Do You Believe the Bible?

About a month ago, I started a one-year Bible reading plan. If I stick to it, I will have read the entire Old Testament by next September.

As I read through the Old Testament, I keep realizing just how crazy the Bible is. It is filled with astonishing accounts including the Creation of the earth from nothing, a worldwide flood, fire from heaven, and talking donkeys to name a few.

Later in the New Testament, we read about a man who was completely human, but also completely God. He lived a life free of sin and was holy and blameless. He not only raised others from the dead but brought himself back to life after three days of rotting in a tomb. He claimed to be God’s Son and said that he is the only way to his Father in Heaven. After he ascended into Heaven, his friends started performing miracles in his name!

In our culture today, many people – including some churches – treat the Bible as a cafeteria; they pick and choose what they want to believe. They say “I want love, acceptance, forgiveness, and Heaven. Just don’t try to make me believe that Hell is real, or don’t tell me I shouldn’t have sex with my boyfriend – that’s crossing the line!”

So, what’s the problem with this mindset?

The Bible is the True Word of God

2 Timothy 3:16-17 states, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

The Bible is God-breathed (or God-inspired). Every word in the original books of the Bible was given to the authors by God himself. John 17:17 says, “Your word is truth.”

Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life” (John 14:6). If Jesus is the truth, then his words are true. If anything in the Bible is false, then that statement in itself would be “testifying falsely” which is breaking the ninth commandment.

God is Holy

“And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.’” (Isaiah 6:3).

God is perfect, holy, and just. He hates sin, and that is why we need a Savior to purify us.

God is super upfront about this; he says “be holy as I am holy.” We are to strive to be like him because everything he does is good and pure. He is awesome beyond all compare.

If the Bible is Untrue, it Means God is a Fraud

You see, if absolutely anything in the Bible was embellished, exaggerated, or untrue, it would be completely against God’s character. In fact, if any account or command in the Word of God is false, it means that Jesus is a fraud.

Jesus claims to be the truth, but if anything in his Word is incorrect, then he is a liar and deceiver. It means that he is not holy. It means that his blood could not wash away our sins.

This would strip us of all hope, purpose, and worth because if Jesus is not holy, his sacrifice means nothing. If even the slightest bit of God’s Word is untrue, the cross is completely worthless.

If our Creator – the One who claims to love us and give us purpose – is a liar, we have no hope. Our identity is gone.

This is why we have to believe the Bible. This is why we can’t treat God’s Word as a cafeteria. This is why we have to study the Bible and trust that everything in it is true – because it’s our hope. It’s the foundation of our identity.

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