You Can Trust The Bible
They’re moving the target! Increasingly we live in a culture where the bull's eye of right and wrong, good and bad, truth and lies, is constantly changing. The ultimate truth is almost impossible to find. We live in a “my truth” culture. However, from a Christian understanding, ultimate truth is not as subjective or fluid as our culture claims. There is a final truth that guides all of humanity. In this new series of blogs, Truth: Fluid or Final? I want to delve into what is the bedrock of truth for humanity—the Bible—it’s origins, its function, reliability, and authority. In this ever-changing world what we need is God’s final word.
ULTIMATE TRUTH
If you remove the scriptures, you remove ultimate truth from humanity, you remove our moral compass, you remove God from science, medicine, economics, government, education, labor, family, and yes, even the church. If Biblical truth is not our authority we surrender to human thought and desires, thereby making ourselves self-proclaimed gods. Listen to what the apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 4:3-4…
3 For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will reject the truth and chase after myths.
We are in those times. I want to offer you a reason and a way to stand firm in a higher authority than you and me—a way to live life according to God’s truth, reality, and certainty. Today, I’ll look at the inspiration of the scriptures—where did the Bible come from; who wrote it; what makes it the final authority; and how it’s able to light our path in life.
LIGHT THE WAY
The scriptures light the way for us to experience God. Look at 2 Peter 1:19–21…
19 …we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place—until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, 21 or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.
Notice that Peter uses the phrase, “No prophecy of Scripture.” He’s talking about the Old Testament Scriptures. If he were writing today, he would be talking about the Old and New Testaments in the Bible. In v. 19 he says, “You must pay close attention to what they wrote.” Why pay close attention? Peter says, “their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place.” That’s what the Bible is. The Bible is the light of truth that illuminates the murky shadows and dark places of relativism in a world unsure of what’s really true.
Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” If you ever had to navigate a pitch black room you realize the benefit of even a small light. I remember a time in our home when the lights had gone out from a nasty storm. After slamming toes into furniture and bumping into a few walls, I finally found a flashlight to make our way around the house. It became our security, our guide. God’s Word is light that reveals the way and shines clarity to potential obstacles. Your knowledge of scripture reveals the living God, replaces misguided human thinking, and leads you to personally experience Him as He lights and directs your path each day.
IT ORIGINATES FROM GOD
Peter tells us, without apology, that the Bible is God’s intellectual property. Look at 2 Peter 1:16…
16 For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes.
Peter and the other scripture writers didn’t teach fables or ideas or create a bunch of myths just to teach their own brand of spiritual truth or start their own religion. Peter talked about men of God throughout history who wrote words that had their origin in the mind of God. Scripture never had its origin from human initiative. King David, the writer of many of the Psalms, wasn’t walking along the hillside one day and thinking to himself, “You know, I better get some things written down that will motivate my kids. So let’s see here…what would sound good: “The Lord is my Chef, I shall not want of food to eat… No, that doesn’t sound right. How about this…The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want… Now, that has a ring to it.” Didn’t happen. That’s not how we got the Scriptures. The Bible originated with God and was transferred to the minds of people of faith.
What we’re really talking about here is the theological principle called inspiration. This is an understanding that says God himself inspired the writing of the scriptures. The Apostle Paul wrote...
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. (2 Timothy 3:16)
The phrase, “inspired by God” is the translation of the original Greek word, “Theópneu.”
Theo = God
Pneu = Breathed; blowing of the wind
I love that visual picture—the Scriptures are God-breathed. The idea Paul is conveying is that the scriptures are literally God-spirited. It means that Scripture supernaturally originated from within God and was transferred to the minds of individual scripture writers. Therefore, the Bible reflects God’s life; his language; his truth; his character; his essence, all without losing the personality of the person who wrote it down. The bottom line is that the Bible is truthful and is the final word because it originates from God. That means it’s helpful to you. It’s helpful in revealing what’s right and what’s wrong; what’s true and what’s false. The Bible prepares and equips you to do the good work God has in mind for you. It gives you a moral plumb line for your life. The Bible centers you at work, at home; and in the market place. It’s helpful in directing you to make right decisions each day. In all of that, the Bible has the function and power to help ground you as you navigate the fluidity of the culture around you.
NEXT STEP
What’s your response to the inspired, inerrant Word of God? Let me offer three suggestions.
1. Treasure God’s Word. Believe it is God’s word for you.
2. Read and study God’s Word.
3. Trust God’s word. To say the Bible is without error doesn’t mean that the Bible isn’t challenging, but rather than letting challenging scripture drive you to doubt, let the truth drive you deeper.
The Word of God is a treasure trove, not a fairy tale or make-believe. You can hold in your hands the Word of the living God. And the more you read it and embrace it and love it and study it and wrestle with it and apply it, the more you will experience the living God in your life.
