common questions (part three).
Yet again, I am commenting on a HUGE topic of which I will barely scratch the surface. But if you’ve hung around here for a second, then you know that I am very passionate about this subject in particular; we’re talking about Scripture’s inerrancy and authority. The Bible is 100% true. 100% inspired by God. And it’s 100% infallible.
This doesn’t mean we beat people over the head with our Bibles, but it does mean that we defer and submit to the only real and trustworthy source of truth: the Word of God. It means we know that all of humanity is flawed and fallible, so we must approach every situation and circumstance with a Biblical worldview.
Now let’s dig in to the “why.”
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Why should we believe the Bible is true?
If you haven’t listened to “Why You Can Believe the Bible” by Voddie Baucham, head over to YouTube and bookmark that now. But I’ll borrow his explanation, because there’s no way I can top it.
I choose to believe the Bible because…
“The Bible is a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. They report supernatural events that took place in fulfillment of specific prophecies and claim that their writings are divine rather than from human origin.”
Mic drop.
Do your own research in this topic if you still find yourself doubting its veracity. I guarantee that the Word holds up under scrutiny, and an honest and humble look into these historical documents will be a beautiful journey of discovering truth.
(My husband is currently reading this book that looks at the reliability of Scripture if you want a starting point).
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Why should we submit to the Bible as authority?
“If we get away from the Word of God, then it’s just an opinion…and we don’t need another opinion. We need somebody who will say, ‘Thus sayeth the LORD!’”- Doug Sager
Once we determine that Scripture is the actual Word of God, then it’s pretty obvious that this is the supreme and reliable source of Truth. So we can trust the Bible when it says,
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
and:
…we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. 21 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. (2 Peter 1:19-21).
Also, you don’t have to be a Bible scholar to understand that all of humanity is flawed. We lie and cheat and steal and follow after our own agendas. So why would we trust the things that we say, think, and assume rather than the words of the perfect God? We do not understand or have a firm grip on what the future holds, but the Lord does. The choice is clear, and I’m choosing to defer to the Word of God over what any sinful human might tell me.
We cannot put someone else’s ideas on a pedestal just because we *assume* that’s what Jesus would do. We know we cannot trust our own feelings or follow our own flesh, so why would we blindly trust someone else’s opinions when they are also an imperfect human? We must read Scripture while surrendering to the Holy Spirit for conviction and guidance. We must test everything others say against the Word of God. We can’t just pull a quote from [insert Christian celebrity or author here] and think “Well, this must be compatible with what the Bible teaches” without doing our own digging. This does not mean we sow seeds of discord in our congregations for the sake of being argumentative, but it does mean we are committed to discovering and spreading the Truth above all else. Thanks for listening to my TED talk (But ya know, don’t trust what I say; seek the truth for yourself in Scripture :)
If you find that your pastor is not committed to the authority of the Bible, then he’s following his own agenda. Here’s my unsolicited advice: get.outta.there.
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What are we supposed to do when the Bible seems to contradict itself?
First, we remember that God does not lie and He is never wrong. So we must assume that we are lacking understanding, and we compare Scripture with more Scripture to grasp a bigger picture.
At first glance, one might assume that the characteristics of God are in discord. I.e. Is He loving or is He just?
But the fact that He punishes the wicked does not make God any less loving. The fact that He offers mercy to the repentant doesn’t make God any less just. We have to stop thinking in either/or; the Lord’s attributes are both/and. All of God’s characteristics perfectly coincide with one another, creating one harmonizing tapestry of beauty and goodness that points to His glory.
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Let’s look deeper into another example of seemingly contradictory passages.
In Matthew 11:30, we see that Jesus says, “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” A few verses earlier, however, Jesus commands,
If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 39 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it (Matthew 10:38-39).
Yeah, carrying a cross and losing my life does not exactly sound easy to me. So how do we reconcile these seemingly contradictory passages spoken from the very mouth of the Messiah? We look at context, context, and more context. Who is Jesus talking to? What just happened? What is the point He is trying to make in this moment? Who wrote the book of the Bible? Who is the author? Who is the author writing to?
