Key Verse:

2 Timothy 3:16

16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,

Introduction

The statement "All Scripture is God breathed" asserts that the messages in the Bible are sourced from one being, namely God Himself. Therefore, we should expect that the messages to be consistent and complementary to each other. Although the Bible was authored by about 40 persons of diverse background in a time span of about 1,500 years, the Bible has undergone critical examinations and criticisms over the centuries, yet the Bible stands the test of consistency and continuity. Diligent students with the help of the Holy Spirit will see that the Bible is the revelation of God to mankind. Indeed, we see the same theme revealing the holiness, justice, and love of God which explains why He persistently, faithfully brings His people enslaved in sin to freedom and live an abundant life through His Son Jesus Christ. From the first humans Adam and Eve who fell into sin, God provides salvation to mankind because of His great mercy and love. God chose Abraham and raised his descendants as a nation to reveal His plan of salvation to the whole world on the coming of the Messiah who would fulfill the plan of salvation and reconcile the broken relationship of mankind with God (Isaiah 49:6). The key verse of the whole Bible is found in the gospel of John, chapter 3 verse 16 when Jesus was teaching a Jewish Rabbi named Nicodemus who came to seek Him about the way of salvation (John 3:16).

Complementariness as a Validation Device

A jigsaw puzzle is constructed of many pieces. Yet the pieces fit together well to form a good and sensible picture because the pieces are complementary to each other. It is because of this property of complementariness that we know whether a given piece belongs to the jigsaw puzzle in question or not. If someone throw in a piece which cannot be fit into the puzzle we know that the given piece is fake even though it is made of similar material and painted with similar colors. Another example is a padlock and its key because they are complementary to each other such that they match and work well together as a set. Therefore, the complementary nature of the jigsaw puzzle is a strong evidence to prove that the puzzle pieces are sourced from the same designer. Similarly, we can conclude that the padlock and its key are produced by the same manufacturer. By the same token, the complementary nature of the Bible proves that the contents are indeed authored by an ultimate author, namely God Himself, though there are multiple human authors living in different generations to contribute their writings in the Bible. But, we should understand that the Bible was not written in such a way that the human authors served as the typewriters while God was the typist. Rather, the authors put God's inspiration in writings in their languages, cultural references, styles, experience as eyewitness accounts of events and records. However, the contents of the Scripture are inspired by God. This implies that God is the originator of the contents and He approves what to be written and ensures the essence of His messages is recorded accurately.

Is It Artificial Complementariness?

One may argue that the contents of the Bible are complementary to each other because the latter authors were referencing to the writings of the earlier authors such that the latter authors might artificially tweak their writings to be complementary to the previous books. This is a reasonable argument and question.

First off, we should understand that the Bible is a collection of books written in different times under different circumstances by different authors over a very long period of time. If each author wrote according to his own inspirations, experiences, perspectives and values, we should expect a wide variety of incompatible teachings in the Bible. To prove this point, let us look at the history. With the last book of the Bible already written at the end of first century (the last book being the Book of Revelation written by apostle John), we can still see books written hundreds and even more than a thousand years later that are incompatible to the teachings of the Bible while claiming they were the revelation of God. Authors of these books might even falsely claim that they recognize the authority of the Bible but they received new revelations claiming that the original Bible had been falsified such that they received special revelation to rewrite the words of god. There are in fact major world religions established and strived in this way deceiving many generations of people. Moreover, without a close relationship with the One true God, humans tend to be misled and go astray (Jeremiah 50:6). This happen even to many people in Israel who received first hand the revelation of God through the prophets and yet do not accept Jesus as the Messiah not knowing that the New Testament is mainly the fulfillment of the promises and prophecies written in the Old Testament. Is the rejection of the Messiah a result of the lack of evidence proving that Jesus is the Messiah? Quite the opposite, there are numerous evidence to prove that Jesus is the Messiah. We will revisit this topic in more details in Part 2.

