Today we are beginning our new series that will take us to Christmas morning. This series is called Sure Foundations – Why We Believe What We Believe. Over the next nine weeks, we will be exploring the following topics…
Today, we will discuss the scriptures being inspired and what that means.
In Week 2, we will discuss the idea of the one true God and the Deity (or divine character) of Jesus
In week 3, we will discuss the fall of man and the plan of salvation.
In week 4, we will discuss the ordinances of the church.
In Week 5, we will discuss the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and the initial physical evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
In Week 6, we will discuss Sanctification (the process of being made holy)
In Week 7, we will discuss the church and its mission
In Week 8, we will discuss Divine Healing.
And in Week 9, we will discuss the Blessed Hope, Millennial Reign, the Final Judgement, and the New Heaven and Earth.
Why will this series matter? If my job is to equip you to do the work of the ministry, then I need to do my part in ensuring you are building your house on a firm foundation.
Listen to Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:24-29 (ESV)…
You need to know this… Storms and trials WILL come. It’s not a matter of IF, but WHEN and our foundation will be tested!
FOUNDATION 1: The scriptures are inspired by God and declare His design and plan for mankind.
What exactly does inspiration mean? Literally, 'to inspire' means to breathe. The scriptures are 'God-breathed. The original Greek means DIVINELY breathed. The Bible is verbally inspired: This means the words of the Bible, not just the lessons or ideas taught, were inspired.
God used human authors through the Holy Spirit to write what He revealed in the Bible. God did not dictate the Scriptures verse by verse but guided the writers within the framework of their personalities and backgrounds. This is why you see many different styles in the Bible.
As a result, the Bible is free from error in what it says about geography, history, and science as well as what it says about God. So before I go any further, I want to clarify that. And this clarity might be for you or to share with someone else.
When I say that the scripture is inspired, I am referring to the original autograph or the original copy. While I think the processes and the teams that have translated the Bible into English are good, there can be issues.
One of the prime examples is trying to translate concepts from Hebrew or Greek into English. Let me give you an example coming from our Language…
Cat Got Your Tongue
He really hit a home run
Snug As A Bug In A Rug
I have butterflies in my stomach
You may never use any of those daily, but you know what they all mean. However, if I were to preach a message in another country, and they translated those statements word for word, the hearers of that message would not understand what I was saying. So teams of scholars work to study the original languages to understand the culture and translate it into our language.
From there, the teams of scholars' philosophy impacts how it is translated. Some go literal word for word, and some go concept for concept. Then you have versions like The Message, which is a paraphrase, not a translation.
Does inspiration really matter? Absolutely. If the Bible were not inspired, it would simply be a piece of literature. Without inspiration, you have no 'Word of God; you lose the foundation of the Bible. All other doctrines and questions about the Bible, whether about Jesus Christ or his miracles, the church, the kingdom, or prophecies, can only be defended if the Biblical text is reliable and comes directly from God.
How were writers inspired?
Here are the four methods used to inspire the authors of the Bible.
Method
God described directly to the writer | Creation of the universe and the human race (Gen: 1-2)
Writers actually witnessed the event | The Resurrection and Jesus’ miracles (John 20:3-9)
Copied from other texts handed down from eyewitnesses | The creation of Luke’s gospel (Luke 1:1-4)
God spoke directly to the prophets | “This is what the Lord...says” (Jer. 30:1-2)
The Bible answers questions nothing else in the world can ever answer and prepares us for what God has for us. The Bible is the written word of God, and it tells us:
1. Where we came from (Genesis 1:1 - In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.)
2. Our ultimate destiny (John 3:16 For God so loved the world,[a] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
3. Purpose of our lives (Matthew 28:19 - Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
4. Practical instructions (Matthew 7:12 - “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.)
5. Encouragement (Hebrews 12:1-3 - Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.
6. Warnings (James 3:1 - Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.)
7. Wisdom (Proverbs 9:10 - The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.)
8. Equips us for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17 - All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God[a] may be complete, equipped for every good work.)
The Bible is Comprised of the OLD TESTAMENT and the NEW TESTAMENT, And Both Are Inspired!
The Bible is made up of two sections:
Old Testament (covenant) 39 Books
Law, Historical books, Poetry, Wisdom, Prophets
Written in Hebrew & Aramaic
The Old Testament is a foreshadowing of Jesus and is pointing toward Jesus.
