The Bible, The Truth, The Living Word of God
For Christians the Bible is more than just a book of words it is God’s love story to the world.
The Bible is the living Word of our God. It shows us the true nature of God, it is authoritative.
God is authoritative. It is the breathed word which is inspired by God. There is no fault no error
no lie in God. Therefore the Bible in its entirety is without error or fault in all its teaching, even
thou some may argue against the inerrancy of the Bible. By its teaching and living inspired
Word of God it is an example of the way we should live our lives.
The Bible is authoritative to us as Christians because it is from God and about God. The Bible
was inscribed roughly over a period of 2000 years by a diverse group of men to form a perfectly
cohesive account of the love of God for His people. “The Bible points beyond itself to God, it
has conferred authority.” ( Elwell 2001) This means that the authority of the Bible has been
granted or bestowed, the authority has been given to it. The Bible is the revelation of God. God
is by His very nature is authoritative.
In 2 Timothy 3:16 Paul writes:” 16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,”( NKJV). The
word inspired means “ breathed out of God”. God breathed life into the Scriptures making the
Bible the living Word of God. In 2 Peter 21 it is stated that “but holy men of God spake as they
were moved by the Holy Ghost.(KJV)” God moved them He inspired them to write on His
behalf. The King James Version has “Thus Saith the Lord 413 “God said” 46
times(http://carm.org/bible-inspired). God spoke through the prophets, the Spirit of the Lord
spoke through His people. God inspired, God breathed. God is without error without fault.
Inerrancy of the Bible simple means that the Bible tells the truth and by the truth it is without
error. The inerrancy of the Bible is supported by the teachings of Jesus. Christ said in Matthew
4:4 “ we are to live by the very word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Again in Mathew 5
17-18 Christ promised that He has come to fulfill the words of the prophets. He spoke about the
Old Testament as actual history. Scripture is God’s word so it must be fulfilled. Christ said in
John 17:17 “17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”(NKJV). In addition to Christ
supporting the inerrancy of the Bible there are an additional Four arguments in support of the
Bibles inerrancy. The strongest of these arguments is The Biblical Argument. Simply stated the
Bible teaches its own inerrancy thus we should accept the Bibles claim about itself. Secondly
the Historical Argument the church has historically believed in the inerrancy of the Scriptures.
Then there is the Epistemological Argument states that if we deny the inerrancy of the Bible we
have no foundation for knowledge at all. If we cannot rely on the Bible than all our claims have
become suspect. The last argument that in a way ties itself into the Epistemological Argument is
the Slippery Slope. This argument says that if we give up on our belief of the inerrancy of the
Bible we will lose more of our Christian faith and this could lead into a life of despondency that
is a life without hope. This is a weak argument for inerrancy. The Bible is truth and we have
hope in the truth that is the inspired and inerrant word of God.
The relationship between the inspired word and the inerrant word of God is that the
inspiration “ God breathed “ supports the inerrancy of the Bible. In Paul’s greeting to Titus his
words are”1 Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of
God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of
eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, 3 but has in due time
manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the
commandment of God our Savior; (Titus 1:1-3 NKJV). God cannot lie, he promised before time
began. His Word is truth with error and breathed into the hearts of man.
As a Christian we have a life full of hope that is in the resurrection of Christ. We do not live in
a state of despondency. The Word of God is a living truth. It is in us that the Holy Spirit indwells
through all times He is faithful to His promise. This means that as Christians we are to conform
ourselves to the will of God. To yield to His authority that is written upon the pages of the Bible.
As Christians believing in the truth of the Bible we can be thoroughly equipped for God’s work.
Word count: # 841