If we study the Bible diligently, we can see that the same theme permeates in the writings such that we are taught consistently about the characters of God, His plan and work of salvation of mankind are fully realized by Jesus Christ. These messages are presented in different contexts and yet they do not contradict each other but shed light on different aspects of the subject. In other words, the Bible manifests consistency in its teachings in diverse manners throughout the pages. The writings are not artificially made complementary by human authors but rather by a single overseeing author who provides the contents of the Bible. But, it does not mean that authors of the Bible would not refer to the writings of the former writers. In the Old Testament, we see that prophet Daniel refers to the prophecy of prophet Jeremiah (Daniel 9:2). In the New Testament, there are numerous quotations of the Old Testament when it is helpful to support and clarify the meaning of a message or to record the fulfillment of a prophecy. But, all the references are made in a meaningful and open manner and not as a pretext to mislead the readers into falsehood.

We should understand that God reveals Himself in human terms for He intends to communicate with mankind and how relevant it is for Him to closely knit His messages in the BIble to human events, past and future. The messages of revelation were written in historic contexts and many of such messages were presented as prophecies. In other words, most of the writings are closely associated with history and prophecies. History is subject to public investigation while the prophecies are subject to the challenging test of fulfillment. Although the Bible does reveal the history of creation of the whole world and the universe, major portion of the messages being communicated by God are written in the historical context of Israel which is the elect nation serving as the light for the Gentiles (Isaiah 49:6). The books of the Bible were not casually selected and included as the words of God. Authors of the Old Testament books were godly and well-known in the community which include Moses, Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, David, Solomon, Ezra and others. Although the authors of some of the Old Testament books such as Book of Job are not clearly identified, the strong religious system of Israel for admitting, preserving a book into the sacred book collection means that the origin, and contents of every book have been carefully scrutinized by the contemporary people of the book. Moreover, the human authorship is not of primary importance but whether the contents inside the books are indicative of their divine origin. Since God does not contradict Himself, the messages in every book do not contradict but harmonize and complement each other. The strongest and most exclusive evidence proving that a book was inspired by God is the set of prophetic messages the book contain. While people were held accountable by God for not attending to the words written by the prophets, people who claimed to be prophets but proven false would even be put to death (Deuteronomy 18:19-20). This would definitely be effective to eradicate the practice of speaking falsely in the name of God. The words of a person who claimed to speak for God were put to a straightforward test: if the words were fulfilled then the person was a proven prophet and his words would be held respectfully, otherwise a false prophet (Deuteronomy 18:22). In addition, the sacred books were carefully deposited and kept (1 Samuel 10:25; 2 Kings 23:24). Manuscripts of the Old Testament books were copied with great care by scribes for distribution and uses.

Similarly, in the New Testament time, the authors were not some obscure persons who claimed to have received revelations from God. Rather, they were recognized apostles or persons well-known to be closely associated with the apostles. Moreover, the writings were scrutinized by the apostles among themselves and eye-witnesses of New Testament events such that the writings were indeed true and consistent to the teachings of the Lord Jesus who came to fulfill God's plan of salvation which had already been written in the Old Testament. For instance, a group of early Christians led by James who was a prominent church leader and the brother of Jesus taught that circumcision was essential even for the Gentiles. Apostle Peter (Cephas) who used to associate with the Gentiles but once acted politically correct by distancing himself with the Gentiles when the representatives of the circumcision group came to Antioch. In response, apostle Paul openly rebuked apostle Peter's hypocrisy (Galatians 2:11-12). Apostle Paul then made an assertive statement of the gospel that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and not by works (Galatians 2:16). Finally, the council in Jerusalem met and agreed that circumcision was not a requirement but to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality which the Gentiles might be used to practice (Acts 15:29). What about the preservation of the original writings of the New Testament? With the spread of the gospel to the Gentiles and the growth of the churches, New Testament has even more manuscripts and translations than the Old Testament. With the abundance of manuscripts, the messages in the New Testament are automatically preserved with reliability. Any malicious attempts to corrupt the gospel or errors in copying by the scribes can be identified simply by comparing the many manuscripts of the original language and translations. Therefore, the implication of the Old and New Testament books being so carefully produced and preserved supports the claim that they are the words of God rather than artificial writings based on human motives and imagination to make believe. Moreover, the writings are open for study and investigation from the perspectives of history, archaeology, science and prophecy. Most important of all, the Bible is a living book for it is a book of promises made by the living God for all who trust in Jesus Christ. The Bible is not just an ancient book of letters in ink reprinted on papers but the messages of eternal life communicated by the living God that are still true and effective when a learner come to Christ in response (John 5:39). In fact, many lives have been touched and miraculously blessed and renewed throughout generations for people who received the promises made in the Scriptures with faith. The heavenly Father is not changeable like shifting shadows (James 1:17) but faithful and will certainly keep His promise of blessings through His Only Son Jesus Christ who is also not changeable like His Father (Deuteronomy 32:4; Hebrews 13:8). The promise of eternal life and blessings through Christ Jesus is not just ink printed on paper, but guaranteed by the indwelling Holy Spirit living in every believer (Galatians 3:14; 2 Corinthians 5:5).

