The Bible

God has spoken! We believe that God has communicated with his world uniquely in the sixty-six books which make up the Christian Scriptures. These books were written over many centuries as God gradually unfolded his mind and will to his people. Together they form one book, the Bible, because behind the human writers there was a greater Author at work.

The Bible claims divine inspiration for itself. The classic words are found in 2 Timothy 3: 16, best translated literally as "All Scripture is God-breathed". This means that the Bible is God's Word, spoken by him. Each individual book clearly reflects the personality, background and special circumstances of the particular human author. But God chose, equipped and guided the writers so that their words say exactly what God wanted said. He spoke through them, without violating their human personality, and they wrote freely, without distorting his divine message.

This inspired book is fully accurate. God's authorship ensures its reliability, because God does not lie. His Word is without error in all that it teaches, and we can rely on its absolute truthfulness. It is also authoritative, because it still speaks with the authority of the God who first spoke it. All our beliefs are taken from this book, and we appeal to it alone as our final authority. And it is adequate, telling us clearly all that we need to know to come to a Saviour and live to please him. There is no need for any new revelation.

So we must hold to the uniqueness of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. They convey an incomparable message, one which can be found nowhere else. They are marked by a depth and richness which no one can ever exhaust. And they have a power which has changed countless lives and is still transforming people from all cultures today.

What do we learn from 2 Timothy 3: 14-17 about the purpose of the Scriptures?

Many people have a low view of the Old Testament. What did Jesus think?

About Old Testament history - Luke 4: 25-27; 11: 29-32; 17: 26-29

About Old Testament teaching - Matthew 4: 4, 7, 10 (from Deuteronomy 8: 3; 6: 16; 6: 13)

About the Old Testament and his mission -- Luke 24: 26-27, 44-48

How do these verses encourage us to trust the Bible?

Numbers 23: 19, on the character of God

John 10: 35b, on the testimony of Jesus

2 Peter 1: 21, on the work of the Spirit

Luke 1: 1-4, on the care of the writers

What do these word-pictures say about the Scriptures and their impact?

Psalm 19: 10; 119: 105; Jeremiah 23: 29; Luke 8: 11-15; Hebrews 4: 12