Back to the examples. Matthew is the author of both of these passages and he’s writing primarily to Jews, with great attention to proving Jesus as the Jewish Messiah (he references an extraordinary number of Old Testament passages in doing so).
Let’s take a deeper look into the “yoke is easy and burden is light” verse first. Starting in Matthew 11:25, Jesus talks about how God reveals truths to little children while it’s hidden from the wise and understanding (in the world’s eyes—i.e. the Pharisees/religious elites at the time). Here’s the full passage in this section:
At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:25-30).
After looking into a bit of commentary, we find out that a yoke is a wooden frame placed on oxen for carrying heavy loads; it was also a common metaphor for keeping the law in this context. So Jesus is saying that we can be free from trying to earn grace and salvation through good works and following the rules. In contrast to the overwhelming burden of keeping the law, Jesus offers forgiveness and rest for those who simply place their faith in Him.
Now we can look deeper into Matthew 10:
Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it (Matthew 10:34-39).
While we’ve established that His yoke is easy (you do not have to earn your salvation by following all the rules and doing all the things), this Matthew 10 passage makes it clear that following Jesus won’t exactly be a walk down Easy Street either.
Our love for our family members must pale in comparison to our love for Christ. He does not share ultimate devotion or worship; Jesus requires our total surrender and allegiance. In this passage, He uses a crucifixion metaphor for discipleship (prosperity gospel believers are exiting through the back door right about now). These verses point to the fact that followers of Christ must lay down our own selfish desires and submit to Christ as King. He’s in control, not us.
After uncovering the context of these passages, we can see how the verses are without contradiction. While Jesus offers freedom from crushing legalism, He also requires a constant surrender and total devotion. All of this is good and true simultaneously!
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Moving on—if after further study there still seems to be inconsistency, then we must acknowledge that we just don’t fully understand it. This is humbling, and it’s okay. I, for one, don’t think I’ll ever fully understand the reconciliation of free will and predestination (I talked about that some here). I doubt I’ll ever completely grasp how Jesus was both fully God and fully man. But instead of wrongly pointing my finger at God’s Word, I will assume that I must be too limited in my interpretations and understandings. I’ll say this louder for the people in the back: The Lord is not wrong, y’all. And He doesn’t lie. So take a deep breath and repeat after me, “It’s okay if I don’t fully understand everything.”
This doesn’t mean we give up on studying the Bible; our lack of understanding should compel us to study more and lead to worshipping the God who’s got it all figured out.
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Why do we obey some Scriptural laws and not others?
We get really tripped up on this one. We read the passages in Leviticus about not touching dead lizards and think, “Umm, that’s weird and seems irrelevant.” In a sense, we’d be right. (Although I’m open to arguments for why we should keep this command; I’m not a big fan of dead lizards.)
I think it’s helpful to understand that there are three categories of laws in Scripture: moral law, civil law, and ceremonial law. While the civil laws and ceremonial laws were given to a particular group of people living in a particular culture, the moral laws are transcendent of these constrictions. While Jesus fulfilled the cleansing laws previously required to enter the presence of a holy God, the Ten Commandments are examples of moral laws which are reaffirmed (often multiple instances) in the New Testament.
1. Shall have no other gods before Me (Exodus 20:3; restated in Matthew 4:10)
2. Shall not make idols (Exodus 20:4; restated in 1 John 5:21)
3. Shall not take the Lord’s name in vain (Exodus 20:7; restated in James 5:12)
4. Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy (Exodus 20:8; there is some debate among scholars as to whether this commandment was nullified in Colossians 2:16)
5. Honor your father and mother (Exodus 20:12; restated in Ephesians 6:1)
6. Shall not murder (Exodus 20:13; restated in 1 John 3:15)
7. Shall not commit adultery (Exodus 20:14; restated in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10)
8. Shall not steal (Exodus 20:15; restated in Ephesians 4:28)
9. Shall not bear false witness (Exodus 20:16; restated in Colossians 3:9-10)
10. Shall not covet (Exodus 20:17; restated in Ephesians 5:3)
I also recently heard a couple of sermons that pointed out how Jesus was summarizing the Ten Commandments when asked which commandment is the greatest:
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:36-40).