Having discussed the reasons why that the books of the Bible were unlikely artificially made coherent by human authors, let us consider some of the important messages of the Bible as illustrations to understand that they are indeed the inspiration of God.

1. The Messages about Redemption

Let us study the subject of redemption of sinners by God as an example. Redemption is accomplished by substitutionary death. First, in the writings of Moses, animal sacrifices are used as object lessons to teach us about the true sacrifice of Jesus as the lamb of God. In the story of Abraham offering Isaac, the lamb of God was illustrated by a ram God prepared for burnt offering revealing God's love of mankind demonstrated by His providence of His one and only Son as a sacrifice for our sins. The ram in the story is just an image of God's true sacrifice and the difficult, painful and heart-broken command to offer Isaac as burnt offering who was Abraham's only son of promise teaches us to appreciate what it really means to God when He gave His one and only Son for our sins. We also learn in the story that Abraham trusted God's faithfulness, love and salvation when he said that God Himself would provide the lamb for the burnt offering (Genesis 22:7-8). If we study the context, Abraham was promised by God previously that he would become a great nation (Genesis 18:18). God also said that only through Isaac his offspring were reckoned. Isaac was just a boy and of course without offspring of his own when Abraham received the command to sacrifice him. Abraham trusted that God was faithful and would not break His promise. Therefore, Abraham reasoned that God would resurrect Isaac even if he died in the sacrifice (Hebrew 11:19). Abraham's faith prevailed and God indeed provided a ram in place of Isaac to meet the demand of burnt offering. The story therefore also teaches about the importance of faith and deep gratitude towards God's grace of salvation realizing the tremendous cost that He paid such that we may enjoy peace and have life. Without God's providence with His only Son as sacrifice, we all perish. As the population of the descendants of Abraham grew in Egypt, they became the subjects of persecution. The Israelites were enslaved by the Egyptians and suffered greatly. They cried out to God. Finally, God sent Moses to lead the Israelites away from Egypt to the Promised Land. The Egyptian Pharaoh refused to let go the Israelites and God had to send ten plagues to Egypt in order to punish and convince the Egyptians that it was not a good idea to continue withholding the Israelites. The most powerful strike of Egypt was the last plague of killing the firstborns of both humans and animals. To escape from this plague, the practice of passover was instituted by God which required the killing of year-old male lambs. The blood of the lambs had to be applied to the doorposts and lintel of houses and the meat was consumed to escape death. This corresponds to the teaching of Jesus who sacrificed Himself as the true Passover Lamb once and for all such that we may have life. When we receive Jesus as the Savior, it is like participating in eating His flesh and drinking His blood when He suffered greatly on the cross (John 6:54). In addition to teaching atonement death using animals as objects of sacrifice, Passover celebration also reveals about the serious consequence and judgment of sin which is death, and the wonderful grace of acquittal of judgment and the great joy of freedom from the bondage of sins. The requirement that the lambs chosen for the passover had to be without blemish is to teach an accurate object lesson that the Savior who served as the true passover lamb has no sin Himself. Then prophet Isaiah prophesied at the time that Israel was divided into Northern and Southern kingdoms with their worships becoming empty ritualism and many were plagued with the sin of idolatry. Isaiah then prophesied judgments on the nation. Covered by God's grace, people received words of hope, comfort and salvation preached by the prophet. The pivotal providence that Isaiah prophesied is the righteous and suffering servant of God whose mission was to bear the iniquities of people such that many were justified (Isaiah 53:11). As we can see in the verse, after He suffered, He would see the light of life which is consistent to the writing of David that the faithful one would not see decay indicating that the body of the suffering servant would not decay foretelling the resurrection of the suffering servant (Psalm 16:10). Psalm 49 asserts that the redemption price of a life is too costly for anyone to be able to pay. The payment price is so high that no payment is ever enough for the redemption is for a life that will last forever (Psalm 49:7-9). In other words, nothing in humanity can redeem humanity from death into eternal life. An outside help of redemption is desperately needed. This outside help was the suffering servant God sent to save us. Prophet Isaiah wrote expressly that the suffering servant bore the suffering for the sinners (Isaiah 53:4-5). If no one among men is qualified to save mankind, then where does this suffering servant come from? Nothing is impossible to God. The solution was a child born to the world and the child was of the nature of God Himself (Isaiah 9:6). This assertion is consistent with the teaching that only the Lord Himself can fulfill redemption and He is also called Israel's King and Redeemer (Isaiah 44:6; Isaiah 44:24). Putting all the revelations together, we know that the Redeemer is the Lord and He is the King of Israel and yet He is a suffering servant. Who in human history could meet these credentials? There was only one and one person that met these credentials, namely Jesus Himself (John 14:6). Moreover, meeting these credentials automatically means that no one else in the future may meet these credentials. The reason is that one of the credentials of the redeemer is that He is God Himself. Since there is only one God, therefore once the divine redeemer appeared and fulfilled His mission of salvation, there should be no second redeemer that may appear later. This critical revelation consistently leads to the apostolic teaching that salvation can be found on no one else under heaven given to mankind other than Jesus Himself (Acts 4:11-12). Concerning the origin and nature of Jesus, apostle John and apostle Paul testified and wrote that Jesus was God by nature and He created all things of the universe but came to the world as a man and humbled Himself and died on a cross (John 1:1;Philippians 2:5-8). Apostle John was a disciple of Jesus and one of the eyewitnesses of Jesus' works, resurrection and transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-3). Apostle Paul was called by the resurrected Jesus such that he converted from a persecutor of Christians to a missionary to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15). Here we see an example that even the two apostles are contemporary to each other, they did not refer to each others' writings but independently wrote down what they received from the Lord. Although apostle Paul did not have the advantage of apostle John for walking and living with Jesus for three years during His earthly ministry, he received revelation directly from the resurrected Jesus (Galatians 1:12). Since apostle Paul was worse than an unknown stranger among Christians at that time for he was a persecutor of Christians, no one with good common sense would believe anything Paul (also known as Saul) said. However, God established Paul's credibility by sending another Christian named Ananias to see Paul and healed his eyes blinded by the resurrected Jesus (Acts 9:17-19). Paul was then introduced and recognized by the apostles and the Christian community at large. Apostle Paul then served zealously in preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and planting churches in the gentile communities. Therefore, when someone claims that he or she has some revelations from God, we should ask two questions. The first question is whether his or her credentials are established by God Second, we should ask whether the revelations are consistent to the previous teachings known to be given by God because He never makes mistakes in His communications. When you look at other world religions, you will see that the credentials of their persons of authority have not been proven and established by God. Second, their teachings are in conflict with the Bible which is full of the signatures of God. These religions may accept the teachings of the Old Testament but deny Jesus as the Messiah who has come. Some religions may superficially respect Jesus but deny the divinity of Jesus and His work of salvation. While some religions totally ignore or being agnostic on Jesus Christ who is the only name under heaven that mankind can be reconciled with the only One true God. One thing in common: none of the originators of these religions could prove that God had sent them. They are both deceived and deceivers.

