God’s Word is Truth

?John 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.

II Timothy 3:14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. 15. And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Introduction:

In our world today, there is a great lack of truth. In virtually any newsworthy event, you may receive radically differing ideas of what happened and what is truth. We truly live in what the Bible describes as perilous times. As Christians, we can go to the Holy Scriptures. Scriptures mean writing. The God who cannot lie provides us with the truth there.

The inspiration of all scripture:

When Jesus was confronted by Satan in the wilderness to miraculously change stones into bread, he stated: Matthew 4:4 It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every world that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Here we find two principles: 1. God does speak, and 2. Man should not only hear but obey (live by) every single word which God speaks. ?In his letter to Timothy, Paul explains: 2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God… The word inspiration does not mean that he was inspired to do something, like we might say that Shakespeare was inspired to write Macbeth, but here is used to translate a Greek word meaning God-breathed. So, every word of the Bible was breathed out by God. God did not inspire the penman, but the very words he breathed out. He supervened in such a way that the authors wrote what God wanted them to write, but in their own style. Sometimes they did not understand what they were writing. Daniel the prophet received many revelations to record: Daniel 12:8 And I heard, but understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? 9. And he said, Go thy way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Thus, Daniel wrote what God wanted, but the meaning was hidden until the appropriate time for them to be understood.?

To reiterate, every word of the Bible is correct. It is not to say that the Bible contains God’s word, which leaves open the possibility that some words are from God and some from man. Nor is it adequate or accurate to state that God controlled the thoughts of men, and then they recorded their thoughts in their own words. No – the inspiration extends to the actual words. Jesus is speaking: Matthew 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle (the smallest letter and part of a letter in Hebrew) shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

The necessity of all scripture:

The Bible is really a compendium of 66 books. Some are long; others are very short, but all are necessary to give a complete picture of God of God’s message to us. Like a picture puzzle missing one piece, the Bible without even a short book like Obadiah or II John is incomplete. The Bible is God’s revelation to us of what He wants us to know about Him and how we are to live. We need each book, but not other books, which may be helpful but are not the Scriptures inspired by God. For example, the book of I Maccabees may give us some useful information about the time between the Old and New Testaments, but it is not inspired and infallible.

?We must not add nor subtract from God’s word. Revelation 22:18 For I testify to every man that heareth the words of prophecy in this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. Don’t add; don’t subtract.

The sufficiency of all scripture:

The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ, the Word of God (See John 1:1) is sufficient. Colossians 2:9 For in him (Jesus Christ) dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. 10. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power… Likewise, the written Word of God is sufficient. II Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17. That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. The Bible teaches us proper knowledge of God and His desires for us (doctrine). The Bible reproves us when we stray from God’s desires for our lives in our belief or action. The Bible also corrects us as to what we should do, and gives us instruction as to how to please God. When the Bible has done its work in our lives, we can be complete or mature (the meaning of the word perfect in Greek), and we are equipped to lead a God-pleasing life.