The Word as Truth

 

I.  Jesus Speaks for Himself

What does Jesus say about himself in the Bible?

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6 emphasis added)

It’s a bold claim: while we don’t often see the word “truth” personified, His meaning is clear: He cannot credibly claim such a title if every word He speaks is not absolutely true. Christians (“followers of Christ”) consequently embrace Jesus’ words as “infallible” truth.

Jesus also claims that His words are “perfectly preserved:”      

“Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.” (Lu. 21:33)

Jesus tells us His words will be recorded and remembered for all time in this verse. Having already accepted everything Jesus says as being “infallible” truth, then, the Christian must also believe that His words are perfectly-preserved for each of us to this very day. There is only one place to find these words: the Bible.

But what about the Old Testament – before Jesus came to Earth as a man?  Does Jesus have anything to say about it?

“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.” (Mt. 5:18)

“Jots” and “tittles” mentioned here are the smallest letters, strokes and/or punctuation marks to be found in the written Hebrew language – the language of the Old Testament. “The Law” He refers to above is the Mosaic Law – found in the first five books of the Old Testament. In this “law” we see God giving His chosen people – the nation of Israel – His moral laws. (Many think of the 10 commandments as an example of some of these “laws.”) This part of the Old Testament certainly could not be un-true if Jesus – Truth personified – declares that this law “shall in no wise pass,” “till all be fulfilled.”  Here’s why:

Jesus repeatedly explains how His presence, teachings and work while on Earth also serve to “fulfill” Old Testament prophesies. If He is Truth personified, His life and work certainly would not “fulfill” Old Testament prophesies if they were false! As an example:      

“And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable. And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.” (Mr. 4:9-12)

Now examine this verse from the book of Isaiah – written hundreds of years before Jesus was born:

“And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.” (Is 6:9-10)

Jesus’ meaning was clear: His parables fulfilled this prophesy from Isaiah. He obviously wouldn’t point this out if He thought these prophesies were false.

During His earthly ministry, Jesus quotes copiously from the rest of the Old Testament, effectively declaring its veracity as well. (if He is “Truth” personified, He obviously wouldn’t quote a scripture He knew to be false) As one of many examples of this, Jesus repeatedly quotes from the Old Testament Book of Psalms during the three hours He hung on the cross:

“And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mr 15:34) Here Jesus is quoting from the Book of Psalms, Chapter 22, Verse 1:

“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?”  (Ps 22:1)

When speaking to some of His detractors while on earth, Jesus had a suggestion for them:

“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” (Joh 5:39)

The Old Testament was the only “scripture” in existence for Jesus to refer to at the time: if he thought any of those scriptures were not perfectly true, would He refer His detractors to them – as a valid document to “testify of me?” Obviously not.

By Jesus’ own words, the entire Bible is infallibly true and perfectly-preserved. As “followers of Christ,” then, true Christianity is indeed “based on the Bible as sacred scripture-” just as the Webster’s dictionary indicated on the previous page.

II.  The Bible’s True Author 

By establishing the veracity of the entire Bible, Jesus allows us to consider some broader prerequisite thoughts concerning His true identity, and the Bible’s true author:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men . . . And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1-4, 14, emphasis added)

The passage above is incredibly profound in its claims: The “Word” is God Himself, and He became a man – Jesus – and dwelled amongst us. Let’s be clear about what this means: if the Bible is true, Jesus was not merely a great “philosopher,” or “teacher,” as many choose to believe.  He was – and is – God almighty! As such, the Bible records that when Jesus taught the people of His day, He taught them “the Word of God:”

“And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,” (Lu 5:1, emphasis added)

The “Word of God,” and Jesus’ teachings, then, are one and the same. The Bible – commonly referred to as the “Word of God” – therefore has one author: Jesus Christ. The entire text of the Bible, then, constitutes “His words.” Jesus is literally the author of the Bible.

How is it possible that Jesus could be the author of all of the scriptures – especially those written before and after His time here on earth? Aren’t many of the books of the Bible named after the human authors that wrote them?

First, understand from the passage of John above that Jesus – “The Word” – existed “in the beginning,” and created “all things.” This simply means that Jesus was around before He ever created the World – or created the first human being to ever write down a verse of scripture. Second, consider what God has to say about the scriptural writing process:

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” (2Ti 3:16, emphasis added)

“For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” (2Pe 1:21, emphasis added)

The meaning of these verses is clear: God used “Holy men” to write His Word into the scriptures we refer to as ‘the Bible’ today. The Word did not come into being “by the will of man.” If the Bible is perfectly true as Jesus declared, sinful men were not it’s authors!

If we accept the secular historians’ record that Jesus actually existed, that the New Testament is the most reliably-preserved ancient historical record in existence, and understand that the term “Word of God” directly refers to the scriptures, we’re again left with one, irrefutable conclusion:

The Bible is perfectly true or Christianity is altogether false. Jesus’ recorded words simply leave us no other options.

