Sadly, there are still some (church-goers) who doubt that the Bible is indeed God’s word.   So they simply believe whatever suits them.

For their sake, it needs to be established that the Bible does indeed claim to be the truth; that is, God’s word - and not just another collection of religious philosophies. 

What does the Bible say about the Bible?

 “All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:16)

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The Bible demands to be accepted in its entirety. It says, “All Scripture is God breathed”, not just some Scripture.  It claims to be “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness”.   So, if a man is in error, he should be taught, rebuked and corrected with scripture.  In other words, Scripture is the authority, rather than any ‘church’ doctrine.   According to the Bible, we either accept it as a whole, or not at all.

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When Jesus spoke about marriage, he said this, “Haven’t you read that in the beginning the creator made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?  So they are no longer two, but one.  Therefore, what God has joined together, let no man separate.” (Matt. 19:4-6). He quoted Genesis 2:24 as fact - the absolute authority which should not be challenged.  The Pharisees had been asking the Lord about different points of view regarding marriage and divorce.  Jesus did not debate or ponder the topic.  He did not compare one tradition against another, he simply said, “Haven’t you read?”.                                                                          

In doing this, he declared that Scripture was the reference point, rather than church tradition.  At the same time, he put to rest any ideas that Darwin’s theory of evolution fits in with scripture, by telling us, “in the beginning the Creator made them male and female”. (More about that in Creation vs. Evolution)

Jesus constantly refers to scripture as historical fact.  He speaks about Noah (Matt 24:37-38, Luke 17:26-27), Moses (Matt. 19:8, Mark 12:26) , Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Matt.8:11, Mark 12:26, Luke 13:16),  David (Matt.12:3, Mark 12:36, Luke 20:42), Jonah (Matt.12:39-41, Luke 11:29-32), the twelve tribes of Israel (Matt.19:28, Luke 22:30) etc. etc.

So we cannot accept the teaching of the Lord Jesus, without also accepting the Old Testament as history. 

In Matthew - Chapter 1, the human ancestry of Jesus is traced back to “Abraham”.  In Luke - Chapter 3, it is traced back to “Adam”.  It leaves no doubt that we must accept the Old Testament scriptures as history.  In fact, if we took all of the old testament references out of the new testament, there wouldn’t be enough left to make any sense at all.

Old Testament prophecies are quoted throughout the New Testament and are said to have been fulfilled.  Here are just a few examples:

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Matthew 2:17  “Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled”

Matthew 2:23  “and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.”

Matthew 13:14  “In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving’.”

Matthew 13:35  “So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: ‘I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world’.”

Luke 4:20-21   “Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, ‘Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing’.”

Luke 18:31  “Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.”

Acts 1:16   “Brothers and sisters, the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus.”

Acts 3:18  “But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer.”

Acts 13:27 “The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognise Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath.”

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In Matthew, chapter 4, Jesus was led into the desert and fasted for forty days.  Then Satan came to tempt him:  “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.  After fasting for forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.’”  (Matt 4:1-3). Jesus was at his weakest physically when he was tempted by the devil.  And Satan tempted him with what he needed most (food).  But Jesus was armed with the word of God and “led by the Spirit”.

Jesus said to Satan, ”It is written: ‘man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’”. (Matt. 4:4). Jesus was quoting Deut. 8:3, and confirming that it is “from the mouth of God”. Jesus quoted scripture, to show us it’s truth and it’s relevance.  Satan, on the other hand, used scripture in a deceitful way, in a misguided effort to trick the Son of God. In verse 6, Satan started with, “it is written”.  Jesus responded in verse 7, “it is also written”.  

Jesus continued to apply the truth of scripture until Satan finally left him, in verse 10 - “Jesus said to him ‘Away from me Satan!  For it is written; Worship the Lord and serve Him only’”.     

                                                                                                         

So the Word of God is to be viewed as a requirement for life, for those who belong to Christ.  It is to “live on”.  But it can also be distorted, and used by those opposing the truth, just as Satan did against Jesus.