No Hope - Unless . . .

The Bible has very little to say to us by way of hope, or encouragement, or comfort unless we believe the Scriptures are the actual words of God to us. Unless we believe every chapter, every verse, every line is without error, what confidence can anyone have that God speaks to us through its pages?

Certainly some parts of Scripture are confusing. Some are hard to understand. But always, upon in depth scrutiny, God’s word has always, and will always, prove to be what God says it is.

The reasonableness of the idea of inerrancy should surprise no one who believes God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He would not be God if He were not all of those things in total. So why should it seem unreasonable that God was able to ensure His communiqué to us – the Scriptures – has been kept from error?

What the apostle Paul wrote to the Christians at Thessalonica is exquisitely applicable to us: “For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.” (1 Thessalonians 2:13)

Only when they believed what Paul said to them to be “the word of God” – only then was it able to perform its work in them.

The timeless principle remains with us in the 21^st century. Only when we receive the words of Scripture to be “the word of God” – only then will it be able to perform its work in us – for hope, for encouragement, for comfort, for direction, for chastisement, for spiritual nourishment.

Let God be God. And let Him speak to you through your well-studied, well-informed knowledge of His inerrant Word.