Welcome to Word of Life Study Series. The Foundation for our Faith- The Inspiration of the Scriptures. God’s Word is our final authority for all matters that pertain to life and conduct. The Bible is our source for all direct revelation from God concerning Himself, mankind, redemption and a glimpse into the endless ages of eternity. In this day when it seems the whole world doubts that there is an absolute truth, this topic is more appropriate than ever. The basic question is this: Can we trust the Scriptures? To what extent is it trustworthy? Is it authoritative only in matters of faith, or are its historical and scientific declarations also to be trusted? Is the Bible just the human testimony of divine revelation, and therefore subject to error? Is the Bible really the Word of God, or is it just the method that God uses to deal with us through His Spirit? The answers to these questions depend on the definition of inspiration.
1. No Contradictions
The Bible was written by 40 different men over a 1,500 year period, in different parts of the world, time, environment, personalities and culture. Yet they were consistent in what they wrote and did not contradict one another. The only solution is a divine author spoke through them. The Bible is the Word of God, preserved by God, and inspired by God. The Bible is not a mythological book of old wives tales and fables that man made up! Most of the authors were eyewitnesses of the things they wrote about and simply bore witness to what they saw and heard.
2. Inspired by the Holy Spirit
The Bible is the inspired, God-breathed Word of God. The Bible is an inherent, infallible book. It contains words, phrases, and sentences as it was originally written. The Word of God contains no errors. Doctrinally there is no error. The essence of the Word is still intact even when it is translated into other languages. God is more than able to preserve the integrity of His Word and to protect His eternal truths for all generations.
3. Must put it into Practice
The Word of God will only benefit us when we actually put it into practice consistently in our lives as a lifestyle of faith and obedience. Otherwise, we are simply deceiving ourselves; living unchanged lives. The Bible was not meant to be read like a magazine or newspaper. Just pick it up at our leisure and flip through the pages and read the articles we only like and say, “Oh that’s nice, hey John come look at the pretty pictures in the back of my Bible,” and then the next minute forget what we just read (like the Sunday morning message we heard last week). At least that is better then what happens to some Bibles, they become beautiful ornaments on the coffee table to display our piety, yet the pages are still stuck together because they are never opened. God is calling us to a vibrant living faith that starts by getting back to the Bible and seriously reading it with the intention of putting it into practice in every area of life.