In all honesty, there are moments in the Old Testament that can feel confusing. It is as if you feel like, “I have read that before.” I would encourage everyone in their life to read the Bible Chronologically at least once.
A read-through Chronilogically helps you eliminate confusion and feel like the Bible contradicts itself. Remember, context is key.
New Testament (covenant) 27 books
Gospel, Acts of the church, Epistles (letters to individuals or churches, Future Prophecy
Written largely in Greek
While the Bible is a unified book, there are differences between the Old and New Testaments. In many ways, they are complementary.
The Old Testament is foundational; the New Testament builds on that foundation with further revelation from God.
THE NEW TESTAMENT IS IN THE OLD CONCEALED, AND THE OLD TESTAMENT IS IN THE NEW REVEALED
Here is what Jesus says in John 5:36-40 (ESV). At this time, they only had the Old Testament, Jesus was teaching his disciples that the entire Old Testament POINTS FORWARD TO HIM!
In every book of the Old Testament, we can see Jesus!
Genesis: Light of the World = Jesus
Exodus: Passover Lamb = Jesus
Leviticus: High Priest = Jesus
Deuteronomy: Moses [Deliverer] = foreshadows Jesus
Joshua: Captain of the Lord’s Host = Jesus
Judges: Land without a King = a land without Jesus
Ruth: Boaz [Kinsman Redeemer] = foreshadows Jesus
Hosea: Redeemer = Jesus
How Did We Get The Bible?
There was a REMARKABLE amount of precision that was used in comprising the Bible we have today - in fact, FAR MORE DETAIL and PRECISION than any other book on the planet.
Creation - 1400 B.C. - Originally, the earliest Scriptures are handed down from generation to generation orally.
Moses lived between 1500 and 1300 BC, though he recounts events in the first eleven chapters of the Bible that occurred long before his time (such as the creation and the flood).
These earliest accounts were handed on from generation to generation in songs, narratives, and poetry.
In those early societies, there was no writing, yet people passed on these oral accounts with great detail and accuracy.
The earliest writing began when symbols were scratched or pressed on clay tablets; the Egyptians refined this technique and developed an early form of writing known as hieroglyphics. The Bible tells us that Moses was “educated in all the learning of the Egyptians,” so he would have been familiar with the major writing systems of his time.
We also read that God gave Moses “two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God” (Exodus 31:18). All this leads to the conclusion that the earliest writings in the Bible were set down around 1400 BC.
1400–400 B.C. Books of the Hebrew Old Testament written
The stone tablets of the Ten Commandments are given to Moses at Mount Sinai.
250–200 B.C. The Septuagint, a popular Greek translation of the Old Testament, produced
The word Septuagint means seventy in Latin and refers to the 70 Jewish scholars who supposedly worked on the translation
NOT a singular or unified translation
NOT completed by one group/council
NOT existing in one book/scroll
WAS the Greek Translation of the Pentateuch (first five books of the OT: Genesis - Deuteronomy)
WAS the EARLIEST TRANSLATION of the Hebrew Bible
COPIED METICULOUSLY BY HAND
Translators WERE NOT permitted to copy by MEMORY, instead by EVERY letter
A.D. 45–85 Books of the Greek New Testament written
The Apostles of Jesus, most of which were eyewitnesses of His life and ministry, wrote the New Testament
AD 397 Council of Carthage establishes orthodox New Testament canon (27 books)
A.D. 1382 The first complete English-language version of the Bible dated from 1382 and was credited to John Wycliffe and his followers.
AD 1604-1611, King James assembled 54 scholars at Westminster, Oxford, and Cambridge to translate the Bible.
The translators were committed to producing an English Bible that would be a precise translation, not a paraphrase or approximate rendering.
What Criteria Were Used To Include A Book in the New Testament?
1. Was it written by a recognized prophet or apostle
2. Was it written by those associated with recognized prophet or apostle
3. Truthfulness (Deut. 18:20-22)
4. Faithfulness to previously accepted canonical writings (Old Testament)
5. Confirmed by Christ, prophet, apostle (e.g. Luke 24:44; 2 Pet. 3:16)
6. Church Usage and Recognition
Want to study this topic deeper? Then check out the full message here on YouTube!