Inerrancy Part One: August 31, 2009

TODAYS WORD FOR MONDAY AUGUST 31.

INERRANCY
PART ONE

Inerrancy as it relates to God’s Word (the Bible) means free of mistakes. In this context the Bible is also infallible and inspired.

GODS WORD

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” 11Timothy 3:16

“The law of the Lord is perfect, the testimony of the Lord is sure, the precepts of the Lord are right, the commandment of the Lord is pure.” Psalm 19:7-8.

WORDS FROM KEN AND DOTTIE

For over eighteen centuries the vast majority of people in the Christian world have accepted the Scriptures as THE HOLY BIBLE and believed it to be God’s revealed message to all mankind. People believed that the Bible was free of mistakes, that it could not be wrong on any subject, and that its words came direct from God
through chosen prophets. Jewish believers held these view centuries before Christians did and Orthodox Jews hold this same position today.

Evangelical Christians today believe that God spoke to men through the Holy Spirit as II Peter 1:20-21 says: “no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” Thus the Bible is accepted as verbally written words, not merely thoughts. The Psalmist declares (in the verse above) that God’s Word is perfect, sure, right and pure. God’s Word thus is inerrant, infallible and inspired as they were originally written.

During the last two centuries men and women have risen up and have attacked the inerrancy of the Bible. They have rejected the creation account, the miracles of Jesus, the deity of Jesus and many other great and eternal truths. This began in graduate institutions of learning and today has permeated our public education system.

The New Testament was written by eyewitnesses who knew Jesus personally or by those who knew those that had known Jesus. Do we believe someone who was actually there or someone of more recent date who is many years removed from the time of Christ being on this earth. People have their opinions but opinions are not necessarily based on facts.

We have been taught by our parents and our peers in school and church that the scriptures are inerrant, infallible and inspired. We in turn have taught our children the same and now our grandchildren are being taught this as well. Each year there are more pressures put on children, youth and adults to question the inerrancy of the Bible. The fact is that GODS WORD NEVER CHANGES BUT PEOPLE DO CHANGE! People are fallible and their opinions are easily influenced.

Very often we talk to people that question the inerrancy of the Bible. And when we take the time to sit down and watch TV we are overwhelmed by the conscious and unconscious attacks on truths we learned and now live by from the Bible. People say to us such things as “Do you really think that Jonah was swallowed by that whale or there is no way the story of Noah and the flood ever happened?”

People have a hard time accepting what seems to be impossible, but we must remember that with God all things are possible. We cannot limit God and we should not want to believe in a God who has limited power.

In the early 1960’s our good friend Dr. Porter Barrington had an office next to mine (Ken) in the World Opportunities world headquarter office. Dr. Barrington had just retired from being the pastor of Van Nuys First Baptist Church in California. He came to the office every day to work on his notes for his soon to be published CHRISTIAN LIFE EDITION of the Bible (The new King James Version).

It was my privilege each day to read his notes and he honored me by allowing me to critique his comments. We mention this because we will be using some of these notes in this five day study of INERRANCY.

Tomorrow we will do part two of this very important series on the inerrancy of God’s Word.

TODAYS PRAYER

Thank you Lord, for giving me Your Holy Bible to read each day. May I never question the accuracy of the scriptures and may You direct every detail of my life today as I endeavor to live by Your Word.