Sep 9 2024
What the Bible is and isn't
Have you ever wondered what the Bible actually is? Or who wrote it? Christians believe that the Bible is God's inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word. But what does that mean?
If you're curious about these questions and want to have a better understanding of the Bible, this episode of the unBibled podcast hosted by Bible teacher Liz Cobo is for you.
CLARIFICATION: In this episode at 12:44 I misspoke and said, "the Gospel of Acts." The Book of Acts is not a gospel account. - Liz
Learn more about Liz at lizcobo.com.
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To watch the video version of this episode visit the unBibled YouTube channel.
Bible Cross References Rainbow Graphic
Liz's Notes for this episode
The Bible isn’t a single book. It’s 66 different books. Written by 40 or more authors, primarily Jewish men, over about 1,500 years of time.
The Bible has multiple literary genres including law, historical narrative, wisdom, poetry, epistles, prophecy, and apocalyptic. There are 39 books of the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament.
The Bible is not in chronological order from cover-to-cover.
It is divided into two different sections: the Old Testament and the New Testament.
The word testament means covenant or agreement. The Old Agreement was between God and His people, the Jews. The New Agreement is between God and anyone, Jew or Gentile who puts their faith in Jesus.
You’ve probably heard the word Gentile before, but if you’re not sure what or who a Gentile is, it simply means someone who is not Jewish.
Christians believe that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God.
What does it mean that the Bible is inspired? It means that Christians believe the Bible was written by human authors who the Holy Spirit inspired to physically write down the text of Scripture. The Holy Spirit gave them the words to write. They were operating in their giftings and utilized their own unique ways of communicating through words the message of God. And this inspiration didn’t just extend to the authors whose names appear attached to the writings — but also to their scribes (sometimes referred to as an amanuensis). For example, we know that the Apostle Paul utilized scribes to write some of his epistles (or letters). That means both Paul and the scribe were operating in the power of the Holy Spirit to convey God’s message to God’s people.
Christians also declare that the Bible is inerrant - without error in it’s original form. When the Bible was written in its original languages which include Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek by the authors of Scripture it was without error. It was exactly what God wanted to communicate. Over time, mostly through the process of copying the Scriptures, there have been some errors that have occurred. But those errors are never about issues relating to salvation. They don’t change the message God is delivering through the Bible.
The belief that the Bible is infallible conveys the idea that the Bible cannot be wrong. Which is incredibly important to us in our day and age when popular culture has begun to think of truth as being relative, on a sliding scale. The truths of Scripture do not change. They are infallible meaning they are as true today as they were when they were first recorded. So if as Christians we believe that the Bible is inspired, inerrant, and infallible then we have to recognize that the Bible is just as relevant to our modern lives today as it has been for thousands of years. And we’ll talk more about that in an upcoming episode.
As Christians we are “living under grace” and not “under the law,” but we cannot unhook the Old Testament from the New Testament. Both testaments matter to us because together they create a full picture of God’s love for his creation, of which the greatest part is humanity. Not that as humans we are great. We are fallen. We sin. Romans 3:23 tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” But we, all of us, made in God’s image.
Being made in God’s image does not mean that we look like God. What it means is that we enjoy the status that God has given us to multiply and subdue the earth and we reflect the characteristics of God. We don’t do this perfectly - only Jesus did that. But we are capable of attributes like love and kindness and self-control because those are the fruits of God’s spirit.
In upcoming episodes we’ll talk more about the attributes of God, about humanity’s fall from grace. But this episode is all about giving you some Bible Basics.
Before we close let’s take a 30,000 foot view of the Old and New Testaments. As I mentioned earlier, the testaments are covenants, or agreements between God and his people. In the Old Testament there are actually multiple covenants, or agreements that God makes with His people. Including the Mosaic covenant which establishes the Hebrew people as God’s people. The entirety of the Old Testament tells the story of God’s relationship with His People.
In Exodus 6:7 God says to Moses, talking about the Hebrew people, “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God.”
The New Testament tells the story of Jesus and the birth of the Christian church.
Jesus was God incarnate, who left his throne in heaven, to be born as baby through the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon the virgin Mary. Who grew up, having a very normal childhood and life. Who in his early thirties began to minister to the Jewish people who had been awaiting the Messiah (the promised one) who the Old Testament prophecies about.
Jesus would go on to die a criminal’s death on a Roman cross to pay the sin debt for all of humanity for all of time. And three days later he rose from the dead, defying sin and grave. He was seen by more than 500 people after his resurrection, including his disciples who knew him well.
After 40 days he ascended into heaven and is coming back again to fulfill the Scriptures.
