Although the question posed is simple enough, the answer you give could have eternal consequences. Our answer is a resounding YES! A detailed list is outlined below supporting our claim (and the claim of countless others today and down through the centuries) that indeed the Bible is true. In fact, it is the only source for real TRUTH.
We’d like to know what you think…is the Bible true, is it to be believed? Or, is it merely a wonderful collection of stories that should be studied only for its literary significance?
There are good reasons to trust the Bible. Both external and internal evidence support the statement that the Bible is “true and righteous altogether” (Psalm19:9)
1. EXTERNAL EVIDENCE
External evidence, that is, facts outside of the Bible demonstrate that it is a reliable and trustworthy source of information.
A. Scientific Evidence
No scientific fact has ever disproved the Bible in any way. Many people will say, “The Bible is not a scientific book, but is meant to provide a religious or spiritual view of the universe.” The implication of that statement is that because the physical descriptions serve a religious intent, these descriptions cannot be expected to be absolutely accurate. This line of thinking is wrong because it is illogical. How are we to decide which statements are true and which are not? If we cannot trust some statements in the Bible, then we cannot trust the moral or spiritual message it brings. The reason we could not trust the spiritual message is that we would not have a standard by which to know what things are accurate and relevant to our lives and what things are inaccurate and not to be taken seriously. This line of thinking is wrong because it is a faithless insult to God Who is the author of the Bible. The accuracy of the accounts, people, and places in the Bible is a reflection of God’s integrity, inasmuch as He presents statements that are to be taken at face value and which are a reflection of God’s ability to keep the contents of the Bible accurate over the centuries. We cannot have too high a regard for the accurate description of the physical world as presented in the Bible because it reflects upon God Who wrote it.
An Example from Geography
While the Bible does not intend to deliberately school its readers in scientific principles and data, any subject that it discusses about God’s creation is accurate and true. As one case in point, we can turn to Job 26:7, where we read a modern description of the earth as it spins in empty space. This was written about 3,000 years BC. This description is in sharp contrast to the fantastic imaginary notions that the rest of the world taught or believed at that time. In support of Job 26:7, Isaiah 40:22 points out that God sits upon “the circle of the earth.” The earth would appear as a “circle” to all those who lived on it only if it were a sphere. Isaiah 40 matches the description in Job 26 and supports its accurate statement, which is what we can expect from the Bible. After all, who knows better than the Creator how the universe is designed and built?
An Example from Archaeology
The oldest existing copies of the most famous Greek poems and essays are from 800 to 1,000 years newer than the original manuscripts. However, no scholar would accept an argument that these Greek classics are unfaithful to the original and should be thrown away. In contrast to that, the oldest copies of many Old Testament books are only 200 years newer than the original. And the oldest copies of some New Testament books are dated only 50 to 80 years later than the original autographs. On the basis of that information, then, the Bible should be trusted at least as much as the Greek literature, which is so revered today. Recent discoveries have validated the historical integrity of the Bible, causing many archaeologists, who have had a poor regard for the Bible, to turn from a bias against it to a scientific respect for it. For example, in Genesis 15:20 a people called the “Hittites” are mentioned. For centuries, people laughed at the Bible for making up a whole group of people. But a few decades ago, the ruins of a city located in the country of Turkey, north of present-day Israel, was discovered which proved to be the ruins of a main Hittite city.
B. Historical Evidence
The Bible tells about things before they happen. The prophet Isaiah talks about the Persian king Cyrus (Isaiah 45:1), who would eventually restore the nation of Judah. Persia was a great kingdom, located in what is now the country of Iran. Isaiah wrote during the reign of the Judean king Hezekiah, who died in 687 BC, but Cyrus did not begin to reign as king of the Persian empire until after 600 BC, more than 80 years after Isaiah left the scene. Only God could know the name of the man who would be the Persian king before he sat on the throne. Many historical prophecies of Jesus Christ were given 1,000 years before His birth. Every Old Testament book of the Bible refers clearly to Jesus. For example, notice the detail of Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, and Micah 5:2. Faced with this historical evidence, we have only the following options. Either the Bible was written by Him for whom time is no barrier, or it is a joke, or it is a hoax in which people later scribbled in the prophecies to make the Bible look good, or it is an evil deception. The right choice is that the Bible alone is God’s holy and true Word.
