Yesterday’s points of Biblical Claims and Biblical Integrity have resounded in many hearts and bring us to the 3rd point of reliability:
The Bible is a reflection of its Author. All books are. If you pick a book you’ve never read, written by Mark Twain, you expect deeply political thought disguised in hilarity. With Dickens, the same complaints appear in the sad point of view of the abused.
We pick our reading according to our mood and when we desperately seek truth, where should we go?
The Bible was written by God, Himself, as He worked through human writers in a process called inspiration. “Inspire” means “breathe in”. The Biblical writers used their own styles but God guided them into all truth through His Holy Spirit.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17
“Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation, For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” 2 Peter 1:20-21
I believe that the God Who created the universe is capable of writing a book. And the God Who is perfect is capable of writing a perfect book. The issue is NOT simply “Does the Bible have a mistake?”, BUT, “Can God make a mistake?”
I say “no”.
If the Bible contains factual errors, then God is not all-knowing and is capable of making errors Himself. If the Bible contains misinformation, then God is not truthful but is a liar. If the Bible contains contradictions, then God is the author of confusion.
In other words, if Biblical Inerrancy is not true, then God is not God, and the Bible becomes a fabrication of man.
Atheists spend a great deal of effort trying to fabricate proof the Bible contains errors by taking parts out of context and twisting them. They do the same as Satan, speaking to Eve: “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4-5
Satan purposely did not include the fact that this knowledge would be the end of life as they knew it, the end of Eden as they knew it, and the beginning of the end of their own physical existence.
The Bible’s message must be taken as a whole. It is not a mixture of doctrine from which we are free to select. Many people like the verses that say God loves them, but they dislike the verses that say God will judge sinners. We simply cannot pick and choose what we like about the Bible and throw the rest away.
What if a doctor had told a patient that he would enjoy health to an old age and the patient then ran, exalting, from the exam room, without the prescription that would give that promised health?
Once we grasp a picture of God and the goodness of His ways, we learn to ask Him for more understanding and to rest in the goodness of what we do know.
Would that Adam and Eve, in the midst of all that goodness, had waited and asked God!
Oh, that we would wait and ask God!
“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Psalm 27:14
God has said what He has said, the Bible presents us with a full picture of Who God is.
“Forever, O LORD, Thy Word is settled in heaven.” Psalm 119:89
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