Friday Friday Friday

Well, it's Friday....I don't know about you but I'm ready for a good relaxing weekend!

The Agenda:
Friday Night - ummm...laundry (ok, not so relaxing, so far)
Saturday - sleep in (I hope), go to the gym, go fishing with the little guy...that's about it so far
Sunday - church! (I love church, especially Sunday School)

Last Night
We had our first study for our latest Women's Bible Study (official name: thirtyone). We are going through John MacArthur's book How to Study the Bible. As I promised our ladies last night, here are the notes (comment if you'd like more details!):

How to Study the Bible

Attributes of the Bible

1. Scripture is the Word of God
A. 2 Timothy 3:16a: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God...

B. The Bible is neither man's opinion nor human philosophy

C. God used men to write the Bible the way we use pens...pens are merely a tool

2. The Bible is Infallible
A. Psalm 19:7: "The law of the Lord is perfect"

B. The law (aka The Bible) is perfect because it is authored by God and He is perfect

C. Infallible - absolutely trustworthy; unfailing in effectiveness; cannot fail

D. The Bible, in its entirety and original manuscripts, makes no mistakes

3. The Bible is Inerrant
A. Proverbs 30:5-6: "Every word of God is pure...add not unto His words lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar."

B. Inerrant - free from error; incapable of erring; has not failed

C. There is harmony between all of the books of the Bible
a. It was written over a span of hundreds of years
b. It has many authors
c. Each book of the Bible, despite being written over a span of many years and by many authors, fits in with all the other books.
d. There are no contradictions!

4. The Bible is Complete
A. Revelation 22:18-19: "For I testify to everyone who heards the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city and from the things which are
written in this book."

B. Nothing needs to be added!

5. The Bible is Authoritative
A. John 8:30-31 - Christ demanded response to His Word

B. If the Bible is perfect and complete (as we just read above), then it is the last Word - the final authority.

C. Galations 3:10 - This verse is a TREMENDOUS claim to the absolute authority of the Word of God.

D. James 2:9-10 - to violate the Bible at one point is to break God's law. (This is what makes His grace so Amazing!!)

6. The Bible is Sufficient for...
A. Salvation - 2 Tim 3:14-15
a. What is more imporant than salvation? - NOTHING! It is the greatest reality on earth - revealed through the Bible

B. Perfection- "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete and thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Tim 3:16-17
a. profitable for doctrine - teaching, principles of wisdom, divine standards, or divine truths
b.reproof - that means you're able to go to somebody and say "Hey, you're out of line. You can't behave like that; there's a standard and you're not keeping it."
c. correction - that says to the person you've just reproved, "Now, don't do that, do this instead; this is the right path."
d. instruction in righteousness - Now you point to the new way and show them how to walk in it.
e. The Bible can take someone who doesn't know God, who isn't saved, and save them. Then it will teach them, reprove them when they do wrong, point out the right thing to do, and then show them how to walk in the right path.

C. Hope - Romans 15:4

D. Blessing - James 1:25

Whew...that's a lot to type! But praise God that He wants us to know Him and has laid out perfectly for us His plan for Savlation and Perfection - so that not only can we know Him but we can become more and more like Him in our daily lives.

Wow - I love God.

I'm out!
~ Amanda Jo

Editing Note: I can't get blogger to allow me to post this in an outline layout so please bear with me! :/