Now . . . the New Testament has been studied, scoured and cross-examined by hundreds of millions of human minds for over 2,000 years: certainly any falsehoods would have been discovered by now. And if Christianity was definitively uncovered as a hoax, intelligent, educated, rational human beings – by the millions – certainly would not continue to embrace it today. Yet – just as Jesus seems to predict in that passage from the Book of Luke – His words have done anything but “pass away.” (Famous French playwright Voltaire reportedly once boasted, “In twenty years Christianity will be no more. My single hand shall destroy the edifice it took twelve apostles to rear.” Voltaire has been dead for much longer than 20 years: could it be that his prediction failed because . . . the Bible is precisely what Jesus declared it to be?)

III.  Some of the Bible’s Important Claims

Next, let’s look closer at some of the Bible’s claims about itself:

1.  The Bible Claims to be God’s Completely-Revealed Revelation to Man

Recall the basic premise of this entire website: that God’s Word is infallible, complete and perfectly-preserved. We’ve examined the scriptural basis for infallibility and preservation . . . but what about completeness? Many religions claiming the title of “Christianity” also claim that God’s revelation to man is on-going . . . continuing to come to the earth through popes, prophets or those who claim to be able to “speak in tongues.” (among other revelation sources) Let’s see what Jesus – The Word – has to say:

“Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.” (De 4:2, emphasis added)

“Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” (Pr 30:5-6, emphasis added)

“For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” (Re 22:18-19, emphasis added)

These are STRONG admonitions against those who would attempt to add-to, subtract-from or otherwise modify what God has told us in His Word! These admonitions appear near the beginning, middle and end of the Bible – a consistent warning throughout. Again, true “Followers of Christ” (the Word) – that is, true Christians – then, understand that the Bible is God’s finished, completed revelation to man.    

2.  The Bible claims God’s perfection:

“The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.” (Ps. 19:7)

The passage from the Psalms above indicates that God’s decrees – and thereby His Word – is “perfect.” So if the Bible was contrived by fraudulent human authors, they certainly chose to make things difficult for themselves – since this God could handily be disproven with the discovery of a single error in its pages. Would frauds be so foolish as to make their false claims so vulnerable? Yet the Bible claims God’s perfection repeatedly, and unapologetically.

3.  The Bible claims that God wrote the scriptures for us, and with benevolent intentions:

“But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” (Jn. 20:31)

“Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: [examples] and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. (1Co. 10:11)

“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” (Ro. 15:4)

These purposes reveal the Author of the Bible – Jesus Christ — to be truly benevolent. His Word is not designed to harm us, but to give us life, protection and hope. According to these scriptures, the only prerequisite to receiving these benefits is “belief.”

4.  The Bible claims to wield God’s power:

“Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” (Jer. 23:29)

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Heb. 4:12)

This tells us that the words of the Bible are not like writings to be found anywhere else. It’s been said that when you look into the Bible, it looks into you. Many liken the Bible to a mirror: as truth, it reflects truth – about you – back into your heart and mind. Reading the Bible, then, can actually require some courage: would you be surprised if we told you that people don’t often like what they see in the Bible’s reflection? This presents a key challenge to every human who approaches God’s Word. (And . . . by reading to this point in the website, did you know that you are on the path to answering that challenge?)

5.  The Bible Claims to be the Key to Eternal Life – the Key to Salvation:

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9)

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Ro. 10:17)

There is an important connection between these two verses. According to the passage from the Book of Ephesians above, we receive eternal life – are “saved” – by God’s gift of faith to us. The gift of faith, essentially, is the capacity to believe in something we cannot perceive with our earthly senses. And how is this gift conveyed? “By hearing,” according to the passage from Romans above. And how do we “hear,” according to this passage? “By the Word of God,” says this scripture.

These are truly profound ideas: they tell us that our capacity to believe the Bible is necessarily preceded by our exposure to it. While at first glance this may seem somewhat obvious, it is actually nothing less than a miracle. Here’s why: the Bible does not promise to “prove” itself to be true; it tells us it conveys the capacity to believe that it is true absent anything you or I might regard as “proof.” In making this claim, then, the Bible declares that it has supernatural power over the hearts and minds of men.

Think about that for a moment: with God as the Bible’s claimed author, is this really so surprising?

Exposure to the Word, of course, is not the only prerequisite to possessing faith, and not all who are exposed to the Bible ultimately believe in it: faith is ultimately a gift from God, according to the passage from Ephesians that we just looked at. But studying (not merely reading) the Bible represents a critical starting point if you do not yet believe what it has to say.  Like an innocent man in a courtroom, Jesus is not afraid of scrutiny – in fact, he invites it:

“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD . . .” (Isa. 1:18)

Most of the rest of this section of the website aims to provide you with the Bible’s most critical truths . . . to expose you to God’s Word . . . with the fervent prayer that He will bestow upon you His gift of saving faith. In the pages ahead, we encourage you to accept God’s invitation to “reason” with Him – by scrutinizing the truth of His Word. 

Like the Bible itself, we cannot offer you “proof” of this truth. This of course, presents a problem for many in our post-modern, science-centric culture. There are many who would accuse us of asking you to abandon reason and rational thought to accept the veracity of the Bible – absent some valid “proof.” Let’s address that obstacle here.