LESSON FOUR – THE BIBLE

2 Tim. 3:16 — All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

The Bible stands above all other books in the world. It is a unique book. The sixteenth president of the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln, once said that the Bible “is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Savior gave to the world was communicated through this book.” It is the world’s most widely read book and has been translated into over one thousand languages, more than any other book in the world. Countless people have turned to the Bible for comfort, hope, and guidance during times of trouble and uncertainty. The word Bible comes from the Greek word biblos, which means “the book.” This means that the Bible stands as the unique book among all other books in the world.

THE BIBLE BEING THE HIGHEST AMONG ALL THE CLASSICAL WRITINGS

The Bible Being the Highest in Its Record

The first fact is that the Bible stands alone among all books in its record of authenticity. Many canons of other religions are filled with myths and legends. But within the pages of the Bible we find countless references to actual events, people, and places. The science of archaeology, along with secular historical records, confirms the precision of the references in the various biblical books.

The Bible tells of an all-powerful, eternal Creator who created the universe, including the heavens, the earth, and all created things, from nothing. The Genesis account of creation, while not a scientific narrative in itself, is completely harmonious with scientific evidence.

The Bible Being the Highest in Its Wisdom and Profoundness

Second, the Bible bears the superior wisdom concerning man’s relationship with God and his relationship with his fellow man, his thought, his intention, his behavior, and his daily living. At the time of the Old Testament, most of the cultures on earth believed in polytheism, the belief in more than one God. The majority of the so-called gods were depicted as cruel, fierce, or at times even licentious. But the Bible reveals one unique God who is infinite and personal, who cares for human beings as a Father and a Husband, and who personifies love, respect, justice, and mercy.

The Bible also covers all kinds of knowledge, such as theology, the humanities, astronomy, geology, science, philosophy, sociology, government, education, culture, and eschatology.

The Bible Being the Highest in Its Ethics and Morality

No other book contains as high a standard of ethics and morality as the Bible. It describes proper love as a human virtue, which suffers long, is kind, is not jealous, does not brag, and is not puffed up (1 Cor. 13:4). It defines love in the extending of forgiveness even to one’s enemy (Matt. 5:44). It exemplifies love in God’s own act of giving up His only Son for man (John 3:16). Christians are those who walk in love (Eph. 5:2), and the church is a community built up in love (4:16).

The Bible Being the Highest in Its Influence

Throughout history many famous people have been inspired to believe in Christ through reading the Bible. The French emperor Napoleon, after being defeated and exiled to the island of St. Helena, confessed that though he and other great leaders founded their empires upon force, Jesus Christ built His kingdom with love. He also confessed that though he could rally men to die for his cause, he had to do so by speaking to them face to face, whereas for eighteen centuries countless men and women had been willing to sacrifice their lives for Jesus Christ with joy without having seen Him once. The reason that so many have been willing to give up everything to follow Christ and to be martyred for Him is that they have seen the Christ revealed in the Bible.

THE BIBLE BEING THE HOLY WORD OF GOD

The reason that the Bible is different from all other books is that its nature is divine. The Scripture is God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16). This tells us that the Scripture did not come out of man’s thought, man’s mind, but, rather, it was God’s breathing His thought and His word through His Spirit into and out of the writers. Hence, the Bible contains God’s element and carries His flavor. A Christian’s greatest joy and blessing are to be able to contact God and taste Him daily through the word of His breath.

Since the Scripture is God’s breathing His word out from men through His Spirit, no word of the Scripture can be of man’s will; rather, men were borne by the Spirit and spoke from God. The word “men spoke from God while being borne by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21) has a twofold meaning: first, men were borne by the Spirit; second, men spoke from God. In the original Greek, being borne by the Holy Spirit refers to being carried along like a ship by the wind. The writers of the Bible received God’s inspiration, and they were under the power of the Holy Spirit, being borne and carried along by Him to speak out God’s word. Furthermore, when they spoke, they spoke from within God. It was the Spirit of God carrying men along to speak, and it was also men speaking from within God. In other words, it was God speaking His own word from within men through their mouth.

THE MAIN SUBJECTS OF THE BIBLE

1.   The Bible Is God with His Plan

The God revealed in the Bible is a God of wisdom and purpose. Just as any person who is intelligent and purposeful is always full of plans, our God, who is most wise, has an eternal plan, which has much to do with man and the world.

2.  Man and His Destiny

The Bible tells us where man came from, how he was made, and where he is going. It also tells of God’s plan for man.

3.   Christ

Christ is the central figure of the Bible. The Old Testament is a prophecy concerning Him, and the New Testament is the fulfillment of this prophecy. The Bible tells us how this Christ accomplished redemption and salvation for mankind.

4.   The Holy Spirit

[The Holy Spirit] is the third person of God. He is mentioned very much in relation to man’s experience of God.

5.  The Divine Life

[The divine life is] the life of God, which a person receives when he believes in Christ. This divine life lives within those who believe in Christ and directs and transforms their living.

6.  The Believers in Christ

The New Testament tells us the meaning of being a believer in Christ and the way to live a proper Christian life.

7.  The Church

[The church] is God’s community of believers on earth today. The Bible explains what the church is and how believers should meet as the church.

8.  The Kingdom of God

[The kingdom of God] is the sphere where God exercises His rule and authority in this age and in the coming ages.

9.  The New Heaven and the New Earth

[The new heaven and the new earth] speak of the things that will happen in eternity in the future.

MEETING JESUS CHRIST BY READING THE BIBLE

If you are a person who is seeking after the truth and would like to know the meaning of your life, you need to read the Bible, and you should call on the Christ who is presented to you in the Bible. God has given every person a spirit (Job 32:8) so that he can understand and receive the things of God. We hope that you will begin your reading of this wonderful book, the Bible, by reading the New Testament, and we also hope that you will begin a fruitful and abundant life today through meeting Jesus Christ in this book. (The Bible, pp.  1-2, 6-8, 11-18)

References: The Bible; On Knowing the Bible; CWWL, 1985, vol. 4, “The Full Knowledge of the Word of God”

ALL SCRIPTURE IS THE VERY BREATH OF GOD

Study of the Word—The Function of the Word – 799

• All Scripture is the very breath of God,
  And by His Spirit into words was breathed;
  By godly men the words were written down,
  With all God’s fulness unto man bequeathed.

• It is the breath of God as light to man,
  With rays divine man to illuminate;
  It shines in darkness and to man reveals
  What is his truest need and actual state.

• It is the breath of God as life to man,
  Nature divine to man it doth impart;
  The dead it quickens and regenerates,
  Transforms the soul-life and renews the heart.

• It is the breath of God as wisdom too,
  Knowledge divine to man it has to teach;
  Th’ eternal purpose of the Lord it shows,
  And leadeth man God’s final goal to reach.

• It is the breath of God as strength to man,
  Power divine to man it doth transmit,
  Strength’ning the weak, empowering the faint,
  Enabling man God’s purpose full to fit.

• It is the breath of God for us to breathe,
  That as our portion God we may enjoy;
  Receiving it by spirits exercised,
  Our need is met, His wealth we may employ.