The Bible, God's Book

I. Scripture is given by God.
A. 2 Tim 3:14-17. The word "inspiration" means literally "God-breathed".
B. Notice further that Scripture makes man "thoroughly equipped for every good
work"(v. 17). There is nothing we need to do to be right with God that's not in His book.
C. Heb 1:1-3. God is speaking to us today through Jesus. The way He does this
is in His word-through Jesus' words, actions, and inspired apostles.
D. When we read the Bible, we must realize that it (and it alone) is from God.

II. Scripture endures forever.
A. 1 Pet 1:22-25. Men might come and go, but Scripture will not fade or change.
B. Think about all the people who have lived since Jesus' time. Very few of
them are remembered, and in 100 years, many more will be forgotten. Yet
God's word endures forever.
C. This is important because we can be "born again" of that "incorruptible
seed"(v. 23) and can therefore become immortal like God's word!
D. However, we must also realize that no man's words can save, but only God's.

III. Proper division of Scripture.
A. Here we need to address the major division in the Bible. Why is there an Old
and a New Testament?
B. The Old Testament (also called "law" or "Law of Moses") was written for a
specific purpose-to prepare the world for the Christ who would come.
Gal 3:23-26. When He came, it was no longer needed.
C. The Old Testament also needed to be replaced because its animal sacrifices
could never take away sin. Heb 10:4, 11-14.
D. The New Testament clearly teaches that the Old Testament is no longer in
effect as a law. Heb 7:18-19 (define "annulling"), Heb 8:6-7.
E. As such, Christians today follow the last will and testament of Jesus Christ, or
the New Testament. Heb 9:15. This law is also called the gospel. Gal
1:6.
F. This explains why Christians should not offer animal sacrifices, burn incense
in religious service, or worship with instrumental music. These are pieces
of the Law of Moses, not the law of Christ.
G. To use bits and pieces of the Old Testament to justify Christian practices is
wrong. This is what the Galatians tried to do. Gal 5:1-6-their problem
was adding circumcision to the law of Christ.
H. This does not mean that the Old Testament has no value. Rom 15:4, 1 Cor
10:1-12. It simply means that we are no longer under the Law of Moses.

IV. Scripture is all sufficient
A. 2 Pet 1:3. God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. We
are not lacking anything. We need nothing more than to follow His word.
B. Jude 3-The faith was once for all delivered to the saints. It has been
delivered, and does not need to be delivered again. Thus we see that
Scripture is sufficient for any spiritual need or question we might have. If
it is not revealed, we do not need to know it!
C. Remember that 2 Tim 3:17 taught us that Scripture equips man for every good
work. It is all we need.

V. We must rightly divide Scripture
A. Seeing all these things about God's book, it becomes vitally important that we
are accurate and truthful in our handling of the word.
B. 2 Tim 2:15. This does not refer to the division of Old and New Testament. It
refers to the proper handling of the Bible.
C. From this command, we can infer that it is possible to wrongly divide-and
many do.
D. 2 Pet 3:15-16-We must take great care not to twist the Scripture, but to learn
it and allow it to fill our hearts and change our lives.___Jacob Hudgins