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Is murder wrong? What about rape or theft? Are such actions evil? Would you consider kidnapping or
sodomy to be wicked? If you answered, "Yes" to any of these questions — which any decent person
would do — then the next question would be, "why?" Why is murder, rape, theft, kidnapping or
sodomy considered to be wrong? What makes them wrong? The answer is two-fold:
There is one book, and only one book that can guide men today, and that book is entitled, "Holy Bible." The term "Holy" is from the same Greek word from which we derive words like "saint" and "sanctified." It means, "set apart, separated." The word "Bible" refers to the books or writings that are set apart — Scripture! The word "Bible" is from the Greek biblos, which simply means "book." The "Holy Bible" is composed of 66 books that God — through His marvelous care and providence — set apart for man's use in understanding how to live. The 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament are all "inspired" of God. By inspired, we mean that all of these books, and only these books are from God (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 3:16). The word "inspiration" is derived from two Greek words, theos ("God") and pneuma ("spirit or breath"). Hence, "God-breathed." The Bible is Scripture breathed out from God. God revealed His message to certain men who, in turn, penned the words of the Bible through inspiration (2 Sam. 23:2; Jer. 1:9; 2 Pet. 1:16-21; Rev. 1:10). We are not only able to understand these words (Eph. 3:3-5), but we are also able to obey them (Matt. 7:21; Heb. 5:9). While God used individual personalities, various settings and numerous circumstances to bring about the different books of the Bible, each book serves as a piece of the puzzle, and when all the books are brought together, we have the complete view of God's wonderful portrait of inspiration! The fascinating thing is that God addressed specific problems and issues facing people at the time of writing, while giving modern man everything he needed as well. Thank God for His inspired Word, for without it we would be hopelessly lost without a pattern to guide us in this temporal world! Let us never forget that our personal opinions and thoughts do not change Holy Writ. Brother Marshall Keeble — a faithful black gospel preacher of yesteryear — often said, "The Bible is right! The Bible is right!" His assessment could not be more correct. Taking for granted that we are speaking of an accurate translation of the Holy Scriptures, men today need to realize that God's Word is right and that it alone is the sole source of authority for understanding how to live in this world. Jesus said, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (Jn. 8:32). He further said, "Sanctify them by thy truth: thy word is truth." (Jn. 17:17). A few verses later, we find, "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word." (Jn. 17:20). Thus, Jesus forever says,
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