Author Known

Trustworthy words

Some believe all of it. Some believe none of it. Some believe some of it.

The Bible.

One can understand believing all of it. One can understand believing none of it. But how can one believe just some of the Bible?

How does one decide which parts are right and which are wrong? “Did Jesus really die on the cross for the sins of the world? Yes, I believe that. But did God create the world in six days? No, that’s impossible.”

But how can you know that the one is right when you are certain the other is wrong? If the second is impossible, couldn’t the first be just as much a deception?

“I believe most of the Bible.” Such a belief leads inevitably to doubt in regard to the whole book. Either the Bible is a reflection of human thought and subject to error or the Bible is a miracle book, given word for word by the Holy Spirit to humans long ago.

Know that the devil works overtime to plant questions in the minds of God’s children. Using the proven and tried tactic of “Did God really say,” Satan is content to start small. He questions a scientific detail. He brings to your eyes an article challenging the Bible’s historical accuracy. He may even pay lip service to the fact that the Bible is God’s word but then go on to say that it is no more than Play-Dough—it’s meaning takes the shape of whatever human handles it.

Let the devil call the whole book a lie and be seen for what he is, an enemy of all that is godly. But let not the devil suggest that one taste of forbidden fruit is less dangerous than a mouthful.

He wishes to convince us that the Holy Scriptures are something less than “a light shining in a dark place” (2 Peter 1:19). He wishes to suggest that human research and the logic of reason are more reliable than words from a God whose paths are beyond tracing out. He wishes to persuade us that building our eternity on the wisdom of dying humanity is wiser than placing our confidence in the Word made flesh.

Jesus promised the apostles that after his departure, the Spirit would teach them all things and remind them of everything he had said (John 14:26). The Spirit gave this gift to the Apostle Paul: “This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words” (1 Corinthians 2:13). Looking back prior to Jesus’ coming, Paul adds, ““[The Jews] have been entrusted with the very words of God” (Romans 3:2). Yes, “Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21). “All Scripture is God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16).

Why does God want us to be sure that the Bible is his word? “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).

His words are our life. Thank God they are all true.