Do we ever stop and think about why we believe the Bible is true? The
best reason we can give anyone is the fact that...
“the Bible is a collection of historical documents written down
by eye witnesses during the lifetime of other eye witnesses. They
report to supernatural events that took place in fulfillment of
specific prophesies and claim to be divine rather than human in
origin.”
This
statement was taken from scripture references in the Bible. In 2
Peter 1:16-21 we read, “For we
did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the
power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we
were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he
received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne
to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I
am well pleased,” we
ourselves heard this very voice borne from
heaven, for we were
with him on the holy mountain. And we have the
prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay
attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns
and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all,
that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own
interpretation. For no
prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God
as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
In
1 John 1:1-3, John writes, “That
which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen
with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands,
concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and
we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal
life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that
which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too
may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the
Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.”
In
the
transfiguration (found
in
Matthew
17:1-8), four
of the apostles were on the mountain
and
witnessed Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah. They
must have been quite incredulous at this sight,
especially considering Moses and Elijah had both died many years
prior to this event. It would not be hard to understand why
unbelievers would think this impossible and even foolish. 1
Corinthians 1:18 tells
us, “For
the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us
who are being saved it is the power of God.”
In
verse 19 of 2 Peter 1 we read, “And
we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do
well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the
day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,”
In other words, they witnessed the power of God at work before their
very eyes and God’s
word
was confirmed to them because of this. They
could, therefore,
admonish others to pay attention to God’s word. We are told that
God’s word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Peter
says we would do well to pay attention to this word as to a lamp
shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star
rises in your hearts. We must look at God’s word as something that
is necessary to guide us safely through life- to
keep us from stumbling into sin.
We
must do what it says, even when we don’t feel like it.
If
we do not use God’s word as a guide for
obedient living-
we
will stumble, fall and
suffer consequences to our disobedience. Maybe
many consequences.
The
greater the sin, the greater
the consequence.
Looking
at verse 21 of 2 Peter we read, For no prophecy
was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they
were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” This
is the
best reason to believe the Bible is true--
because
it is God’s word to us. Verse 21 of 2 Peter 1 tells us that
Scripture does not come from the interpretation of man, but by men
who spoke ‘from God’ and were guided by the Holy Spirit. It
is as if God was breathing His own words into their mouths. In
their writings, they
were guided along by the Holy Spirit.
If
we truly believe the Bible to be the inspired word of God and that
every word within it is true and without contradiction, then we can
be confident in using it as our guidebook for life. And
if God, by His Spirit, has made us alive in Christ, it will be our
desire to encourage others, (just as the apostles did) to pay
careful attention to the words within this Book. Even
though it will not always be easy to do what the Bible says, we must
understand that these words are our life!
Paul
is writing to Timothy here in
2 Timothy 3:12-17. He
says,
“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly
life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and
impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
But
as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly
believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from
childhood you have been acquainted with the
sacred writings,
which are
able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
All
Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for
reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that
the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
In
other words, the
Bible contains all
that we need to know in order to live faithful lives, pleasing to
God. May
we, then
determine
to read
it, study it, and
ask
God
to
give us
a right understanding of His
word--
and the grace and ability to live in obedience to it.
May
we pay careful attention to God’s word- “as
to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning
star rises in our hearts.”
