In numerous verses, the Bible declares or assumes itself to be the Word of God. The fact that this Book claims to be the inspired Word of God cannot be denied. It is the constant claim of the New Testament and Old Testament writers, and of Christ Himself. Now, why is this an important subject? There are two critical questions when it comes to our faith as believers in Christ. First, is the Bible the Word of God, and second is Jesus Christ whom He said He is? These are absolutely crucial to our faith. If one falls the other one does as well.
One of the great substantiations we have for the Scriptures is the fact that Christ Himself claimed it to be the Word of God. If we deny the Bible as being the Word of God, we put ourselves in opposition against Jesus Christ, who Himself referred to it as the Word of God. John 17:17 says, “Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth.” Again, in John 10:35, “the Scripture cannot be broken.”
Later Peter said, “we have also a more sure word of prophecy…no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost…” (2 Pet. 1:19-21).
Verse 21 takes us back to an experience that Peter had when he was with the Lord in what he calls the holy mount or the Mount of Transfiguration. What an experience you say! But Peter says, we have a more sure word of prophecy, which was spoken not by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
The scriptures themselves claim to be a revelation from God and this is our foundation. It is not my opinion. It is what the Scriptures say and there are many evidences that substantiate that claim. This collection of books that we call the Bible, the Holy Scriptures, claims to be a unique revelation from God, different from other so-called revelations from various gods, and different from other religious books.
This claim is made in numerous places throughout the Word of God. In many verses you will find over and over, “now the Lord spoke” or “the Lord said.” Over 3800 times in the Old Testament there are statements such as, “Thus says the Lord,” “the LORD spake,” or “the Lord said.” Repeatedly we find places where Moses was commanded to write what God had told him. The prophets often used the phrase “the Lord speaks.” Isaiah says, “Hear O heavens and give ear O earth for the Lord hath spoken…” (Isa. 1:2) and “…then said the Lord unto Isaiah…” (Isa. 7:3).
At this point, all we are doing is showing what the Bible says about itself, to show how it declares that this is the Lord speaking, that this is a revelation from God. Remember it wasn’t just the writer saying this. It was the Lord saying this through the prophet and the prophet repeating, “this is what God says.” It is vital to understand that in the Bible God has spoken.
And God has spoken to the degree that if God were to speak from heaven today, He would not say anything that He has not already said in the Scriptures. You want to know the mind of God? You want to know what the Almighty has revealed? He has given it to you in a Book that you can read and with His enabling you can understand.
“Thus says the Lord,” says Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a human vehicle conveying a message. But the message that Jeremiah conveyed was the message that the Lord had given to him. Or again with Ezekiel, “The word of the Lord came expressly to Ezekiel.” The Old Testament prophets made their claims that this indeed was the Word of God.
Likewise, the New Testament writers also claimed that they declared the message of God. In 1 Corinthians 14:37 Paul the apostle says, “If any man thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.” This is Paul’s clear, unmistakable claim that the things that he was saying, are the commandments of the Lord and he taught them everywhere in every church (1 Cor. 4:17). They were not exclusively for the Corinthians; he taught them in every church.
In another example Paul told the Thessalonians, “for this cause, also, thank we God without ceasing because when you received the Word of God, which you heard of us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the Word of God…” (1 Thess. 2:13). What Paul gave them was the Word of God and they received it as God’s Word. They didn’t receive it as the word of men. They didn’t say that’s just some man speaking. Instead, they believed it to be the Word of God. These are two examples in the New Testament where the writers declared that what they spoke was the message of God.
Paul also taught that salvation depended upon faith in the doctrines that he taught. If anybody taught any other doctrine, they taught contrary to God’s truth and were worthy of condemnation (Gal. 1). John declares in 1 John 5:10 that his testimony was indeed God’s testimony. Peter says, “That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior” (2 Pet. 3:2). So, we find in the New Testament the claim that its writings were indeed the Word of God.
In summary, the Bible clearly and repeatedly declares itself to be the Word of God. To reject its claim is to reject the Bible.