We believe the Bible is God’s infallible and authoritative word that

was written by human authors under the supernatural and inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

 

 

The Bible is the Inspired Word of God

 

"And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord hath said we will do." Exodus 24:4

See also Exodus 34:27, Hebrews 4:12, II Timothy 2:15

 

The 10 Commandments are the first Word and set the pattern for all the rest of Scripture.  First, the moment the commandments were written, they were authoritative.  In the same way, the rest of Scripture was authoritative the moment it was written.  It was not authoritative because the Church later decided it to be.  It is not the Church that forms the Word, but the Word that forms the Church.  Second, God commissioned Moses to write and considered Moses’ words to have the same authority as His own.  The first stone tablets were written by the finger of God (Exodus 31;18). After this, the people begged for Moses, rather than God, to communicate with them because they were too afraid.  After the golden calf incident, God told Moses to cut two new stones like the first and He would write on them as before (Exodus 34:1).  However, this time He also tells Moses to write what He says (Exodus 34:27).  The implication is that there is no difference in the authority of what God commanded all the authors of the rest of Scripture and considers their words to have the same authority as if He had written with His own finger.

We know that the Bible is the Word of God from the testimony of the Scripture itself.  Jesus considered the Old Testament, His Bible, to be God’s Word (Matthew 22:41-44).  Since we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, then we must believe His witness concerning Scripture.  The writers of the New Testament also considered the Old Testament and their own writings to be authoritative (1 Corinthians 2:12-13, Romans 3:1-2, 2 Peter 1:20-21, 2 Peter 3:15-16) Considering the testimony of Scripture to support that the Bible is the Word of God may seem circular.  However, we also have the inward witness of the Holy Spirit to know that the Bible is God’s Word (Ephesians 6:17, Hebrews 4:12).  The inward witness of the Holy Spirit is just as necessary to recognize the Bible as the Word of God, as that inward witness is to recognize that Jesus is the Son of God.