BIBLE DOCTRINE SURVEY - THE BIBLE, Study 4

I pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal all that we are going to do in this studies.
" 1 Cor 2: 10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God."

Previous studies dealt with:
THE ORIGIN OF THE BIBLE

• REVELATION - the message of scripture - it includes both the communication process and the content.
• INSPIRATION - the method by which God had His revelation recorded in written form as scripture.
• INERRANCY - the absolute truth and accuracy of the resulting scripture.

Today topics are ILLUMINATION and AUTHORITY of the Bible.

• ILLUMINATION - means to "enlighten" and refers to the ministry of the Holy Spirit in enabling believers to both UNDERSTAND Scripture and ACCEPT it as truth.

1 Corinthians 2:12-14 "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy[d] Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

Ephesians 1:17 "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,"

ILLUMINATION emphasizes:

• The RELATIONSHIP of the believer to Christ, including SPIRITUAL MATURITY.
• The capacity to UNDERSTOOD, ACCEPT and APPLY God's truth.

Luke 24:44-45 "Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures."

Mark 4:34 "But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples."

IF YOU ARE NOT SAVED AND WALKING IN THE SPIRIT THEN IT WILL BE DIFFICULT, IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE, FOR YOU TO UNDERSTAND ND ACCEPT SCRIPTURE AS TRUTH.

• AUTHORITY - Refers to the divinely derived right and power of the Bible as God's Word.
  Matthew 7: 28-29 "And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes."
  Matthew 28:18 "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth."

The Bible as God's word has AUTHORITY to:

• set forth a trustworthy, dependable, objective standard of absolute truth by which to measure everything else.
• determine right belief and correct behavior for all men and for the church.
• constitute the only reliable source of knowledge about God and the spiritual nature of man.

THE AUTHORITY OF GOD'S WORD IS HIGHER THAN MAN'S TRADITIONS, CULTURAL PRACTICES, EXPERIENCE, CHURCH TEACHING, PHILOSOPHY AND OPINIONS.

Matthew 5:43-44 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor[g] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,"

Matthew 15:1-9 "Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, 2 “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”
3 He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; [a] and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’[b] 5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God”— 6 then he need not honor his father or mother.’[c] Thus you have made the commandment[d] of God of no effect by your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
8 ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And[e] honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
9 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ” "

This concludes today's study. Further studies of the Bible will deal with the Canonicity, Reliability of the biblical texts as well as criticism of the Bible. It is of vital importance that we know these things in order to defend the Word of God. After we conclude the study on the Bible we will continue with the Doctrine of God, which will be a long study.

Source: Bible training for church leadership, Bible Doctrine Survey, Course no. 4, Dr. Dennis J. Mock
Scripture: https://www.biblegateway.com/NKJV

I will thank God daily for everyone who read and study and may you be blessed abundantly!

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