LIFEBOOK

The Preaching Team and I have been going through the series Straight Up, addressing some tough questions in life. Today and Sunday, we’re answering the question “Can a Person Really Change?”

But as a follow-up to the message preached last weekend—“Can You Trust The Bible?”—I thought I’d pull an excerpt from my new booklet Lifebook: The Authority, Authenticity, and Accuracy of God's Word.

View the Bible as authoritative, submitting yourself to it without reservation. Come with questions if need be, but stay until you allow God to answer them. John 7:17 says, “If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God...”. Trust God to reveal his unique voice to you through his Word.

View the Bible as authentic, remembering that if God inspired any of the Bible, then he inspired all of it. Each time you approach the Bible, ask God to show you what he would like for you to learn from the passage you are reading. In the well-written words of Psalm 119:18, ask God, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.”

View the Bible as accurate, believing that if Jesus Christ trusted in the accuracy of all that is written in the Bible, we may too. Rest assured that the Bible can withstand your scrutiny. Be like the Bereans of old who studied the Scriptures daily to verify the accuracy of what the apostle Paul was teaching them. If you find something you don’t understand or can’t resolve, get help from your pastor or from a good Bible study resource. Keep in mind that just as the earth reveals its gold and silver treasures to the diligent, according to Proverbs 2:3-5, so does the Word of God.

View yourself as a “welcomer of the Word.” Make it a lifelong quest to prove to yourself what an amazing book the Bible is. In James 1:21 we read: “Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” We are humbly to welcome the Word because it is by the Word—God’s truth—that we are made free. Some are in bondage, some have errant habits, some have addictions, and those in these chains wonder why. Jesus said in John 8:32, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” It is only by truth that we become free.