2. The Messages about Salvation of the Gentiles

Thanks be to God for salvation is not only for the Jews but the whole world. Although Israel is the elect nation and is even called the firstborn by God (Exodus 4:22), the Gentiles are included in the plan of salvation in the very beginning. This message is not first revealed to apostle Paul although he was the missionary bringing the gospel to the Gentiles and he expressly wrote in the Book of Romans that salvation was first brought to the Jew then to the Gentile (Romans 1:16). Before Israel was established as a nation, Moses already wrote down the promise of God to Abraham saying that he will be the father of many nations and through him all nations on earth will be blessed (Genesis 18:18). In fact, the very temple many Jews hold dearly throughout many generations as a place of worship is called a house of prayer for all nations as revealed to prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 56:7). The mercy of God to the Gentiles has also been revealed even in the Old Testament time. Nineveh was an Assyrian great city during the eighth century B.C.. Prophet Jonah was sent to Nineveh to preach repentance such that judgement would not come to the city. Prophet Jonah was reluctant to go because they were the enemies of Israel and he did not want them to receive the blessings of God. Jonah tried to escape from God by sea but was eventually thrown into the sea and was swallowed into the belly of a large fish for three days and three nights. Eventually, Jonah obeyed God's command and went to Nineveh. Surprisingly, from the king of Nineveh to common citizens, they all repented such that they escaped the severe judgment from God. From this historical event, God reveals to us that it is not race or pedigree that give us the blessing of escaping from God's wrath of judgment, but the confession and repentance from sin in response with faith to the words of God. This truth applies even to the gentiles as shown by the repentance of the Ninevites (Jonah 3:5, 10). This is consistent and complementary to the teaching in the New Testament about the forgiveness of sin which involves confession and repentance from sin. Although our sin could be as red as crimson, the blood of Jesus will purify us from sin and gives us the power to live a new life that we may have a close relationship with God (1 John 1:7-9). It can be hard to understand what apostle means when he wrote that the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin. To understand the meaning of the message, it is best not to interpret the words by our imagination but by the revelation of God who is the ultimate author. When we study the vision of prophet Isaiah when he was in the presence of God, he exclaimed that he was in an abject situation and ruined realizing that he was a sinner in front of the God of holiness (Isaiah 6:5). Then one of the seraphim took a live coal from the altar and used it to touch the prophet's mouth such that he was declared free of guilt and his sin atoned for (Isaiah 6:6). As we know, the altar is a place of sacrifice to God. The vision prophesies the salvation work of Jesus who sacrificed Himself to save us from sin such that sinners who trust in Him are atoned for and their guilt removed. Sinners may then be declared righteous before God. The cleansing work of the live coal taken from the altar is like the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit who makes sinners a new creation (John 3:5; Romans 15:16; 1 Corinthians 6:11; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2). Similar to the live coal prophet Isaiah saw in the vision, the early Christians witnessed the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost visually as tongues of fire resting on them (Acts 2:3). The early disciples also witnessed that the Gentiles received the Holy Spirit proving that the Gentiles are also included in God's abundant grace of salvation (Acts 10:45). The Holy Spirit is also the living water that Jesus refers to when He invited all to come to Him and drink (John 7:37-39).

3. The Revelation about the Triune God

The scripture is full of references revealing that God is a triune God -- Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. In other words, God is one, and yet God consists of three persons as we can read in the Bible that God is referred to with singular pronouns (Deuteronomy 6:4;1 John 4:8) and plural pronouns (Genesis 3:22; Isaiah 6:8). Therefore, the writing of the gospel of John makes perfect sense which says that Jesus (referred to as the Word) was with God in the beginning and Jesus was God (John 1:1). God is not like the familiar concept of organization or company consisting of three members. For organization is an conceptual entity created to represent the members such that membership can change while the organization remains unchanged. Not so with the Trinity because missing one of the Godheads means violating the existence of God for each of the Godheads is integral to the very nature of God. God is eternal and the nature of God is eternally the same -- yesterday, today and forever (James 1:17; Hebrews 13:8; Hebrews 9:14). The integral relationship of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is also implied by the scriptural texts revealing that the Father and the Son are One (John 10:30), the Holy Spirit is referred to as the Spirit of both the Father (Matthew 10:20) and the Son (Galatians 4:6). When a believer is baptized to become a child of God, it is done in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19).

