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The Bible |
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The Bible |
The Bible is God's love letter to man. It is an "owner's manual" ... a road map for life. God gave us His Word not only to reveal Himself, but also to tell us how to live fulfilled and productive lives. In the Bible we learn how our sins can be forgiven and how we can be at peace with God.
Grace Brethren believe all 66 books contained within the Old and New Testaments are God's words. Through His Spirit, God used men to write His actual thoughts and words. The Bible is complete as a collection of God's Word. The original form was without error, containing the exact words God wanted. Through the ages, His Word has been preserved so that the standard of all we believe and all we do in obedience to God is found in the Bible.
The Grace Brethren Fellowship's motto is:
Every word contained in the original manuscripts of the Bible was chosen by God. The Bible does not merely "contain" the Word of God in the midst of other words-it is the Word of God, pure and without error. Jesus promised "not one jut or title' (the smallest characters in the Hebrew alphabet) would pass away before heaven and earth pass away (Matthew 5:18). Everything in the Bible is the Word of God-even down to the jots and titles. It is fully trustworthy.
The Word of God was given to man through God's Spirit. This truth is called the inspiration of Scripture.
We often use the word "inspire" to describe the effect of spectacular sunsets or beautiful paintings. It reflects the stimulation of our creative abilities or thoughts. This is not what is meant by God's inspiration of the Bible.
"All Scripture is inspired by God ..." (2 Timothy 3:16). In this case, the meaning of inspire is "to breathe into." This verse can be compared with another passage that tells us how the Bible was written: "... men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God" (2 Peter 1:21). Together, the verses reveal God breathed out His words and the Spirit communicated them to men chosen by God. The men wrote these thoughts down in human words. The Spirit made sure no errors were made in the process and preserved it through time so today's Bible-available in many versions and languages-is an accurate record of the original manuscripts.
The end product is a book that compares to no other. It is actually the words of God.
The process of inspiration was not dictation. God used the individual styles and personalities of the human writers He chose. This is evident in the different books of the Bible. We have the passionate Psalms of David and the pragmatic proverbs Solomon, the simple Greek of John and the theological treatise by Paul.
When God chose men to communicate His words, He was aware of the styles and personalities of those who would record His thoughts. And so we have four writers describing the life of Jesus, but each from a different perspective.
Exactly how did this work? How did God combine man's humanness with His own perfection? The bottom line is a supernatural process-which is how God works!
There are 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament: a total of 66 books. We believe God watched over the process of selecting which writings would become part of the Bible (canonization).
The Bible itself attests to its completeness. It warns of dire consequences to those who would add to it or take away from it (Revelation 22:18).
And aren't you glad it is complete? We can have confidence in what we read. We don't have to be swayed by men who say they have a "new word from God."
Though God's Word was originally written in one of three languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek), today it can be read in over 280 languages. Portions of the Bible have been translated in nearly 1790 languages. It is a book for every person; relevant in every time.
Enduring thousands of years, today's Bible remains an accurate text of God's Word. The "original" inspired Scriptures are no longer available, but thousands of copies of the originals verify the accuracy of what we read today. Many of our popular versions (King James, New American Standard Version, and New International Version, for example) are translated from accurate ancient testaments by groups of outstanding scholars.
Because the Bible is the Word of God and fully trustworthy, a response is necessary on our part. The Word of God warrants our total belief and obedience. It is the standard of all we believe and do.
It is in God's word where we learn even the best of us have fallen short of God's righteous standards (Romans 3:23). The good news of the Bible is that God has provided a way for us to escape hell ... to be forgiven of our sins and to have a personal relationship with God (Romans 6:23, 1 John 4:12-16). God wants to offer us an eternal life with Him in heaven, so His word tells us how we can have a home in heaven (Ephesians 2:4-10, 1 John 5:4-5).
The Bible not only sets the standard for how to please God, but equips us for this type of living (2 Timothy 3":16-17). The amazing world around us and how it got here is to be viewed through the Bible's information.
Our love for Jesus is measured by how fully we obey the Bible (John 14:15). We are not just to read it with the curiosity of a literature buff, nor merely with the intensity of a scholar. The bible is not just to be studied or read, but to be applied in everyday life (James 1:22-25).
The Bible gives us joy in living. The Bible gives us a hope for the future. The Bible presents to us a Savior.
With the Bible, we proceed in life with confidence. We have an unshakable standard for all we believe and do.
The Bible is our roadmap, giving us direction for living.
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used by permission of
CE National, Inc. PO Box 365, Winona Lake, IN 46590
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