This is a denial of fundamental Christian doctrine.
What does the Bible say abut itself? The most significant and absolute of these is in the recorded words of our Lord Jesus himself, when He said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” (Matthew 5:17-18) To understand this, we need to know what the jot and the tittle were. These were the two smallest marks used in Hebrew writing. From this, we understand that our Lord was saying that even the tiniest detail of everything written in the Bible was both true and important.
Again Jesus said, “Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you – Moses, in whom you trust. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” (John 5:45-47) Here, our Lord made it very plain that a belief of what Moses said was critical to believing in himself.
This last passage is particularly important in our day, because many people want to say they are Christians, but reject the creation account in the beginning of Genesis. But that account is both a part of “the law,” as Jesus referred to it, and is in one of the five books written by Moses. So both of these statements made by our Lord himself, make it very clear that an absolute belief in these things is a critical part of even being a Christian.
Again, Jesus said “It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.” (Luke 4:4) So Jesus clearly stressed the written Bible as both absolutely accurate in all of its finest details, and critically import to both our beliefs and our lives.
But there is more. For the Apostle Peter wrote that “no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20-21) Then later he also wrote of the epistles of Paul, “as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.” (2 Peter 3:15-16)
So now, in addition to the words of our Lord himself, we have the words of the one Apostle that many consider the most authoritative of them all, clearly stating of all prophecy in the Bible, that it “never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit,” and that the writings of Paul were also “Scriptures,” like those of the Old Testament. And he also clearly stated that people who “twist” these Scriptures do it “to their own destruction.”
In this short summary, I have only covered the high points of what the Bible says about itself. But a computer search of the entire Bible showed the following wording to be found in the Bible, as rendered in the NKJV version:
“Thus says the Lord” is found 420 times.
“The Lord spoke” is found 138 times.
“The Lord says” is found 10 times.
“The word of the Lord” is found 262 times. And four of these times add the word “God” to the end, making it “The word of the Lord God.”
“The words of the Lord” is found 19 times.
“The word of God” is found 45 times.
“The words of God” is found 6 times.
“God spoke” is found 12 times.
“God says” is found 6 times.
“The Spirit says” is found 7 times.
“The Spirit said” is found twice.
And finally, “Says the Spirit,” “The word of the Holy One,” and “The words of the Holy One” are each found once.
So “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.” (Proverbs 30:5-6)
For “I testify to everyone who hears 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.” (Revelation 22:18-19) We are thus severely warned against any and all attempts to change or modify anything that our God has told us.
So in conclusion, we need to remember the exhortation Paul gave Timothy. “But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 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, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:14-17)
This is what the Bible says about itself.
