The inerrant Bible is the Holy Bible

Romans 1:1-3Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh,

Yesterday we considered why the Holy Bible is the Holy Bible.  We looked at its characteristics in light of what we have studied in the realm of holiness.  Having seen that the Bible alone can be considered "Holy" or "Sacred" in the authoritative sense, today we want to elaborate on the one trait that demonstrates the Bible to be "The Holy Bible" - inerrancy. 

The scripture is pure and undefiled, qualifying it to predict events accurately.
Holiness or sacredness includes purity. Theologians refer to the scriptures as being inerrant and infallible - that is, without error and incapable of error. Five phrases above lead us to the thought of how crucial inerrancy is to the Holy character of scripture:
1. "the Gospel of God" or the Message of the inerrant scripture

2. "promised before hand" (i.e predictive prophecy) or the Method of inerrant scripture

3. "through his servants the prophets" or the Means by which came inerrant scripture

4. "in the Holy Scriptures" or the Manufacturing of inerrant scripture

5. "concerning His Son" or the Majesty of Christ, the focus of inerrant scripture

In order for the Bible to predict events accurately, it had to be without error. Now lets break these series of phrases down to explain further why biblical inerrancy is necessary in order the Holy Bible to be the Holy Bible:

a. The Message of Inerrant Scripture - "The Gospel of God." This is the "Good News" of God's Mission to rescue sinful man from the death of sin. It was first proclaimed in Genesis 3:15 and throughout the 10 generations from Adam to Noah in Genesis 5-6. Abraham heard it in Genesis 12,15,17. Isaac and jacob and the Patriarchs were repeated the "promise" of the Gospel throughout the rest of Genesis.

b. The Method of Inerrant Scripture - "Promised before hand".
Moses later on spoke of this promise of the Gospel and predicted a Prophet to come in Deuteronomy 18. David was promised the coming of a King from his blood line in 2 Samuel 7:13-16. By the time we reach the New Testament, we discover that in all, 332 prophecies were made about Jesus Christ, the subject of all prophecy. If one of those predictions had been wrong, the whole fabric of scripture would had unraveled.

c. The Means by which came inerrant scripture - "Through His Servants the prophets".
If the Gospel was the message, and the predictions and promises were the method, then the prophets themselves were the means through which God revealed the Holy Scriptures. These men wrote as they were "carried along" by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21). Those  men were at times sinful, yet the Spirit of God gave the Grace of inspiration in order to preserve what they wrote from error. No other book had this Divine protection accompanying its composition like the Bible - thus making it Holy.

d.The Manufacture of inerrant scripture -  "In the Holy Scriptures"
With the Holy message, method and means we now come to the Holy manufacturing of the scriptures themselves. They are termed "Holy Scriptures". In order to be Holy, they were not merely "deemed Holy", they were Holy. The level of holiness invested in the sacred text of scripture is such that they are without error.

e. The Majesty of Christ, the focus of inerrant scripture - "Concerning His Son"
The Majesty of the Son is the focal point of all scripture. What would happpen if the message would had been inaccurate? Or how about the method - predictive prophecy? What if the Holy Spirit had not preserved the means of communication - the prophets words? Or how about the manufacturing of the scriptures in their original form? If any part of that process would had been unholy - we would not know the Holy Majesty of Christ.

As you can see, if the Bible had even one error, it would not be pure and thus it would be incapable of accurately communicating the Majesty of Jesus Christ.  For these reasons the inerrancy of scripture is why we can see that the Holy Bible is the Holy Bible.

Why the Holy Bible is the Holy Bible

Romans 1:1-3 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh,

Why is the Bible called "The Holy Bible"?
In the past few days we have been exploring the subject of holiness.  In some translations we see the Bible or the scriptures referred to as being "sacred" - i.e the sacred scriptures. (2 Timothy 3:15)  If we review for just a moment what we've learned about holiness or "sacred", we can better understand what is meant by the phrase "holy" or "sacred" scriptures:

1. The scripture is a unique piece of literature, in a class by itself.  It is separate.  No other book in the world, religious or otherwise, has the quality of being Divine revelation.  All other would-be contenders are the responses of men to their thoughts about God.  Only the Bible is the thoughts and words of God about Himself revealed to men.  Only the scripture can convert the hearts of people in the presence of its hearing and reading. (Psalm 19:7; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23) 

No other body of literature has been attacked and withstood each of its opponents like the Bible.  A prime example of this is from the words of the Atheistic French Philosopher Voltaire who stated that within 100 years after his death, his words would live on and the Bible would no longer be around.  Yet 100 years after his death, his very home became a small publishing house wherein copies of the Bible were produced. 

