Can you trust the bible, is it the inspired word of God?

Can you trust the bible? Is it the inspired word of God?

There has been some things going on in some of the churches of today that I feel we need to talk about. I don’t like to talk about other churches, but when they are teaching things that are directly opposed to the word of God I feel that God wants me to bring it to your attention.

There are churches today who are encouraging their members to “rediscover” what the bible says. They are telling their members that they should have a renewed appreciation for the *symbolic and spiritual interpretation to better meet the needs of today’s loving society. *I want to share with you the dictionary’s definition of symbolism, it says, The artistic imitation or invention that is a method of revealing or suggesting immaterial, ideal, or otherwise intangible truth. There is no symbolic teaching in the Word of God. Such teachings or interpretations are directly opposed to the scriptures themselves.

This is a direct attack on all of us who believe that the bible is the inerrant, literal and inspired word of Almighty God. God says that he is the same yesterday, today and forever, and his word will stand forever. Look at what God says about his word in Revelation 22: 18-19 “For I testify unto every man that hearth 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 from the tree of life, and out of the Holy City, and from the things which are written in this book.” The bible clearly declares, first and foremost, in 2nd Peter 1:20"knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.”

Satan can always quote scripture to his own advantage, and there has always been and will always be false teachers who themselves indulge in private interpretation of the scriptures. The apostle Peter says that any private interpretation of the scriptures is illegitimate.

The bible also tells us in 2nd Timothy 3:16 “all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” There are no instructions in this scripture telling us that we are to resort to any symbolic or spiritual interpretation of the word of God in order to justify the sinful lifestyle of today’s society. Jesus Christ himself, plainly states in John 10:35 that the scripture cannot be broken. The bible does not contradict itself! There is only one power that can unlock the plain, straightforward and truthful interpretation of the scriptures. That is the power of our Almighty God alone, through his influence on the mind of us as individuals by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ, who is the word of God, declared that when the Holy Spirit comes into the mind of an individual, it reveals all things. In John 14: 17 “ Even the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”

In John 16:7 Jesus, called the Holy Spirit the “Comforter.” The Holy Spirit is a revelatory spirit, the spirit of truth. The Holy Spirit is actually a portion of God’s own infinite mind embedded in the mind of a lost sinner who has repented of his sins and accepted Christ as his savior. Jesus declared that when the Holy Spirit is given by the father to a servant of God, it will guide him into all truth and will show him things to come.

God tells us that he will reveal things to us through his word, THE BIBLE, and if we continue in his word we will know the truth and the truth will set us free. Listen to the experience of the apostles as they walked with Jesus after his resurrection Their words were,Did not our hearts burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened the scriptures to us.
It is only the living Jesus Christ, the true head of his one true Church, who can open up the word of God to us by the power of God’s Holy Spirit. Not through anyone’s, or any churches private interpretation.

It takes dedicated study to grow in understanding what God wants you to know about his word. 2 Timothy 2:15 “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Dividing what word? The bible, the infallible word of God.

Why do men insist on trying to interpret the bible? Here is the answer, the bible says that the scriptures are profitable for the purpose of reproving and correcting us. But man resents being reproved and corrected. How many people do you know that like to be corrected when they are in error or to be reproved for the wrong things they do? People do not like to be reproved or corrected. They like praise and flattery, but reproof and correction I can assure you, they do not like. That is why it is so hard for many people to understand the bible and to agree on what it says. The bible is God’s great spiritual mirror. It shows up every flaw in our thinking and reveals every spot on our character. It pictures us as we really are, as God sees us, not as we like to think we are. That is the plain and simple truth. Hebrews 4:12 reads, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged 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.“ The bible my friends, is a powerful weapon that cuts both ways, opening up and laying bare the inner man. This is not a comfortable process and too often, men simply won’t subject themselves to what this scripture is saying, it makes them uncomfortable. Too often men have applied some different meanings to the scriptures that reprove and correct them. They pass right over those scriptures that correct and rebuke them. Instead they study to try and find some other interpretation of the scripture into which they can read a meaning that would justify their lifestyle.

Man begin many years ago to try and interpret the bible to say what they wanted it to say. That is the reason that God’s word has become so perverted, twisted and distorted. Today we have hundreds of interpretations of the bible. But you never hear of hundreds of interpretations of a biology textbook. Why do you think this is? Because biology textbooks do not rebuke and correct men.

Instead of acknowledging that the bible is the book of truth that does not lie, admitting that all are sinners and fall short of the Glory of God, repenting of their sin, and being legally justified by the blood of Jesus Christ, men seek to justify their own sinful ways by perverting the sacred and Holy Word Of God.

As Ihave said, I am not trying to put down any church however when they are teaching something that directly opposes the word of God, all of us who take the word of God literally need to be aware of the fact and be constantly aware that Satan is around us and would love for all of us to believe this false teaching. Why are they doing this? Do you have the answer? Possibly they want everyone to believe that only they can interpret the scriptures, so that the scriptures can be twisted to suit the will of many people today.

In closing let me share with you (from the NLT) 2nd Peter 3: 16 “speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction. 17 I am warning you ahead of time, dear friends. Be on guard so that you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing. 18 Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.”

I urge you to study the bible and let it interpret itself on this question and any other questions you may have.