A. Introduction

We say this having embraced the New Testament as a reliable source of information about the life and teaching of Jesus. In the New Testament we learn that Jesus is the Son of God who has come into our world speaking the words given to him by God and bearing witness to the truth. What then did Jesus teach that would lead us to believe that the New Testament and the Old Testament scriptures are the word of God and the means by which God has spoken to our world?

First, regarding the New Testament, Jesus promised that His words would not pass away, and these same words He committed to His Apostles whom He chose and sent out in His name to be his witnesses. Second, He promised the guiding presence of God’s Spirit to the Apostles in their preaching and teaching. These two promises together are the basis for our faith that the New Testament is God’s word. With respect to the Old Testament Scriptures, we will see that Jesus and the Apostles believed and taught others that they are also the word of God in which God has spoken.

These thoughts summarize the primary reasons why we believe that God has spoken to our world in the Bible. On the next page we will begin to develop these thoughts in more detail in order to bring the bigger picture into focus. Afterward, we will survey some additional evidence which supports our belief in the Bible, which together with what we have already learned will provide a solid foundation on which one’s faith in the entire Bible as the word of God can rest.