Question 5: How do we know that the Bible is the Word of God?

The Bible evidences itself to be God's Word by the heavenliness of its doctrine, the unity of its parts, and its power to convert sinners and to edify saints. But only the Spirit of God can make us willing to agree and submit to the Bible as the Word of God.

All teachers therefore, who teach men to look for life or salvation in anything but from the Word and Spirit of God within them, stand chargeable with the blood and death of souls; because, in all the possibility of things, nothing can overcome that death which is in the soul, but the Word, or Christ of God living and working in it. For, observe, man must have goodness in the same way as God hath goodness,

that is, from the divine nature; for goodness is nowhere else, neither is anything else capable of it; and therefore, if goodness is to be in man, the divine nature must, of all necessity, be first brought to life within him. But this cannot be, till the working will of our heart turns and gives up itself wholly to the Word and Spirit of God within us, for we can have nothing but that, towards which the earnestness of our will goeth.

These are the words of William Law from his book entitled, “The Way of Divine Knowledge”. How appropriate a quote is this from this man. The modern church would do well to heed his words. Our faith and the faith of the elect of the future is dependant upon God using men and women who will faithfully communicate what His Word says, not whatever makes others feel comfortable with God.

We must love the Scriptures. We must submit ourselves to them. We must hold fast to the Scriptures for in them we find the way to life in Jesus Christ. In them we find peace with God. In them we find forgiveness for our sins. And in them we find the way we are to live and the very character of the One we are to live for.

This week’s lessons will be a little more tedious maybe than they have in the past. Take your time with them. These times will make for a strong foundation for both you and your family. These lessons are the basis for authority within your home and within each individual’s life in your family.

If you have any questions, please call and I will try to assist you. God bless you this week.

DAY 1: 1 Corinthians 2:6-7,13-16 (heavenliness of its doctrine)

The context of the passage is Paul introduction to addressing the many problems of the Corinthians. He has already addressed fractures within the church because of following personalities (1:10-17). He will address many more issues in the coming chapters. However, he starts the chapter by lowering himself (vss. 1-4).

Verses 4-5 show that the words Paul spoke were in fact the words given him by the Spirit of God, not the wisdom of men. Thus, there conversion was from the words of the Spirit which produced the faith they have (vs.5)

Verse 6 describes Paul speaking wisdom among those who are mature. The word mature means, “full grown, complete, perfect”. However in the context, it seems that Paul compares the mature with the rulers of this age and in his contrast he makes clear that the rulers of this age did not know the wisdom he is speaking of (vs. 8). Therefore it seems appropriate that he is talking about those who have been converted.

What kinds of wisdom does Paul NOT give? (vs. 6), What kind of wisdom does Paul give? (vs. 7)

Explain the difference between knowledge and wisdom with your family.

Paul says this “wisdom of God” is in a mystery. The Greek (musterion) word means “hidden thing, secret, religious secrets, confided only to the initiated and not to ordinary mortals”. The gospel was a mystery, hidden in God from before the foundation of the world. However, in the pages of the New Testament, the veil of the mystery is taken away and the reality of the mystery is revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. Although many hear the physical words of the gospel, they fail to receive the effectual call associated with one who has the wisdom of God revealed to them. (cf. Matt. 13:11; Eph. 3:4,5)

Notice that God has done this for what reason? Verse 7 says it’s for our glory. It is so that sinners will one day be glorified before the Father and in turn they will glorify him, our chief end!

In verses 13-16 Paul tells us that the wisdom of God is taught by the Holy Spirit and that He compares spiritual things with spiritual. Because the Holy Spirit is a spirit, then He is able to reveal the spiritual wisdom that comes from God, thus resulting in salvation for the sinner and edification for the saint.

The natural man in verse 14 refers to one who is still dead in his sins and who is apart from Christ. Paul tells us that he does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, NOR CAN HE KNOW THEM. The Greek phrase here, kai ou dunatai gnwnai, conveys the idea of it being impossible for man to know them. Again the Greek word “know” conveys the idea of intimate acquaintance. Because man is totally depraved, he lacks the ability to comprehend the wisdom from God, because it is spiritually discerned.

