The Bible is God-Breathed

MAIN TEXT: 2 TIMOTHY 3:16-17

HIGHLIGHT VERSE: 2 TIMOTHY 3:16
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (NIV)

TOPIC POINTS:

Living Word, Active and Sharp – Hebrews 4:12a
Living Word, Penetrates and Judges – Hebrews 4:12b

INTRODUCTION:

The Bible is the word of God and the bedrock of Christian beliefs. It is the most popular book in history, translated to many many languages and has shown the greatest resilience to efforts to destroy it. Many have also lost their lives for the possession, sale and distribution of the Bible.

– 2 TIMOTHY 3:16A, 2 PETER 1:12-21

Inspiration is the active action by God in giving us the Scriptures. The Spirit of God moved the writers of Scripture to deliver to us the very breathed-out words of God. This means that those who wrote the Bible were not writing what they thought people should know or hear. We see phrases like, ‘Thus says the LORD,’ ‘The Word of the LORD came to me’ throughout the text, pointing to its divine origin.

Jesus’ View of Scripture

Jesus speaking to the people of His day said, “Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35). Jesus quoted from the books of the Old Covenant as treated it as historical and accurate.

He believed Jonah was in the belly of the fish for 3 days and that Moses was the author of the Torah/Pentateuch. Jesus considered the reading of Scripture as God speaking to us (Matthew 22:31).
The Gospels Attest to Inspiration

The four gospels written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John give us the history, ministry, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ.

They were written years apart by different authors at different locations yet all bear the same message. Although written from different perspectives, they somehow managed to narrate events with accuracy and fidelity to each other.
All Scripture is Inspired by God

Some Chritians believe that some books/passages of the Bible are more inspired than others and therefore emphasize those over others.

This is a very dangerous belief that is blatantly false. All Scripture is God-breathed. Every book, passage, sentence, word, and letter is equally inspired – from Genesis to Ruth to Songs of Songs to Nahum to Philemon to Revelation.

THE BIBLE WAS WRITTEN FOR A PURPOSE

– 2 TIMOTHY 3:16B-17

The Bible is not just a storybook, or a history book, or a poetry book although it contains such. It is a book of revelation, of who God is, what He likes and hates, and His plan of salvation for sinners through His Son.

Useful for teaching

The Bible itself is to be used in teaching others about God, His character and plan for life. It is to be the foundation of all godly teaching about creation, humanity, salvation, and eternity.
Useful for rebuking and correction

This points to the Bible as the standard of right and wrong by which we measure everything else. Anyone who goes against the teaching of the Bible is to be admonished, scolded or excommunicated as necessary.
Useful for training in righteousness

The Bible reveals to us the righteousness of God as the standard to strife for. This standard of righteousness supersedes any other understanding of righteousness of persons, ethnic group or culture. Therefore, we must employ the Bible in training people to reflect God’s righteousness.
Thoroughly equips us for every good work

This subsumes all other purposes of the Bible into one. When we employ the Bible to teach, rebuke, correct, and train each other in righteousness, we will be thoroughly equipped for every good work. This also speaks to the sufficiency of Scripture in the life of believers in matters of faith and practice.

CONCLUSION:

God has spoken to us personally in His word that we might know Him. He reveals His plan of salvation and how we can become righteous.

Scripture is utterly unique in its nature as being the only God-breathed material the Church has in her possession. It is the final authority on what we believe and practice. We read the Word, teach the Word, sing the Word, pray the Word, and see the Word. Everything we do as the Church has its source in Scripture.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Give a summary of our main text
Recite our highlight verse
What do we mean by Scripture being God-breathed?
What do we mean by the Bible being the bedrock of Christian belief?
How does the Bible describe the mode of inspiration?
People who wrote the books of the Bible wrote down their personal opinions about God. True or false?
How did Jesus view the Scriptures?
How come we have 4 gospel accounts instead of one?
How should we handle the differences in detail between the 4 gospel accounts?
List 3 places in the Bible that are not inspired by God. (There are none)
There are parts of the Bible that are not inspired by God. True or false?
There are parts of the Bible that are more inspired than others. True or false?
There are parts of the Bible that are inspired but not useful to us. True or false?
What is Scripture useful for?
Scripture is the ultimate standard for measuring right and wrong. True or false?
Scripture is sufficient to thoroughly equip us to do every good work. True or false?
What separates Scripture from every form of authority in the church?
Christian should build their lives and faith on what Scripture teaches. True or false?

INTRODUCTION: