We believe that the 66 books that make up the Bible, are the Inspired Word of God. We believe that God chose men to write down the words He gave them to write. Men like Moses, and David, and Isaiah from the Old Testament time, and men like Matthew, John, and Paul in the New Testament. God called these men and prompted them to write down the words that He gave them. The apostle Peter says, “Prophesy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1, 21). And as Paul writes, “All Scripture is God-breathed.” (2 Timothy 3, 16). And Jesus also spoke, “Your Word is truth.” (John 17, 17).
How God worked this miracle of Inspiration He doesn’t say. But He used the talents, abilities and knowledge that each of these men had to write His Word. That’s why the book of Matthew uses different types of words and phrases than does the Epistles of Peter, or the books of Moses. And yet the words they wrote down were words that came from God. So, we can say that “Moses wrote,” or we can say that “God wrote,” and they would be one and the same. For what Moses wrote, came from God.
Because the Bible is Inspired by God, there are certain things that we know about it. First it is true. If God said He created the world in six regular days, then God created the world in six regular days. If God says, that Jesus rose bodily from the dead, and ascended into Heaven, then Jesus rose bodily from the dead, and ascended into Heaven.
We also believe that the Word of God is inerrant! There are no errors in the Bible. Now, some will say, for existence that in Genesis it says that God created two great light, the one to rule the day and the one to rule the night, meaning the Sun and the Moon. Now, scientifically we know that the moon is not a light. It simply reflects the light from the sun. So, didn’t God make a mistake here? Well, let me ask you. When you are walking with your beloved along the shore on a gorgeous star-studded night, and you look up and say, “Wow, isn’t that Full Moon shining brightly tonight!” Does your beloved look at you in disbelief that you are so stupid, and remind you that the moon does not shine, it simply reflects the light of the sun? No! We enjoy the evening and the gorgeous “moonlight,” as we walk along the shore. God wrote according to the perspective of man.
We also believe that the Word of God is powerful! The apostle Paul tells us, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” (Romans 1, 16). The Bible has the power to create faith in the heart of a person, or to strengthen the faith that is already there. The Bible has the power to encourage, and to calm the troubled heart. The Bible has the power of God behind it and can do some miraculous things.
Why did God give us His Word in the Bible? Paul writes, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3, 16-17) God isn’t some vague and mysterious being out there somewhere that we need to try and find and to understand. In His Word, God tells us who He is, and what He has done, and what He wants us to do. We don’t have to wonder who God is. We don’t have to try to figure out what God wants. He clearly tells us. The Bible is God’s love letter to us, to tell us how much He loved us, and how much He sacrificed for our salvation, and how willing He is to watch over us, protect us, and keep us safe in His arms.
As God’s children, our task is to make this Bible our constant study, so we can understand God’s love for us, and so we can understand what God wants from us. But especially this Bible keeps reminding us of the salvation that is ours because of the sacrifice of Jesus, and how God keeps us in our faith.
This is what it means that we believe that the Bible is God’s inspired Word!
