The Bible is the infallible word of God

Because the Bible was inspired by the Holy Spirit who is God, there are no mistakes in it. Also, there cannot be any mistakes in it. That is why Jesus said the Scriptures cannot be changed.

And you know that the Scriptures cannot be altered. 

John 10:35

God has bound himself--His name and His reputation--to the accomplishment of his word. Thus, the word of God carries the nature of God. God is eternal; so is His word. God does not change; neither does his word. He ensures that everything written in it comes to pass.

... for your promises are backed by all the honor of your name.

Psalm 138:2

For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.

Psalm 119:89 (KJV)

What shows that the Bible is inspired? (Proofs of biblical inspiration)

How can we know that the Bible was not just made up and that it was inspired by God? We shall discuss this topic under four headings:
1. internal consistency
2. fulfilled prophecy
3. archaeological evidence
4. historical accuracy and corroboration

Internal consistency (unity and continuity)

The Bible contains sixty-six (66) books written by about forty (40) different authors. In spite of this fact, it maintains an internal consistency that is remarkable for such a voluminous body of work.

The authors were from from wildly different backgrounds and they wrote under different circumstances in different cultures and eras:
1. Moses was a prince who became a shepherd and then a prophet;
2. David was a shepherd who became a warrior and then a king;
3. Matthew was a tax collector who became a disciple;
4. Luke was a doctor and a historian;
5. Paul and James were lawyers and Paul was a Pharisee as well;
6. Peter and John were fishermen who became disciples.

Further, the length of time between the writing of the first book and the last book is more than a thousand years. Hence, supposing the authors were just making things up, it would be virtually impossible to co-ordinate their writings into a consistent whole, devoid of contradictions.

Fulfilled prophecy

The Bible abounds with predictions, some of which have already been fulfilled, others of which are yet to be fulfilled. The distance between the predictions that were made and their fulfillment precludes the influence of the predictors in influencing the fulfillment of their predictions. We will look at three examples of such remarkable fulfillment of prophecy:

1. Prophecies concerning the Messiah (Psalm 22, etc)
2. Daniel's prophecy
3.

Archaeological evidence

Archaeologists who have studied the geographical locations in which the Bible accounts were recorded have verified the recorded accounts on many fronts. One such archaeologist concluded that...

Historical accuracy and corroboration

The Bible's corroboration of historical events also speaks to its authenticity. There are many peoples in the books of the Bible whose history, recorded by secular historians, aligns with the accounts given in the Bible. For example, the history of the Israelites from the time of Moses, through the period of the judges and the prophets, coincides with the historical account implied by the Bible. The geographical locations mention and the relationships between them in terms of time and distance also corresponds with the actual locations as they were defined then.

Once saved, forever saved?

The doctrine of the eternal security of the Christian is a controversial subject on which scholars take several diverse positions. On one end of the debate are those who say that a Christian cannot ever lose his salvation once he is saved. This is the famous "once saved, forever saved" school of thought. On the other end are those who believe that even the slightest slip on the part of a Christian who is saved could lead to him losing his salvation. Then, there are those who are somewhere in between.

One pillar of this debate is the role of human agency in salvation. Does the person who is to be saved—the potential Christian—have any role to play in his own salvation? That God is involved is not in dispute but to what extent can the individual affect his own salvation? Generally, those who believe in OSFS argue that the Christian plays no role in his salvation—everything is up to God—while those who reject the OSFS teaching argue that the individual plays a role. Those who uphold the OSFS teaching then argue further that since the Christian plays no role in his salvation, there is no way he could cause himself to lose it by his actions or inactions.

Some verses of Scripture suggest that the Christian is involved in his salvation.

1. Romans 10:9-10 says that to be saved one must express his belief that Jesus is Lord by confessing it with his mouth. That shows human agency.

2. Jesus said in John 3:14-15 that just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, the son of man must be lifted up so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. When Moses lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness in Numbers 21, an invitation was thrown to all who were bitten by the poisonous snakes and they all had the option to express their faith by looking at Moses’ brazen serpent and live or to decline the offer and die. Jesus likening himself to that serpent suggests that now that he has been sacrificed for the sins of all, all sinners have the option to look at him (accept him) and live or to reject him and suffer eternal death. Jesus said if he is lifted up from the earth, he will draw all men unto himself. (John 12.32) Hence, all men have the opportunity to decide.

