Is The Bible Reliable

Good morning!

The reason we share that video is because it’s important for us to be transparent about our finances …and we don’t want any secrets about how money gets used at Park. And you heard at the end of that video that right now, we have a surplus at FG! And I want to remind you that this is in line with our current goal to bring on our youth director, Alan Kern from Part-Time to Full-Time. We’re not far from our goal—but still have some work to do! So keep an eye out for a more detailed update on Alan in the next week!

Alright, let’s get to the message.

We’re continuing in our series this morning, Explore God, where we are looking at the 7 MOST asked questions about Faith, God, and Christianity.

This morning we’re looking at the question, ‘Is the Bible reliable?’

Which, admittedly, is an odd question to put towards the END of this sermon series, isn’t it? I mean we’ve been spending the last 5 using the bible to answer these questions, so we would HOPE the bible itself is actually reliable, right?!

But the reality is, this is a vital question for us to wrestle with!

Because Christians, throughout history, have made some pretty big claims both about what the bible is and what it means for the way we ought to live! And so we need to know if those claims are legit!

Martin Luther and the 95 Theses

Ma

I don’t know if you know this, but recently is the 500th year anniversary of an unbelievably important moment in history. Millions of people are getting ready to celebrate around the world and thousands and thousands will soon descend on a small German town to commemorate this day. It’s a day that will mark what is one of the most, if not the most important moments in the last 500 years.

On November 1st 1517, a relatively unknown monk walked up to an old church in Wittenberg, Germany did something normal. He took some paper on which he had written out some thoughts and nailed it to the door of the church. Now this wasn’t an odd thing for him to do. In fact, that was the usual way people proposed a topic for public discussion. To be fair, this would have been the equivalent today of somebody posting something of their Facebook wall. The monk’s name was Martin Luther and the document is known today as the 95 Theses. What he didn’t know is that this one action would radically alter the course human history, so much so that 500 years later, every single one of us is at least indirectly affected by this act on a daily basis. Because in a matter a months—his paper went viral around the Christianized world. And there was nothing he could do to stop it.

I know that in my own experience, I’ve had friends and family who aren’t followers of Jesus bring up some form of this question—basically to say that the bible in our hands today can’t really be trusted—that it’s been radically changed over the years—there are historical errors—it contradicts itself and so on...

You can still go to the place where Luther did this, at Castle Church in Wittenberg German. Here’s a picture of what the church looked like. And here’s a picture of what the church doors look like today—they’ve been replaced by iron doors with the 95 Statements inscribed on them.

Why is it a big deal? Because Luther’s paper started a series of public debates in which he would eventually call in to question the legitimacy of the single most powerful person in the world at the time—the Pope AND the authority under which he led the entire Church.

On November 1st 1517, a relatively unknown monk walked up to an old church in Wittenberg, Germany did something normal. He took some paper on which he had written out some thoughts and nailed it to the door of the church. Now this wasn’t an odd thing for him to do. In fact, that was the usual way people proposed a topic for public discussion. To be fair, this would have been the equivalent today of somebody posting something of their Facebook wall. The monk’s name was Martin Luther and the document is known today as the 95 Theses. What he didn’t know is that this one action would radically alter the course human history, so much so that 500 years later, every single one of us is at least indirectly affected by this act on a daily basis. Because in a matter a months—his paper went viral around the Christianized world. And there was nothing he could do to stop it.

hy is this question important?

You can still go to the place where Luther did this, at Castle Church in Wittenberg German. Here’s a picture of what the church looked like. And here’s a picture of what the church doors look like today—they’ve been replaced by iron doors with the 95 Statements inscribed on them.

Why is it a big deal? Because Luther’s paper started a series of public debates in which he would eventually call in to question the legitimacy of the single most powerful person in the world at the time—the Pope AND the authority under which he led the entire Church.

And I’m bring this up because I think it almost perfectly raises the question we’re looking at today—is the bible even reliable?

In many ways, we should have talked about this question earlier in the series.

So here’s how we’re going to use our time this morning. It’s going to feel a bit like a lecture at some points along the way—but I promise we’re gonna go to church today! But I want to walk through a series of questions about the bible. Here they are [SLIDE]

What do Christians believe about the bible?

Hasn’t the bible changed over time?

What about historical errors or contradictions in the bible?

Is the bible meaningful today?

And as we answer these questions, here’s what I hope happens.

