The truth about the Bible

The Truth about the Bible

So What’s Your Source?

Remember from last week that we all have a source.  We all have a source upon which our thoughts are based.  We all have thoughts about God.  We all have thoughts about life.  And we all have a source of those thoughts.  For some people it’s simply their own experience.  For others it’s the philosophical theories of brilliant thinkers.  So what’s YOUR source?

If we’re going to discuss “Nothing but the Truth” this year in Ozone, then we need to establish a common source of truth.  Experiences will differ.  Philosophies will adjust.  But what will never fade away?  What has never faded?  What has been resilient though cultural differences?  What has connected with everyone across the spectrum of social differences: rich, poor, black, white, old, young, those from the West, those from the East, intellectuals, poets, engineers, doctors, and fishermen?  What is an objective, universal, unchanging, always relevant source?

A Source Unlike Any Other Source

Malachi 3:6a – “I the LORD do not change.

Matthew 24:35 – Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

Matthew 5:18 – 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.

The Bible was not one work written by one human thinker.  The Bible was not one work written by several human thinkers.  The Bible was 66 different works written in 3 different languages across 3 different continents by at least 40 different humans over a period of at least 3000 years.  There is no other collection of writings (religious or otherwise) in the history of literature that are like this.  It’s not one collection of sacred texts that’s like other sacred texts.  There are no other sacred texts like this one collection.  Zero.

Confirmed, legitimate prophecy is another peculiarity of the Bible.  There are hundreds of confirmed prophecies regarding Jesus alone, all of which were written hundreds and occasionally over a thousand years prior to their fulfillment.  This is not Nostradamus making hundreds of vague predictions a few of which come true.  This is hundreds of specific predictions ALL of which come true.  There is a difference.

Please consult this article as it gives concise and readable explanations about the Bible’s unique character: http://www.comereason.org/cmp_rlgn/cmp005.asp.  Pick a couple that you think would be compelling.

The Bible IS Truth

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

John 1:1-5, 11-14 –  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

¹¹ He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹² Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.  ¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

A source from God is a true source.  What else is as reliable?  What else has lasted this long while being preserved this perfectly while transforming this widely?  What better source exists?  What source is better able to inform your thinking?  What source is more credible?  What’s your source?