June 7, 2026

A Series on Our Beliefs

Week 2: God Gave Us A Book

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1.     Firmly Believed. - 2 Timothy 3:14–17

1.1.    But as for you

 – there is that phrase again that Paul uses for Timothy!

Look at me, son! Pay attention.

1.2.    Continue in what you have learn

Continue – remain – don’t get off course

Learned – manthánō – You have been taught, mentored, discipled.

1.3.    Firmly believed – to be sure of the truthfulness of something.

This word only occurs here in the NT and it is in the passive voice, meaning it is something that happens to us as we learn. The Holy Spirit creates passion and convictions that leak into our behavior.

Today we have opinions and prejudices about everything and convictions about nothing.

1.4.    You know those who taught you

Almost half received Christ as Savior before age 13.

94% receive Christ by age 18

1.5.    Sacred Scriptures and “Graphe”

“Sacred Scriptures” were the Old Testament which Timothy was taught from a child.

1.6.    All Scripture

2.     Inerrancy

The Bible given by God is free from error in all its contents, including historical, scientific, geographical and other branches of knowledge.

2.1.    Simply put, the Bible tells the truth. (Because God is truth.)

Truth is that which is consistent with the mind, will, character, glory, and being of God.

Even more to the point: Truth is the self-expression of God.

Reality is what it is, because God declared it so and made it so.

Therefore, God is the author, source, determiner, governor, arbiter, ultimate standard, and final judge of all truth.

How each person responds to the truth God has revealed is an issue of eternal significance.

2.2.    The “Problem” with defining God as Truth.

Existentialism

Emphasizes the individual experience as unique and encourages freedom of choice and expression.

Humanism

A system of thought that centers on man and their values, capacities, and worth.

Relativism

A theory that truth is not absolute but are relative to the person or groups holding them.

To say there is no absolute truth forfeits your argument on the account that that statement must be true in order for there to be no truth.

The moment you begin to ponder the essence of truth; you are brought face to face with the requirement of a universal absolute — the eternal reality of God.

Conversely, the whole concept of truth instantly becomes nonsense as soon as people attempt to remove the concept of God.

God never speaks from opinion or how He feels something should be, but every word is pure, unchanging, complete, perfect truth.

Here is the mouth full statement!

·       Verbal   - the very words were inspired, not only the thoughts

·       Plenary  - means complete or full inspiration of the Bible.” 

·       Infallible - The words were exactly the ones God wanted and every word

was authoritative.

·       Inerrant  - without error. It is telling the truth.

·       Inspiration          - God breathed

WE BELIEVE that the Bible is the Word of God and was fully directed by Him. 

The original writings were without error. God’s Word is the only guide for faith and living.

So, now the question is:

3.     Do we have a trustworthy and reliable text?

3.1.    Old Testament

The original copies of the Old Testament were written on leather or papyrus from the time of Moses (c. 1450 B.C.) to the time of Malachi (400 B.C.).

3.2.    New Testament

More than 5,300 manuscripts of the New Testament exist today, which makes the New Testament the best-attested document in all ancient writings. The contrast is quite startling.

AT Robertson – great American Greek Scholar indicated that the areas of real concern amounted to a thousandth part of the entire text.

Why wouldn’t God preserve the original text? - 2 Kings 18:4

3.3.    Inerrancy means that we take God’s Word in its normal, literal, grammatical understanding of the language. This includes figures of speech and different styles of writing like poetry, narrative and songs.

3.4.    Neither do we deny that there are problems in the text that we presently have. But problems are quite different from errors. Indeed, in the face of the claims that the Bible apparently makes for itself about inspiration and inerrancy, it would seem more reasonable when confronted with problems to place one’s faith in the Scriptures which have been proved to be true again and again than in any fallible human opinion.

Bottom line – we have a trustworthy and reliable text! (Preservation!)

4.     Authority of Scripture

Matthew 22:32–33 – The Lord also insisted on the importance of a present tense.

The Lord also based a crucial argument concerning His own deity on the word Lord (Mt 22:41–46) as quoted from Psalm 110:1.

On another occasion He vindicated Himself from the charge of blasphemy by focusing on a single word in Psalm 82:6 (Jn 10:34). Then He enforced His argument by reminding His accusers that the Scripture cannot be broken. (altered – John 10:35.

The Bible was written:

·       66 books – 39 OT and 27 NT

·       over a 1500-year span      (from 1400 B.C to A.D. 100)

·       over 40 generations

·       over 40 authors from many walks of life

(kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, poets, statesmen, scholars)

·       in different places             (wilderness, dungeon, palaces)

·       at different times              (war, peace)

·       in different moods            (heights of joy, depths of despair) 

·       on three continents           (Asia, Africa, and Europe)

·       in three languages           (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek)

And yet there are 64,000 cross references in the entire Bible.

No human could have orchestrated the harmony of the teachings of the Scripture.

The divine authorship of the Bible is the only answer.

Application:

Do you believe that what we have is a true revelation from God, literally breathed from Him and is completely without error in everything it says and has been incredibly passed down to us so that we have a trustworthy and reliable text?

1. Don’t bring an evil heart of disbelief to the Bible.

In the pursuit of truth, intent is prior to content.

2. Remember that the Scripture is the very truth and law of God that you must live by—and by which you will be judged at the last.

3. Remember that the Scripture teaches unseen things and the greatest mysteries.

4. Don’t presume on the strength of your own understanding but humbly pray to God for light.