If you’ve been a Christian for a while, I hope this’ll equip you to better answer these questions with friends and family who aren’t followers of Jesus—and not only that but that it would also rekindle an affection for the bible!

For others of you…you’re not sure what you believe about Christianity…I hope you walk away this morning thinking very differently about the bible. I may not fully convince you, but perhaps you leave knowing you cannot simply dismiss the bible…that you have to actually take the next step and begin to wrestle with the claims that it makes!

We also going to be doing text questions today—so if there is anything I say that’s not clear or you want to ask a follow up question—you can text it in and we’ll try and answer it at the end of the service today. All you need to do is text the word AskFG + your question to 62953.

Sound good?

Let me pray, and we’ll get started.

Alright let’s look at this first question—What do Christians believe about the bible?

Some of you already know this, but the bible really is an incredible document—even if you just think about it on an historic level.

Consider this:

It’s actually made up of 66 distinct books

Has at least 40 different authors

Written over a span of 1500 years

In 3 different languages

On 3 different continents

BUT it has ONE common storyline working itself out from the first book, Genesis to the last one, Revelation! [SLIDE]

But what does the bible have to say about itself? Well if you have a bible with you, open with me to II Timothy chapter 3. If you have one of the blue house bible’s, it’s on page 996. We need to spend some time here, because maybe more so than any other section of the bible, it’s what the author, Paul, says here that BEST explains what the bible IS and articulates what Christians believe about it! II Timothy chapter 3.

Look with me at v. 16, Paul starts this way, “All Scripture is breathed out by God...”

2 Timothy 3:16 ESV

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

Look at that word Scripture in v. 16. It’s a religious word that Christians use a lot…but is there something specific Paul has in mind? All throughout the bible, the word Scripture is the most general term to describe the Words of God. It’s a ‘catch-all’ word that shows up 50 times in the New Testament but—get this-- it’s always talking about the Old Testament. In fact, for hundreds of years before Paul even wrote this letter, the Jewish people had a collected the Words of God—the Law, the writings of Prophets, the historical books—and compiled it into a single collection…which is what makes up the Old Testament we have in our bibles today. This was their scripture…it was the collection of the Words of God.This helps give us the scope of what Paul’s talking about here. When he says the Scriptures are breathed out by God, in his mind, he’s talking about the Old Testament. But if that’s true…it brings up an intriguing question for us, doesn’t it? If Paul is talking about the Old Testament…what does that mean for the other half our bibles—the New Testament? One of the things we believe about the bible—as we have it today—is that the whole thing is the Words of God---all 66 books, not just certain parts of it! So what about the New Testament? You see, By the time that Paul is writing there is already an understanding and acceptance with the earliest Followers of Jesus, that the Apostles and those closest to them were writing scripture—they were actually contributing to this collection of the Words of God. This is why in the book of Act we’re told that the followers of Jesus has devoted themselves to the Apostle’s teaching. Let me show you a couple of passages that help us see this: talks about Paul’s writings…and how people can twist his writings just like they do with the other scriptures. One of the things that becomes clear here is that Paul’s letters were circulating around the whole Christian Community. And Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples calls his writings scripture—the Words of God. Paul question AND the Gospel of calling both of these passages scripture—the Words of God. Very early on, even before Paul is writing this letter, we know that followers of Jesus had accepted, taught, and believed that the writings of the Apostles and those closest to them fell into the category of scripture—the Words of God. And so tangibly, what that means for us tonight is that we can confidently say that the 66 books of the bible are the very Words of God. Hold up my bibleSo when we ask the question, what are the Words of God? The answer is: all scripture—the Bible. But here’s the next big question:Why do the People of God use the Words of God?

That word Scripture is a technical term for Paul—it refers to what we call the Old and New Testaments in our bibles today. In fact, you can substitute the word Scripture for the word Bible. They mean the same thing.

Now, That brings up a couple questions for us. What are the Words of God?

All throughout the bible, the word scripture is a general term to describe the Words of God. It’s a ‘catch-all’ word that shows up 50 times in the New Testament but—get this-- it’s always talking about the Old Testament.

