1^st Thessalonians 2:13 (ESV) “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.”

As the Lord allows, this coming Lord’s Day I will get back to the series of sermons on Basic Bible Doctrines that I began last Fall. We have taken several weeks off for Holiday sermons and our January Bible Study, but now, I will be bringing the first of two sermons about the Word of God!

There are two questions I want to answer in these sermons: first, “what is the Bible?” and second, “what does the Bible actually do?

The first question, “What is the Bible?” is not quite as simple as it sounds… The Bible is the revelation of God in human language! One of the causes for many misunderstandings that come from the Bible is misunderstanding human language!

God created humans, human language, and He gave us the Bible in language. If one does not carefully apply the rules of grammar, it becomes almost impossible to rightly understand God and His holy Word.

God originally gave His Word in paleo-Hebrew, Hebrew, Chaldean, Aramaic, a couple of Latin words, and Koine Greek. And, of course, what He inspired in those languages was grammatically correct for that language.

The most accurate of English Translations, (King James, New King James, American Standard, New American Standard, and the English Standard Version) translate these original languages correctly into English – and they are (of course) grammatically correct!

One of the most overlooked grammatical issues in understanding any language – and especially the Bible – are the various genres’ of the language. English is no exception!

We find at least seven specific genres’ of language present in our English Bibles: Historical Narrative, Prophecy, Poetry, Wisdom Literature, Gospels, Epistles, and Apocalyptic language. Many of the problems we encounter in understanding the Bible is because we do not consider the genre’ of the language in which the words are being communicated.

The second great issue in understanding the nature of the Bible is that not only is the Bible made up of words, it is made up of God’s Words! This means – along with lots more – that the words of the Bible are inspired, inerrant, and authoritative!

While most Baptists I know are sold on the first two… we have real problems coming to grips with the third. I hope you will be present Sunday and get all of this teaching!

I hope to see you Sunday with your Bible in your hand, a smile on your face, and family and friends by your side!