Broadlands Bible Church
August 3, 2022
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Thesis: A "Biblical Perspective" Requires, First Of All, A Perspective Of The Bible.
Introduction: : It should go without saying that a study on "Developing A Biblical Perspective" requires a "perspective" of the Bible. Therefore, we will begin this study by looking into what we have to "accept" if we are to develop a biblical perspective that means anything at all to us.
- I. The First Issue: What The Bible Says Of Itself.
- A. No one can develop a "biblical" perspective if what the Bible says of itself is "unacceptable".
- B. The issues involved regarding the Bible's testimony to itself.
- 1. The "objective" issue: does the Bible's testimony to itself have any credibility?
- a. What we are asking is, "Is there any legitimate basis for believing that what the Bible says about itself is true?"
- b. Though there are several topics regarding "the Bible" that could be helpful in attempting to answer this question, the most fundamental element is what the Bible, itself, calls for, as an "objective" basis for attempting to decide this issue.
- 1) What the Bible, itself, calls for as an "objective" is a "bottom line" kind of argument.
- 2) This "bottom line argument" surfaces in many places, but Isaiah is very prominent in its clear claim: the Bible is linked, by "reason" -- the "objective standard" -- to omniscience and omnipotence (necessary attributes for any "god").
- a) In Isaiah 46:5 , Isaiah's "God" asks this question: "To whom would you liken Me and make Me equal and compare Me, that we would be alike?"
- b) Then, in the following verses, this "God" describes how men manifest their deep-seated need for a "god" by creating their own.
- c) And, hot on the heels of this description of men, He describes the "gods" men have created as completely incapable of being "gods" ("executors of power")...
- i. Those "gods" require that men carry them from place to place because they have no capacity to move themselves.
- ii. Those "gods" cannot answer those who cry out to them.
- iii. Those "gods" cannot deliver a man from his distress.
- d) Then, in 46:9-10 Isaiah's "God" lays out two "can" issues that make Him distinctive.
- i. He says, "There is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done...": this is the issue of omniscience and its "logic" (reason) is indisputable by those who are in any sense "reasonable" (legitimate prophecy is rooted in omniscience; God can declare what will be in the future).
- ii. He says also, "...My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure ... I will bring it to pass ... I have planned it, surely I will do it": this is the issue of omnipotence and its "logic" is indisputable (the last one standing is the one who can execute "power" that overwhelms all adversaries.
- c. Thus, the Bible's self-claims can be evaluated on these two bases.
- 2. The claims made by the Bible regarding the particulars.
- a. First, that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ of God.
- b. Second, that Jesus, Himself, said, "Till heaven and earth pass , one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled" ( Matthew 5:18 ) and, in another place, He said "...it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail ( Luke 16:17 ).
- c. This means that the very spelling of words is determined (in the original manuscripts).
- d. Notice what happens when the letters of words are not determined: "Read" can be made into "Dear" just by shuffling the letters around; "Reed" can be made into "Deer" by the same disestablished order of the letters, and both "Read" and "Reed" can be turned into "Red" by one simple omission of a letter.
- 1) Both Hebrew and Greek are languages that have "prefixes, suffixes, and infixes" that express specific meaning and without which nothing meaningful can be "written".
- 2) What Jesus was claiming was that the words of God in written form are extremely precise: this is a call to pay close attention to every word (Jesus, in His temptation).