Look at that word Scripture in v. 16. It’s a religious word that Christians use a lot…but is there something specific Paul has in mind? All throughout the bible, the word Scripture is the most general term to describe the Words of God. It’s a ‘catch-all’ word that shows up 50 times in the New Testament but—get this-- it’s always talking about the Old Testament. In fact, for hundreds of years before Paul even wrote this letter, the Jewish people had a collected the Words of God—the Law, the writings of Prophets, the historical books—and compiled it into a single collection…which is what makes up the Old Testament we have in our bibles today. This was their scripture…it was the collection of the Words of God.This helps give us the scope of what Paul’s talking about here. When he says the Scriptures are breathed out by God, in his mind, he’s talking about the Old Testament. But if that’s true…it brings up an intriguing question for us, doesn’t it? If Paul is talking about the Old Testament…what does that mean for the other half our bibles—the New Testament? One of the things we believe about the bible—as we have it today—is that the whole thing is the Words of God---all 66 books, not just certain parts of it! So what about the New Testament? You see, By the time that Paul is writing there is already an understanding and acceptance with the earliest Followers of Jesus, that the Apostles and those closest to them were writing scripture—they were actually contributing to this collection of the Words of God. This is why in the book of Act we’re told that the followers of Jesus has devoted themselves to the Apostle’s teaching. Let me show you a couple of passages that help us see this: talks about Paul’s writings…and how people can twist his writings just like they do with the other scriptures. One of the things that becomes clear here is that Paul’s letters were circulating around the whole Christian Community. And Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples calls his writings scripture—the Words of God. Paul question AND the Gospel of calling both of these passages scripture—the Words of God. Very early on, even before Paul is writing this letter, we know that followers of Jesus had accepted, taught, and believed that the writings of the Apostles and those closest to them fell into the category of scripture—the Words of God. And so tangibly, what that means for us tonight is that we can confidently say that the 66 books of the bible are the very Words of God. Hold up my bibleSo when we ask the question, what are the Words of God? The answer is: all scripture—the Bible. But here’s the next big question:Why do the People of God use the Words of God?

It’s a ‘catch-all’ word that shows up 50 times in the New Testament but—get this-- it’s always talking about the Old Testament.

See, for hundreds of years before Paul even wrote this letter, the Jewish people had a collected these books—the Law, Prophets, the historical books—and compiled it into a single collection…which is what makes up the Old Testament we have in our bibles today. This was their scripture.

This helps give us the scope of what Paul’s talking about here. When he says the Scriptures are breathed out by God, in his mind, he’s talking about the Old Testament. But if that’s true…it brings up an intriguing question for us, doesn’t it? If Paul is talking about the Old Testament…what does that mean for the other half our bibles—the New Testament? One of the things we believe about the bible—as we have it today—is that the whole thing is the Word of God---all 66 books, not just certain parts of it! So what about the New Testament?

You see, By the time that Paul is writing there is already an understanding and acceptance with the earliest Followers of Jesus, that the leaders of the church, the Apostles, and those closest to them were writing scripture.

How do we know?

We see this in a couple places.

talks about Paul’s writings…and how people can twist his writings just like they do with the other scriptures. One of the things that becomes clear here is that Paul’s letters were circulating around the whole Christian Community. And Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples calls his writings scripture—the Words of God.

Paul quotes AND the Gospel of calling both of these passages scripture [SLIDE]. Very early on, even before Paul is writing this letter, we know that followers of Jesus had accepted, taught, and believed that the writings of the Apostles and those closest to them fell into the category of scripture—the Words of God—and this is what makes up the 66 books today—it’s Scripture.

But look what Paul says about Scripture in v. 16; it’s “...breathed out by God...”

Now, this is actually a vivid picture he’s giving us to describe what Scripture, or the bible, is! And it’s actually a brilliant way to do this because it really says a couple things about scripture at the same time. To say Scripture is god-breathed tells us about where it comes from, and it tells us why it’s so important! Let me show you what I mean.

What’s he mean?

See, it’s actually a vivid picture that he’s giving us to describe the Scripture! And it’s actually a brilliant way to do this because it really says a couple things about scripture at the same time. To say Scripture is god-breathed tells us about where it comes from, and it tells us why it’s so important! Let me show you what I mean.

There’s a fascinating article the Smithsonian Institute, the worlds largest Museum and Research complex, put out about some of their latest research on breathing and exhaling. And you know what they found? A person’s breath is just as unique to them, if not more, than their fingerprint. In other words, we know now that what we breath out is actually a part of us…it’s a part of who we are! So after your shower in the morning, when you stand in front of the mirror over the sink and fog up the glass with your breath…you are leaving a part of you on the mirror. For those of you with glasses, when you bring them to your mouth to fog up the lenses so you can clean them…you’re leaving a part of you on the lens! Everyday as we’re walking around the city, breathing in and breathing out, we are exhaling a part of us as we go!

