While many people started new Bible reading or devotional plans this year, many others may still wonder “what’s the point?” There are many great options for Bible reading or devotional plans. I am grateful to be part of an incredible project that helps bring the Bible to life through a daily cinematic experience that keeps people engaged. The Bible in a Year with Jack Graham podcast launched last fall on Pray.com. The Bible is the very Word of God through which He reveals Himself to us, and it is vital that we engage with it daily. Here are a few reasons we know the Bible is true and contains God’s words for us today.
2 Timothy 3:16–17 is a rather powerful testimony to the message of God;
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (NKJV)
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God ….”
That part alone brings me to the conclusion that no standalone part or portion of Scripture is inspired — but that all Scripture is inspired.
We can believe the Bible is the authoritative, accurate Word of God because of its origin. This is not a mere human book filled with religious sayings or human philosophy, nor is it the opinion of priest or prophet; rather, it is the sure Word of God.
The word “inspired” in the Bible literally means “to breathe out.” God Himself has breathed out His Scripture. He certainly used personalities — human instruments — to fulfill the task. God provided the words, and men wrote them down. However, these men were not automatons or robots that simply entered into trances and wrote down these words. Instead, God used their specific backgrounds, divinely-created personalities, distinct vocabularies, and personal testimonies to intricately form the perfect Word of God according to His will.
We now must consider the simple fact that the Word of God is inerrant in its entirety. Each and every word in the Scripture is an inspired word of God, given to us in the exact way God wanted to communicate to us, without error in a single sentence, word, or phrase.
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” Matthew 5:17-18 (NKJV)
Here we see Jesus Himself point out that not even the smallest marking in the Hebrew language – a period, comma, or punctuation point– is erroneous. So, I ask you this: do you believe a pure, holy, undefiled God can or would inspire error?
Jesus said every word in Scripture, not just in thought or in the big picture, is given by the inspiration of God. In considering all Scripture– not just spiritual truth and moral truth– but historical truth and scientific truth as well, we are, indeed, left with a miracle message.
Though the Bible is written from the penmanship of 40 different authors over the course of 1,400 years, the constant theme of Scripture always points to Jesus.
From the country farmer Amos who delivered a message, to the prince of the prophets Isaiah who was an educated spokesman for the Lord, to the mighty intellect Paul who wrote much of the New Testament after his powerful transformation, to the fisherman Peter who was bold and less educated, maintaining a rustic vocabulary – we witness all the nuances, all the vocabularies and all the personalities of the human authors who wrote the compiled, perfect, inspired Word of God.
God so specifically formed and framed these individuals that when they wrote, inspired by the Spirit of God, they included in the Bible precisely everything God wanted included, commensurately excluding what He did not.
This is holy inspiration in all its divine perfection.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 (ESV)
The Word is the communication of the idea of God and God’s idea Himself. Jesus is the communication of God Himself; He is the living, breathing Word of God. In the written Word, we have the dynamic of the life of God along with the very breath of God.
Jesus Himself believed the Bible; a denial of inspiration gets to the point of undermining the very nature and character of God Himself. In consideration of the fact that Jesus believed Scripture completely, we are left to believe one of the following:
The Bible has errors in it, and Jesus didn’t know it, implying Jesus in His humanity had a blank space in terms of knowledge, wisdom or intelligence.
The Bible has errors in it, Jesus knew it, and He didn’t say anything about it, implying that Jesus merely accommodated Himself to the ignorance of the times, believing the Bible was full of non-factual material but refraining from letting people know this in avoidance of disappointing humanity. This puts into question the veracity of Christ Himself, alluding to the notion that Jesus lied rather than tell the truth.
The Bible is inerrant; Jesus knew it, and He proclaimed it. Jesus inevitably affirmed Scripture to be true. John and Luke give express examples for Christ’s belief that Moses wrote the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible), dispelling the argument that it was written by various writers who produced a compilation of religious thought from early man. In Matthew 19, Jesus also affirmed that Adam and Eve were more than figments, but rather the first man and woman created by God instinctively and uniquely. Additionally, Jesus believed in the historicity and the actuality of a worldwide flood and a man by the name of Noah who built an ark instead of referencing it to be an allegory of any kind. Furthermore, Matthew 12:40 shows us that Christ Himself linked the promise of His Resurrection with the reality of Jonah’s real testimony from the belly of the fish.
Of course, there are metaphors, analogies, parables, poetic licenses and proverbs in Scripture; these are explicit. In fact, there are a plethora of different styles of literature within the Word because God used a gamut of human creativity paired with His own power and inspiration to give us the Bible.
Once we understand and truly begin to believe that the Bible is, indeed, the Word of God – it will work in our lives. It is a weak argument to reason that the Bible works and, therefore, must be true; rather, the reality is the reverse: because the Bible is true, it works.
Returning back to the first Scripture mentioned in this piece, we see Paul express that the Word of God is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness. These four elements are individually and collectively valuable. There is a healthy balance involved in divinely incorporating these four parts into our lives, our ministries and our church communities through the practical application of the Word of God.
God empowers, illuminates, and ignites His own Word by the power of the Holy Spirit. When this happens, it becomes alive, awakened within our hearts. At a certain point, the evidence that the Bible is infallible truth becomes undeniable. It is at this point that we receive the Word of God by faith or deny it out of rebellion. There is an inevitable element of faith in believing the Bible; – the entirety of Scripture teaches faith; therefore, faith (or lack thereof) within our own hearts ultimately becomes reality.
There is infinite evidence that God’s Word is truth; if you’re a skeptic, I challenge you to examine the evidence for yourself. Many individuals who claim not to believe the Bible have never even read it themselves. They have not earnestly sought truth and are simply regurgitating what someone else told them about the Bible.
Ultimately, the Bible is God’s love story – His intricate, perfect message of love and grace to us all, explained through His divine plan of salvation in Jesus Christ, the incarnate and eternal Word of the Living God.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 (NIV)
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Dr. Jack Graham encourages people with their daily readings of God’s Word through his “Bible in a Year with Jack Graham” podcast, available on pray.com. The upcoming Easter-focused segments offer insight into the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus, providing listeners with context and understanding for this important historical event. Dr. Graham is Senior Pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church, the author of numerous books and a renowned Bible teacher.