C. Evidence From Personal Experience
Another source of external evidence is the personal experience of those who have been changed by the Bible. There are noticeable differences in the life of a person who has placed his trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and who walks according to His Word, the Bible. In other words, the Bible can do for believers what it claims it can do. The Bible promises to remove the penalty of judgment and gives the assurance that there is no condemnation to all who trust what it says (John 5:24, Romans 8:1,16, I John 4:18). The Bible promises that it can make a Christian clean inside (Psalm 119:9,11, John 15:3). The Bible promises freedom from slavery to sin as well as the wisdom and power to successfully overcome sin (John 8:34-36, Romans 6:18, Colossians 3:1-2). The Bible gives meaning and purpose to life, which motivate a Christian to serve his Lord (I Peter 2:9). All of these things are part of the experience of a believer. Believers experience a life that they never had before, a new life that is evidenced by the fact that they are no longer full of bitterness and regret about their past since they have read of God’s forgiveness (Hebrews 10:16-17). Believers experience a new life that is evidenced by the fact that they can sacrifice for others. Believers experience a new life that is evidenced by the fact that they can overcome their fears because they rest in the Lord rather than in a vain hope that somehow things will work out all right. A person who trusts in the Bible has the personal spiritual experience to know that the promises of the Bible are more than just poetry, they are real and testify to his heart that his trust in the Bible is not misplaced.
2. INTERNAL EVIDENCE
In addition to external evidence, there is internal evidence that gives us good reason to trust the Bible. In other words, there are facts inside of the Bible that demonstrate it is a reliable and trustworthy source of information.
A. The Bible’s Testimony
The Bible claims that it is from God. For example, in II Samuel 23:2 David, who wrote many of the psalms, stated that what he wrote came from God. Jeremiah stated the same thing (Jeremiah 1:4), as did the Apostle Paul (I Thessalonians 2:13). Peter says Paul’s writings are “scripture” (II Peter 3:16). Jesus Himself makes many statements about the Bible’s trustworthy character (Luke 16:17, 24:44, John 17:17). For example, Jesus routinely considered all Old Testament stories to be trustworthy accounts (Luke 11:51, 17:26-33).
B. The Bible’s Unity
The Bible was written over a period of more than 1,500 years, from Moses’ time (before 1400 BC) to the time of the Apostle John (about AD 100). The total number of human authors is at least forty. And yet, even though all these different men wrote at different times, the message they wrote is always the same, without any contradiction in any details. The reason is that God is the author, who used men to set down what He wanted to say. The human writers lived and died at different times, but the same God Who lives forever told each man what to write. For that reason, we are able to compare different parts of the Bible and find that they agree with, support, and clarify each other (I Corinthians 2:13). We can go to any part of the Bible and know it is consistently trustworthy.
C. The Bible’s Contents
The most amazing internal evidences of the Bible’s trustworthiness are the subjects that it discusses. The contents of the Bible, the things it talks about, are things that the Bible could say only if God wrote it. For example, the Bible states that Jesus claimed that He is God (John 10:30); the Bible states that Jesus’ apostles claimed that He is God (John 20:28); the Bible states that the Father declared that He is God (Hebrews 1:8). The conclusion of this testimony is that either the message of the Bible is an insane and evil deception, or the message is true and the Bible is the only book of its kind. Another important example is that only the Bible talks about sin (I John 3:14). No man has the courage to write the accurate assessment of humankind that is described in the Bible. The Bible presents a horrible picture. It offends us, and we are not happy to read it. This explains why we find it so hard to believe that the Bible is true. The problem is not with the evidence but rather with our hearts. Who wants to know that he is a miserable, rotten, no-good sinner? Who rejoices at being told that he is headed for hell, where he will suffer under the eternal wrath of God? Who welcomes the knowledge that there is no good in him at all and that he is in rebellion against the God Who made him? Only God can be honest with us because only He knows the truth. Only God is willing to be honest with us as an expression of His love. Real love is not expressed by the words of people who try to make us feel good by means of vain flatteries, but leave us in our situation because they have no real hope to offer. Real love is expressed by the truth because it is the only thing that can help us. The Bible’s honest word-portrait of humankind is not appealing. However, the Bible contains the words of a real Friend. God knows we are walking on the edge of a cliff ready to fall into hell. He tells us exactly what we need to know to avoid this peril. Even though the Bible is not going to show up on the list of the ten most popular books of the year, only the Bible can make and keep a promise such as “Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
D. The Bible’s Message
There is one final idea we must face when we consider whether the Bible can be trusted. Most people believe that there is a God. But if God is really God, then He speaks with absolute authority and we must submit to His Word. In other words, what we think about God’s Word, and how we react to it, reflects what we think about God Himself. We cannot separate God and His Bible. We do not have to believe the Bible, but we must deal with the consequences. If people do not believe in the God of the Bible then they are going to act like it, for the bitter fruit of their selfish lives will come to harvest, as the Bible says it will. This is the most frightening evidence of all. In addition to that, they must deal with an angry God who pursues them beyond the grave and will force them to submit to His Word of Judgment Day, as the Bible predicts. It is a good thing to ask if we can trust the Bible. The Bible is able to take our scrutiny and come through vindicated. James 1:6 states that we must never feel reluctant to ask God for the ability to trust in His Word and the wisdom needed to get the most out of the Bible. However, Bible study is a holy inquiry. Only if we approach the Bible humbly and with an open mind toward the truth, will we find the answers we need.
