GROW IN GRACE “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 3:18
THE BIBLE THE NATURAL KNOWLEDGE OF GOD People in all parts of the world have always had some sort of religion. When people don’t know the true God, they create one. They worship things like the sun, their ancestors, or animals. Why is that?
For Additional Study
Hebrews 3:4 “For every house is built by someone, and God is the one who built everything.” Psalm 19:1 “The heavens tell about the glory of God. The expanse of the sky proclaims the work of His hands.” Romans 1:20 “In fact, his (God’s) invisible characteristics—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, because they are understood from the things he made. As a result, people are without excuse.” The existence of this _____________________________ causes this.
Romans 2:15 “(The Gentiles) demonstrate the work of the law that is written in their hearts, since their conscience also bears witness as their thoughts go back and forth, at times accusing or at times even defending them.” Everyone has a __________________________________ that causes this.
Gentile is term for any person who is not Jewish, so someone without knowledge of God’s specific laws or expectations.
What can’t people know about God from what they observe or how they feel? 1. ________________________________________________________. 2. ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________. 2
Acts 17:22-27 Acts 16:29-30
THE BIBLE IS THE RELIABLE SOURCE FOR INFORMATION ABOUT THE ONE TRUE GOD The Bible is literally God’s Word 2 Peter 1:20-21 “...we know this above all else: No prophecy of Scripture comes about from someone’s own interpretation. In fact, no prophecy ever came by the will of a man, but men spoke from God as they were being carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
For Additional Study Appendix 1: Suggested Home Bible Reading
1 Corinthians 2:13 “We also speak about these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit...” 1 Thessalonians 2:13 “There is also another reason we give thanks to God unceasingly, namely, when you received God’s word, which you heard from us, you did not receive it as the word of men but as the word of God (as it really is), which is now at work in you who believe.” Acts 1:16 “Gentlemen, brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David about Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus.” God used the writer's ______________________________________, but God used His own words.
1 Corinthians 14:37
2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is God-breathed...” God inspired the writers of the Bible to write what they wrote. This is true of “all Scripture”, whether the word was _______________________________________________, or came from ___________________________________________, or by _______________________________________. Why do you think the phrase, “This is what the Lord says” or its equivalent is used about 2000 times in the Old Testament?
The term for God giving the actual words of the Bible is: ________________
_________________________.
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Examples: Isaiah (revelation) Matthew (eyewitness) Luke (historian) Luke 24:25—Jesus testified to the truth of the words of the prophets recorded in the OT.
The Bible’s Primary Purpose 2 Timothy 3:15 “(The Holy Scriptures) are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” Psalm 119:105 “Your words are a lamp for my feet and a light for my path.” The Bible’s primary purpose is to: __________________________________
For Additional Study 2 Timothy 3:16 offers other uses for God’s Word: teaching, training, correcting.
_____________________________________________________________. Psalm 19:7-9 Hebrews 4:12
Showing Respect for God’s Word John 17:17 “Your word is Truth.” Deuteronomy 4:2 “Do not add to the word that I am commanding you, and do not subtract from it…” Revelation 22:18-19 “I give this warning to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the Tree of Life and in the Holy City, which are written in this book.”
We let God’s Word explain itself. We let Scripture interpret Scripture. Examples of this include:
According to these passages, how would we show respect for God’s Word?
Galatians 3:16 explains what was meant in Genesis 22:18
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Hebrews 12:26-27
_____________________________________________________________ The Contents of the Bible. The Old Testament is made up of 39 books. (3 and 9 39) Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. These were written by Moses and called the “Pentateuch”. They contain the history of the world from the creation to the death of Moses. (3000+ years) Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther. These are also historical books relating to the history of the nation of Israel in Old Testament times. Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon. These are poetical books. Most of the Psalms were written by King David. The Prophetical books are the Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the Minor Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zachariah, Malachi. These contain various kinds of prophecies. 4
Torah is a Hebrew word that means “law.” It is used to refer to the first 5 books of the OT. Pentateuch is a Greek word that refers to the first 5 books of the OT. It means “5 books.” “Major” and “Minor” refer to the size of the books written by those prophets.
