God Has Spoken by Jeff Himmel

The Bible makes a bold claim for itself: it claims to be the word of God. Paul wrote, "All Scripture is inspired of God [literally, ‘God-breathed’]" (2 Timothy 3:16). Peter said of the Old Testament, "no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God" (2 Peter 1:21). God’s Spirit also inspired the gospel, the New Testament (1 Peter 1:10-12). Jesus promised His apostles, "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth . . . for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you" (John 16:13-14).

The Bible claims to be God’s word. If that’s true, then to read the Bible is to hear God speak. And if God has spoken, we’d do well to consider the implications.

If God has spoken, His word can be trusted. Every test has shown that the Bible is by far the most accurately preserved ancient writing. That’s no accident. "The grass withers, and the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord abides forever" (1 Peter 1:24-25). The Scriptures are trustworthy because their Author is trustworthy (1 Corinthians 1:9).

If God has spoken, His word is right. Skeptics have charged that the Bible is full of mistakes. Worse, many "Christian" scholars think so, too. Consider the "Jesus Seminar," a group of scholars who set out to determine which parts of the gospels are historical. So far they’ve concluded that Jesus actually said and did less than 20% of what is recorded about Him; the rest is misreported, exaggerated, or made up. But if the Bible comes from the all-knowing God, then it isn’t wrong — not even a little bit. God can’t lie (Titus 1:2) and He doesn’t get His facts wrong. His word is truth (John 17:17).

If God has spoken, His word is our authoritative standard. God’s word was enough to create the heavens (Psalm 33:6-12); it is enough to direct us! We must follow where it leads us, and stop where it limits us. Modern day thinking tends to reject absolute moral standards. And in fact, moral absolutes can’t come from imperfect men; they can only come from God. His message is the one perfect standard for determining right and wrong, truth and falsehood, good and evil. If we abide in His word, we are true disciples of His (John 8:31). If not, then we don’t have God (2 John 9).

If God has spoken, His word is relevant. Even professed Christians will sometimes dismiss certain scriptures as nothing but products of someone’s cultural environment or personal views. Some pass over the Bible’s teaching against homosexuality (1 Corinthians 6:9) as a personal dislike of Paul’s. Some write off statements about women’s roles in the church (1 Corinthians 14:34-35) and the family (1 Peter 3:1-6) as reflections of first-century social thought. They regard such passages as irrelevant to our modern situation.

I see two huge problems with this. First, if some Bible passages are just ancient men’s opinions, how can we trust any of it? How do we tell which teachings are from men and which are from God? If we dismiss parts of the Bible as irrelevant, we cast serious doubt on the whole thing. Second, the Bible writers claimed to be directed by God’s Spirit. If they were, then their words are God’s words (see 1 Corinthians 14:37). Do you want to tell God that He’s not relevant?

"But," someone insists, "if the church is to survive, we have modify the Bible’s message to fit a changing culture." Since when is God driven by public opinion? What He says is right, whether people accept it or not. I’m all for trying to make God’s word appeal to people, but if we alter it to match our likes and dislikes, we’re saying God is unable to give mankind a message that’s always relevant.

If the eternal, unchanging God is behind the Bible’s message, then it is relevant in any and every age. "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).

God has spoken. We need to hear what He has to say.