I’d like for everyone reading today’s post to picture this for a minute: suppose you went to the doctor and were told that you had a terrible, incurable disease that would kill you within the next thirty days. After the shock, how do you think you’d feel? Would you feel content knowing that soon you’d be in the presence of your Creator…or would you be bitter and resent the fact that your life was being cut so short?
The fact of the matter is no one can escape death. The Bible teaches that we all will spend eternity in one of two places: Heaven or Hell – there’s no in between. Sooner or later, a question every human being must face is this: am I ready to meet God if I were to die tonight?
A lot of folks believe they’ll go to Heaven because they’ve never done anything terribly bad in life like stealing or murder. They figure it’s the murderers like Charles Manson and Hitler who should go to Hell because they’re the really wicked ones.
The problem for us is that God views sin as sin, no matter how we minimize it. One sin is all it takes to send a person to Hell. Looking at pornography or cussing or thinking bad things about someone – they’re all sins, and any one of them is enough to condemn us to Hell.
(Mat 5:28 KJV) But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart
God doesn’t make any distinctions in the Bible between acceptable sins such as “little white lies” and unacceptable sins like murder or stealing. All sin leads to judgment…and sin is the breaking of God’s holy law.
(1 John 3:4) Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
Some might be thinking “I don’t break His law, I go to church/fellowship when I can – I give to charitable causes. Doesn’t that count for something?” Maybe that will impress your neighbor but in God’s sight, every single human being has broken His law and sinned.
(Rom 3:10 KJV) As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
(Rom 3:23 KJV) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Here in the United States, if someone has done wrong, they’re innocent until proven guilty and they take their case before a judge. All sinners on the Last Day will have an opportunity to explain to the Judge of Heaven & Earth why they did the things they did. But there will be NO mercy shown to anyone on that great and terrible Day. Those standing for judgment will be judged for ALL the actions in their life. This means that everything they did in secret, said in secret, and heard in secret, will be brought to light. Everyone found guilty will be cast into eternal Hell. That’s a horrible thought, isn’t it.
Some may be thinking, “Look here, blog man, I’ve been to church and have taken Communion, plus I was baptized. That accounts for something. Why should I listen to you?” You know, you’re right. What is typed into this blog doesn’t amount to a hill of beans. What matters is what God says. He’s the One who says that going through the rituals, traditions and membership of a church (or fellowship!) doesn’t guarantee anyone salvation. Many churches today teach that a person becomes saved at baptism and through their own ceremonies and rituals.
Jesus upbraided the religious rulers of Israel for believing that just because they faithfully read the Scriptures, their salvation was guaranteed.
(John 5:39 KJV) Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life
Thinking you have eternal life and having eternal life are two entirely different things.
Some out there may now be thinking, “Uh oh, now I’m starting to get worried. I’ve been called a lot of names in my life but “Perfect” isn’t one of them. I’ve broken more of God’s laws than I’ve kept. If I can’t put my hope in a church/fellowship or a pastor, then what kind of hope can someone like myself have?”
Friend, my only hope – your only hope, mankind’s only hope — is in Jesus Christ alone. God sent the Lord Jesus Christ into the world for the purpose of saving ugly sinners like us. That means that Jesus paid the entire penalty for all the heinous, shameful sins of those He came to save. If any of us are going to become saved, it means we must receive the Lord Jesus as our personal Savior.
Saving Faith is what enables any of us to receive Christ as our Savior. Saving faith is the key that unlocks Heaven’s door to sinners. God gives us the saving faith we need to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and if we are one of those whom Christ came to save, then we will be drawn to the Lord Jesus, and we will readily admit that we’re a sinner and we’ll want Christ to be our Savior.
