It's no secret that we live in a world that is out to discredit the Bible in more ways than one, and it's no longer subtle about it.
The goal is to try to neutralize its ability to call sinners to repentance, renew the Believer's mind, and ultimately transform lives.
We must guard ourselves by ensuring we always think well of the Bible.
Failure to do this will negate your faith and ultimately counteract the power of God's word to impact your life.
The truth is, we cannot purport to think well of God and not of His word.
If we are going to get the most out of the pages of the Bible, there are six cardinal truths we must believe about it, with no exception.
1) It is inspired.
This means that God authored the Bible through men, a truth every true believer of Christ must subscribe to.
That there is both a divine and human aspect to Scripture.
Now, a lot of people dispute this truth and argue the Bible is simply a human-authored book.
They then use that to justify why they don’t believe in the Bible, let alone count it as an authoritative book on matters pertaining to faith. Yet the same people will claim to believe in a Christ who, for their information, is both fully human and fully divine, a cardinal Christian doctrine considered one of the four tests of a true believer mentioned in the book of 1 John.
So, if the same can be true of the Living Word, why can’t it be true of the written word?
If Jesus can be fully human and fully divine, why can’t the Bible be fully human and fully divine, which is, in fact, the case?
If you don’t believe that the written word is fully divine and fully human, you cannot purport to believe the same of the Living Word, Jesus, because the two go hand in hand.
So, every true believer of Christ must believe that God authored the Bible through men.
Put differently, the Bible has 40 authors but One Divine Editor, the Holy Spirit.
A wise man once said the Bible is the only book whose Author is always present when you read it.
2) It is factual
Over the years, there have been valiant attacks on the credibility of the stories, characters, and places mentioned in the Bible.
These attacks have been focused mainly on the Book of Genesis, whose stories, characters, and places have been rendered myths in many religious circles.
But Paul says we are not ignorant of the devil’s devices. (see 2 Corinthians 2:11)
The devil understands that the book of Genesis is the foundational book of the Bible.
The entire Bible rises and falls on the Book of Genesis.
So, if he can discredit the Book of Genesis, he can discredit the rest of the Bible.
If he can convince us that the Bible is a mythical book, then he can try to convince us that so are its characters, including God, the main protagonist.
The moment he does that, he will have succeeded in reducing the Bible to a mere legal document with a list of dos and don’ts, and it won’t be long before he convinces people to stay out of it entirely.
A true believer of Christ must see through this deception and stand firm on the truth that the Bible is factual.
For one, many of the characters in the Bible are listed as part of Jesus' genealogy.
Moreover, Jesus referenced many of the Bible's characters, places, and stories (especially the book of Genesis), which means He believed they were real, and so should we.
Many of the places, characters, and stories in the Old Testament are also referenced by many of the New Testament writers.
So if Jesus and His disciples (including Paul) regarded Scripture as factual (true and trustworthy), so should any true believer of Christ, regardless of the naysayers.
In truth, many of the places where these Bible stories are based are actual places you can visit today.
Bottom line, if the Bible says someone existed, he/she existed. If it says something existed, it existed. if it says something happened, it happened.
3) It is inerrant
A lot of people (including a lot of believers) believe that the Bible is full of errors and contradictions.
These are serious allegations because they cast aspersions on its Author, who is God.
A true believer in Jesus must believe that the Bible is without error or contradictions.
The Holy Spirit can help you iron out any supposed errors or contractions if you start from this truth.
I can guarantee you that 110% of the times people claim the Bible is erroneous or contradictory, it is because of one of 3 reasons:
1) They are on an all-out attack on Scripture.
2) They lack an understanding of it.
3) They lack the skill to rightly divide it.
One thing about the Bible is that it will confuse you until you learn how to rightly divide it.
As a believer, you must make it a habit to prayerfully and skillfully divide the word of God. Otherwise, it’s just a matter of time before you hop on the “Bible is full of errors/Bible contradicts itself” bandwagon (if you haven’t already). Not to mention, studying the Bible will not profit you as much because your doubt of its truthfulness will negate your faith.
The Bible clearly states that God is not an Author of confusion (see 1 Corinthians 14:33), nor is the Book He authored.
He does not have schizophrenia either; He doesn't say one thing today and a different thing tomorrow. He is consistent in character.
The Bible says He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. (See Hebrews 13:8)
God says what He means and means what He says, and He doesn’t fluctuate like a yoyo.
So clearly, the problem is not with God or His word but with us and how we interpret and understand Scripture.
