WHY I BELIEVE THE BIBLE – Part 2
The primary reason I believe the Bible is because of Jesus, Himself, who He is and what He has said. Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled over 300 Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah. These were all recorded more than 400 years before Jesus was born. The odds against that happening are so astronomical we would say, “That is impossible.” Yet it happened! Mathematics professor, Peter Stoner, calculated the odds on 8 specific Messianic prophecies to be 1 in 1017 power (1 followed by 17 zeroes). He illustrated that by saying 1017 silver dollars would cover the entire state of Texas 2 feet deep! If you marked one silver dollar, blindfolded someone and told him he could go anywhere in Texas; anywhere from Dalhart to Brownsville; from El Paso to Texarkana and pick up ONLY one silver dollar and that be THE marked one – that would be the odds for 8 specific Messianic prophecies being fulfilled in one man. We are talking about more than 300 of those prophecies being fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus told His disciples, before it happened, that “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day.” – Luke 9:22NASB. It happened just like He said it would, proving that He was who He said He was – God who became man. After His resurrection He appeared to more than 500 specifically chosen eyewitnesses (see 1 Corinthians 15:1-8). These eyewitnesses were men and women of high moral character. They were courageous people who were willing to die rather than deny what they knew to be true – they knew it because they had witnessed it – that Jesus had been raised from the dead. Their testimonies were used to change the world around them.
The biographies of Jesus: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, were written and widely circulated during the lifetimes of many eyewitnesses. Those eyewitnesses could have easily refuted anything wrong in those biographies. We have very reliable, historical accounts of the life of Jesus. Let’s see what He said about the Bible.
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. – Matthew 5:17-18 KJV.
“Jot” is the Greek “iota” – the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet. It is actually referring here to the Hebrew, “Yod”, ( י ), the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet. “Tittle” is the Greek word, “kerea”, or “horn”. It refers to the tiny horn or stroke of a pen that would distinguish certain Hebrew letters from each other: “Resh” ( ר ) and “Daleth” ( ד ). Notice the little “horn”, or, mark on the right hand side of “Daleth”? That little mark is the only real difference between those two Hebrew letters. In English we might say “down to the “i” and the dot on the “i”. “The law and the prophets” was a common phrase for first century Jews to refer to the Old Testament. Books have been written to discuss what Jesus meant by “fulfill.” But that is a topic for another day. What I would like to point out here is that Jesus said, “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.” – Matthew 5:18 NIV. Some people listening to Jesus thought He was contradicting the Old Testament. Jesus was actually affirming the divine inspiration of the Old Testament down to the smallest mark of the pen.
In another place Jesus prayed for His disciples: Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. John 17:17 NIV. According to Jesus, the Bible, God’s Word, is truth. It is reliable down to the smallest letter and it was what His disciples needed to live the productive lives that Jesus desired for them (and us)!
The Apostle Paul said it this way: Every scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, – 2Timothy 3:16 NET Bible®.
Paul wrote this to the Romans: For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 2 Timothy 3:16 NET Bible®. Paul was convinced of the importance, the power, and the reliability of the word of God.
Let’s take a look at what the Apostle Peter had to say about the Apostle Paul’s writings:
And regard the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as also our dear brother Paul wrote to you, according to the wisdom given to him, speaking of these things in all his letters. Some things in these letters are hard to understand, things the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they also do to the rest of the scriptures. 2 Peter 3:15-16 NET Bible®.
Peter was placing Paul’s writings on par with the rest of Scriptures!
Earlier, Peter gave more explanation on the production of the New Testament:
For we did not follow cleverly concocted fables when we made known to you the power and return of our Lord Jesus Christ; no, we were eyewitnesses of his grandeur. 2 Peter 1:16 NET Bible®.
Then he gave a description of divine inspiration that I believe applies to all of the Bible:
For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:21 NIV.
The Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God. This is what Jesus taught and what the Apostles taught. It was affirmed by hundreds of eyewitnesses. Over the past 2,000 years all who have believed it and applied it have had their lives changed. I have personally seen hundreds of lives changed when people believed and obeyed God’s Word. I have seen really mean people become sweet, loving people. I have seen timid people become bold witnesses for Jesus. I have seen the arrogant become humble. I plan to tell you some of those stories in the months ahead (with their permission or protecting their anonymity). God will change your life, too!
Bringing it home: Put your faith in God’s Word and in the God of the Word. The Bible is credible; historically accurate; reliable; and proven over time. Plan to spend time daily in the Bible. A friend of mine used to tell his students to start reading every day for only 5 minutes a day – no more until your habit is well established. He said to start with the Gospel of John.
Digging a little deeper: A good book to read along the line of this blog is Cold-Case Christianity (A homicide detective investigates the claims of the Gospels) by J. Warner Wallace. Another good resource is Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell. This book is a classic but it is a great tool. It is written in outline form so you don’t have to read it straight through. You can easily search out topics. It is well footnoted and has a great bibliography, so with this book you can keep on digging deeper and deeper.
Until next time,
Mike