To say ‘breathed out by God’, tells us the source of scripture—That it comes from God—and nothing else is described this way in the bible!

Nothing else is described this way in the bible!

The word Paul uses here in the original language of the NT is theo-neustos. It’s a word that doesn’t come up ANYWHERE else in the Bible or in any other writing at all. To describe Scripture, Paul had to invent a new word because there wan’t anything he could use to get the same idea across! It’s a compound word from the words Theos meaning God and Pneuma meaning breath…the image that Paul is trying to get across is that Scripture is exhaled from God!

The Smithsonian Institute, the worlds largest Museum and Research complex, recently put out some of their latest research on human breathing. And you know what they found? A person’s breath is just as unique to them, if not more, than their fingerprint. In other words, we know now that what we breath out is actually a part of us! So after your shower in the morning, when you stand in front of the mirror over the sink and fog up the glass with your breath…you are leaving a part of you on the mirror. For those of you with glasses, when you bring them to your mouth to fog up the lenses so you can clean them…you’re leaving a part of you on the lens! Everyday as we’re walking around the city, breathing in and breathing out, we are exhaling a part of us as we go!

You see this is exactly what Paul is trying to get across when he says ‘All scripture is breathed out by God...” that scripture…is in some sense, actually a part of Him.

So to be obedient to scripture, is to be obedient to God!

To reject his Words, is to reject Him.

That’s the picture Paul is painting for us…that scripture comes from the mouth of God…it’s why we call it the Word of God.

Theologians call this idea Paul is talking about Inspiration. We talk about the bible as the inspired word of God.

And while there are many different human authors of the bible—that write with their own style and voice—we believe that God is the ultimate author of Scripture!

Okay. That’s the summary of what Christians believe about the bible. But now we’ve got to deal with some of the questions that come up from that.

Here’s the first one: Hasn’t the bible changed over time?

This is a claim that is often made about the bible—that it’s been fundamentally changed and tweaked, and modified to fit different political agendas throughout history. Ideas like this were recently popularized books like The Da Vinci Code.

And if that’s true…if it has been changed…that’s an ENORMOUS problem for Christianity, isn’t it?!

So how do you respond to this question?

Well the first thing we need to know is that the bible that we have is translated into English from three different languages.

Most of the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew—with a few sections in Aramaic.

The New Testament was written in Greek.

The Bible itself is really a collection of these writings like we talked about earlier…so the New Testament is made up of 4 accounts of Jesus’ life—the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). A longer account of the early Christians (the book of Acts) and a series of letters by influential leaders in the Early church.

But here’s the thing, we actually don’t have any of the original documents for ANY book of the bible. Which means, you cannot go to a museum somewhere and see the actual letter that Paul sent to Timothy, like we were looking at earlier—you can’t go anywhere to see original copy of Genesis. You follow me?

What we do have are copies of those books and letters. And we have copies of those copies…and copies of the copies of the copies…and so on.

But if that’s true, it naturally brings up the question, ‘How do we know we have the authors actually wrote?

It’s a VERY importnat question! Let me see if this helps—we’re gonna step into the classroom for a minute—hangin in there though!

See, even though we don’t have any of the originals, what we do have are copies of those books and letters. And we have copies of those copies…and copies of the copies of the copies…you get the idea. Scholars call these manuscripts. Some manuscripts are complete bibles like we have today…or whole books of the bible…or even just a few verses from the bible. And when you’re looking at any ancient book…the things you’re looking for are how many manuscripts do you have…and how old are they…and how do the different manuscripts line up?

Now, when you look specifically at the Old Testament, it seems like there is a bit of a problem because of the there just aren’t a lot of full manuscripts of the Hebrew Old Testament. In fact, the oldest COMPLETE manuscript we have that covers ALL of the Old Testament in Hebrew, which again, was the original language, is from about 1000 A.D. which is almost 1,400 years AFTER we believe the Old Testament was finished being written! It’s called the Leningrad Codex.

Let me show you a picture of what it looks like [SLIDE]. This is a section from the book of Jonah. And for the most part, this is what the Old Testament in your bible is translated from.