The moment we humble ourselves and accept this reality, God can help us prayerfully cultivate the skills required to get the most out of our Bibles.
4) It is infallible
A true believer in Christ must believe that the Bible is not only without error (inerrant) but incapable of error (infallible) simply because its Author is God, who is infallible.
The Bible says His works are perfect, and He does no wrong. (See Deuteronomy 32:4)
Now, this is not to say there may be no errors here and there arising from the various works that go into translating the Bible, but to say the word of God is perfect in principle.
An error in translation must not be interpreted as an error in Scripture.
In truth, God's word is inerrant (without error) and infallible (incapable of error).
5) It is relevant
Today, there is a popular belief that Scripture is outdated.
One major reason people say this is that many of these modern-day issues are not plainly addressed in it.
Well, it may be true that there are many grey areas that the Bible does not plainly address, but that does not mean the Bible is outdated.
I believe the Bible holds all the answers to all of life’s issues.
The problem, however, is we have this nasty habit of reducing it to an answer booklet, an encyclopedia of sorts where we expect to flip to 2 Cohabiting 4:5 to find out what the Bible says about cohabiting or 1 Smoking 3:2 to find out what it says about smoking.
But the Bible is not that simplistic. Not to mention, if God were to accommodate every single issue or scenario we can think of in His word, we would have a huge Bible on our hands, or, to use Bible lingo, "the world would not be big enough to contain it."
Now, if we fail to understand that the Bible is not an answer booklet, we risk making the same fatal mistake a lot of people make of dismissing the Bible as “irrelevant,” or “outdated” or "old fashioned" when they fail to find the answers they seek plainly stated in Scripture or they end up thinking exclusion means endorsement, i.e., if the Bible doesn’t plainly speak about it, it must be okay, which is not the case.
What makes the Bible unique is that it is not bound to any culture or time frame, a characteristic it shares with its Author.
Even though the Bible is set in specific cultures and time frames, the God and principles of God therein are eternal, meaning they are not culture or time-specific/bound.
So, when we study the Bible, we are not looking for yes/no answers to our modern-day problems, which is impractical. We are looking for eternal principles based on His character and His truth, which never change, and then applying them to our modern-day situations.
For every modern-day scenario or issue, there is an eternal principle behind it, the root of the problem, if you may, which, if you can figure out, can help you tackle the issue.
This is why it is very important to invite the Author of the Bible, the Holy Spirit, to all your Bible study sessions and meetings.
He is the only one who can help you pinpoint the root cause of your problem, apply these timeless, eternal principles in your current life, and come out on top.
So scenarios and issues may change with time, but the principles of the Bible don’t, and they apply to anyone, anywhere and anytime.
Now, it is worth mentioning that this applies to the entire Bible.
There is common practice today, especially among believers, to dismiss portions of the Bible (Testament, books, chapters, verses) as irrelevant.
This is usually the case with the Old Testament.
It's not unusual to hear believers say stuff like, "The Old Testament isn't relevant anymore!" or "The New Testament cancels out the Old!"
This is a dangerous deception that a true believer of Christ should vehemently guard against.
We need to understand that the entire Bible is the counsel of God and not just portions of it.
The New Testament would not make any sense without the Old Testament because the New Testament explains the Old Testament.
Reading the New Testament and dismissing the Old Testament is like reading a book from the middle or starting a movie halfway through.
You can agree that the book or movie won't profit you much, if at all.
A true believer of Christ must take the entire Bible as the full counsel of God.
All 66 books are included for a reason, so you need to prayerfully ask the Holy Spirit to help you deal with any biases you may have against any Testament, Book(s), Chapter(s), and/or Verse(s).
6) It is authoritative
The Bible is the ultimate and final authority on all matters pertaining to the Christian life and doctrine, and every true believer of Christ must believe so.
It's not a book of suggestions (how you may or may not think, speak, or act) or ideals (desirable impracticalities that we can never realistically live up to).
It is a book of truth on the doctrines of the Christian faith and provides clear instructions on Christian living regardless of the era you were born in.
So, if you are a true believer in Christ, what is contained in the pages of the Bible is not up for debate.
Simply put, if the Bible says it, that settles it.
If the Bible says something is wrong, it is wrong.
There is zero room to question God or His word.
Isaiah says woe to the one who argues or quarrels with his Maker. (See Isaiah 45:9)
Paul asks, who are you to talk back to God? (see Romans 9:20)
So it's pretty simple; you can obey or disobey God and His word, but there are no ifs, buts, or maybes.
So there you have it, six things every true believer of Christ must always believe about the Bible.
God bless you.
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