The New Testament is made up of 27 books. (3 x 9 = 27) Matthew, Mark, Luke, John are called Evangelists (“gospel, good news”). Their books record the history of the life of Jesus and the good news of salvation by faith in him. Acts – Luke wrote this book. It describes the missionary activities of the Apostles and the growth of the Christian Church after the ascension of Jesus. Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon are letters (also called Epistles) written by the Apostle Paul to congregations and to individuals. Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1, 2 & 3 John, and Jude are general epistles. They are named for the authors except for Hebrews, whose author is not known. Revelation is a book that records visions given by Jesus to the Apostle John. It shows what the Christian Church is to expect until the end of time.
For Additional Study Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church Our churches include the word “evangelical” in their names because we want it to be known that we preach the gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called the Synoptic (“seeing together”) Gospels. They record many of the same events. Appendix 2: The Books of the Bible
The Composition and Preservation of the Bible The word “Bible” comes from a Latin word that means _________________. The 39 books of the Old Testament Written in _________________________________________. Written by ________________________________________. Written from about _________________________________. The 27 books of the New Testament Written in _________________________________________. Written by ________________________________________. Written from about _________________________________. 2 Peter 3:2 “Remember the words spoken earlier by the holy prophets and the command of the Lord and Savior through your apostles.”
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The set of books universally included and accepted as Holy Scripture, is called the “canon” of the Bible. “Canon” is a Latin word that means “standard” or
“measuring stick”.
God, who inspired the very words of Holy Scriptures to be written, also saw to it that the sacred writings were gathered and preserved. Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” The Old Testament Scriptures were collected prior to 400 BC under the supervision of Ezra the Scribe, according to tradition. It is noteworthy that Jesus accepted the OT Scriptures—the same ones we have today—as the Word of God: Luke 16:29 “They have Moses and the Prophets. Let them listen to them.” Luke 24:44-45 “’Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” To argue against the Old Testament as being the actual words of God
For Additional Study The Apocrypha is a collection of books written by Jews in Egypt. They are included in the Roman Catholic Bible (since 1546) but are not accepted by other Christians. They are never quoted in the NT and were rejected by the early church. They also contain false doctrines.
is to argue against _______________________________________. The New Testament Scriptures were agreed upon by the close of the second century. Early church councils in 393 AD and 397 AD officially ratified the canon of the New Testament.
The original “autographs” of the Bible’s books were lost or destroyed— the Old Testament manuscripts during the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 B.C., the New Testament “autographs” during the persecution of Christians during the first three centuries. There are thousands of ancient Hebrew (1,700) and Greek (5,600) copies of the original biblical books. They range from small portions the size of a postage stamp to complete Bibles. About 18,000 copies of parts of the New Testament (or complete New Testament documents) in other languages, dating from the 2nd to the 16th centuries, round out the manuscript evidence. For reliability of the documents (humanly speaking), it is most helpful to have a high number of copies to compare and to have copies that were made near the time the original was written. There is no piece of ancient literature that compares to the textual evidence of the Bible.
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Autograph is the term for the original biblical books written by the original authors of those books.
Written
New Testament Old Testament Livy Roman History Caesar’s Gallic War Homer’s Iliad Herodotus Plato’s Tetralogies Aristotle (Poetics)
Earliest Time # of Existing Copy Span (yrs) Manuscripts 48-95 AD 200 AD 100 24,000 1500-400 BC 125 BC 1400-375 1,700 59 BC-17 AD 900 AD 900 20 58-50 BC 900 AD 950 10 800 BC 400 BC 400 643 488-428 BC 900 BC 1300 8 427-347 BC 900 AD 1250 7 384-322 BC 1100 AD 1400 49
The copies of the Bible are not inspired, but God miraculously preserved His Word for us. Variant readings are found when manuscripts are compared. Only about 1% of the variant readings raise questions as to the original. Of that 1%, none affects any matter of fact or doctrine. Consider the example in Appendix 3: The Text of the Bible. Important Modern Textual Discovery The Dead Sea Scrolls (1947) Important Translations of the Bible Septuagint
Greek translation of OT (285 BC)
Vulgate
Latin by Jerome (400 AD)
English Bible by William Tyndale (1525) German Bible by Dr. Martin Luther (1534) KJV
King James Version - England (1611)
NIV
New International Version (1973/1978/1984/2011)
EHV
Evangelical Heritage Version (2017)
*Bible translations number in the thousands.
