Jun 25
8:12 AM
It's a Seamless Story
Jun 25
8:12 AM
Jun 25
8:12 AM
Friday, June 25, 2021
2 Peter 1:20-21
This week we have been looking at reasons why I believe the Bible. Today, I will give you the third and final reason. There are many, many, many, many reasons to believe the Bible, but I'm giving you three significant ones from two very significant passages. On June 21 and June 23rd I said the first two reasons I believe in the Bible are because it is God's inspired word to us, and because the Bible equips us for every good work. Those reasons came from 2 Timothy 3:16-17. It is one of the most important passages in the Bible about the value of the Bible. We talked about how everything the Bible asks us to do is good and our nation was built on Judeo-Christian values. So many things that people have done culturally, nationally, governmentally, individually, and church-wise, have been good because they follow the direction of the Bible.
Today, I want to give you a third reason why I believe in the Bible, and that's this: it's a seamless story told by many. The other important passage along with 2 Timothy 3:16-17 is 2 Peter 1:20-21. Let me read it, unpack it, and explain what I mean. "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." In other words, those who wrote the books of the Bible are all, in a sense, prophets because they professed the truth of God through their writing. And nothing in the Bible came from the prophets' own interpretation. It wasn't a human thing. The Bible wasn't the byproduct of man because it wasn't even a man's heart to try to write inspired scripture. The only people that had it in their heart to write inspired scripture were people who didn't write inspired scripture, like Joseph Smith, and the Book of Mormon, which is a completely non-inspired book of God, and other cult leaders, to be sure.
So, "no prophecy ever had its origin in the will of men, but men spoke from God, as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." In other words, the Holy Spirit inspired men to write what they wrote. not in a mechanical dictation sense where they went into a trance, but in a sense that God put it on their heart to write these things, and he and they did, and God superintended it. In fact, this is called the doctrine of inerrancy. The Bible is without err in the original manuscripts, but here's what I want to say. You could say, "Yeah sure, the Bible is inerrant because that's what the Bible claims. That's a circular argument: the Bible's without err. How do you know that? Because the Bible says so." But here's what I want to say. Notice how it says all the prophets were inspired by God to write the same thing. How many of you could get 40 people together in a room and say, "Let's write a story about God," and they would all write the same thing? You know, the Bible has about 40 different authors. So how many of you would like to do it with 40 different authors over a period of approximately 1500 years? The first books of the Bible - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy - were written by Moses in about 1400 BC. The last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, was written around 95 or 96. AD. That's 1500 years! 40 different authors over 1500 years on multiple continents with multiple backgrounds: fishermen, fig pickers, doctors, lawyers, scholars, everyday people, etc. And yet, what comes out of it is one message. The Bible has no contradictions in it. It may seem to have some, but there's explainable reasons for the very, very precious few that seem to contradict. It's seamless. So, it proves to us that it is God's word. This could never happen if man tried to do it on his own.
That's why I believe the Bible. I hope not only that you'll have confidence in the Bible for yourself, but that you will have confidence in the Bible to tell others that the Bible is God's inspired word, is useful for good works, and is without err because of all the proof of all the authors and all the time and the one unified message as a result. I hope that inspires you to share your faith and have confidence in the Bible. Father, thank you for this truth. Help us not only believe this about the Bible, but actually read the Bible and be inspired to live it out every day. I ask this in Jesus' name, amen.