CAN I REALLY TRUST THE BIBLE?

Know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes by one’s own interpretation.  For no prophecy was ever made by the will of man, BUT men being moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.  2 Peter 1:20-21

There are several evidences of the trustworthiness of the Bible that we can lean upon and share confidently.  First are the Bible’s claims for itself (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  God used some forty human authors to record His Word with their own personalities, experiences and writing styles, but the origin and revelation were strictly from God Himself (2 Peter 1:20-21).

Second are Christ’s claims for the Bible.  He called the Scriptures God’s Word (John 10:35) and quoted the Old Testament some 64 times, accepting persons and events as genuine history and not folklore (Adam/Eve - Matthew 19:4-5; Jonah/big fish - Matthew 12:38-41; Noah/the ark - Matthew 24:37-38).  He identified His own words as Scripture (John 12:38).  He held people responsible for what was written, “Have you NOT read…?” (Matthew 12:3).  Jesus used Scripture to answer His critics (Matthew 22:42-46 with Psalm 110:1) and to resist Satan’s temptations (Matthew 4:1-11/Deuteronomy 8:3; 6:16; and 6:13, 10:20).  Furthermore Christ proclaimed that He did NOT come to earth to destroy Old Testament Scripture BUT to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17-18).

Third are the Biblical writers’ claims for their writings.  Some 3,800 times they defer credit for personal authorship by saying, “Thus says the Lord,” “the word of the Lord came to me” and “the Lord has spoken.”  The Apostle Paul praised the Thessalonians for receiving with open hearts the Bible “not as the word of men, BUT for what it really is, the Word of God which also is at work in you who believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13).  That’s the real key to accepting the reliability of the Bible. 

It has been said that the Bible is like a lion: it does not need to be defended, just turned loose, as it’s “living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12).

Bob Kulp