The letters that make up the Bible are the words of God that have been given to us by God so that we might come to know and live in relationship with God...

This week we have been addressing the fourth of eight common questions that those who are skeptical ask as a challenge to God and the Christian faith, which is “Why should we believe in the Bible?” Or more specifically, “Why should we believe that the Bible is the word of God?”

So far this week we have looked at several different arguments for you to consider when it comes to the claim that the Bible is the word of God.  We considered the claim behind the claim that the Bible is the word of God. God is a personal being who created human beings for a relationship with Him and for relationships in community with others. And because of that reality it is not at all unreasonable to think that God would not desire to speak to us as well as part of that relationship.

We considered the Bible’s own claims. The Bible is a collection of letters that were written by more than 40 authors from every walk of life over a 1,600 year span that have been preserved and collected together in what we refer to today as the Bible. These letters were written in three different languages over the span of over 60 generations and are divided up into two main sections, which we refer to as the Old and New Testament. God spoke through these human authors throughout history to communicate His message to humanity throughout history.

We then considered the argument surrounding the character and content of the letters that make up the Bible. The letters that make up the Bible consist of a wide variety of literary genre. The letters that make up the Bible contain history, poetry, proverbs, prophetic predictions, legal documents, worship songs, and letters. Yet in spite of the amazing diversity of genre, writers, languages, and time, these letters fit together to proclaim in a single united voice a grand story. And that grand story can be summarized as the revealing of God’s glory through His activity in the creation, pursuit, and rescue of rebellious humanity.

We considered how Jesus talked about the letters that make up the Bible. You see, when Jesus talked about the letters that make up the Bible, He spoke of them as being the very word of God that carried the very authority of God. Paul took the reality that Scripture was without error to the very letter when He wrote to the Galatians about who was the fulfillment of God’ promise to Abraham. And Peter placed Paul’s writings as the word of God and without error.

We also to considered how the letters that make up the Bible speak to the world we live in. What we discover when we read the letters that make up the Bible is that its message is timeless and timely.  In other words, the letters that make up the Bible contain a message that reflects reality and matches what we experience and observe about human nature. You see, the letters that make up the Bible make sense of some of the most basic and most mysterious aspects of the human experience.

Today, I would like for us to consider how the letters that make up the Bible’s capacity to lead us into a relationship with God. We see this reality revealed in the previous passage that we looked at in 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Let’s take a minute and look at that passage again:

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."

In these verses we see Paul reveal for us four different ways that the letters that make up our Bible lead us into a relationship with God and lead us to faithfully live our lives as followers of Jesus. First, Paul explains that the letters that make up the Bible are useful to teach us. In other words, the letters that make up the Bible show us the path that we are to take in our lives as we strive to follow Jesus.

Second, Paul states that the letters that make up the Bible are useful for reproof. Paul’s point here is that the letters that make up the Bible show us where we have gotten off track and off the path that we are supposed to take in our lives as we strive to follow Jesus. Third, Paul explains that the letters that make up the Bible are useful for correction. In other words, the letters that make up the Bible show us how to get back on the path of following Jesus after we got off track and off the path that we are supposed to be following as followers of Jesus.

And fourth, Paul states that the letters that make up the Bible are useful for training in righteousness. Paul’s point here is that the letters that make up the Bible show us how to stay and remain on the path when it comes to following Jesus. Paul’s here is revealing for us the reality that, like a navigation app on our cell phone, the letters that make up the Bible provides us the guidance necessary to help people encounter and experience a relationship with God and to stay on the path and continue towards the destination of a growing relationship with Jesus that reveals and reflects Jesus to the world.

And it is here that we discover the timeless answer to the skeptical question “Why should we believe in the Bible? Why should we believe that the Bible is the word of God?” And that timeless answer is this: The letters that make up the Bible are the words of God that have been given to us by God so that we might come to know and live in relationship with God.

The letters that make up the Bible have been given to us by God so that we might come to know and live in the relationship with God that we were created for. The letters that make up the Bible have been given to us by God so that we might come to know how to live in the relationship with one another that we were created for. The letters that make up the Bible have been given to us by God so that we might come to know Jesus. The letters that make up the Bible have been given to us by God so that we might come to know how we can come to live like Jesus. And the letters that make up the Bible have been given to us by God so that we might come to know how we are to live in community with one another.

You see, I don’t believe in Christianity because the Bible says so. I don’t believe in simple trite phrases like “The Bible says it so that settles it.” I don’t believe that the letters that make up the Bible is the word of God because the Bible says it is the word of God.

I believe that the letters that make up the Bible is the word of God because Jesus, a historical figure who is the Son of God, said the Bible is the word of God. I believe that the letters that make up the Bible is the word of God because Paul, a historical figure who saw Jesus after He was raised from the dead, said the Bible is the word of God. I believe that the letters that make up the Bible is the word of God because Peter, a historical figure who saw Jesus after He was raised from the dead, said the Bible is the word of God. I believe that the letters that make up the Bible is the word of God because James, a historical figure who was the half-brother of Jesus who saw Jesus after He was raised from the dead, said the Bible is the word of God.

The final argument that I would ask you to consider is how the letters that make up the Bible are confirmed as being the word of God by the Spirit of God. You see, there is nothing that I can say that can prove that the Bible is the word of God. There is no authority apart from God Himself who could stand above God to authoritatively prove that the letters that make up the Bible are the words of God.

However that is exactly what God does through the letters that make up the Bible through the very Spirit of God. Not only does Jesus, as God in a bod, confirm that the letters that make up the Bible are the words of God. In addition, as we read letters that make up the Bible, the Holy Spirit confirms that the letters that make up the Bible are the words of God.

So, if you really want to know if the letters that make up the Bible are the word of God, we must take the time to read the letters that make up the Bible. Now right about now, this brings up a natural response and reaction, which would sound something like this: “Well Dave I don’t read the Bible because the Bible is not true”. And if I have just described your reaction and response to what I have said, here would be my response. You do not have to believe that the Bible is true in order to read it. As a matter of fact, we do not read anything because it is true. We read things to discover and determine whether or not it is true.

So would you read it to discover for yourself whether or not the letters that make up the Bible are the word of God? Would you take the step to read the letters that make up the Bible and consider what we have talked about this morning? Would you consider the context of the claim that the letters that make up the Bible are the word of God? Would you consider the claims that the letters that make up the Bible themselves make? Would you consider the character and the content of the letters that make up the Bible? Would you consider how the letters that make up the Bible speak to the world we live in? Would you consider the capacity that the letters that make up the Bible have to lead us to a relationship with God?  And would you consider how the letters that make up the Bible are confirmed as being the word of God by the Jesus the Son of God and the Spirit of God?

Would you take the step to read the letters that make up the Bible with those considerations in mind? Because, the timeless reality is that the letters that make up the Bible are the words of God that have been given to us by God so that we might come to know and live in relationship with God…