HARD SAYING FOR THE
WEEK:
Read Romans 5:12.
How can Paul say that you and I are sinners because of Adam's sin? What have we done to deserve this? What if I don't want
Adam to be my representative? How can Paul say that "all sinned" if Adam's the only one who sinned? Is this fair? How can
the Bible really be true if God puts something like this in it? I thought God was just?
Whether we like it
or not, the truth of this passage is simply this: Adam sinned and spoiled it for everyone. The other great truth found in
this passage is that Jesus came and through Him, one man, we have been declared righteous in God's eyes (v. 19).
REVIEW OF OUR STUDY
Can the Bible be
trusted? How would you answer this question if an unbeliever came to ask you about the Bible?
"What should you
hope to take with you as you leave this class in November? That you will know God better and be able to understand better
why the Bible says some of the things it says and how we know that it's true." from Sept. 1 class
For what reasons
was the Bible written? What do words like inerrancy, inspiration, revelation,
and exegesis/hermeneutics have to do with trusting the Bible? Does the Bible say anything about itself? These are questions
we've sought to answer this quarter. Let's see how much you remember from what we've studied. To review these terms, I'm going
to divide the group into five groups and we'll start off the way we began this quarter. I'd like each group to take the card
I've prepared for them and come up with a definition including the real one for each person in their group. The other groups
will have to try and determine which definition is the real one(1/2 pt.) and how it relates to the trustworthiness of God's
Word(1/2 pt.).
1. Inspiration - "Inspiration is a special act of the Holy Spirit by which He guided the writers of the Scriptures so that their words would
convey the thoughts He wished conveyed, would bear a
proper relationship to the thoughts of the other inspired
books, and would be kept free from error of fact, doctrine, and judgment."
2. Inerrancy - exempt from error
3. Infallibility - "incapable of error"
4. Exegesis - the careful, systematic study of Scripture to discover the original, intended meaning
5. Hermeneutics - the study of methodological principles of interpretation (Websters) - how to interpret the Bible for the "here and now" (Fee and Stuart)
6. Revelation - The act of making something known or disclosing information to someone(s).
7. General revelation - External and internal disclosure which comes to a human being from God in the mediate, natural mode
8. Special revelation - Disclosure which comes from God to humans in an immediate, supernatural mode.
9. The Canon of the Bible - an authoritative list of books accepted as Holy Scripture
10. Truth - the body of real things, events, and facts
What does the Bible
say about itself?
Luke 1:3-4 - Therefore,
since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account
for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.
John 20:31 - These
things were written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life
in his name.
Rev. 1:3 - Blessed
is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it,
because the time is near.
Luke 24:25-27 - He[Jesus]
said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ
have to suffer these things and then enter glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what
was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
DO YOU BELIEVE? WHAT
IS IT THAT YOU BELIEVE? IS THE BIBLE FOR REAL OR JUST A FAKE? BELIEVE IT AND YOU WILL HAVE LIFE FOREVER! REJECT IT AND YOU
WILL HAVE DEATH FOREVER! THE CHOICE IS SIMPLE-- THE TIME IS SHORT!
Let's pray.