Further, the zeal with which the early church and Jesus’ disciples obeyed Jesus’ command to preach the gospel suggests that they did not share the view that one does not have any part to play in his salvation. They believed they could persuade men to be saved with the power of the gospel. If someone believes that the people he is going to preach to will be saved whether he goes or not, it is unlikely that he will risk his life to go. Yet, it was customary for the early disciples to defy death threats and other sanctions for preaching the gospel. Like all Christian doctrine, one's position on this subject has serious consequences for both personal and church life. If you believe that what will be will be so that those whom God wants saved will by all means be saved, there may be no reason to preach the gospel or reach out to the lost. But Jude admonishes us to save some people by snatching them from fire. (Jude 23) Peter also says in 2 Peter 3:3-10 that because God does not want anyone to perish, he has given men ample time to repent and come to him. This means that with an extension of time, more people would be saved who would otherwise not be saved if the coming of Jesus were not delayed.

Hebrews 6:4-6 presents another challenge to the OSFS teaching. It describes a falling away of some people who were once enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, shared in the Holy Spirit, tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age. It says that after such people have fallen away, it is impossible to restore them to repentance because it would require crucifying the son of God all over again, subjecting him to public disgrace. If the people who are said to be permanently damned when they fall away are not Christians, or people who believe, then from what do they fall away? And if they never repented then what need would there be to “restore” them to repentance? The writer in the book of Hebrews was talking to Christians and in this case about Christians. Yet, to hold to OSFS, one has to deny that those described were Christians.

The Bible is inspired by God

When we say the Bible is inspired by God, we mean that it comes from God and He decided what should be in it. Even though human beings did the actual writing, God led them to write what He wanted separate from their own understanding and initiative (2 Peter 2:20--21).

In Jeremiah, we hear God telling the author to write down the prophecies He had given him so that readers may repent upon reading it.

During the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king in Judah, the Lord gave this message to Jeremiah: "Get a scroll, and write down all my messages against Israel. Judah, and the other nations. Begin with the first message back in the days of Josiah, and write down every message, right up to the present time. Perhaps the people of Judah will repent when they hear again all the terrible things I have planned for them. Then I will be able to forgive their sins and wrongdoings."

Jeremiah 36:1--3

God also told John the apostle many times in the book of Revelation to write down the things he was seeing and hearing. (Revelation 1:11, 1:19, 2:1, 2:8, 2:12, 2:18, etc.)

Because the Bible contains exactly what God wants it to contain, it has the last word in all matters of life and faith. Further, it is sufficient as the only resource to be used in such matters: "God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work." (2 Timothy 3:17)

The Next Life

Affirmation:
We believe in the second coming of Christ and the resurrection of both the saved and the unsaved. They that are saved to the resurrection of life---and the unsaved to the resurrection of damnation. (John 5.28--29, Daniel 12.2, Romans 2.7, 6.23, 1 John 1.1--2)

And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this down: Blessed are those who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they are blessed indeed, for they will rest from their hard work; for their good deeds follow them!"

Revelation 14.13

What happens after death? Will the world ever come to an end? Are heaven and hell real? All these questions will be discussed under this heading. 

Tithes and Offerings

Affirmation:
We believe in tithing and in the giving of free will offerings towards the Kingdom of God. We believe that God blesses a cheerful giver. (Malachi 3.10, Hebrews 7.1--4, Luke 6.8, Acts 20.35)

...You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.

Luke 11.42 NLT

Jesus told the Pharisees to tithe. Is tithing still relevant and are the rules concerning it still applicable in our day? We shall look at different types of offering, lessons from Abraham's offering of Isaac, different people in the Bible who tithed, and the results of paying tithes.

Divine Healing

Affirmation:
We believe that the healing of sickness and disease is provided for God's people in the atonement. (Isaiah 53.4--5, Matthew 8.7, 17, Mark 16.13, James 5.14--16, Luke 13.10-16) Yet the church is not opposed to soliciting the help of qualified medical practitioners.

Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit.

3 John 2 NLT

Over the centuries, God has always made it clear to his people his intention for them to live in peace and general well-being. This well-being includes health, wealth, and general comfort. Under this topic, we shall look at how God healed his people, the Israelites, in the desert, his promises of health and wealth to his people, how healing is provided in the atonement, the fact that God anticipates some of his people falling ill, and so on.

We shall also look at how this doctrine brought schism in at various points in the life of The Church of Pentecost.