1. The character of the Scriptures - they resonate with the presence of God through His Holy Spirit. Man could not and would not have conjured up such things as the infinite holiness of God, the absolute depravity of man, or the existence of evil. The character of scripture cries out for divine inspiration.
2. Jesus believed the Scriptures to be inspired. He quoted from and treated the Old Testament as sacred and not as a work of man.
3. The 12 Apostles believed the scriptures to be inspired and from God.4. The early church and disciples of Jesus believed the Scriptures to be from God. They believed that the Old Testament was from God and accepted the New Testament books of the bible as they were written and distributed.
5. Martyrs believed the bible to be from God. So many gave their lives for the testimony of Christ. They bled and died believing the word to be inspired.
6. The longevity of the Bible. No book or collection of books have affected so many for so long. Great books, classic books, and masterpieces have come and gone but the bible remains and continues to work in the lives of men.
7. The vicious attack on the bible. No book has been hated so much and no book has had so persecution hurled against it. The bible has been hated more than it has been loved.
8. The millions of lives that have been changed by the bible. No book, no writing, no composition has changed vile and heinous sinners into holy men and women of God.
9. The internal witness of the Holy Spirit. As the Holy Spirit bears witness with my spirit that I am a child of God by the work of God as He applies the work of Christ to my heart through faith, the Holy Spirit bears witness that the words of Scripture are the very words of God.
10. The impact that the word has had on my life. I am a changed man. My affections are on things above and not on things below in this earth. My hope is in Christ and that I will be delivered from the body of this death and will live forever with Jesus the Christ.
Those are wonderful reasons to believe the veracity of the Bible. There is no other *book* like it. It is life and Truth itself - nourishment to our souls, a road map to our lives, and a solid promise of our hope-full future.
ReplyDeleteAnd, the Bible and the Truth of the Good News is also "proven" by the way it changes lives - across cultures, languages, young and old, through the years. Nothing can account for that besides the fact that it is indeed the Word of GOD!
Happy New Year, and GOD BLESS!