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This fall for our Bible study weʼre asking - what is the Bible? So weʼre asking all these fun, hard questions about the Bible.
The question today is about the truth of the Bible: is everything in the Bible true?
To answer that letʼs look at Jesus on trial. Jesus was praying in the garden of Gethsemane and then Judas shows up with Jewish religious leaders and a mob to “arrestˮ Jesus. Now they put Jesus on trial before the Roman governor, Pilate.
Let’s read John 18:33-38a
[Jn 18 Context] In this trial Pilate is trying to figure out what the big deal is with this Jesus and why he’s got everyone so mad and upset. Pilate keeps asking Jesus, “Do you really think you’re a king?ˮ And Jesus says, “Yeah, you said it. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth.
Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.ˮ And all Pilate can come back with is, “Well, what is truth?ˮ
Do you think Pilate is really asking Jesus, “Hey Jesus, what is truth? I really want to know.ˮ?
No! Pilate is really saying to Jesus that, “Nobody knows what truth is!ˮ
The question is: “How do you KNOW what is true?ˮ
Jesus said it, “Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.ˮ Because Jesus is God he can only speak truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to God and his word. The church believes that everything in the Bible is true because it is the Word of God.
But a lot of people in the world donʼt believe the Bible is true.
Problem: “The Bible must have mistakes because:
-itʼs got all these miracles in it and Iʼve never seen a miracle;
-itʼs the stuff of legends
-the Bible was passed along forever by word of mouth so itʼs like a really long game of telephone. No way the Bible hasnʼt been changed over the years.ˮ
Best Answer: We know the Bible is true because itʼs Godʼs Word! It is inerrant.
[Inerrancy] The inerrancy of the Bible means it has no errors. The Bible has no mistakes. When the Bible tells us history it tells us what really happened. What the prophets and apostles wrote down under the divine inspiration of God - all of it is entirely truthful.
QUALIFIER - the Bible is not the only thing that can be inerrant. Can anyone here say something totally true with no mistakes?
ˮI live in Houston.ˮ “Iʼm sitting inside a building.ˮ People make true statements all the time. Students score 100s on tests.
[Infallibility] BUT unlike human beings, the Bible is infallible! The infallibility of the Bible means the Bible is not ABLE to be wrong.
Is there anything God canʼt do?
Yes. God cannot lie. God cannot sin. God cannot not be God! Thereʼs plenty of stuff God canʼt do. God cannot make a mistake!
Humans can make inerrant statements but itʼs still always possible for us to make a mistake when weʼre making those statements. Sally may make a 100 on a test but it was still possible she might miss one of the answers.
But when God inspired his prophets and apostles to write the Bible it was impossible for them to make an error and say something not true.
Problem: “SO, how do you know Christianity is true and every other religion is wrong?ˮ
Answer: Because the Bible says so.
Problem: “But how do you know the Bible is true?ˮ
Answer: Because the Bible is the Word of God.
Problem: “But how do you know the Bible is the Word of God?ˮ
Answer: By faith alone! You can only know the Bible is the Word of God by faith. Not because youʼre so smart. If you know the Bible is Godʼs Word it is because God has given you the faith to believe the Bible is his Word.
SO the gospel of the Bible that claims that Jesus Christ lived and died to save you from your sin and death - you know that is true by faith!
The inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible are a claim of faith that because the Bible is Godʼs Word it must be true.