DAY 2: Romans 1:16; Psalm 119:18, 129 (power to convert sinners & edify saints)

In verse 16 of Romans Paul declares unashamedly that the gospel is the power of God for salvation. While he is primarily focusing on the gospel of Jesus Christ (His life, death, resurrection), it is clear that those who preached the gospel used the whole of the Old Testament to communicate the truth of the gospel (cf. Acts 2:14-39; 7:2-50; 17:1-4, 10-12). Therefore, The whole of the Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments are God’s Word, powerfully communicated by His Spirit.

Paul also says that the gospel is the power of God for everyone who believes. God’s Word converts the hearts of those who believe, and they believe because they are regenerated by the Spirit of God to believe. They must have this power (dunamis) work within them because of their lost condition (See DAY 1, vss. 13-16)

In Psalm 119:18 the psalmist offers a prayer to God for His illumination. There is a difference between illumination and inspriation. Inspiration speaks, as we saw last week for 2 Timothy 3:16, of God breathing His Word through men. Illumination is a work of God’s Spirit to open the understanding of the student of the Word of God.

The psalmist clearly identifies the Scriptures (law) as being divine. This is assumed because H asks the author to open his eyes (his understanding).

When his eyes are opened what does he see? The Hebrew term “wondrous” means, “marvellous, wonderful, surpassing, extraordinary, to be beyond one’s power”. Again, The psalmist recognizes his inability to perceive what the Word of God is and says apart from the work of god’s Spirit.

In Verse 129, the word used for wonderful comes from the say root as in verse 18 (pala). The psalmist speaks of his soul, “keeping them”, referring to God’s testimonies. The word for keep (natsar), means, “to preserve, to watch over, to guard”. He writes as one who knows that he must meditate and contemplate the things of the Word of God. It does not refer to physically keeping them, although that will come when one dwells on the Word of God. It does refer to hiding God’s Word in our hearts and thinking about what the Scriptures say (cf. 119:9-16).

This becomes that which edifies the saints.

DAY 3: Acts 10:43; 26:22; 18:28 (unity of its parts)

In each of these passages the preacher makes clear reference to the prophets witnessing of the fact that there would be one who would come and make a way for sinners to be made right with God.

Peter first addresses Cornelius in Caesarea and tells him exactly this. The prophets therefore must be united in their message. They continually communicate things about Jesus Christ and do so without error.

Explain to your family how the Scriptures of the Old Testament were written over a period of approximately 1500 years. Therefore there was no way to conspire what was written, rather, as Peter said, holy men wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Paul stated, before King Agrippa, that in the gospel he presented to him, that he said nothing other than what Moses and the prophets said would come. He was clear that the authority which he based the gospel on went even farther than his “experience” of meeting the resurrected Christ. For his authority is not just the Christ that he saw on the road, but the Scriptures themselves, which is what Peter said as well (2 Peter 1:19). Paul knew that Agrippa knew the Scriptures and so he appealed to Him on the basis of the Scriptures (vs.27)

Another preacher in Acts was Apollos. Apollos was a Jew and mighty in the Scriptures.

There is kind of a play on words between this verse and the Scripture from 2 Cor. 2:14. In that passage it states that the natural man cannot know the things of God and Paul uses the negative term dunamai with ou before it to put it in the absolute negative. This literally means “impossible”. But when Apollos is spoken of as mighty, the word used is dunatos which comes from the root word, dunamai. In other words Apollos was not incapable of receiving the Word of God. On the contrary, he was strong in them and had great understanding along with eloquence.

With that in mind, what did Apollos do? (vs. 28) What Scriptures did he use?