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For Additional Study Appendix 3: Variant Readings Sample Codex is a leaf page. Codex Sinaiticus (350 AD) It was discovered in a monastery’s basket of papers for fire starting. It contains over half of the Old Testament and all of the New Testament. Codex Vaticanus (325-350 AD) It is virtually a whole Greek Bible and considered to be one of the most trustworthy NT manuscripts. Codex Alexandrinus (400 AD) It is a nearly complete Greek Bible dating from the Fifth Century. One of the earliest to include significant decorations to mark text divisions. A translation is always done from the original Hebrew and Greek text of the Bible, not from another translation.
THE ONLY TRUE GOD THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUE GOD Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God. The LORD is one!” 1 Corinthians 8:4 “...We know that an idol is not anything real in the world and that there is no God but one.” Galatians 3:20 “…God is one.” There is only _________________ God. Numbers 6:24-26 “The LORD bless you and keep you. The LORD make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. The LORD look on you with favor and give you peace.” Matthew 3:16-17 “After Jesus was baptized, he immediately went up out of the water. Suddenly, the heavens were opened for him! He saw the Spirit of God, descending like a dove and landing on him, and a voice out of the heavens said, 'This is my Son, whom I love. I am well pleased with him.'” Matthew 28:19 “Therefore go and gather disciples from all nations, by baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 13:14 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” As God describes himself in his Word, we hear about _____________ distinct persons in this one God. They are: ____________________________ ____________________________ ____________________________ Because God describes himself as one God with three persons, we refer to the Trinity or the Triune God. These words mean ____________________. We cannot fully understand God or explain how this can be! We do believe it, however, because this is how God has revealed himself in his reliable Word. 8
For Additional Study In the Old Testament Hebrew, the word translated LORD (and in all capital letters) is Yahweh/Jehovah. This name for God emphasizes his grace, that he is the Savior God. When Lord (not all capitalized) is used, it is a different Hebrew word for God. It emphasizes that he rules over all things.
Numbers 6:24-26 and 2 Corinthians 13:14 are used as blessings spoken over God’s people in worship.
DIVINE CHARACTERISTICS SHARED EQUALLY BY ALL THREE PERSONS OF THE TRINITY Psalm 90:2 “Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from eternity to eternity you are God.” God is _______________________________________________. Matthew 19:26 “With God all things are possible.” God is _______________________________________________. Psalm 139:1-4 “LORD, you have investigated me and you know. You know when I sit down and when I get up. You understand my thoughts from far off. You keep track of when I travel and when I stay, and you are familiar with all my ways. Before there is a word is on my tongue, you, LORD, already know it completely.” God is _______________________________________________. Jeremiah 23:24 “Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD.” God is _______________________________________________. 2 Timothy 2:13 “He remains faithful, because he cannot deny himself.” God is _______________________________________________. Exodus 34:6-7 “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and overflowing with mercy and truth, maintaining mercy for thousands, and forgiving guilt and rebellion and sin.” God is _______________________________________________. Leviticus 11:44 “...be holy, for I am holy.” God is _______________________________________________. Deuteronomy 32:4 “He is the Rock, His works are perfect, and all His ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He.” God is _______________________________________________. Psalm 145:9 “The LORD is good to all. His compassion extends over all he has made.” God is _______________________________________________. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God is _______________________________________________. 9
For Additional Study