The Word of God can be defined as being the Son of God, direct speech by God (decrees, personal address), God’s speaking through prophets, and God’s word in written form (John 1:1).
Canon Of Scripture
The list of all the books that belong in the Bible.
- The Bible contains all the words of God he intended for us to have (Deuteronomy 4:2).
- Scripture primarily reports God’s great acts in redemptive history.
- Primarily the apostles were given the ability from the Holy Spirit to recall accurately the words and deeds of Jesus and to record and interpret them rightly (John 14:26).
- Thirty-ninth Paschal Letter of Athanasius (AD 367) and Council of Carthage (AD 397) agreed on our present-day canon.
- The early church recognized but did not bestow divine authority on the books of the Bible it included in the canon.
- There is no need for more words of Scripture after the New Testament because there is a finality to the revelation of God in Christ (Hebrews 1:1-3).
- The Apocrypha: merely human words, not God-breathed like Scripture.
- Ultimately, we base our confidence in the correctness of our present canon on the faithfulness of God (Revelation 22:18-19).
Authority Of Scripture
All the words in Scripture are God’s words in such a way that to disbelieve or disobey any word of Scripture is to disbelieve or disobey God (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
- Scripture is self-attesting: All the words in Scripture are God’s words because this is what the Bible claims for itself and because we are convinced by the Holy Spirit that the Bible is God’s word as we read it (1 Corinthians 2:13-14). God’s words cannot be “proved” by appeal to any higher authority.
- Inerrancy: Scripture is the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact (Psalms 19:7-11)
- The Bible still speaks in ordinary language of everyday speech, includes loose or free quotations, and has unusual or uncommon grammatical constructions.
*Resources Added From Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology
What is The Word of God? (Part 1 of 2)
What is The Word of God? (Part 2 of 2)