If we’re not one of those whom Christ came to save, then we’ll just think this whole thing is a big waste of time. God says, (John 6:44 KJV) No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
So what about it readers…has today’s posting been just a colossal waste of your time? For some, it may have been.
Some readers might be thinking, “Yeah, I know what you said is right. I know that I’m on a collision course with Hell and that I can’t save myself. But it’s too much to think about. I’ll wait till I go to church/fellowship the next time and see if I feel the same way. Maybe next week or next month.”
If that’s you, think about this: hundreds of thousands of people who put their clothes on this morning will have the undertaker take them off tonight. Reader, time is not our friend.
Several years ago there was a popular song that spoke of a man who had a T-shirt with Bible verses on it, a bracelet with the letters WWJD, Bible magnets on his refrigerator, a welcome mat to bless people when they entered his home; he had Christian necklaces and key chains, a Jesus bumper sticker and the outline of a fish stuck on his car. He said that all these things were well and good, but then he asked this question: what about the change? What about the difference? He asked himself whether he was living a life that showed he’d undergone “The Change”.
In the course of reading today’s posting some might be thinking to themselves, “AMEN! Jesus has cleansed me from all my sins and He’s my personal LORD and Savior.” If that’s true, then praise God! And if it is…if Jesus is truly your personal LORD and Savior, then you should be able to tell the people you come into contact with today — family, friends, co-workers — what it’s like to go thru “THE CHANGE” of being saved.
All true believers should be experiencing a miraculous change – a change that God initiates in their lives. If you don’t sense any difference in the order and priorities of your life, then you better ask yourself that same question — “What about the change?”
God tells us always to be ready to tell another about the hope that is in us. In 1Peter 3:15 God says, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.”
Currently, there are nearly one billion Internet users worldwide — that’s approximately 1 out of every 6 people on the earth. From our home in Maryland, the Internet provides us with a tremendous opportunity to share the gospel of our risen Lord Jesus Christ. Most outreaches aren’t open continually; they close every evening daily so people can go home to their families. On the other hand, a blog site and/or website can spread God’s Word 24/7/365 so that the Great Commission is continually being fulfilled and never closed.
Some might wonder how we got ourselves started down this path. I can only speak for ourselves and not for anyone else, but my wife and I became quite alarmed at the lack of personal or individual outreaches today. To be sure, there are many church-affiliated and church-run ministries endeavoring to faithfully proclaiming the gospel — and they should be lifted up in prayer and supported by believers where possible.
Unfortunately, too many Christians (not all, but a great number) feel that once they write a check or attend church, then their personal obligation in carrying out the Great Commission is completed…at least until next service or the next time they write a check. Nothing could be farther from the truth. When did the Great Commission end?
We sing that great hymn, “Onward Christian Soldiers” and one of the stanzas says, “Like a mighty army, moves the church of God.” Consider this: armies have Generals commanding thousands of troops into battle. Look around…where is that army? Instead of fighting in an army, many Christians today send the General into battle while they stay home; they abdicate their personal responsibility entirely to their pastors and elders forcing them to virtually all the ministry while they themselves do little or nothing. Then when they attend church, they’re among the first to complain that unbelievers are taking over the church and their country. Well the fact is that with no opposition, it is easy to conquer!
For ourselves, the time came for us to halt the practice of lazily consigning this ministry to others. Flawed as we are, we nevertheless are striving to do what we can using the gift/talents the Holy Spirit bestowed upon us to have a personal outreach ministry available on the Internet for anyone to see 24/7/365 from anywhere in the world. We certainly won’t win any webmaster awards; you won’t find glitzy multimedia presentations here. But what you will find is a straightforward exposition of the doctrines of grace as outlined in the Bible.
Unfortunately, many outreaches are suffering from severe doctrinal erosion and are teaching ungodly religions and false gospels as acceptable paths to Heaven. Many of the mass media outreaches are only out for the money.
It is time for true believers to take back the fort, rebuild the army and move mightily.
We have a divine mandate as born again believers to go into all the world. If our earthly boss tells us to do something, we do it immediately for fear of getting fired. Why then do we seem all too eager to neglect the commission given to us by the One who redeemed us for eternity?
