Part 3 – Why The Bible Can Be Trusted
(2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV) 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.
(Matthew 24:35 NIV) Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
- It is historically accurate.
(Psalms 33:4 NIV) For the word of the LORD is right and true;
Three tests in order to be historically accurate:
- Eyewitness Accounts
- Recorded and copied with extreme care.
- Archaeological confirmation.
- It is scientifically accurate.
God created all of the scientific laws.
(Psalms 148:5-6 NLT) Let every created thing give praise to the LORD, for He issued His command, and they came into being. He set them in place forever and ever. His decree will never be revoked.
Scientific things that were believed when then Bible was written are proven wrong by what the Bible says.
- The earth was flat.
(Isaiah 40:22 NIV) God sits enthroned above the circle of the earth…
- The earth is held up or suspended on something.
(Job 26:7 NIV) He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.
- The numbers of stars can be counted.
(Jeremiah 33:22 NLT) And as the stars of the sky cannot be counted…
- Too much blood made you sick.
(Leviticus 17:11 NLT) …for the life of the body is in its blood.
- Man cannot pass disease to another human being.
(Leviticus 13:4 NLT) “…the priest will quarantine the person for seven days.
(Psalms 12:6 NIV) And the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times.
- It is prophetically accurate.
1000 prophecies in the Bible with 300 being about Jesus alone.
David prophesied about crucifixion in Psalm 22 before crucifixion was even created.
(2 Peter 1:21 NIV) For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
(Matthew 26:56 NLT) But this is all happening to fulfill the words of the prophets as recorded in the Scriptures.” At that point, all the disciples deserted Him and fled.
(Revelation 22:6 NIV) The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”
It takes more faith to believe the prophecies of the Bible are coincidence than to believe that God spoke and planned them.
- It is thematically unified.
It was written over a period of 4000 years in over a dozen countries on three continents by people from all walks of life (in three languages)
There were about 40 writers but only one Author.
How did they come up with the same story?
(Luke 24:27 NIV) And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
- It is trusted by Jesus.
If you are going to trust Jesus, you have to trust what Jesus trusted.
(Matthew 5:18 NIV) For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
If you believe what you like in the Bible but don’t believe what you don’t like, it’s not the Bible you trust but yourself!
- It has survived attacks.
The Bible has been the most despised, derided, denied, disputed, dissected, debated, outlawed, and destroyed book ever.
(1 Peter 1:24-25 NIV) For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever
- It has transforming power.
(John 8:31-32 NIV) …Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Take a year of your life and see if the Word will change you and your life.