Now there are Hebrew manuscripts that are older than this…but none of the older ones are a complete Old Testament. That’s a little troubling…if the oldest full manuscript we have is about 1,400 years removed from the original! I mean if things are going to change—that’s a lot of time to change in!

But in 1947—an INCREDIBLE discovery was made that has added immensely to the reliability of the Old Testament specifically—it helps show that the Old Testament WE have has not really changed AT ALL over the last 2,000 years.

In the Dead Sea region of modern day Israel…a few young shepherd had wandered into a some old caves. What they found have become known as the Dead See Scrolls. It was a collection of manuscripts from between 200 B.C.—200 A.D.

showed us is that there was an amazing amount of consistency in the copying of the Old Testament text! In fact, when looking that the book of Isaiah, what scholars have found is that there is a 95% agreement between the two texts—and the other 5% is really just changes in how words were spelled! Do you hear that? That while it’s being copies for over 1000 years, we know that it was a UNBELIEVABLE accurate copying process!

Not all of them were portions of the Old Testament, but the sections that were from the OT showed us is that there was an amazing amount of consistency in the copying of the Old Testament text! The best example is the Isaiah Scroll that was found, which was extremely well preserved and is dated to about 200 B.C. After studying it scholars have found is that there is a 95% agreement between the DDS of the book of Isaiah and what is found in the Leningrad Codex—and the other 5% is really just changes in how words were spelled!

Do you see what that means! The DDS are in 95% agreement with Leningrad Codex which was created about 1,200 years later! It didn’t change really AT ALL…and certainly not in the way many people claim that it did!

That’s the Old Testament we have today! And so the claim that it has changed over the years is just simply not supported by any of the evidence! On the contrary, the opposite is true that it has NOT changed over the course of thousands of years!

Now

But what about the New Testament? Has that been changed? If we only have copies of copies of copies…how do we know that we have what was actually originally written?

Again, we have to look at the evidence. And specifically for the New Testament, we have an unbelievable amount of manuscript evidence to look at.

In fact, the New Testament has FAR AND AWAY more manuscript support that ANY OTHER book of antiquity. Let me show you a quick chart of what I’m talking about [SLIDE].

Here are some of the major books that we might be familiar with--

The Works fo Plato: The famous greek philosopher—was writing around 400 B.C.—the oldest copies we have (because just like with the bible, there are NO originals) are from around 900 A.D. That’s at least 1300 years removed from it’s original writing…and historians have found 7 copies of his works!

Caesar, The Gaelic Wars: The roman leader—writing around 60 B.C.—the oldest copies we have are from around 900 A.D. and we have only 10. In fact, for most of these, you can see that there are are in general about 1000 years in between the original and the oldest copies we have—and there are relatively FEW copies available to us at all.

But then you look at the New Testament documents—and it quickly becomes obvious that it is really in a league of it’s own!

That while the New Testament documents were written between 50 A.D. and 100 A.D. We have a fragments, books, and manuscripts containing MOST of the NT as we have it within 150…and then in 325 AD, the full NT as we have it is confirmed—only 225 years after the completion of all the writings.

On top of that there are close to 6,000 manuscripts available to us! All of this demonstrates that the claim that the Bible has been changed over time—simply is not true. Actually to be intellectually honest, if you are going to place a doubt on the New Testament as to whether or not it’s a reliable version of what was actually written, you then have to take the exact same skepticism with EVERY book from the ancient world—that you actually cannot trust any of what they recorded!

So when we look at that first question here, ‘Hasn’t the Bible changed over time’. The answer we have to come to is that the historical evidence simply DOES not show that at all! To the contrary, it shows that we have an incredibly accurate representation of what was originally written!

But what about those places where it seems like the bible contradicts itself or seems to have historical errors?

If you google, ‘contradictions in the bible’. You’re going to get page after page of response—and for a lot of folks, this is like the silver bullet against the bible!

But the problem with this approach is that the vast majority of these examples either have legitimate response—and while something might look like a contradiction at first if you think about it for just a couple minutes, they’re really not contradictions at all!

OR

They’re dealing with such side issues that they don’t affect the meaning of the passage at all and are due to a small copying error. The don’t affect the theology at all!

Here are some examples:

1 Kings and 2 Chronicles are both history books in the Old Testament.

[SLIDE] says that king Solomon had 40,000 stalls of horses.

But says he had 4,000 stalls!

Which is right? Probably 2 Chronicles…

It’s an error!