That’s the reason for this blog site and its accompanying website at http://home.comcast.net/~watkinsclan Together, they represent our family’s outreach proclaiming the Gospel of the Bible to the world. . We want to faithfully proclaim the doctrines of the Christian faith — and do so in a manner that it’s available anytime, anywhere should the LORD lead someone to these sites. As the owners of these sites, we are accountable to God for what we post, the spirit of our conversations with other visitors, our faithfulness in meekly seeking to correct wrong doctrine, and when necessary ending unprofitable debates.
We are sinners who deserve only the wrath of God for our disobedience; however, by His grace, He has clothed us with Christ’s righteousness and enabled us to work for His kingdom using this technology as our battleground. Clearly, we are not the most talented soldiers on this 21st Century battlefield. But we are doing our best to keep pressing forward against the enemy. At times, we will slip but with God’s help He will enable us to stand up once again and keep fighting the good fight.
You can do the same thing we are. Chances are, you have access to a large amount of free web space from your Internet service provider. You can create text-based web pages quite easily — trust me, if I can do it then ANYONE can do it. If you don’t have free personal web space available, then you can create your own blog site using WordPress (that’s what we did). To get a bare-bones site up and running like ours without fancy bells and whistles all one has to do is follow the instructions. Again, if I can do it, you can too! And in our economically troubled environment, you don’t have to worry about the price of such an outreach — it’s free!
In closing, if you feel this blog site or its sister website faithfully reflects the gospel message as declared in the Scriptures, then please share it with others. God is faithful and His Word will not return void. It will accomplish the purpose He intends for it. May the LORD richly bless you.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”
We urge that in all comments, users make their primary appeal to that source. When possible, please support your comments with Scripture. In everything we do, let us edify our LORD and Saviour.
As America embarks upon an historic presidential administration let us all remember that we need leaders who espouse the ideals taught in Scripture.
During difficult and trying times in the past – times not unlike those we face today — God raised up religious leaders who blessed America. The US needs more godly leaders. Leaders like…
ROBERT E. LEE: “In all my perplexities and distresses, the Bible has never failed to give me light and strength.”
DANIEL WEBSTER: “If we abide by the principles taught in the Bible, our country will go on prospering and to prosper.”
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS: “I have made it a practice for several years to read the Bible through in the course of every year.”
ABRAHAM LINCOLN: “I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good from the Saviour of the world is communicated to us through this book.”
GEORGE WASHINGTON: “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.”
HORACE GREELEY: “It is impossible to mentally or socially enslave a Bible-reading people.”
THOMAS JEFFERSON: “I hold the precepts of Jesus as delivered by himself to be the most pure, benevolent, and sublime which have ever been preached to man. I adhere to the principles of the first age; and consider all subsequent innovations as corruptions of this religion, having no foundation in what came from him.”
THOMAS JEFFERSON: “Had the doctrines of Jesus been preached always as pure as they came from his lips, the whole civilized world would by now have become Christian.”
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN: “As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the system of morals and his religion, as he left them to us, is the best the world ever saw, or is likely to see.”
WOODROW WILSON: “The sum of the whole matter is this—-that our civilization cannot survive materially unless it be redeemed spiritually. It can only be saved by becoming permeated with the spirit of Christ and being made free and happy by practices which spring out of that spirit.”
PATRICK HENRY: “There is a just God who presides over the destiny of nations.”
THOMAS JEFFERSON: “Material abundance without character is the surest way to destruction.”
THOMAS JEFFERSON: “Of all the systems of morality, ancient or modern, which have come under my observation, none appear to me so pure as that of Jesus.”
GEORGE WASHINGTON: “The foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing is a vice so mean and low, that every person of sense and character detests and despises it.”
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN: “Here is my creed. I believe in one God, the Creator of the universe. That he governs it by his Providence. That he ought to be worshiped.”
CALVIN COOLIDGE: “The strength of a country is the strength of its religious convictions.”
GEORGE WASHINGTON: “The perpetuity of this nation depends upon the religious education of the young.”
In Scripture, the words God chooses are very important – and we can learn much about the gospel from examining them. At this Christmas season, there is one word in particular that we’ve all heard but may have never studied. The word is “begotten”.
This posting is about the New Testament word μονογενής, which is most frequently translated as “begotten”. This Greek word is used 9 times in the New Testament and we can learn a great deal about the gospel message from examining the use of this single but very important word.
The word monogenēs is translated as “only begotten” six times, as “only” twice, and as “only child” once. Of these nine usages, Christ Himself is being referred to in five of them. What is so very interesting however is what God is referring to in the remaining four passages – and that’s where I want to focus.