2. The scripture is holy due to both its authorship and its subject matter.  It is a dual authorship.  That is, there are 40 human authors on three continents over 1500 years - i.e human authorship.  Then there is the "Author" behind the "authors" - The God of all Eternity.  Anytime we see an intersection between the human and Divine, that is what we call sacred.  Furthermore, Romans 1:3 tells us what the chief concern is of the scriptures - "His Son", the Lord Jesus Christ, God in human Flesh. 

3. The scripture is pure and undefiled, qualifying it to predict events accurately.  Holy or sacredness also includes purity.  Theologians refer to the scriptures as being inerrant and infallible - that is, without error and incapable of error.  It says in the verses above that "the Gospel of God" was "promised before hand" through his servants "the prophets" "in the Holy Scriptures" "concerning His Son."  In order for the Bible to predict events accurately, it had to be without error.  Tomorrow we will elaborate on why inerrancy is necessary in order to demonstrate the Bible as "The Holy Bible". 

The First Command Jesus gave to His church

Matthew 18:15-18 15“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. 16“But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. 17“If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18“Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.

Holiness matters because it points to Jesus Christ
Yesterday we considered the first reason why holiness matters to the Christian - because by it we can prioritize life around God.  However if we stop there, we fall short, since holiness is not only just God centered, but God in Christ centered.  The passage above is the first command Jesus ever gave to His church. 

Jesus' Great Concern for His Church was her holiness
Many Christians may be surprised to find out that Jesus spoke on His concern about the church's holiness before He ever gave the two other "greats" that most Christians know.  Most will be familiar with the "Great Commission" of Matthew 28:18-20 to go into all the world and make disciples.  Furthermore some Christians may be familiar with what's termed "The Great Commandment" -  to love God with all our heart and love our neighbor as ourselves. (Matthew 22:37-39 and Mark 13:34-35)

However very few Christians will know what I term the "Great Concern" - namely holiness in His church in both the personal, interpersonal and corporate church body levels.  Christ's aim is to prepare a church, a bride for Himself, that will be holy and blameless at His coming. (Ephesians 5:25-27).  Frankly without fulfilling this first of the "Great commandments", the church will not be effective in fulfilling the Great Commandment nor the Great Commission.  A flippancy towards holiness will yield a church that is short-sighted in both its internal love for fellow Christians and evangelism of the lost. (please compare 2 Peter 1-3-11)

Holiness points to Christ since it is Christ who points us to holiness
Christ Himself is called "Holy". (Hebrews 7:25-26)  When He prayed to His Father in His High Priestly prayer in John 17, He as the Holy, Faithful High Priest prayed that His church would be "Holy". (John 17:17,19)  Christ is the beginning and goal of the Christian's holiness, since it is Christ's Holiness that provides the basis for the Christian's holiness. 

Holiness leads us to enjoyment of God, since Christ Himself is pleased to dwell, speak and even sing for joy in the midst of the very ones He is aiming to make Holy. (Hebrews 2).  Holiness matters because it points to Christ.  Only when we point to Christ can we desire to build a life around God, that is, our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ. (Titus 2:13)   

Why does Holiness matter?

1 Peter 1:15-16 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”

We have spent the past several days defining and discussing holiness.  Today we want to probe further and ask this simple question: Why does holiness matter?  As we consider the answer to this question in light of the above verse, we will propose that the first reason holiness matters is because it Prioritizes Life around God. 

Exposing a commonly believed myth
The Old Testament is not the only part of the Bible that teaches about Holiness.  Many people mistakingly assume that the Old Testament teaches about Holiness and the New Testament switches to focusing only on the love of God.  If anything, the New Testament's emphasis on love derives from Old Testament passages that emphasize the importance of loving the Lord and one's neighbor. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and Leviticus 19:18).  Likewise the New Testament adds even more emphasis to the priority of holiness in the believer's life, as we will see in the passages below. 

Holiness is important because it prioritizes Life around God in the following "realms" of one's life:

1. Prioritizing Church life around God
Romans 14:19-20 states - "So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. 20Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense." This chapter emphasizes much the same themes as Leviticus 11-12, the emphasis on what is "clean" in the context of how one eats.  The point being that a church that prioritizes life around God will cherish holiness, since concern will be for others above oneself.

