the Here is a summary of the premise----the Bible is the Word of God and can be relied upon to be right and true in all it teaches.
The Nazarene Church puts forth a compromise statement in the manual stating that the Bible "inerrantly" leads us to salvation, but
does not stand for full inerrancy. Here are the main points to consider.
1. The Bible came from God. I Timothy 3 All scripture is God breathed. "theopneustos"
2. Though men were involved in writing scripture, it did not originate with man. II Peter 1 Men were moved along by the Spirit of God
3. The Old Testament is God's words. Romans 3 the Jews were given the "very words of God."
4. Jesus quoted the Old Testament 78 times from 27 Old testament books in the New Testament
5. There are 815 quotes or allusions to the Old Testament in the New Testament
6. Jesus referred to many stories in the Old Testament during His teaching----all as fact, not error
7. If the Old Testament had errors.....did Jesus know? If He knew, did He deceive us by not telling us? Did He not know---and was
deceived Himself? or was it all true as He testified?
8. Jesus said every word or part of a word of scripture would last and be fulfilled. Matthew 5:18
9. Psalm 119 confirms that scripture is from God, is true, pure, trustworthy, reliable, and forever.
10. John Wesley said "if there be one mistake in the Bible, there may as well be a thousand."
11. Nazarene leaders from 1908 thru the 1940s affirmed the inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible.
12. Jesus said-------:God-----Your word is truth." John 17
13. The Bible has amazing unity and consistency though it was written by many people over hundreds of years---a cohesive unit.
14. You----as a Nazarene, can confidently believe in the Bible, using faith that pleases God, a mind to interpret it, studying it like the Bereans did in Acts to determine the ways to believe.
"Are we being loving if we allow our fellow brethren to remain in error and even deceive others? Of course not. Loving others requires that we graciously correct them when they fall into error (Matthew 18; 1 Corinthians 1:11; Galatians 6:1). Those who err do not necessarily know they are in error; they are possibly deceived or ignorant. So we gently and carefully correct the error in regard to teaching, no matter what the situation. After all, this is one of the responsibilities of the church: to teach sound doctrine and correct erroneous teaching (2 Timothy 2:25, 3:16; Titus 2:1). For example, we have to use discernment (judging between right and wrong) if we are to obey verses like 1 Corinthians 5:11–13; 6:4; 2 Thessalonians 3:6; 1 Timothy 6:20; and Titus 3:9, just to name a few.
We need to be careful in this approach, however, as we are all fallible human beings who can make mistakes in judgment. We should find out the whole story and not base our judgment on appearances. Jesus stated, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment” (John 7:24). Notice the Lord’s command to judge. But before we make that judgment, we must make sure we are judging righteously from God’s Word and not relying on our own opinion. Sometimes hard judgment calls must be made, as not everything is “black and white,” which is why it is so important to know and apply the truth of Scripture."
There are many reasons we believe the Bible and all that it contains:
- The Bible claims to be the Word of God. 2 TIMOTHY 3:16 states that every word of Scripture is inspired by God. 2 PETER 1:21 says that men of God wrote as they were “driven along” by the Holy Spirit.
- The Bible shows itself to be the Word of God. Every time there is a scientific or historical fact mentioned in the Bible, it has been shown to be true (the earth is round, currents in the sea, the prevailing winds, etc.). Even when a civilization mentioned has not been heard of before, archaeology eventually finds evidence that it really did exist.
- Jesus Christ quoted from the Bible and believed it to be true. Jesus used the Bible when He was being tempted by Satan. He also quoted the Bible numerous times and stated that He was fulfilling Scripture.
- Many Bible prophecies have already been fulfilled. There are thousands of prophecies in the Bible that have come true. Jesus Himself fulfilled over 60 through His life, death, and resurrection. Because so many prophecies in the Bible have already come true, we can trust that the rest will be fulfilled in the future.
- If the Bible is not true, then we have no basis for claiming we have been saved from our sins. It is only because of the Bible that we can say our sins have been forgiven. If we trust the Bible for our salvation, we must trust everything it says. Otherwise, we are picking and choosing only what we want to believe. Answers in Genesis