We would say this is an example of what’s called a scribal error. Likely taken place when a scribe was copying and copying and added an extra 0 in the 1 Kings text. But it doesn’t affect the meaning of the text at all!

What about errors in the New Testament?

What about in the New Testament?

…Jesus is walking out of the city of Jericho and Matthew, the author tells us there are 2 blind men—Jesus eventually heals them and goes on his way.

But wait a minute,

In the gospel of Luke, when we look at the SAME story, he says there was A blind man!

Some look at that again and say, ‘Look! It doesn’t match up!”

What we would say is that you need to remember that the first FOUR books of the new testament, the Gospels, all give different perspectives on Jesus life! And so they may look at the same story and tell it from just a slightly different angle! Luke is just telling us about one of the men where as Matthew was giving a more general retelling of the story.

So is the bible reliable? I think when we look at the evidence, we can confidently say, Yes; that we have what was originally written—and in the few scribal errors that we might encounter, they are in the realm of insignificant mistakes that do not affect the meaning or theology!

But you see, my hunch is—even if I answer these objections perfectly—there will still be people, and some of you, who don’t buy into what the bible has to say. Because the question is not so much is the bible reliable, it’s is the bible meaningful today?

And this is the last question we’re going to look at this morning [SLIDE].

And to do that, we need to go back and finish looking at the passage we started with in II Timothy.

See, after Paul gives us a grand vision for what the Bible is, that it’s breathed out by God...he goes on to show us what it means for us today. Look with me at the second half of v. 16. Paul says this, “All scripture is breathed out by God…and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in rightousness that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

Now we don’t have time to look at each of these words here…but broadly what Paul is saying that Scripture has an active role in our lives today…it shapes us.

Think with me for a moment about how a sculptor works. They start with an idea and maybe even a small model of what they want the final product, the sculpture, to look like. Right?

Well, it’s helpful to think of Scripture like the sculptor’s model.

It’s the sculptor’s model.

And that’s the way it teaches! See, scripture shows us who God is and what he’s like. But beyond that, it teaches us about what God desires for all of us.

And just like an artist wants to create something that’s good and beautiful, God gives us his Word, scripture…this model...not to follow blindly, or just to create a series of rules and regulations but they’re actually a record of His affection for us! He gives us his word to follow for our good, our joy, and satisfaction as we see the way He’s created us to live!

The words of God shape us as a people.

But he goes on to say that the Bible is not only for teaching..for the model…it’s profitable for reproof and correction. And these aren’t words we use too often today…so think of it this way. If the teaching is the model, then the reproof and correction is like the chiseling process!

The sculptor has this large block of marble in front of him, but to make it look anything like the model the sculptor has to start chiseling away the parts that shouldn’t be there. And that’s exactly what the Bible does in us, right? God chisels away what shouldn’t be true of us as followers of Jesus. Those things that are inconsistent with the model!

And this is a messy and painful process. See scripture is used to point out disobedience, or sin is what the bible calls it, in our lives! It’s where the sculptor chisels away the the imperfections. These are the hard conversations that God has with us! Because it’s as we regularly engage with the Bible that we begin to see how much we’re not like the model! We begin to see with greater clarity our imperfections!

!

It’s when we recognize that the way we’re use our money is not in line with how God calls us to use our money.

It’s when we recognize that our beliefs about sexuality, gender, marriage, eternal destiny, are not in line with what God about these things…but with what we want God to say about these things!

It’s when we recognize that our beliefs about sexuality, gender, marriage, eternal destiny, are not in line with what the Bible teaches…but with what we want the bible to teach!

See, the reality is, the Bible often talks about this stuff—sexuality, gender, marriage, race, politics— and they and have MASSIVE implications for the way we live!

And yet, often, we want to make the Bible more palatable…sometimes not even for ourselves! I can’t tell you how many times—if I’m honest—in my heart of hearts, when I’m having conversations with my family members who aren’t followers of Jesus…how deep down I want the Bible to teach something else about Salvation…how often I want it to be true that all God expects of us is that we’re a good person! How often do we wish that God had remained silent about sexuality—or that he had at least said something else about it. How often do we wish that God had modern sensibility for the way the he addressed gender roles, or marriage…doesn’t God understand that love is love…why couldn’t he leave it at that!?!

And see, I think THIS is the problem most people ACTUALLY have with the Bible—The bible has audacity to make absolute claims over our lives.