2. Prioritizing Business life around God
2 Corinthians 6:14-16 states - "Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? 16Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said,“I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE." We need to discern whom we make covenants with whether it be business, marriage or any type of covenant arrangement.  Whenever we make covenant with one another, my friends become your friends and my enemies become your enemies and vice versa. 

3. Prioritizing Family Life around God
Does Holiness matter in the realm of family life in the New Testament? Consider these words in Ephesians 5:25-27 "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless."

4. Prioritizing your thought life around God
All Christian growth has its genesis in the realm of the mind.  1 Thessalonians 4:2-4 shows how holiness is the will of God in the realm of the mind - "For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. 3For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor"  Notice there in verse 2 "by the authority of the Lord Jesus". Truly if the holiness of our thought lives is important to Jesus, it ought to be our priority too. 

As we have noted in past blogs, to speak of "The Holy" is tantamount to speaking about God Himself. (compare Isaiah 6:3).  We are not building our lives merely around an abstract concept of holiness, but around God Himself.  This is the first reason why holiness is important.  Tomorrow we will consider the second reason: namely holiness points to Jesus Christ. 

The Significance of being a sanctuary

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

The significance of being a sanctuary
The underlined word above, "temple", is used to describe the Christian.  Over time the place where God met with His people came to be termed a "sanctuary".  Wherever humanity and Deity would intersect one another, that "place" or "time" was considered "sacred".  That word sanctuary comes from a Latin term for Holy, sanctus.  In fact in Isaiah 6:3, where we see the Angels crying out "Holy, Holy, Holy", it would appear in the Latin "sanctus, sanctus, sanctus". 

Remarkably Christian people are termed the "sanctuary of God".  Wherever God's Eternal presence intersects the human timelines of God's people, and actually "meets with them", that time and place is termed "a sanctuary" or "sacred".  Thus a Christian is a living, walking sanctuary, since God Himself has seen fit to dwell inside the believer.

Other words we use in everyday life that come from this word "Sanctus"
As we already saw, a "sanctuary" is a place where God and His people meet.  When we are sanctifying something, we are making it ready for fit use - cleansing it and purifying it.  The act of "washing dishes" means "sanctifying them", getting rid of the dirt and preparing them for the next meal. 

As we've seen in the past couple of blogs, we cannot escape the concept of "the holy" or "sanctus".  We value clothes because the cover up those areas that are holy, special.  We wash or "sanctify our clothes", since wearing dirty clothes is unacceptable.  We wash or "sanctify our hands" before we eat.  It is impossible to escape the Holy. 

Another term we commonly use that incorporates this root word "sanctus" is the term "consecrate".  To "consecrate" means literally to "separate oneself or unite oneself with another" (con = with and sacra = to make holy, separate unto).  Consecration refers to surrender oneself to the ownership of another.  Thus when a Christian consecrates themselves to the Lord, they are acknowledging what is already fact, namely Christ's Lordship and ownership over their lives.  1 Corinthians 6:19-20 conveys this truth of Christ's ownership of us as being the reason for wanting to live a holy life in consecration to Him. 

A fourth and final word that we derive from this word "sanctus" is the word which we mentioned at the beginning of today's blog, the word "sacred".  When Jacob was encountered by the Lord in Genesis 28:10-22, he called the place "Bethel", since the Divine Eternal God met and intersected with the human timeline of Jacob.  That place became a "Bethel", a "House of God", a "sacred place" or a "sanctuary". 

I always pray everyday that Christ would be through me everything a given situation requires in order that I may be in Him all He desires. May we as Christians live as those who are the sanctuary of God, wherein and whereby He gladly lives, meets and expresses Himself. 

Transformed by Holiness

1 Timothy 6:16 “Who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.”



Holiness is the sum of all of who God is in the brightness of His glory and Goodness

We began looking yesterday at the concept of “holiness” or “The Holy”.  To be holy is to be in a unique class, special, separate, owned or pure in relationship to oneself or other things.  In looking at the origin of Holiness, the God of the Bible, holiness is the sum of all God's infinite goodness concentrated in infinite brightness. It’s like taking a magnifying glass and concentrating all of the sun's light into a specific point. Holiness is the very essence of who God is.



Holiness deals in the realm of God's relationship to people or things, and their relationship to Him

As we noted earlier, God is in a unique class by Himself. This is, in my mind, the closest we can come to identifying the nature of "The Holy". God is sufficient in and of Himself, not in need of anything. All other things derive their life and existence from God. However God alone has existed before all creation.