4. The Revelation about the Roles of the Triune God in Salvation

The scriptures also reveal the different roles of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit involve in our salvation: God the Father who chose us before foundation of the world and predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ His Son (Ephesians 1:3-4). Jesus took the image of a man, suffered and died on the cross in order to redeem us from the wages of sin such that we may be justified and accepted as children of God (Philippians 2:5-8;Ephesians 1:7). The Holy Spirit dwells in the redeemed and make us a new creation (John 3:5; Titus 3:5).

As a side note, there are different interpretations about election and predestination of people to be saved. Although the Bible does not reveal precisely how God elected and predestined people to salvation, we know that God has absolute sovereignty to show mercy to whom He desires. But, the Bible does reveals that God created humans with a free will and bestows all with some talents in various portions such that humans are responsible for what have been given to them as managers. It will simply be an unfair judgement on their faithfulness if the managers were programmed to be faithful or unfaithful in using their talents. Starting from Adam and Eve, the choice of obeying and disobeying God is already in display for God did not predetermine that Eve and Adam would succumb to the temptation and power of Satan. Moses wrote that God told Adam that he was FREE to eat from any tree in the garden including the deadly tree of knowledge of good and evil but was warned and commanded not to eat from that tree (Genesis 2:16-17). Logically, the phrase "free to eat from any tree" implies that "free not to eat from any tree". It does not make any logical sense for the true and faithful God to give a command to Adam not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil whom had been predestined to break the command such that sin entered the world. Prophet Isaiah also wrote that we are like sheep going astray and turning to our OWN way (Isaiah 53:6). In addition, how we are saved is clearly revealed. We are saved because of the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8). It always pleases God when we preach the gospel to people who do not know God (Isaiah 52:7). It is always a blessing for an unsaved person to repent and receive the gift of salvation. Not only that a sinner is saved from darkness and the destruction of sin but it even brings rejoicing to heaven when a sinner repent and turn to God (Luke 15:7). The Bible also reveals that God is impartial and is full of love, justice and mercy (Micah 6:8). God favors and is pleased with people of humility and faith (James 4:6; Hebrews 11:6). The greatest command of God is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30). Of course, we cannot love God unless God first loves us (1 John 4:19). In His divine judgment, God would not grant repentance to certain people. For example, the cities of Tyre, Sidon and Sodom were totally destroyed and Jesus said that if the miracles performed in Capernaum were also witnessed by people of those destroyed cities, they would have repented (Matthew 11:21-23). Was it because of the extent of pervertedness or other reasons that led to their destruction? There are the things that are beyond the revelation of the scriptures and human knowledge (Deuteronomy 29:29). But, we trust that God's judgement is true and just (Revelation 19:2).

Conclusion

The scriptures are not artificially made complementary by human authors. The complementary nature of the scriptures is a powerful evidence that they are inspired by God.

1. There are many religions in the world. If you observe some of the more well-known religions, you will realize that they were originated by a single individual who claimed that they received special revelation written down by themselves or their followers. The credentials of these individuals were not well established but self-proclaimed without pervasive supernatural evidence to support their claims they represented divine revelations. They lived for a while and died as ordinary people and their followers carry on their teachings. On the other hand, the Bible was written by multiple authors spanning more than a thousand years. Yet the writings are like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that communicates with a consistent theme and a unified message showing that the Bible's ultimate author is God Himself who transcends space and time. Moreover, the Biblical authors were not self-proclaimed personalities but well-known among people of a community of faith. Many of the authors showed evidence that they walked closely with God for they could perform and witnessed miracles only God alone could do. For examples, Moses brought the ten plagues to Egypt in order to set free the Israelites, David as a boy struck down giant Goliath, prophets who were proven to be authentic by foretelling events without error, apostle Peter and apostle Paul who could raised dead people to life, and all the apostles who witnessed the miraculous signs performed by Jesus and His resurrection. Some of the books were written by anonymous authors. But, the process in identifying, and preserving of sacred writings are very rigorous in both the Old Testament and New Testament time because the scriptures are the written authority of the faith. Therefore, their continuous usage by the Old Testament saints, the Messiah Himself and the New Testament church serve as an important criterion that these books belong to the canon of the Bible. Moreover the contents of the writings bear witness that they were originated from God.

