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Chapter 51 - Word of God |
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The Holy Bible is the living (zoe) word of God. It is the guide for the faith and practice of the New Testament church.
Scripture The Holy Bible proclaims to be Scripture. Translated from the Greek word graphe (graf-ay’), the English word “scripture” means “holy writings.” The New Testament refers to the Old Testament as “Scripture” 51 times. It also refers to itself as “Scripture.” In writing to Timothy, Paul acknowledged the writing of Luke as equivalent to Scripture. (1 Timothy 5:18) In addition, the Apostle Peter referred to the writing of Paul as Scripture. (2 Peter 3:15-16) Accurately Handling the Word It is helpful to understand some important truths in order to accurately "handle" or understand the word of God. For example, its origin and inspiration, intended audience, and spiritual nature. Divine Origin and Inspiration The apostolic teaching and tradition of the New Testament was divinely originated and inspired. Their divine origination and inspiration are supported internally by unity of composition, narrative events, prophetic content, and direct proclamation. It is corroborated externally by history and archaeology. The composition of the Bible provides significant evidence of its divine origin and inspiration. Although diverse in content, it remains one cohesive document. The Bible is a collection of 66 different books written in three different languages on three different continents by 40 different authors over nearly 1600 years. The 66 books include several different styles of literature, including legal, historical narrative, poetic, prophetic, gospel narrative, and epistolary. Regardless of its diverse content, the Bible presents one consistent theme and message revealed progressively from beginning to end without contradiction. The divine origin and inspiration of the Bible are also evidenced by the events narrated within its pages. Many of the events are communicated from an eternal perspective. Therefore, they could not have been written by man alone. For example, the Bible describes the existence of God in eternity before the creation of the world and His continued intervention from eternity afterward. The divine origin and inspiration of the Bible are further evidenced through its prophetic content. Nearly one-third of the Bible is comprised of literature that is prophetic. Although written in the past, its prophecies have never failed to reveal the fulfillment of future events consistently and accurately. Beyond its unity of composition, narrative, and prophetic content, the divine origin and inspiration of the Bible are evidenced through direct proclamation. Using phrases such as “Thus says the Lord” and “God said,” it directly quotes God 459 times. Additionally, the human authors of the Bible often claim divine origination and inspiration. (cf. 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; 3:15-16, etc.) The Bible also reveals many instances in which God directly speaks through human beings. (cf. 1 Kings 14:18; 2 Samuel 23:2; 24:11-12; 1 Kings 22:24; 2 Chronicles 20:14-15; Zechariah 7:7; 1 Corinthians 14:37; 2 Peter 3:16) Lastly, the divine origin and inspiration of the Bible are corroborated by the external evidence of history and archaeology. The historical perseverance of the Bible cannot be ignored. It has existed for thousands of years and remains the bestselling book of all time. Additionally, the divine origin and inspiration of the Bible have been gradually but consistently verified by archeological discovery. Much more than a book of religious musings, the Holy Bible constitutes specific communication from the living (zoe) God to humanity. Its divine origin and inspiration are evidenced internally by unity of composition, narrative events, prophetic content, and direct proclamation and confirmed externally by both historical record and archeological discovery. |
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Audience
While the Bible was written for the benefit of all mankind, it was specifically addressed to two audiences. About one-fifth of the Bible was written to the New Testament church. The other four-fifths were written to the nation of Israel. The Jewish Scriptures are not prescriptive for New Testament church practice. Therefore, any attempt to prescribe conduct from them for the church constitutes a serious hermeneutical error that will lead to the deviation of church practice and spiritual fruitlessness. Fundamentally, forcing the grace-based New Testament church to try and fulfill the constitutional law of the ancient nation of Israel is an endeavor that was predetermined to fail. Law-based Israel could not even satisfy its own constitutional law. While not all Scripture applies directly to the church, all Scripture is beneficial for the church. For example, the Old Testament provides general revelation about God and His eternal plan that is beneficial for all mankind. It transcends audience and time. In contrast, the Gospels, the Book of Acts, and the Epistles were for the most part written directly to the New Testament church. The Gospels are foundational for church practice, the Book of Acts is descriptive of church practice, and the Epistles are prescriptive for church practice. Spiritual The Bible is spiritual in nature. “God is Spirit.” (John 4:24) Therefore, His inspired writings must be spiritually appraised. (1 Corinthians 2:14) Spiritual appraisement is a gracious act of God. It occurs only by illumination of the Spirit of God. Summary Divinely originated and inspired, the Holy Bible, the living (zoe) word of God, is the guide for the faith and practice of the New Testament church. Nevertheless, it is important for the church to understand that it was written to two specific audiences and should be understood accordingly. Thus, it must be careful not to apply the Jewish scriptures to its faith and practice. can truly be understood and interpreted only by illumination of the indwelling Spirit of God. |
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