What Did Jesus Think of the Bible? Pt 1
What Did Jesus Think Of The Bible? Part 1
John 5:31-47 (ESV) 31“If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. 32There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. 33You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 36But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. 37And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, 38and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. 39You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. 41I do not receive glory from people. 42But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. 43I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? 45Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. 47But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”
God is a god who speaks. He speaks through the scriptures.
All of the scriptures are pointed toward himself.
What scripture says, God says.
Matthew 19:4-6 (NKJV) And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?” So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
Acts 4:24-26 (NIV) …they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one.’”
2 Peter 1:20-21 (NIV) Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
The whole purpose of the Bible is to get to know God.
What do I do with it?
1. Search the scriptures.
2. Let the scriptures search me.
I need to let the Bible argue with me!
Hebrews 12:25 (NIV) See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?
I need to let the truth rearrange my understanding of the situation.
3. Let the scriptures lead me to Jesus.
Growing Deeper Together - Small Group Discussion
Use these points throughout the week as part of your quiet time, in your small group, or over coffee with a friend to help you apply what you learned in today’s message.
Read this statement about scripture: The Bible is divine revelation, inspired by God, without error concerning truth, unfailing, clear, necessary, and sufficient for life and godliness, and carrying the full weight of His authority. Do you agree with each piece of the statement? How could it be better said for you?
Shane said that if the Bible is about God and not from God, we cannot have a realand personal relationship with him because it means the Bible is not God speaking to us, it’s someone telling us about him. How does this affect your thoughts about spending time in scripture? What do you think about what it takes on your part to get to know God personally?
“The heart cannot love what the mind does not know.” (Jen Wilkin, author/Bible teacher) This statement challenges us to know God better so we can love him more. What steps will you take this week to increase your knowledge and therefore your love of God? Share your plan with a friend!
In your time in the Bible this week, meditate on the following verses Northpointe associates with our Statement of Faith in relation to the Bible: 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20, 21; 2 Timothy 1:13; Psalm 119:105, 160; 12:6; Proverbs 30:5. What questions does each cause you to ask? Pray over each, asking God to provide clarity. Connect with a fellow believer to learn with and from one another.