You can see this and more studies at: https://becomeadiscipleofjesus.com/why-i-believe-the-bible-is-the-word-of-god/