Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus…to all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints.  Romans 1:1, 7

 

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the British expositor of bygone days, told the story of a poor woman who was confronted by a modern agnostic who asked, “What are you reading?”  She replied, “The Bible, the Word of God.”  And he immediately said, “Who told you that is the Word of God?”  She said, “He told me so, Himself.”  “He told you so,” he scornfully retorted, “Why, can you prove that?” Looking skyward the old lady replied, “Can you prove to me there is a sun up there in that sky?”  He answered:  “Why, of course! The best proof is that it warms me and I can see its light.”  “That’s it!” was her joyous reply.  “The proof that I have that this is the Word of God, is that it warms me and lights my soul!”

You would probably agree that the Bible does this, but is it enough to simply appeal to the subjective element of experience?  I’ve had people tell me the same thing in response to reading modern gurus, or Eastern prophets who sit draped in a bed sheet hallucinating on drugs.  Upon what does the authority of the Word rest?  Your experience, a warm feeling in your heart, or upon certain pragmatic facts which form a bed rock for your faith?

The Bible does bear witness to its distinctive and unusual authorship.  It declares that it was given by holy men of God who wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.  Gautama Buddha or even Mohammed made no such claim.  When the books of the Old Testament were written, they were immediately recognized as the Word of God and placed in the Ark of the Covenant in the tabernacle.  More than 3,000 times the prophets rang out the words, “Thus says the Word of the Lord.”  Authority wasn’t an issue!  They knew what gave these documents authority‑‑the voice of God on the mountain accompanied by the bolts of lightning and the clap of thunder. Isaiah wrote, “The grass withers, the flower fades but the word of our God endures forever” (Isaiah 40:8).

There is little evidence that anyone questioned the authority of the Hebrew Old Testament.  Men may have ignored it, spurned it, and violated its teaching, but they knew it was the Word of God.  When Jesus was here, He fully accepted the authority of these books we call the Old Testament.  He said, “I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished ” (Matthew 5:18), and He was referring to the smallest strokes of a pen in writing two Hebrew letters.  He had no intention of taking the smorgasbord approach–sifting what he liked and rejecting the rest.

The New Testament church fully accepted the authority of the books which came from the pens of the writers of Scripture.  Paul explained this authority, saying, “All scripture is God‑breathed [the word is often translated “inspired by God”] and is profitable for doctrine, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished unto every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16‑17, KJV).

At the same time this Book derives authority from its unity as 40 men penned these books over a period of 1600 years, yet there is one beautiful and glorious theme and purpose.  That could no more have just happened than an explosion in a print shop could have produced an unabridged dictionary.  There had to be a master Author and plan, and that one is God.  Get acquainted with this marvelous book.  But better yet get to know the author of this book, and then what He inspired will be even more meaningful.

Resource reading: Exodus 20:18-21.