First, here are the five passages with Christ in view:
John 1:14 — And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
John 1:18 — No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared [him].
John 3:16 — For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:18 — He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
1 John 4:9 — In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
Scripture uses this word in describing Jesus Christ, Who is eternal God and without beginning. A fair question one might ask is “What does God mean by saying Christ was the ‘only begotten’? Thanks be to God that we can let Scripture define itself as we examine it more thoroughly. Here are the remaining four times this Greek word is used – I encourage you to read the preceding and proceeding verses in each case to get the full context for the cited passages:
Luke 7:12 — Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her.
Luke 8:42 — For he had one only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay a dying. But as he went the people thronged him.
Luke 9: 38 — And, behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son: for he is mine only child.
Heb 11:17 — By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten [son].
In each of these instances, the following traits are in evidence:
1. An only child is being featured
2. The child has died or is given up for dead
3. The child was raised or is rescued from death
See for yourselves. Each of these four passages serve as parables providing a glimpse into the gospel message. That message is that Christ is the only Son and that He endured the second death (eternal damnation) for all the people He came to save, and He arose again as proof that the price for sin had been fully paid.
To God Be The Glory for His inexpressible gift to us – and how throughout Scripture He repeatedly shows us the plan of salvation…if we have eyes to see and ears to hear.
Merry CHRISTmas to one and all! From our family to yours, we wish everyone a blessed Christmas season and a joyous 2009. The past 12 months has flown by — there’s no doubt about it: the older I get, the faster the days go by.
During the last 12 months the LORD has seen fit to draw over 24,000 visitors who left nearly 600 comments to this outreach site, raising the total number in its 28 month history to 42,000 as of 14 December. Never in our wildest dreams did we ever expect this gospel outreach to reap such a bountiful harvest. This is truly the LORD’s doing and all the glory goes to Him.
As we look ahead to 2009 we will endeavor to carry out the Great Commission as best we can through this blogsite and its companion website. As time affords, we will continue to fulfill the vision for this site by posting a variety of topics intended to generate dialogue and spark biblically-based conversation.
In case anyone is interested, here are some interesting facts about this site during 2008.
Romans 1:28-32And even as they did not like to retain God in [their] knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
The above verse causes some Christians to wonder whether there might ever come a time when God could give them up and take away their salvation.But if that’s true, then how can we talk about the believer’s eternal security and the preservation of the saints?That’s the topic for today’s Spreading God’s Word posting.
Romans 1:28-32 does indeed shows us that there is a time when God gives a person up due to their continued sinful desires.But the $64,000 question is: does this apply to true believers?
Let’s think about this.True believers should know what it is that they’re saved from – we’re saved from our sins and from the guilt that comes against us because of our sins.Jesus Christ became sin for us; He paid for all of our sins; He stood guilty before God on our behalf, and God poured out His wrath upon Him.The result of this is that, for believers, the penalty for sin has been completely paid.
Consequently, there’s absolutely no way that a true believer could ever be given up by God. A born again believer is safe in the arms of God forever because the penalty for all His sins has been paid.There is no sin that he could ever commit that would ever estrange him from God.The Bible emphasizes that we have eternal life.We cannot come into judgment and nothing can separate us from the love of God.No one can snatch us out of His hand.
The reality in the world is that many, many people call themselves Christian who never have became born again. They believe that just because they’ve been baptized or“accepted” Christ that they therefore have a relationship with God through Christ.
But in John Chapter 3 Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Ye must be born again.”You have to become a new creature.When we look at ourselves honestly, we’ve got to admit that we’re a sinner hopelessly lost and under God’s wrath.We’ve got to sincerely recognize that there’s nothing we can do about our sins.It is at this point when we’ll begin to cry out to God for mercy and ask Him to enable us to trust in Christ as our Savior with a true saving faith.According to the Bible, this is the path to salvation.
However, there are many other people who have a different idea of salvation.They’re convinced that they are saved. They use words like “blood of Christ” and “the virgin birth,” “the resurrection” and “salvation” but to them salvation only means accepting Christ.It means they’re trying to live like a Christian would — trying to study the Bible and do what a Christian does, desperately trying to live the good life so they’ll always stand approved before God.In a previous post, we termed this “getting on the bandwagon for Christ.”
