There is given us one book from God, the Holy Bible. This book is as unique in its content as it is in its friends & foes. The friends of the Bible often have accepted martyrdom on its behalf, and the Bible’s foes have given greater efforts to destroy it than any other book. The enemies of the Bible resist its influence. They have violently attacked it with criticism, they have mocked it in ridicule. They have attempted to use science & philosophy to discredit its legitimacy. Astronomy (the study of space) has tried to reduce it’s claims, and Geology (the study of the earth) has tried to exhaust it’s accuracy. Even with such opposition, the Bible has endured to this day, to affect so many lives.
There are many opinions of the origin of the Bible. Deists believe in God, in his wisdom and goodness, but they don’t believe in the divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. Rationalists are addicted to reason. They reject the teachings of the bible, unless they agree with their rationalistic views. This is based on nothing but vanity – they prefer to pick & choose parts of the Bible which they like to read, and they detest the parts which hold them accountable to their sins and lead to the worship of Jesus. True Christians believe the Bible is a super-human production, revealed by God. We believe the goodness of God will not leave his creation in darkness.
There are some necessities for divine revelation to be proven as true. For one thing, we need a deeper knowledge of God in order to correctly worship him. In the previous chapter, we learned about how heathen nations cannot be ignorant of God’s existence. But although they have enough proof in the creation of God’s EXISTENCE, This isn’t sufficient to find knowledge of God’s character. Existence and character are two separate things. Existence can be recognized without knowledge of character. Looking at the creation around us gives us enough knowledge that worshiping idols is inexcusable, but it doesn’t give us enough to know how to worship the All-Powerful Creator. God’s existence is WHAT he is. It can be inferred by the natural attributes of our surroundings. We may infer his intellectual character, His wisdom, power, greatness, and other natural attributes. But God’s character is WHO he is. Who he is must be known in order to give acceptable service & worship. What about God’s moral character? Nature alone does not reveal it. Deductions of man cannot fathom it. The natural perfections we see in the creation (all living creatures symmetrical, function together, male/female) may excite our intellectual admiration of God’s work, but it will not awaken love. We can’t LOVE God truly unless God’s character is revealed to us. Love is essential to true worship.
Another necessity for the Bible to be divinely revealed is fixing the standard of right and wrong. Without a divine revelation of the moral character of God, it is impossible to adopt a correct rule of morals. Right and wrong utterly depend on who God is. Whether we are in or out of harmony with God’s moral character determines whether we are in the right or in the wrong. There is a standard of duty established among men. We have duties to one another, which grow from our duties to God. Consider Matthew 22:36-40. Jesus was asked which commandment was the most important. In his answer, he presented two commandments, and says these two are the most important because basically all the other commandments should be followed by default if only these two commandments are followed. By first & second, we should note, we’re not talking chronologically. The "first & second" refer to their importance. The most important commandment revealed to man is to love thy God. The second is to love thy neighbor. From these relations grow obligations. The obligations, or duties, given us are between creation and creator, and then between creatures themselves. We are to love other people first & foremost because they are of god, and secondly because they are fellow creations.
You might be thinking "What about evil people?" Consider the saying "Hate the sin, but love the sinner." This isn't a quote from the Bible, although it has been spread widely by Christians and despised by atheists. Even though the figure of speech isn't scripture, we can see how much God hates sin by looking at what he has done to redeem us from it. He sent his Son to earth to die on a cross to condemn sin and to make us righteous (Romans 8:3-4). He sent his Son to save his people from their sins (Matt. 1:21). He made his Son, who knew no sin, to be sin that we might be made righteous (2 Cor. 5:21). He sent his son to bear our sins in his body that we might be dead to sin (1 Peter 2:24). These passages not only teach now much God hates sin but also how much he loves us. God hates sin so much that he commands that we turn from it. He loves us so much that he sent his Son to die for us (John 3:16). So as we are to follow the Lord's moral example, we are encouraged to love the sinner, despite his sins. How else do you hope to have a good witness to encourage lost people to seek the Lord, if we hate the person because of their sins? Would any who are saved today have heard any true preaching which would open their hearts to the Lord, if they were never invited to Church because of their sins? Foolishness.
As we can see, love to God inspires love to men. It prompts the performance of our duties in various relations. Revelation of the moral character of god is necessary for this love. Without it, there can’t be any true right or wrong known. We’ve got heathen nations on this earth: ancient and modern. The ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, were massive intellectual cultures. Great in scientific knowledge, but very ignorant on moral subjects. The world’s modern heathen nations exemplify the repulsive depravity described by Paul in Romans 1:18.
Many debates between Christians and atheists is the existence of the knowledge of right from wrong (“the knowledge of good and evil”). Ask an atheist: if they believe the world to be a land of evolution, where everything that exists has emerged from nothing but matter, and all things that exist came forth form other matter; how can they account for the intangible things of this world? We’ve got love, hate, emotions, and standards of morality. Beware, the atheist will now take offense, assuming you’re insinuating that they have no moral understanding of right from wrong. They will explain that as civilizations emerged, that the society could only survive through working together in a moral way, etc… but you need to be firm that you’re not insinuating that they don’t HAVE the moral values, they simply have no explanation for morality’s existence, for emotion’s existence, for love’s existence or for any of the intangible things of this world, even down to the driving instincts of the creatures of the land air and water.
Our third reason for a divinely inspired Bible is that it stops any speculation on the afterlife. We’ve got all sorts of philosophers with their own ideas about the afterlife. Some believe in their own invention of afterlife, some wish to believe but don’t like to presume, some calmly deny any afterlife, and some violently ridicule the idea. Julius Caesar said “To those that live in sorrow and misery, death is a repose from their calamities, not a torment: it puts an end to all the evils that mortals are subject to, and beyond it there is no place left for anguish or joy.” Caesar is not teaching positively for an afterlife, he’s simply saying that at death, life is over once & for all and for some, it’s just as well. Pliny said “All men are in the same condition after their last day as before their first; nor have they any more sense, either in body or soul, after they are dead then before they were born.” How many people were inspired by these men? LOTS! These men were misleading their followers in such a way that they never even considered the state of their soul. Our future state (the afterlife) implies rewards and punishments. Therefore it is very important to be assured of the state in which we lay. How can this be attained without a revelation? Faith in God does not need revelation, but faith rests on testimony. Testimony implies a revelation from God, and only God can testify to a future state. in Isaiah 5:15 He is called the “High and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity”. 2 Peter 3:8 claims his omnipresence in time, “one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day” Rewards and punishments are strong motivators to do right and avoid wrong. They work on man’s self-interest through fear and hope. Without a revelation from God, the future is dark. Hence the necessity of a revelation.
Our fourth and final reason for the Bible to be revealed by God is salvation for sinners. In the second reason we studied, we learned that the correct standard of what is right is impossible without revelation. Heathen nations make up their own right & wrongs. Because of this, they are self-condemned. Romans 2:14-15 touches on this. Our conscience is dependent on a correct ‘right’. A departure from the standard of ‘right’ is followed by self-accusation. This is universal in heathen nations, and it’s apparent by their religious offerings. Their sacrifices to appease Gods leave them wandering in darkness, hopelessly aware of their sins, but not knowing a remedy. We can experience the creation around us and understand that there is a God, but there is nothing learned from nature about the salvation of a sinner. Not from nature, nor from our own intellect can we find salvation of a sinner. We’ve established that the moral character of God depends on revelation, and we can also establish that the moral character of God is necessary for sinner’s salvation. Our intellectual reasoning alone cannot tell if there is mercy in God. The infinite truths involved in salvation are beyond our sphere of our finite intellect.
So we have established four necessities for the divine revelation, and we now will examine some facts that actually prove the divine revelation of the Bible.
For one thing, the human intellect is simply not capable of producing such a book. Man’s intellect may be great, and our capabilities are great, but we are only capable of so much. Consider these verses: Jer.23:23-24, Psalms 139: 7-10. It is not possible for these ideas to be from any human intellect. Even written, these ideas cannot be fully comprehended. We can write the word “infinity” but can we really comprehend it? Of course not! We can read and write about an infinite God, who is all places at all times, but can we begin to comprehend that to it’s fullest truth? Forget it! Now to argue that the Bible was written from man’s imagination is absurd. Unbelievably to a greater scale than imagining an infinite Lord, the plan of salvation by Christ is well above human intellect. John 3:16, Galatians 4:4-5, Hebrews 2:9-10. It is simply not possible for these ideas to be from our own human minds. This is all utterly remote from finite comprehension. When the gospel was read, it offended the Jews and to the Greeks is was foolishness. The Jews and Greeks were very high in intellect, philosophy and reason, but they wouldn’t give in to the writing of the Holy Bible. This is the greatest example of what human intellect can do and cannot do.
