The final and most strongest of the arguments that the Bible is the Word of God is the testimony of Jesus Christ. Even none-Christians believe he was a good teacher. Muslims believe he was a true prophet of God as well. Jesus affirmed the Old Testament to be the Word of God and promised that the Holy Spirit would inspire the apostles in the continuation of His teaching and in the writing of what would become the New Testament (John 14:25-26 and John 16:12-13). The apostles demonstrated that they came with the authority of God through the miracles they performed as Jesus and the Prophets did before them.
Jesus claimed about the Bible:
1. Divine authority - (Mat. 4:4, 7, 10)
2. Indestructible - (Mat. 5:17-18)
3. Infallibility - (John 10:35)
4. Ultimate supremacy - (Mat. 15:3, 6)
5. Factual inerrancy - (Mat. 22:29; John 17:17)
6. Historical reliability - (Mat. 12:40, 24:37-38)
7. Scientific accuracy - (Mat. 19:4-5; John 3:12)
The authority of Jesus confirms the authority of the Bible. If he is who he said he is, then the Bible IS the Word of God! Even if Jesus was just a prophet, then the Bible still is confirmed to be the Word of God. One goes hand in hand with the other. Through the miracles that Jesus performed and through the fulfillment of prophecy regarding himself, Jesus is able to affirm the validity of the Bible.
He names Abel as the first prophet from Genesis, and Zechariah the last prophet mentioned in 2 Chronicles, the last book in the Jewish Old Testament (which contains the same books we have today although placed in a different order). In Mark 7:8-9, Jesus refers to the Old Testament as the “commands of God.” In Matthew 5:17, Jesus states that the “Law and the Prophets” referring to the Old Testament is authoritative and imperishable. Throughout His ministry, Jesus made clear His teachings, corrections, and actions were consistent with the Old Testament. Jesus even affirmed several historical several disputed stories of the Old Testament. He affirms the accounts of Adam and Eve (Mat. 19:4-5), Noah and the flood (Mat. 24:39), Jonah and the great fish (Mat. 12:40), Sodom and Gomorrah (Mat. 10:15), and many others. The book of Acts, which records the miracles of the apostles, has also proven to be a historically accurate record written by a first century eyewitness.
I have shown evidence that the Bible is the inspired Word of God through unity of the Bible, archaeology, prophecy and the testimony of Jesus Christ. All of these come together to show a continuous string of evidence that point to the central theme of the Bible, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh! Not only does it tell us who he was, but also what he came to do. Namely, to demonstrate the love of God toward mankind in the bodily form of his Son, Jesus Christ! In doing so, God provided one way, and only one way, for man to be saved.
Next......salvation, a gift from God!
1/29/2008
James
Information compiled from:
"Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics"
by: Norman L. Geisler and
"Beyond Belief to Conviction"
by: Josh McDowell
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