Without realizing it, these dear people are effectively trying to get to God by their own merit, by their good works, by their own personal worthiness. This type of path is not the salvation outlined in the Bible’s Gospel.That’s a salvation path conjured up in the mind of man; that’s a path of works and not the salvation of the Bible.Apart from the grace and mercy of God, the horrible result is that these persons will end up in hell.
There are likely going to be many, many people on Judgment Day who will say, “I accepted Jesus as my Savior…what am I doing here?” The reason is they have never become born from above.
According to Scripture, the first step toward becoming reborn is to have a broken and contrite heart recognizing the ugly truth about ourselves that we’re a sinner, and in terrible trouble with God.We must see that only in Christ is there a way of escape.
If you’ve come to that point in your life, then you’ll never have to fret about Romans 1:28-32.
Today’s topic came up following our recent posting on abortion. It’s a very practical subject because we’re living in a world where mankind has nearly forgotten there’s a God upholding this universe by His power. Rather than looking to the Bible to find guidance and direction concerning the size of his family, man in his sinful reasoning develops his own answers…according to his own pleasures.
But sin always breeds sin and the world is now mired in a terrible cycle.
Effectively, man has said God cannot be trusted. Look at what’s happening — the population continues to grow; increasing droughts; frequent famines, etc. Man says, “We’ve got to take matters into our own hands.”
The world decided it was going to control the conception of children. After that sin matured a bit, man moved on to a more grievous sin. In cases where conception wasn’t denied, they decided to abort the child. For more than a generation, tens of millions of children have been murdered around the globe. Then a third sin developed: controlling conception now meant that sexual relationships could know no barriers. Men and women now live together without the benefit of marriage; they go from partner to partner. Sex is magnified. God’s rules concerning adultery and fornication are openly flaunted everywhere.
The world seems to have forgotten WHO it is that makes the grass grow and the crops to bring forth abundant harvests. Is it man? Certainly not! We can apply fertilizers and cultivate the ground, but God can send a drought causing the crops to turn to dust at anytime. Man can’t do anything about that. Conversely, God can send quenching rains at just the right time and He can bless the crops so that they bring forth a record harvest.
It is God who’s set up the balances within this world. He sets up the right kind of atmospheric conditions so that we can enjoy life, breathing just the right amount of oxygen.
Let’s narrow our focus now to the Christian family. How are we to live in an alien world? Are we to be guided by the philosophies of the societies around us? One of the larger problems plaguing many Christian families is that they’ve set unbiblical standards for themselves. The most important thing insofar as our relationship to God is that we obey Him and that we rear our children to obey Him — when we walk by the way, when we lie down, and when we rise up we tell our children about these things as outlined in Deuteronomy 6. We are to rear our children in the fear and the nurture of the Lord.
Christian families should be abandoning themselves to God. You may ask, how does this apply to the topic of birth control? Well let’s consider the following verse:
I Corinthians 7:2-3Nevertheless, [to avoid] fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.
Here God declares the husband’s body belongs to the wife, and the wife’s to the husband. We are to live together as one flesh. If we’d live that way — trusting that God in His wonderful blessings and sovereignty would create a child in the womb of the wife according to His good pleasure — then we would always be in the will of God. We would be trusting in God to give us the perfect family rather than in ourselves. We would no longer have to rely on contraception prescriptions or devices because our trust would be more properly placed in God. For some, God’s perfect family may not include any children; for some, it may include only one child; for others, it may be five or thirteen children. It’s that simple.
Regardless of our Christian family’s size, we won’t have to fear that we’re getting out of the will of God. We will know every child that comes along is an evidence of the blessing of God.
In summary, it all really boils down to trust. In whom are we placing our trust? Maybe we’re willing to trust God for many things in this life…but when it comes to the size of our family…maybe we’re not quite willing yet to let go of our own selfish desires or expectations.
What are your thoughts on this important matter? Please let us know.
Recently many people in my neighborhood expressed outrage over an anti-abortion protest in which demonstrators had graphic posters depicting the results of taking the life of an unborn child.While I do not fully condone the means used by these protesters, I do support the protection of human life – and that includes the lives of our unborn children.In an editorial published in the newspaper one citizen complained that after witnessing this protest she was forced to sit her three children down to explain the meaning of abortion. She further wrote that her children would now likely grow to be abortion-rights supporters. I would like to have heard her definition of abortion.
