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What Does the Bible Say About the Bible?
If you’re a believer, have you ever considered this question? Sure, it seems a little odd, but it actually is a great way to evaluate what it is you actually believe. “How is that?”, you may ask. Simply put, it helps us plainly see the self-proclaimed truth of a book we already claim to believe in. It operates in the same way that rhetorical questions, in their phrasing and placement, show us an answer. You may also ask, “Why is that a big deal, especially since I already believe in it?” Well, you may come to realize that you do not actually believe in the Bible. If the Bible makes claims or asserts its truth and you do not accept those claims and truth, then you can’t really claim to believe in the Bible. At least, not entirely. And if you can’t believe in the Bible in its entirety, then can you really believe in it at all?
Here are five statements that the Bible makes about itself.
- All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
In short, the Bible is from God and not from man. Additionally, within it is what we need to be complete and able to do what is good.
- You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you. (Deuteronomy 4:2)
The Bible is not only originally from God, but also should not be altered by adding to it or taking something from it.
- For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.(Romans 15:4)
Despite the age of any part of the Bible, it is useful to us. A reason for that is…
- The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. (Isaiah 40:8)
Though things change all around us, God’s word (the Bible) doesn’t. God’s word is eternal.
- For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
The word of God reveals the thoughts and hearts of those who encounter it by how people respond to it.
These are five claims (there are more) that the Bible makes about itself. If someone calls him or herself a believer, it is necessary to believe in all of these claims. If someone doesn’t believe in every one of them, can they really say that they believe in the Bible at all? To believe in the Bible is to believe in the whole thing, because the Bible treats itself as an all-or-nothing proposition.
If we do call ourselves believers and do indeed believe all of the claims above, how do we react when we encounter something in the Bible that is contrary to how we currently act or think? If we truly believe in the whole Bible as truth, then we are forced to mold our actions and thoughts to it, not the other way around.
