Thursday, March 5, 2015

Why What We Believe about the Bible Matters



Scripture: Isa. 55.8-11; 2 Tim. 3.16-17; Heb. 4.12-13; 2 Pet. 1.20-21; John 17.17; Ps. 119.160; Heb. 6.18; 1 Tim. 5.18; 2 Pet. 3.14-16; 1 Cor. 2.10-16; Luke 24.44
Translation: 2 Tim. 3.16All Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, for exposing, for correcting, and for training/discipline in righteousness, 17so that the man of God can be ready, completely prepared for every good work.
Heb.4.12You see, the Word of God is living and at work and sharper than every double-edged sword and stabbing through division of soul and spirit, and of the joints and the marrows, and able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the mind. 13And creation is not invisible before Him—moreover, all things are naked and exposed to His eyes, for Whom the word [came] to us.
Heb. 6.18so that by two unchangeable things, among which it is impossible for God to lie, we, who have taken refuge, would have a strong encouragement to hold on to the hope set ahead of us.
2 Pet. 1.20first knowing this, that every prophesy of Scripture didn’t come to exist out of its/his own interpretation, 21because prophesy was not ever brought by the will of a human being, rather men from God spoke carried by the Holy Spirit.
John 17.17Make them holy with the truth. Your Word is truth.
1 Tim. 5.18After all, the Scripture says, “Don’t muzzle a threshing ox” and “the worker is worthy of his pay”
2 Pet. 3.14Therefore, loved ones, while expecting these things, hurry to be found in Him faultless and blameless in peace, 15and consider the patient salvation of our Lord, just as our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given to him, 16as also in all his letters, speaking in them about these things, in which are some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people twist as they do the rest of the Scriptures to their very own destruction.
1 Cor. 2.10And God reveals it to us by the Spirit, because the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 11Afterall, what man knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man that is in him? In the same way also no one knows the things of God, except the Spirit of God. 12And we haven’t received the spirit of the world, but rather the Spirit that is from God, so that we might know the things graced to us by God, 13which we are also talking about not with words taught by human wisdom, but with those taught by the Spirit: with Spirit-related things we are explaining Spirit-related things. 14And natural man doesn’t welcome the things of the Spirit of God, because it is stupidity to him and he can’t understand it, because they are judged Spiritually. 15And the Spiritual person judges all things, but he is being judged by no one, 16because who knows the Lord’s mind? Who will teach Him? And we have Christ’s mind.
Isaiah 55.8You see, My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways—Yahweh’s declaration. 9If the heavens are higher than the earth, in the same way My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts are higher than your thoughts. 10You see, just as the rain and snow fall from the skies, and doesn’t return there, unless it has watered the earth—it both waters it and makes it sprout, and gives seed to the sow and bread to eat, 11My Word is the same way when it goes out from My mouth. For sure, it does not return to me empty, until it does what I planned, and achieves what I sent it for.
Psalm 119.160The head of Your Word is truth, and all your righteous decisions last forever!

Interpretation
1.      Xxx
2.      Themes
a.       God’s speaks
b.      God’s sovereignty
c.       God’s intentionality
d.      God’s intelligence/creativity
e.       The Bible’s necessity
f.       Truth
g.      Trustworthiness of God
h.      Necessity of the Holy Spirit to understanding the Bible
i.        The eternal relevancy of the Bible
3.      Doctrines
a.       The Bible is the only final rule and norm for the Church
b.      The Bible is inspired by God

Applications
1.      What do we believe about the Bible?
a.       The Bible is God’s Word
                                                              i.      So it’s true and trustworthy (Ps. 119.160; John 17.17; Heb. 6.18)
                                                            ii.      So it’s absolutely authoritative (Heb. 4.12-13; 2 Pet. 1.20-21)
                                                          iii.      So it’s eternally relevant (Isa. 40.8; Matt.24.35)
                                                          iv.      So it’s only understandable by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 2.10-16)
b.      The Bible is Effective
                                                              i.      It always accomplishes God’s purpose (Isa. 55.8-11)
                                                            ii.      It always is necessary for growing and living for Christ (2 Tim. 3.16-17)
c.       The Bible is the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament
                                                              i.      The Old Testament is the Bible (Luke 24.44)
                                                            ii.      The New Testament is the Bible (1 Tim. 5.18 [Paul quotes Luke 10.7/Jesus]; 2 Pet. 3.14-16 [Peter calls Paul’s writings Scripture])
                                                          iii.      The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha are not the Bible
                                                          iv.      The Koran, the Book of Mormon, and other non-Christian books that claim to be true are not from God (1 Cor. 14.37-38)
2.      Why does it matter?
a.       Because it’s necessary to have God’s Word to know Who God is (1 Cor. 2.10-16)
                                                              i.      Because it’s necessary to have God’s Word to trust in Christ meaningfully (1 Cor. 15.12-19)
b.      Because it’s necessary to have God’s Word to know what’s true
                                                              i.      How do we know what to believe when all these people claim to know the truth?
c.       Because it’s necessary to have God’s Word to know what to do
                                                              i.      How will you know what you should and shouldn’t do? What is right and wrong?
                                                            ii.      How will you know what God is calling you to do?
d.      Because it’s necessary to have God’s Word to know how to grow (2 Tim. 3.16-17)
                                                              i.      Positively, knowing what to do
                                                            ii.      Negatively, exposing our secret sins or sins we didn’t know were sins
                                                          iii.      Positively, setting us straight, so that we are in the right place
                                                          iv.      Mixed, training us/disciplining us to do every good work
e.       Because it’s necessary to have God’s Word to know real hope
                                                              i.      To have real hope in Christ, we need to know that His message is true
                                                            ii.      To know anything about God or the future, we need a place to get the information
3.      Discussion Questions
a.       What is your favorite book of the Bible? Why? Please share something encouraging from it.
b.      Do you ever have a hard time trusting what the Bible? Why or why not?
c.       Do you ever feel like the Bible just doesn’t connect with your everyday life? Why or why not? Talk about a time when it did connect with your life? How did it help?
d.      Why should it be encouraging to know that God’s Word is always working?
e.       Share a time when the Bible helped you see a sin in your life and overcome it.
f.       What do you think you need the Bible to know about God, the world, and life?

g.      Commit to reading a certain section of the Bible this week. 

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