One doesn’t grow up supporting terrorist organizations because he or she happens to view the graphic fruits of their labors on the news.Before someone flames me, I’m not equating abortion-rights supporters with terrorist organizations.My example highlights that our children adopt pro-abortion views not because of some gruesome posters seen on the way home from soccer practice. Our children advocate pro-abortion views because their parents show little regard for the sanctity of human life.
The incoming Administration in Washington is on-the-record as having little regard for human life – when that human life in an unborn child.
They would have us tell our children it’s perfectly acceptable to stop a beating heart as long as it’s still within its mother’s womb – this is a mother’s choice after all, a privacy matter.
They would have us tell our children the life growing inside its mother’s womb isn’t really a child.They call it a fetus, not because they’re interested in the use of precise terminology, but because they don’t want this unborn child to have the same rights as a human being.
After January 20, 2009 this nation will have even less regard for life.From the President on down, the majority political position in America would tell our children it’s acceptable to stop the unborn’s beating hearts.
Maybe it’s not politically correct to call abortion murder. Maybe most newspaper editors wouldn’t even permit the linking of these two terms. Frankly, I don’t care much for political correctness. I’m more concerned about being biblically correct than I am politically correct.
America is slaughtering unborn babies at the rate of one million per year! We have put to death over seven times as many human beings as the Nazis slaughtered in the death camps of World War II.
Is there any hope for our children’s future given the sad state of affairs today and given the fact that our new President fully supports abortion rights? Some might see the advances of abortion, pornography and the increasing acceptance of homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle and say it’s impossible for us to get off this wide path leading to destruction.
Thankfully, what is impossible for us is not impossible for God. Only He can change our hearts and move us onto the narrow path that leads to life – a life eternal with no possibility of being aborted.
After quite a long hiatus, we’re back with another topic posting.This one is sure to evoke some good discussions and we pray that the comments will be rooted in Scripture rather than in individual opinions or denominational teachings.Let’s look to the Bible alone – Sola Scriptura – for answers.The topic for this posting is: when will the Rapture take place?
By “rapture” I’m referring to the bringing of believers into the presence of Christ in Heaven.Many teach that the church will be raptured before the final tribulation period.I can’t tell you where this line of teaching originated, but I know it didn’t come from the pages of Scripture.I find no evidence of any kind in the Bible that teaches the Rapture occurs before the final tribulation period.
I believe the totality of Scripture consistently teaches that the Rapture will occur on the last day. It will be at the end of time.
1 Corinthians 15:51-52: “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
The LORD is talking about the Rapture. We’ll not all die, but all true believers are going to receive their resurrected bodies.Notice that God also gives us information about the timing — at the sound of the last trumpet.
Revelation Chapter 11 tells us about the last trumpet.This is where the seventh trumpet sounds – and there’s no eighth trumpet; the 7th is the last.The context of Rev 11:15 (when the seventh trumpet sounds) is that of Judgment Day.It’s the end of time.
[Please, no comments here about WHEN the last day will be – let’s leave that to others]
Let’s look also at John 6.In four different places in the one chapter Jesus declares that all believers will be resurrected the last day – in verses 39, 40, 44 and 54.It’s as if Christ wanted to be certain we understood this biblical fact that all believers will be resurrected on the last day.
Now let’s consider 1 Thessalonians Chapter 4.
1 Thess 4:16-17 – “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
From what God tells us here, there’s no question that the rapture of the believers will be a simultaneous event with the resurrection of believers.Logically it follows then: if the resurrection of believers is the last day, thenthe rapture of believers is also the last day.
In John 12:48 Christ declared that this Word will judge the unbelievers on the last day.
John 12:48 — “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”
This means that the last day is Judgment Day – and Judgment Day is at the end of time. Therefore, if the believers are resurrected on the last day, they are raptured on the last day. And therefore the rapture is at the end of time.
I readily admit I’m no Einstein and some may argue that it wasn’t very long ago that I fell off the turnip truck, but it seems to me that the Bible is quite clear about the timing of the rapture. Scripture consistently and coherently leads us to the fact that the Rapture will be on the last day — at the end of time.
Too often these days, people are so quick to trust extra-biblical sources rather than using the Bible as its own interpreter.People will read books peppered with many biblical quotations and because they trust the author of that book, they then trust every statement the author is making.The only Author we can trust enough to do that with is the LORD Himself.
We welcome anyone to comment on this topic, showing us chapter and verse from the Bible where the Rapture is at some other point than the end of time.
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Posted by Jeff & Cindy 
Posted by Jeff & Cindy 
Posted by Jeff & Cindy 