The first four commandments are all about the vertical relationship between us and God, so loving the Lord your God will all your heart, soul, and mind is a summary of commandments 1-4. Similarly, commandments 5-10 are all about horizontal relationships, so the command to love our neighbors as ourselves is summarizing the second half of the Ten Commandments given to Moses. It’s probable that Jesus was reaffirming the initial mandates when answering the lawyer.
Lawyer trying to test Jesus: “So which of the commandments is the most important?”
Jesus: “I’ve gotta go with 1-4… but 5-10 shouldn’t be ignored either.”
Mmkay. Y’all probably already knew this take, but my mind was blown by this insight!
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It’s important to reiterate that the keeping of the moral laws cannot earn us a spot in heaven (nor can we fully obey them due to our sinfulness- see Matthew 11 verses above). But we are urged to seek the glory of God by abiding in His commandments. As followers of Christ, we should long to keep in step with the rhythms and patterns God has laid out for us because of an overflow of His saving grace we have received (and our trusting in His supremely better ways). Not only are we supposed to obey God’s moral laws, but we are to delight in them (Psalm 119). His commands are loving, just, and for our good!
If we do not have the desires to please and obey God through the guidelines He has given us in Scripture, then it’s time to take an honest look into our spiritual lives and ask, “Who am I really worshipping?” This is a tough question and one we should investigate often.
In summary, we should strive to obey the Lord’s moral laws (like the Ten Commandments or God’s design for relationships)—not as a way to earn salvation but as a product of our salvation. We are freed from attempting to keep the civil and ceremonial laws given in Scripture (like any cleansing laws), because those were directed to a particular culture in a particular time…. and Jesus has fulfilled all cleansing laws through His death and resurrection. If you want to do more digging on this topic, this is a helpful article by R.C. Sproul.
A note: we all fall short. But there is so much grace and mercy waiting if we humble ourselves and submit to Jesus. He has paid the price for all of our shortcomings. Christ is enough to redeem every single broken part of our lives. All we must do is acknowledge our failures and surrender to Jesus as King! Let’s lay down our burdens and let Him lead. God’s plan is better than anything we could come up with on our own. Hallelujah, what a Savior.
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How should I start studying the Bible?
“Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.” –Charles Spurgeon
Okay, we covered a lot of ground today. Maybe it all sounds overwhelming to you. I get that. So where do we go from here?
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Here’s the thing I’ve been thinking about a lot lately: even Satan knows Scripture. He slightly twists the words to make them into something that is almost true, but not quite (therefore so do false teachers & the ungodly world). You can know a lot about God without really knowing God. In light of this, we must be diligent about studying the Word of God, meditating on it, and approaching our Bible reading while submitting to the Holy Spirit as our guide. We cannot understand on our own, but it is the Spirit who opens our eyes to truth. This is humbling, but also reassuring to anyone who truly calls on the name of the Lord as Savior. We can spot the counterfeit by knowing the real thing!
There are two main methods of Bible interpretation: eisegesis and exegesis.
- Eisegesis: interpreting by imposing one’s own experiences into passages. This approach ends up being highly emotive and selective in nature. Stay away from this!
- Exegesis: interpreting by context. This is the method we want to use. We don’t just cherry-pick verses that we like (or ignore the ones we dislike), we must look at the full passages and study the framework in which the words are being written.
So here’s my two cents for beginning to study the Bible:
Get a hard copy (yes, it’s nice to have the apps on our phones, but studies show that we retain more if we read on tangible pages). I love my ESV study Bible (here is a similar one) but recommend NASB or NKJV also*.
PRAY and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you. Remember that the Bible is not primarily about you; it’s about Jesus.
Start reading John. Then go back and read the rest of the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke). Once you feel like you have a grasp of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus—then start reading the rest of the Bible (you can find reading plans online or read straight through) while keeping in mind that there are 66 books but one overarching story (everything points to Christ). God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are all one. This should fire us up to learning and falling deeper in love with this incredible Triune God!
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Let’s keep writing the Word of God on our hearts and beholding the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
*You don’t have to read all the studies and commentaries, but there are some helpful ones out there. I have this one and love it, but have heard great things about this one as well!