It is God's book. He is the author of it through direct inspiration, as declared in II Timothy 3:16a...“All scripture is given by inspiration of God.” Given by “inspiration of God,” the Bible is not the product of human imagination or creativity. Holy men of God spake and wrote as they were “moved by the Holy Ghost.” (II Peter 1:20-21) The Bible, therefore, truly is the word of God. It is the “scripture,” i.e., the sacred or holy writings of God.
Being the word of God, the Bible is also “the word of truth.” (e.g. II Timothy 2:15) This means that it is telling the truth about what is really going on. It is not taking guesses at what is going on. It is not the work of men who were setting forth their own theories as to the meaning of life and existence. It is not the work of philosophers merely speculating on what they think everything means. Instead, it is the communication from the One who created all things, who knows the truth, is “only wise,” and is working out His own plan and purpose in His creation. The Bible is God's testimony to us regarding what is really going on in, and with, His creation. As such it is “the word of truth.”
The Bible, composed of its 66 books, is complete. There are no ‘lost books of the Bible,' nor do there exist any other writings which ought to be considered scripture or included in the Bible. The books of the Apocrypha are not the word of God.
The Bible, in light of what it is and in accordance with God's design for it, is also the recipient of God's providential care and preservation. Though constantly subjected to various and numerous attacks designed to corrupt it, obscure it, fragment it, suppress it, or destroy it, God has not allowed such attempts to completely succeed. The Bible has not only continued to exist and will continue to do so, but regarding attempts to corrupt it through attacks upon its contents God sees to the preservation of His inerrant, infallible word. This He has done, and continues to do, by means of a number of providential safeguards, such as multiplicity of copies and witnesses for settling matters of textual variation or questioning. Recognition and employment of these numerous safeguards has assured the accurate transmission of the inerrant, infallible word of God from original autographs on, and provides for the identification of attempts to corrupt the word of God by means of omitted, distorted, or added words or phrases, or any other means of textual tampering. In accordance with this, theories of textual criticism which deny Divine preservation (most notably the Westcott and Hort Theory and its present variations), along with the Hebrew and Greek texts constructed on the basis of them, are rejected. The preserved inerrant word of God is not what they are. Instead, they are corrupted renditions of the word of God: corrupted by omissions of words, phrases, sentences, and even extensive passages; by deletions; by substitutions; by additions to the text, and the like. The preserved inerrant word of God has always existed and still exists, and is identified today as the received text of the historic protestant reformation process.
The translation of the received text into the English language has produced the inerrant, infallible word of God in English. Though a multitude of English Bible translations exist at the present time, only the King James Version is translated from the received text. The King James Version is identified as the inerrant, infallible, preserved word of God in the English language.
The Bible by nature also possesses absolute and final authority. It is not overruled by any person, organization, or ecclesiastical body. It is not subject to the authority or position of any person in order to fulfill its function in any capacity. It is the word of God which is “quick and powerful” (Hebrews 4:12), and therefore possesses on its own, by nature, the full capacity for Divine operations, all authority, and final authority. Accordingly, it is “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” (II Timothy 3:16-17) The all-important need of every Christian is to profit from the Bible by submitting to it as the inerrant, infallible, authoritative word of God.
The Godhead eternally exists in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are not three modes of existence for God, as if at one time He manifested Himself as the Father, at another as the Son, and at another as the Holy Spirit. Nor are these three separate Gods. Rather, God is a trinity: three identifiable persons with Godhood, eternally co-existing and functioning as one God. All the attributes of ‘Godness,' along with every aspect of Divine character and essence, are possessed by, and resident in, each of the three members of the Godhead. The Lord Jesus Christ is ‘God manifest in the flesh'; the “image of the invisible God”; the Word “made flesh.” (e.g. Genesis 1:1-26; Deuteronomy 6:4; Psalm 110; Isaiah 6; Isaiah 48:16; John 1:1-2, 14-18; Acts 5:3-4; II Corinthians 13:14; Colossians 1:15; 2:2; I Thessalonians 2:11-13; I Timothy 3:16; I John 5:7)
God, who created all things by Jesus Christ, created an innumerable company of beings known collectively as angels. They are spiritual beings and were perfect in their creation. One of these creatures of the heavenly creation named Lucifer was the “anointed cherub” that covered the throne of God. Through pride Lucifer sinned and was removed from his position as the “anointed cherub.” In response he formulated a plan of evil opposition and antagonism against God. In so doing, he set himself up as the adversary of God and determined in his plan of evil to establish himself “like the most High.” In accordance with the formulation of his adversarial plan of evil, Lucifer received the designation “Satan,” which means ‘adversary.' He is also known as the “Devil,” “Belial,” and by a number of other names and designations descriptive of various activities and operations He engages in in the pursuit of his plan of evil. Satan is the author of sin in God's creation and the implementation of his plan of evil in both the heavenly and earthly realms brought sin and its corruption into both realms.
In the heavenly realm a great number of other angelic beings joined Satan in his plan of evil and became “his angels.” These included all those occupying the governmental positions of principalities, powers, mights, and the like, with but a few exceptions. There is an eternal judgment awaiting Satan and his angels. “Everlasting fire” is “prepared for the devil and his angels.” An innumerable number of the angels, however, did not join the plan of evil, but kept their position with God. (e.g. Ezekiel 28: 11-19; Isaiah 14:12-17; Matthew 25:41; I Timothy 3:6; Revelation 12:3-4, 9)
Man was created in “the image and likeness” of God, but willingly sinned in cooperation with the implementation of Satan's plan of evil in the earthly realm. As the immediate result of sin, man became spiritually dead, alienated from God, and the possessor of a sinful nature which could only offend God's Holiness and Righteousness, and consequently provoke His wrath. This status of spiritual death and alienation from God, along with the nature of sin, has been transmitted to every member of the human race, so that each is born into this world a sinner by nature, alienated from God and at enmity with Him. As such, men are totally depraved, i.e. they possess a nature of sin of which they are completely impotent to rid themselves, nor are they able to change it, alter it, or improve it so as to cease offending God and merit His approval or acceptance. Being totally depraved, men are completely unable to deliver themselves from their sinful status and, hence, save themselves from the debt and penalty of their sins. Contrary to popular religious thought, no man is born with ‘the spark of Divine good' in him, nor are people innocent for a time and then become sinners. Instead, men are “by nature the children of wrath.”
Therefore, man does not need an improvement to his environment or society; man does not need another chance to be better than he is; man does not need an example to follow so that he can ‘raise himself out of the gutter.' Instead, man needs to be saved, for he cannot save himself or contribute to his salvation in any manner or form.
The destiny of men who are not saved is everlasting punishment in the lake of fire, eternally separated from God. (e.g. Genesis 1:26-3:24; Romans 1:18-3:26; Ephesians 2:1-10; II Thessalonians 1:7-9; Revelation 20:11-15)
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How God Saves
Men
Believing
Christ DIED, that’s HISTORY.
Believing
Christ DIED for YOU SINS and Rose again that’s SALVATION.
Read
Romans 1:16, Romans 10:9-10 and 1. Corinthians 15:1-4
Posted By Cecil and Connie Spivey
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