2. Some writings of the Bible are simply stubborn historic facts which authors could not manipulate to make them complementary to each other. First, these historical facts serve as the context of writings. For instance, Moses wrote about the Passover lamb in the historical context of the Hebrews being enslaved in Egypt and the story reveals the grace of God and His salvation. At that time, Israel was not even established as a nation. Prophet Ezekiel wrote the dry bones prophecy when the nation Israel had already been established but conquered due to its disobedience to God such that its people were scattered from its homeland leaving no hope of revival as a nation (Ezekiel 37:1-2). But God told Ezekiel to prophesy that Israel would resurrect as a nation (Ezekiel 37:11-12). These historical facts of Israel were the backdrops of the writings that reveal God's grace and power of salvation of the Jews. Israel indeed resurrected as a nation on May 14th, 1948. These events not just reveal the grace, power and faithfulness of God that Israel experienced but its experience can be applied to all people who trust in Jesus. For Jesus came to save sinners of the world from darkness to life fulfilling the blessed promise of God to Abraham that all nations on earth will be blessed through Him (John 11:25; Genesis 18:18). Second, the historic facts are written down simply as the fulfillment of prophecies given previously to the prophets. Therefore, we see that the New Testament consists of writings mainly about the birth, teachings and the works of the Messiah. These are historic facts witnessed by people contemporary to Jesus and the writings are subject to open scrutiny. Artificial textual manipulation and falsification can be ruled out.

3. Very often, the messages are presented in drastically different forms and contexts and yet they do not contradict each other but consistent with a unified theme. Again, they simply reveal different aspects of a subject. The theme and the most important revelation of the Bible is the collection of prophetic messages about the Messiah. Examples of these messages can be found in the Book of Isaiah foretelling Messiah's birth and His ministry. In the Book of Micah, the divine origin of the Messiah and His birthplace are revealed. In the Book of Psalms, the sufferings, scenes of crucifixion, burial and resurrection of the Messiah are depicted. In the Book of Jonah, the time duration of the Messiah staying in the grave was prophesied by the incidence that prophet Jonah was swallowed by a huge fish into its belly (probably a whale). The drastic differences in these writings reflect that they are not extended artificially by referencing and adapting to previous writings but coordinated by an ultimate author who dictates the overall picture of the subject. Moreover, many of these messages are prophetic by nature such that human authorship can be ruled out completely. See the next point.

4. The Prophetic Nature of the Messages mean that the writings would be tested by the accuracy of their predictions. The scope of the prophecies of the Bible is long, wide and deep. The scope is long because it starts from the beginning of the humanity in the garden of Eden and ends in eternity in the kingdom of God. It is wide for it concerns the whole world and the destiny of the universe. It is deep for it pinpoints the fundamental problem of humanity: sin which causes a broken relationship with God the creator such that sinners will have an unavoidable gloomy and contemptuous future. But, sinners who turn to God through His Son Jesus Christ will surely have a bright and glorious future (Daniel 12:2). As we know, a non-trivial prediction that is wide and deep is very difficult especially prediction of outcomes that will happen years later. With some diligent and objective thoughts, we should conclude that the BIble is of divine origin for it contains many such prophecies. A single false prophecy would render the Bible unbelievable as the inspiration of God. Many prophecies written in the Bible have already been fulfilled without a glitch up until the coming of the Messiah and the church age. Some prophecies that concern the rapture of the Church, second coming of the Messiah, the Millenium and the kingdom of God have yet to fulfill in the future. For a more mathematical appreciation of the subject, please refer to Fulfilled Prophecy: Evidence for the Reliability of the Bible.

Bible References

Isaiah 49:6

he says: "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth."

Jeremiah 50:6

"My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on the mountains. They wandered over mountain and hill and forgot their own resting place.

Daniel 9:2

2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.

