Word of God

Point #1: The Word of God

We believe that the Bible is the Word of God, fully inspired and without error in the original manuscripts, written by men under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and that it has supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.

Word of God

Hebrews 1:1-2, 2:3 God spoke through prophets, Jesus Christ and the apostles.

Illustration: Amos 7:14-16

Point: God is speaking. The scriptures are first of all, His thoughts. They are not man-made.

Fully inspired

2 Timothy 3:16-17 To inspire means “1. to breathe or blow upon, 2. To influence, move, or guide, 3. to exert an animating, enlivening, or exalting influence.” (Webster)

Illustration: Galatians 3:16

Point: Every part of the scripture is “God breathed”. This has reference to individual words as well as whole books.

Without error in the original manuscripts

This statement is required because of modern doubts and techniques. Printed bibles have typographical errors. Years ago men producing hand written copies made errors as well. All of these are minor errors however.

Illustration: 1 Samuel 6:19

Point: The word for “cow” and the word for “thousand” in Hebrew are almost identical. It is most probable that the text should read “fifty cows and seventy men”. It is highly unlikely that 50,070 men would have been present in that location.

Written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit

2 Peter 1:20-21 The personalities of the men were used to communicate divine truth.

Illustration: 2 Samuel 23:1-2 Using the thoughts and vocabulary of David, the Spirit of God gave the message of God.

Point: The task of each reader is to understand as best as possible what the Holy Spirit had directed to be written.

Has supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.

Matthew 4:4 The authority of the Bible includes matters of faith such as doctrine and also matters of science such as creation.

Illustration: Matthew 19:4 Jesus believed in the Genesis account. If the Bible is not the supreme authority in all matters on which it speaks, how can one tell which parts are correct or which are incorrect.