Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true [Acts 17:11]
If someone…an unbeliever…came up to you knowing you’re a believer and asked you to tell them how you know the Bible to be true…what would you tell them?
“Well my Pastor says it’s true” …that’s a real credible source…but that doesn’t answer the question…what is there about the Bible that gives you the assurance that it’s true? I believe the Bible is infallible and inerrant but that doesn’t do much for the skeptic who’s saying show me the proof.
If anyone is remotely familiar with ‘religion’ they know there are literally thousands of different religions in the world…BUT…narrowing this down to what is considered the five main world religions will be enough confusion to start off with:
Buddhism…Christianity…Hinduism…Islam…and Judaism…with Christianity being the largest religion in the world, with more than 2 billion believers worldwide.
A further division of just one of those religions…Christianity…reveals two separate branches…Eastern and Western Christianity…breaking down just the churches in the Western branch results in six different layers of Christianity.
Catholicism…Protestantism…Eastern Orthodoxy…Anglicanism…Oriental Orthodoxy…and Assyrians…with Restorationism sometimes being considered the seventh branch.
Then to further divide just one of those six down even further…Protestantism reveals there are well over a dozen different Protestant denominations…with some estimates as high into the hundreds.
So…you have the five major religions…then from those five you pull one out that has two divisions…then from one of those two divisions you have six more branches… then from that one branch you have at least a dozen different denominations…but possible exceeding a hundred.
Do you see the confusion that results…the number of different translations and interpretations that are possible?
The Roman Catholics have a valid point…if we are to go only by what the Bible says…which Protestant denomination…and you have at least a dozen…but possibly exceeding a hundred…which has the correct interpretation?
A major reason why many people have concluded …how is it possible for anyone to trust the Bible…it’s an incomprehensible book of mysteries…
unresolved conflicts…lies…and contradictions…who can take it seriously?
If you’re familiar with church history then you know that it is that question that led one of the layers of Christianity to believe that they are the one true church that God established as the infallible interpreter of Scripture.
Not to turn this into a history class, but if you’re familiar with world history that statement was what ultimately resulted in the Protestant Reformation & the 30-years war which resulted in the death of between 8 and 30 million Protestants.
It’s because of incidents like those…along with the continued divisions even today between denominations who cannot agree upon the Bible’s interpretations, that causes many “non-believers” to reject it…you guys can’t even agree among yourselves.
If those who supposedly believe the Bible can’t agree upon its interpretation…how is it possible for anyone to trust the Bible…let alone understand it?
Have you ever thought why there is so much religious division in the world?
Why can’t God write a rule book on how to live a godly life…how to worship… how to be saved…what is offensive to God…so that everyone alike can see it? The answer is, He has…the problem is we don’t read it.
As simple as that statement may be regarding reading the Bible…it’s true… here’s the KEY regarding reading the Bible…it’s understanding.
The terms “understand” and “understanding” are used more than three hundred times in The Bible…Jesus commanded the multitude to, “Hear and understand”. (Matt. 15:10)
That’s the mark of a Christian…it’s not works…it’s not going to church…not being baptized…it’s not discipleship…the mark of a Christian is understanding.
In Matthew 13 Jesus Himself uses the word ‘understanding’ six times to emphasize the importance between knowing what is written…and knowing and applying what is written… understanding is the key.
We’re probably all familiar with at least part of Psalm 19…especially [verse 1].
The heavens declare the glory of God;
Part of Psalm 19 is dedicated to God’s revelation of Himself to humanity…the first six verses of this Psalm address the revelation of God in nature.
Here’s why that’s important…God is always about the business of revealing Himself to people.
Article 2 of the Belgic Confession states two ways God can be known.
Within the first 14 verses of Psalm 19 David confirms how God can be known from two different ways…in the first six verses God can be known through creation…then abruptly he shifts from praising God who reveals Himself in creation to praising the same God for revealing Himself in His word.
It’s as if David said, “Creation tells us much about God, but His word tells us much more.”
Again, that is why people are without excuse…no one can stand before God and claim they did not know there is a God…because He does reveals Himself… first, by creation and second, by His holy and divine Word…that is what is known as general revelation.
