There are forces afoot today that would cause you and me to doubt the veracity, authority, and sufficiency of the Bible as God’s Word. This phenomenon is not unique to our time. Recall the tactics of the ancient serpent in his temptation of Eve in Genesis 3: “Did God really say?…” Therefore, it behooves us to know what are the chief reasons why Christ-followers believe that the Bible is the Word of God.

I am presently taking a refresher course in what I believe by reading James Montgomery Boice’s Foundations of the Christian Faith. He sets forth ten reasons. I offer them here in a summary fashion:

First, there are the claims of the Scriptures themselves.

Second, there is the testimony of Jesus. His testimony is the greatest argument of all. For even if Jesus were only a great teacher, his regard for the Bible as the ultimate authority in life could hardly be disregarded.

Third, there is the doctrinal and ethical superiority of the Bible to all other books. The Bible’s superiority has often been acknowledged even by unbelievers and is denied by few who have read and studied its pages.

Fourth, there is the power of the Bible to affect us as we read it. What produces such results if the Bible is not divine both in its source and its operation upon human lives?

Fifthly, the biblical writers would not have claimed divine origin for a book they knew to be purely their own.

The sixth reason for regarding the Bible as the revealed Word of God is the extraordinary unity of the book. What can account for this unity? There is only one way of accounting for it: behind the efforts of more than forty human authors is the one perfect, sovereign, and guiding mind of God.

The seventh reason for believing the Bible to be the Word of God is its uncommon accuracy.

The eighth reason for believing the Bible to be the Word of God is fulfilled prophecy.

The ninth reason for believing the Bible to be the Word of God is its extraordinary preservation down through the centuries of Old Testament and church history.

The tenth reason for believing the Bible to be the Word of God is its demonstrated ability to transform even the worst men and women, making them a blessing to their families, friends, and community.^[1]

The above ten reasons serve as solid proof for the inspiration and authority of the Bible, but unless the Spirit of God testifies to our hearts the truths above, we will never truly believe that the Bible is God’s Word that makes us wise for salvation as we read, hear, and believe its message. The Apostle Paul teaches this in 1 Corinthians 2:12-14:

Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 

Have you been taught by the Spirit? Has the Spirit of God granted you spiritual discernment regarding the things freely given you by God – one of those being your Bible? Do you have a hunger for God’s Word? If not, ask yourself why. Don’t wait to give attention to God’s living and profitable Word. For it could transform your life and, more importantly, your eternal future!

^[1] Boice, J. M. (1986). Foundations of the Christian faith: a comprehensive & readable theology (pp. 57–66). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.