Although God is uniquely Holy, something interesting takes place when the presence of God enters a place or comes in contact with somebody. That object or person is deemed Holy. Exodus 29:37 tells us - "For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it; then the altar shall be most holy, and whatever touches the altar shall be holy." Jesus Himself taught this principle in the form of a question in Matthew 23:17 “You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold?"



Thus when the Holy Spirit enters into a person at saving faith, that person is deemed a "saint" or a "holy one". (1 Corinthians 1:1-2; 6:19-20) Anything outside of the immediate vicinity of the area touched by God is considered "common" or "unclean" or "profane". When Moses was met by God in the burning bush in Exodus 3, God told him to take off his sandals, since the ground he was standing on was "holy ground". In other words, the ground in the immediate vicinity of the burning bush was "separated" or "made unique", cut off from the space around that area because the Lord Himself touched it and deemed it Holy, since He Himself is Holy.

Holiness 101

1 Peter 1:14-16 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”

Yesterday we looked at defining and understand what is meant by "The Holy".  Today I want to give you some categories by which to think through this crucial concept in your understanding of God and the Christian life.  1 Peter 1:14-16 is based off of what we see written in Leviticus 11:44.  When I see themes repeated in both Old and New Testament, that is what we call an "absolute" or "principle".  The way the Bible proceeds to unfold the concept of holiness is in three ways: Practically, Doctrinally and Supernaturally. 

Practical definition of holiness = clean versus unclean
In Leviticus 11-12, where we were yesterday, God reveals to Moses the laws concerning "clean and unclean".  Nearly 50 times we find that phrase stated in those chapters.  Moses was addressing the practical matters of diet, sanitation and child birth to point the way to the doctrinal and ultimately to the supernatural. 

Once we have grasped the significance of the "clean/unclean" categories, we will then be ready for the next level of discussion. The Bible says of the priests in Ezekiel 44:23 "And they shall teach my people the difference between the Holy and the profane and cause them to discern between the unclean and clean." 

Any child from the earliest age discerns between "clean and unclean".  Little Johnny is taught to wash his hands, not play in the toilet water and drink only out of "clean cups".  Little Johnny further distinguishes between "tub water" and "drinking water".  In our raising of children, we are dealing constantly with "the holy" at the most practical level.

Doctrinal level of holiness = holy versus profane
When we come to understand God and the things of God, as well as the people of God, holiness is not just a static idea, but an idea that is inseperable from relationship.  Holiness all at once does "separate" but also "brings into proximity with itself" some things but not all things. 

As we saw yesterday, God's touching of a bush or the gold of the temple or indwelling people makes that object or person "holy".  People who have been converted and indwelt by the Spirit of God by grace through faith are called a "holy ones" or "saints".  Passages such as 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 exhorts the saints to "come out and be separate among them".  This is the law of the "clean and unclean" functioning in the doctrinal level of the Christian life.  Holiness is central to who we are as Christians. (1 Peter 1:14-16)  Before we can live holy lives, we have to first be converted by grace through faith by the Holy Spirit who brings us into contact with God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

The doctrinal distinctions of "holy and profane" find their root in who God is Himself.  How I live and why I live is never divorced from consideration of the holy versus the profane. 

Supernatural level - God and everything else
Its been said that God has at least 1200 attributes found throughout the scripture.  Out of all those attributes and names, only One is assigned the unique status of being mentioned in a three-fold way.  Isaiah 6:3 has the angels crying out: "Holy, Holy, Holy".  Revelation 4 and 5 repeat this refrain concerning the Triune God on His throne. 

God's holiness is at the heart of who He is.  It is not that God is more holy and loving, nor that He is more loving than holy.  All of God's attributes are perfect and infinite in degree.  There is never a time that God is not Holy that He is not also loving.  Yet Holiness functions as a "thermostat" that regulates all of the other infinite attributes. 

God's holiness means God cannot love sin for example.  Furthermore, God is not holy because of a standard outside of Himself.  Rather good and evil are distinctions that derive simply because God Himself is the standard by which all norms are measured. 

Even when he created all things and deemed them good, in comparison to God, all creation, visible and invisible,  was "less holy", meaning that its perfection and goodness was "borrowed" and "credited to by God", who alone is unendingly and uniquely Holy. Job 25:5 notes - “If even the moon has no brightness and the stars are not pure in His sight..."  Without holiness, the God of the Bible would cease to be.  He is the only God who is Holy, meaning then He is the only God period.