Furthermore, the state of man’s heart would not prompt the Bible. Even if ‘mentally’ capable of writing Bible, man is ‘morally’ incompetent. We need only consider the universal depravity of the Human race. Man’s moral nature is obviously imperfect, it always has been throughout history. In savage tribal groups & civilized nations, man’s heart is not right with God. Man loves sin. We all have evil tendencies. Lusting after our fleshly pleasures (excess in money, food, drink, sex, reputation, knowledge, etc…) is what naturally drives man, not serving God. How is it possible for the Bible to be inspired of man? The Bible teaches right vs. wrong, good vs. evil, love to God, and love to men as creatures of God. The Bible teaches that human works have no merit. Salvation is God’s graceful gift. The Bible argues against man’s pride, and exalts the Lord. Do we really think that man could produce a book in condemnation to himself? Do we really think that man would declare himself as “filthy rags”? Even if his intellect allowed it, his pride would not allow it.
Man could not make such a book if he would, and would not if he could. The first concerns his intellect, the second concerns his heart.
The Bible was not inspired by man; it was divinely revealed by God. There is no middle ground. Consider a Husband receiving a letter form his wife. The husband would know it is written by his wife because it might contain truths only known by his wife. We can boldly have faith in the Bible because it tells some truths that only God could know.
The divine revelation of the Bible can also be proved by what is written of the person and character of Christ. The person of Christ is unique he stands alone in all the world’s history. He is of a union of two natures: divine and human. Not half and half, but both. Jesus lived on earth, suffered in Gethsemane, died on Calvary, was buried, rose again, ascended to heaven, and lives there immortal. He will undergo no change. His two natures are indissoluble – he will always be God-Man. It is not possible for these ideas without revelation. It is as impossible as the creation of earth by man. The character of Christ is a perfect character – there is nothing like it. There is imperfection in the best of men. At our strongest points, weakness appears. Abraham was remarkable for his strength in faith, but he was not always trusting in the Lord. Moses was distinguished for his meekness, but he was not always meek. Job was memorable for his patience, but was not always patient with the Lord. Peter was bold but hotheaded, and occasionally a coward. Paul was most loyal to principal & truth, but also had weaknesses. Christ, on the other hand, is faultless and spotless. Christ’s friends and witnesses never reported any fault in him. Peter refers to Christ as a “Lamb without blemish and without Spot, who did not sin, neither was guile found in his mouth” John said “And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.” In the book of Hebrews, Christ is deemed “Holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners”. Consider these two verses: Hebrews 4:15, John 14:30. The unassisted intellect of man could not conceive of such a person and character. If one should argue otherwise, that men conceived Christ by their own imagination, it would be a greater miracle than any recorded in the Bible. The person and character of Christ is sufficient enough for proof of a divine revelation in the Bible. There is no other way of accounting for what is read about Christ.
The Old Testament is as undeniable as the New Testament. Many times in the New Testament, Jesus refers to the Old Testament with such quotes as “it is written”, “how readest thou”, or “as the scripture hath said”. Both books are revelation from God to man. The Old Testament anticipates the New testament, the New takes for granted as fact the Old. Neither is complete without the other. There is no other revelation than the Old and New Testaments, and no prediction of another while the world stands.
The divine inspiration is a mystery. How God inspired men to write his truth without interfering the individuality of writing style we will never know. 1 Cor 2:13. The writers used their own familiar words, but they wrote God’s inspired wisdom.
We read “Thus saith the lord”, and “The Lord spoke, saying” repeatedly. We should note that ‘revelation’ and ‘inspiration’ are not the same. Revelation refers to things only God would know. For instance, that Christ would come to save sinners. But there are things in the Bible that were not necessarily revealed by God, like mentioning that the river Jordan ran through Judea. This is a fact we can take for granted, not supernaturally revealed. Inspiration concerns how God’s spirit influenced writers to write using known and supernaturally revealed things. As we know the Bible is a revelation, inspiration is granted.
These have been the internal evidences of the divine revelation. External evidences of truth exist as well. We’ve got recorded miracles, and fulfilled prophecies. If the Bible is the divinely inspired word of God, then its authority cannot be questioned. What it says is true. There must be compliance in spirit, a willingness to be taught of God. Recognizing the Bible as the word of God, it is in every part the standard of truth and right.
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