DAY 4: 1 John 2:20-27 (Spirit makes us willing to agree and submit to the Bible as the Word of God)

John says we have an anointing or unction (KJV) from the Holy Spirit. The word anointing is “chrisma” in the Greek and comes from a root word, “chrio”, which simply means to anoint. In Israel there would be a special mixture of oil and herbs that would be poured upon the heads of kings and priests to symbolize God’s divine choice and equipping of them to office. In the New Testament however, it speaks of the gifting of the Spirit.

In this context, John is saying that believers are equipped against error by the Holy Spirit. He makes this clear because he says they have known the truth. The word know here means, “to perceive and to know by experience”. The verb is in the perfect active indicative mood, which means it is a simple statement of fact that has occurred in the past and continues to the present.

John contrasts those who are equipped with the truth with those who deny the truth, namely the Gnostics of his time.

What is someone referred to who denies that Jesus is the Christ? What is someone who denies the Father and the Son? If someone denies the Son, do they have the Father? If someone acknowledges the Son, do they have the Father?

Verse 24 tells us how to abide in the Son and in the Father. How do we do that?

Verse 25 tells us what God’s promise to us is if we abide in Him. What is it?

What were the Gnostics trying to do to the Christians? (Verse 26)

Share an experience with your family about someone trying to deceive you about the gospel or Christ and share how the truth helped you discern. Ask your family questions and help them think through certain things that are said and see if they can use the Scripture to discern the truth.

Is verse 27 saying that all believers are infallible interpreters of Scripture? Is it saying that we have no need of pastors or teachers in the church?

Verse 27 is not saying that we are perfect interpreters, nor are we without need of teachers, but what it does indicate is neither our interpreting, nor those who teach us receive those things from themselves or their wisdom, but from the Holy Spirit.

DAY 5: 2 Corinthians 3:14-17;4:4-6 (heavenliness of its doctrine, unity of its parts, power to convert sinners and edify saints; Spirit makes us willing to agree and submit to the Bible as the Word of God)

Paul contrasts the Old Covenant with the New Covenant (vss. 7-11). He then speaks of how those, particularly the Jews, remain blinded in their minds. Again, this speaks of their inability to perceive the truth due to their depravity. He says they want to continue in the way it’s always been by just listening to the reading of the Old Testament.

However, in Christ, The veil is removed from their minds and they are able to perceive the truth and indeed do receive Christ. **The veil seems to be an allusion of the veil that was placed on the face of Moses to conceal the glory upon his face (Ex. 34:29-35). The Old Covenant acts the same way, while it is glorious, it was also a ministry of condemnation (2 Cor. 3:9). It keeps us from seeing the true glory of the righteousness of the New Covenant in Christ (vss. 9-11).

Verse 16 says, “when one turns”. The word one doesn’t have an exact English equivalent. The King James uses the word “it”. It seems to refer to the heart, of which is being spoken about as having the veil. When it, the heart, is turned to the Lord, the veil is taken away. This seems to be more in line with what we have already seen earlier in the week in the regeneration of man.

Paul says that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. The word liberty is “eleutheros” and comes from the root word which means “to be free, exempt, unrestrained, not bound by obligation”. It refers to being free from the Old Covenant and the Mosaic Law. It means we are no longer under obligation to try and make ourselves acceptable to God. Rather, it means that we have made peace with God through Jesus Christ freely obey Him because of what He has done for us. Instead of obligation, it becomes gratitude.

In verses 4-6 who has blinded the minds of unbelievers? What would shine on unbelievers if the blindness was removed?

What is Paul’s emphasis in his preaching? (vs. 5) Ask your family what seems to be the emphasis, that they perceive in many messages today? Is it the Lord Jesus Christ?

Verse 6 indicates that the same God who created light in the darkness back in Genesis is the same God who shines the light of the knowledge of His glory in the face (or person) of Jesus Christ.

The shining of the light in our hearts is a reference to the effectual work of the Spirit of God convincing us that the Bible is the Word of God and is to be believed and obeyed.

Share with your family a bit f your personal testimony and focus on what you THOUGHT about the Bible, Jesus Christ, and the gospel before and after conversion.