Recently, I was putting together a new piece of furniture. The instruction manual had some spelling mistakes. As a result, I started to doubt how accurate it was.
If you don’t trust what you’re reading, you’ll start to question whether or not it’s actually going to help you.
This is why it’s important to be confident in the reliability of the Bible. I realize this is a big topic—and it’s not one I can fully address in a short one-minute devotional. (I have, however, written about this topic before; if you want some resources, just let me know.)
The point here is that within the Bible itself there are several details which give us increasing confidence in its reliability.
First, there are many, many prophecies that came true in Jesus, the Messiah.
Second, the historical details of the Bible continue to line up with cultural and archaeological discoveries of the day.
Third, supposed “contradictions” aren’t actually contradictions when you explore the context of the various passages and the literary conventions of ancient writing.
I could go on and on.
But my focus today is on how the biblical writers themselves considered it to be inspired by God. Jesus often said “It is written” (ex. Mark 7:6), which was the ancient equivalent of saying “The Bible says.” He called Scripture the “word of God” (Mark 7:14). Paul said that the Scriptures are “God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16).
One of my favourites is 2 Peter 1:21. That’s where Peter said: “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” In other words, the prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Micah weren’t just crazy people spouting off random proclamations. They were messengers from God himself!
And those messages are recorded for us in the Bible.
We live in a time when the Bible is continually under attack. It’s no surprise. Are questions good? Yes. Should we pursue a deep and intellectually rigorous faith? Yes. But when it comes to critiques of the Bible, as far as I can tell, there is nothing new under the sun. As a result, we ask good questions, we study, we don’t settle for cheap answers, we pray, we learn, we answer, and we grow.
Be confident that the words you read are the words of the Redeemer. We stand on solid ground.
“For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
Notes:
-New podcast episode and article: “A biblical definition of humility.” Click here, or find it on ‘The Pulse Podcast with Matthew Ruttan’ (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.)
-Bible quotes, ESV.
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