Galatians 3:14

He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 5:5

Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

James 1:17

17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Hebrews 13:8

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Deuteronomy 32:4

4 He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.

John 5:39

You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,

Galatians 2:11-12

11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood self-condemned; 12 for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction.

Galatians 2:16

16 yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law.

Deuteronomy 18:19-20

19 Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable. 20 But any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, or who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak—that prophet shall die."

Deuteronomy 18:22

22 If a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord but the thing does not take place or prove true, it is a word that the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; do not be frightened by it.

1 Samuel 10:25

25 Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the kingship; and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people back to their homes.

2 Kings 23:24

24 Moreover Josiah put away the mediums, wizards, teraphim, idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, so that he established the words of the law that were written in the book that the priest Hilkiah had found in the house of the Lord.

Acts 9:17-19

17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Galatians 1:12

12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

Acts 9:15

15 But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.

Matthew 17:1-3

After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.

Psalm 44:6

6 "This is what the Lord says— Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.

Isaiah 53:4-5

4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Isaiah 9:6

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

John 1:1-2

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.

Philippians 2:5-8

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!

Acts 4:11-12

11 Jesus is "‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved."

Acts 4:11-12

11 Jesus is "‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved."

John 6:54

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.

Isaiah 44:24

"This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the Lord, the Maker of all things, who stretches out the heavens, who spreads out the earth by myself,

John 14:6

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Isaiah 53:11

11 After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.

Psalm 16:10

because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay.

Psalm 49:7-9

7 No one can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for them— 8 the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough— 9 so that they should live on forever and not see decay.

Isaiah 53:7-8

7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.

Genesis 22:7-8

7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?" "Yes, my son?" Abraham replied. "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" 8 Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.

Genesis 18:18

Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.

Hebrews 11:19

19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

Deuteronomy 6:4

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Genesis 3:22

And the Lord God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."

James 1:17

17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Hebrews 13:8

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Hebrews 9:14

14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

1 John 4:8

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Isaiah 6:8

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"

John 1:1

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 10:17-18

17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."

Matthew 10:20

20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

Matthew 28:19

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Galatians 4:6

Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father."

John 10:30

I and the Father are one."

John 15:26

"When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.

John 17:25

"Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me.

Ephesians 1:3-5

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—

Romans 8:29

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

1 Peter 1:2

2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

Galatians 4:4-6

4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father."

John 6:44

"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.

John 14:26

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

Psalm 104:30

30 When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.

Revelation 19:2

for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants."

Matthew 11:21-23

21 "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day.

Genesis 2:16-17

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die."

Mark 12:30

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

1 John 4:19

We love because he first loved us.

James 4:6

6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble."

Hebrews 11:6

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Isaiah 52:7

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"

Micah 6:8

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Ephesians 2:8

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

Luke 15:7

I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Deuteronomy 29:29

The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.

Isaiah 53:6

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

James 4:6

6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble."

Hebrews 11:6

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Deuteronomy 10:17

For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.

1 Timothy 2:3

3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

John 6:64-65

64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them."

Hebrews 11:6

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

John 3:5

Jesus answered, "Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.

Titus 3:5

he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,

Philippians 2:5-8

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!

Ephesians 1:7

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace

Ephesians 1:3-4

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—

John 6:29

Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

Romans 10:17

17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

Ephesians 1:13-14

13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

Ezekiel 37:1-2

The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry.

Ezekiel 37:11-12

11 Then he said to me: "Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel.

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;

Daniel 12:2

Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.

John 3:16

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Acts 15:29

29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.

Hebrews 11:19

19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

Isaiah 44:6

6 "This is what the Lord says— Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.

Isaiah 56:7

these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations."

Jonah 3:5, 10

5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. 10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

1 John 1:7-9

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Isaiah 6:5

5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty."

Isaiah 6:6

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

Romans 15:16

16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 6:11

11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

2 Thessalonians 2:13

13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.

Acts 2:3

3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.

Acts 10:45

45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles.

John 7:37-39

37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them." 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

Exodus 4:22

22 Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son,

Romans 1:16

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.