OK…if that’s God’s desire then why would He reveal a message that is so hard to understand? …because ultimately…it reflects upon God if the Bible cannot be understood…what good is it if He cannot make His word understandable?
We’re going to look at what the Bible tells us about itself and the role it plays in the life of the believer as revealed in verses 7-8 of Psalm 19…noticing several things this text tells us about the word of God.
7 The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are pure, giving light to the eyes.
The Law of the Lord is perfect…means it is without blemish…it’s complete …lacking nothing…some of the functions of God’s Word are:
…It tells us everything we need to know about who God is and who we are;
…It tells us about the devastating effects of sins and the sacrifice of our Savior;
…It tells us what we need to know about eternity;
…It tells us how we can come to be in fellowship with God.
The Bible contains God’s messages to us…if we fail to handle it properly, we’re destined to become confused…frustrated…paying attention to myths and endless genealogies [1 Tim. 1:4] that prevent people from understanding the Bible.
So, the question this morning is:
Is the Bible the word of men or the words of God?
[2 Tim. 3:16] All Scripture is God-breathed…the word(“God-breathed”) theópneustos …only used one time in the entire New Testament…a term coined by Paul, itexpresses the sacred nature of the Scriptures relating to its divine origin…it means inspired by God.
As Southern Baptists we hold to a generally held set of convictions called the Baptist Faith and Message. It’s part of our church constitution and by-laws that outlines what we as a church believe.
We claim that the Bible is the infallible and inerrant revelation from God… without the belief that the Bible is without error and incapable of being wrong. the Bible is nothing more than meaningless words like today’s newspapers.
Believing the Bible is infallible and inerrant is believing the Bible was given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit to human authors as a way for God to speak to us through it.
Here’s how that worked: God didn’t dictate to the writers what He wanted them to write down…He guided them in the choice of their words but without destroying their own individuality, literary style, or personal interest BUT still ensuring that what they wrote was precisely what He intended for them to write.
(John Walvoord, Major Bible Themes, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Zondervan, 1974, 16.)
God didn’t just reveal certain ideas to them and then leave it to them to express those ideas using their own interpretation.
Realizing that the Bible had numerous authors does not diminish our belief that the Bible was inspired of God in the sense that He personally guided each of the writers.
OK hold it…I can accept that…BUT…the Bible was originally written by over 40 different authors…over a period of thousands of years…and then copies were made from those…how do I know there were no errors when they copied them?
In addition, the New Testament was not even finalized until hundreds of years after Christ’s accession, which makes it further suspect to human error.
And just to muddy the waters a little more…who was it that decided what 27 books would make up the New Testament and what was the criteria used to determine which books would be accepted and which ones would not…because some books were thrown out.
If you compare the Bible to any other ancient writing such as Homer…Plato… and Aristotle, the Bible is light years ahead in terms of number of manuscripts and accuracy.
Just looking at the New Testament…there are nearly 5,700 manuscripts of the New Testament dating from the second century to the fifteenth century that all agree in content and substance.
Looking at the Old Testament…over 10,000 Old Testament manuscripts that have an accuracy that is unrivalled among other literature from the ancient world.
When comparing all the Greek manuscripts with each other, the accuracy rate is found to be 99.5%! This makes the Bible the best-preserved work of ancient literature.
There is no variation in any of the manuscripts that has resulted in the slightest doctrinal change from the original writings…all manuscripts match identically with respect to doctrinal material…this indicates that the Bible has been accurately transmitted throughout the ages, far more so than other ancient documents.
I want to look at two other ‘sacred’ writings that appear to have a far more stable background…let me say again…I will on occasion point out errors in those cults who claim to speak on behalf of God but evidence clearly indicates they don’t.
The Koran…also believed to be the word of God…was given to only one man – Mohammad…as opposed to the Bible who has 40 different authors…
Mohammad memorized it because he couldn’t read or write and taught it to others who memorized it.
Having a variety of people knowing it was a way to ensure its accuracy as opposed to the Bible that has too many variables which leaves it open for errors. A valid argument…well, kind-a.
