Page 43 - Doctrine and History of the Preservation of the Bible revised
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Chapter 6: Preservation of God’s Word



                             Connect…


               Have you ever told a lie?  You’d be lying if you say NO.  We lie by telling an outright non-truth or we lie
               by telling a partial truth or half-truth.  We can even lie with our gestures.  We lie when we think we will
               be getting into trouble for something we did.  We lie to make ourselves look more impressive to others.
               It’s called exaggeration.  We even lie to cover another lie.  Lying is a result of the sinful nature we are all
               born with.

               One thing we are certain of:  God does not lie.  If He lied even one time, He would no longer be holy.  He
               would not be sinless.  He would be impure.  In fact, by His very nature, GOD CANNOT LIE.  It is
               impossible.  So, if God cannot lie, and God tells us that the Bible is His Word, then the Bible is true.  But
               what if the Bible that God gave to man is not the same Bible we have today?  Has God preserved the
               integrity of His Word over the thousands of years it has been copied and translated?  These are the big
               questions we will tackle today…


                        Objectives…


               1.  The student should be able to list some of the promises God made in the Bible about preserving His
               Word through the ages.

               2. The student should be able to describe how God’s Word was copied over the years.

               3.  The student should be able to list some evidence that shows us that our copy of God’s Word today is
               an accurate copy and translation of the original autographs


                           The Lesson ...


               Preservation of God’s Word

               Are the copies of the Bible we have today inerrant?  Do we have the exact copies of the original
               autographs?  Did God preserve the Bible so that our copies today are God’s very words to mankind?
               Let’s look at what God promised in the Bible:

               2 Kings 10:10 Know now that there shall fall unto the earth nothing of the word of the LORD.

               Psalm 12:6, 7 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven
               times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD; thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever.



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