Session SevenMy Bible Is God’s Word

How We Got Our Bible

Originals

Reliable Manuscripts

God’s word accepted by God’s people

God’s word kept intact in

English:The King

James Version

Inspiration

PreservationThou shalt keep them, O

LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation

for ever. (Psa 12:7)

Copying

Canonization

Translation

GodThe

Author

ManThe

Instrument

Textus Receptus

All scripture is given by

inspiration of God (II Tim

3:16)

Putting the Pieces Together

• God’s word is inspired• God’s word is preserved• God’s word is not some ambiguous,

intangible pursuit of today’s “scholars”

• MY BIBLE IS GOD’S WORD!

Where Do I Come In?

• The Natural Man – I Corinthians 2:14– The unsaved and spiritually blinded man (II Cor 4:4)– His understanding is darkened (Ephesians 4:17-19)– He is able to understand the gospel (John 20:31,

Rom 10:17)

• The Carnal Man – I Corinthians 3:1-2– The believer who is being controlled by his old

nature– He is only able to receive the milk of the word

(Hebrews 5:12, I Peter 2:2)– “This Book can keep you from sin, and sin can keep

you from this Book”

Where Do I Come In?

• The Spiritual Man – I Corinthians 2:12– Being controlled by the Spirit of God

(Ephesians 5:18)– Given discernment and growing in Christ

(Heb 5:14)– Taught the word by the Spirit of God (John

14:26)– It should be every Christian’s objective to be

spiritual– Not so much where you are, but the direction

in which you are going

Gospel message Spiritual growth

Bible

Natural Man

(darkened understand

ing)

Carnal Man (controlled

by the flesh) Spiritual

Man (controlled

by the Spirit)

Where Do I Come In?

Mil

k

What Now?

• The spiritual man has a respect for the Bible

• As God’s word, my Bible is…– Profitable (II Timothy 3:16)– To be heard (I Samuel 3:9-10, James 1:19)– To be studied (II Timothy 2:15)– To be obeyed (James 1:22, Revelation 1:3)– The testimony of my Savior (Luke 24:27,

John 5:39, Revelation 19:10)

Effective Bible Study

1. Prepare– Find a place and time conducive to Bible

study– Eliminate distractions

2. Pray– “Open thou mine eyes” (Psalm 119:18)– Reminds us that we are dealing with

God’s word– A prayer that precedes Bible study

encourages humility and acknowledges responsibility

Prayer

Pride

Effective Bible Study

3. Read (I Timothy 4:13)Psalm 19:10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. – To read through the Bible in a year requires

only 4 chapters a day– The Bible can be read aloud in about 70 hours

(the New Testament in 18 hours)– Lee Roberson once observed the tendency for

a preacher to find sermons in the scriptures neglecting the blessing of simply reading them

Effective Bible Study

4. Meditate (Joshua 1:8, Philippians 4:8)5. Study (II Timothy 2:15)– Our desire is God’s pleasure– The word of truth is to be “rightly divided”– Compare scripture with scripture

6. Do (Psalm 119:35, 67, James 1:21-25)– To be a “doer of the word” is to be a “doer

of the work” – Sins of omission prevent Bible study