The Book of Mormon…reveals the historical account of a group of Hebrews who migrated from Jerusalem to live in America. It gets wilder.
These accounts were engraved on gold plates written in “reformed Egyptian”, a language that only one person in the world could understand…it gets wilder.
These plates were hidden until revealed by an angel to Joseph Smith in 1823 who translated them…he later identified them as holy scriptures calling it another testament of Jesus Christ in addition to the Bible.
So, like the Koran…you have the testament of Jesus given to only one man to minimize any allegations that there might be mistakes…that would seem to remove any possible errors.
You have the Book of Mormon that was translated by just one man to minimize any accusation of it having errors…So, why should I believe the Bible which is subject to far more possible errors because of the number of people writing it? Especially since both the Koran or the Book of Mormon were given to just one man and are also the ‘word’ of god.
If we are to accept the Bible…the Book of Mormon…and the Koran all to be inspired writing from God…there can be no difference in their content…they must all be in complete agreement.
Looking at the Koran, it denies…
— that Jesus is God’s Son
— the crucifixion of Jesus.
— that He rose from the dead
— claims Mary the mother of Jesus was the sister of Aaron
It denies that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died and rose from the dead… God becoming incarnate in Jesus because of His love for us is not acknowledged.
That eliminates the Koran from having any divine inspiration because that goes against the whole purpose of God’s plan of reconciliation which must be through His Son Jesus…He is the only one who can renew our relationship with God.
The Mormons teach that Jesus was a spirit child of Adam and the brother of Satan…they teach that the Messiah who was the founder of the Christian religion was a Polygamist…who chose to marry many wives.
The foundational belief in the LDS church is that their Jesus is not the Jesus of the Bible and God is not the God of the Bible.
By their own admission that eliminates the Book of Mormon from being inspired by God.
The writings from the Far East…the teachings of Confucius…Buddhism… Hinduism …and Islam do not make a claim to be God’s word.
No other writings claim to be divinely inspired from God.
Mohammad claims he received his revelation from Gabriel the angel…Joseph Smith received his from the angel or resurrected being Moroni.
In addition, to be the inerrant Word of God it must be found reliable by using historical analysis…archaeology…and fulfilled prophecies.
Looking at the Bible…its validity is confirmed…historically…geographically …scientifically…and through archeological proof that verifies…people… places…and events occurred exactly as recorded in the Bible.
The hundreds of prophecies found in the Bible…most were predicted hundreds of years in the past…but all happened exactly as predicted…all attest to the authenticity of God’s Word.
Looking at the book of Mormon…Since the publication of the Book of Mormon in 1830, Mormon archaeologists have attempted to find archaeological evidence to support its claims…regarding these immaculate cites that were constructed…but there has been no evidence to validate the cities… temples… towers…and places depicted in the book of Mormon ever existed.
That is some of the evidence that separates the Bible from the other religious books that claim to be inspired.
When it comes to properly understanding the Bible, there’s really no such thing as “my interpretation” and “your interpretation.” …yet there are millions today who are convinced that the Bible can mean just anything.
When individuals say things like, “You can interpret the Bible for yourself as long as you don’t force your opinions upon others” …they are in essence saying that the Bible can mean anything.
When someone says, “Well, that’s just your interpretation, no one really knows what this means, so let’s just agree to disagree” they are in essence saying that the Bible can mean anything.
When others say, “This is what the Bible means to me, but it has its own meaning for you” then they’re saying that the Bible can mean anything.
When comparing the difference between the Koran…the Book of Mormon or any other religious document, that’s why it’s important to examine the Scriptures every day…because
…only in the Bible can I learn firsthand who God is and what He values.
…only in the Bible do I see a God reaching down to sinners out of compassion.
…only in the Bible do I find a book that I can pattern my life after.
…only the Bible reveals a God who is truly concerned about me as an individual.
…only in the Bible does God truly reveal Himself.
…only in the Bible is found the revelation of God’s love for all men.
That is what makes the Bible so different from all other religious writings.