When it comes to the bible, we don’t really have a problem with it’s reliability—that’s just a rabbit trail—we have a problem with it’s authority.

In the Bible we will see exactly what God says about these issues…

But WE want the final say!

We say OUR situation is the exception!

Ultimately that we are the final authority on this issue!

But see, when we start saying those things, that’s when we actually show our hand.

The bottom line is that often, we don’t believe the Words of God are for our blessing, satisfaction, and joy. A lot of times, we see them as the very shackles and chains that keep us from satisfaction and joy. And you see, without even realizing it, we try and hold God captive to our experience, judgement, and insight. We look to ourselves as the final authority for what we think, say, and do.

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But if you dig just a little deeper, you’ll find the greater reason people give up on the Bible.

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See, somewhere deep down, we know we could never fully live according to it. Deep down we know that we can never as good the sculptor’s model…we can never chisel enough out of ourselves…and if it’s up to us, we know we can’t be anything like it.

And this is a problem for us…because like I said earlier, to reject scripture or fail to live perfectly by it, is to reject God himself.

And if that’s true, then all of us have rejected God.

So how is there any hope for us?

PAUSE

Friends, we have can have hope because God does not only call us to do what we are unable to do ourselves…He does for us what we’re unable to do ourselves!

This is the Gospel!

See, the Gospel confirms the reality that we have all—at some level—failed to perfectly live by the Bible, the Word of God. None of us can reflect the Model laid out for us in the way we’re supposed to! And the bible teaches that our failure here is our condemnation! That the result of OUR sin is OUR death!

But the Gospel also shows us God’s response!

Talking about Jesus in the in the Gospel of John, we’re told, “The Word (Jesus) became flesh and dwelt among us.”

You see, what makes the Christian story so compelling is that Jesus is the embodiment of the Word of God—He is the Model! And being the Word of God himself, He was perfectly obedient to all of what God commanded us!

And yet when you and I should have been condemned for our failure, the good news is that Jesus took on himself our punishment! He died the death we should have died. And yet he rose again from the dead! Confirming for the rest of the World that he is the perfect Model! And the Gospel teaches us that when we put our faith in Jesus—when we trust in His work—then God credits the perfection of Jesus’ life…to us! Friends, THAT is the good news!

And so now, because of the Gospel, we are empowered to live according to His words. Not to earn our merit, not to chisel ourselves into this perfect model, but in a way to can finally bring lasting satisfaction, and joy!

Because of the Gospel, we have a different starting place when we confront these difficult issues we see in the Bilbe! Because scripture is breathed out by God, then then whatever it says on a subject is not outdated or irrelevant but actually the best case possible! We don’t have to wish that God had said something else! We can look at his Words as His ideal for humanity to flourish and be finally and forever satisfied! They are incredibly meaningful for us today.

Because of the Gospel, we have a different starting place when we confront these difficult issues in the Words of God! Because scripture is breathed out by God, then then whatever it says on a subject is not outdated or irrelevant but actually the best case possible! We don’t have to wish that God had said something else! We can look at his Words as His ideal for humanity to flourish and be finally and forever satisfied!

That’s why Christians are people of the book. It’s why we make such a big deal about the bible!

God uses his word to call us out of darkness into his marvelous light! To bring about true joy and to bring liberation form death and bring about the hope of new life!

And as your pastor…I need to remind you…if you are a Christian, you need to be in the word. DAILY.

God uses his word to call us out of darkness into his marvelous light! To bring about true joy and to bring liberation form death and bring about the hope of new life!

And I love the way that Paul ends this section here…that God’s people will be equipped for EVERY good work.

Would you pray with me?

Is The Bible Reliable

Welcome

Introduction

Why is this question important?

Roadmap

W

What Do Christians Believe About the Bible?

Why start here?

What IS the Bible?

What does the Bible say about ITSELF?

Scripture is God-Breathed

The ‘Words of God’ are God-Breathed

Where it comes from:

Hasn’t the Bible changed over hundreds of years?

Texts of the Bible

Old Testament Evidence

Dead Sea Scrolls

Leningrad Codex

Dead Sea Scrolls

Copying Practices

New Testament Evidence

Summary

What about all errors or contradictions in the Bible?

Errors in the Numbers

Old Testament

Myths of David and Pontius Pilate

New Testament

Summary

Is the Bible Meaningful Today?

Teaching

Reproof and correction

Conclusion