Reliability | Knowable Word

You Cannot Trust Christ Without Trusting the Scripture

February 1, 2023 By Peter Krol

Note: I’m not sure why the original post no longer appears on the CCW site, but you can still read it via the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

In this post, Jim Elliff makes a profound point: It is not possible to know or trust Christ while denying the authority or reliability of the Bible. Elliff tells of a learned man who claimed to see a vision of Jesus, while doubting that he could trust what the Bible says about him. But such deception is one of Satan’s tactics, and the fruit of such deception is the very reason for which Jesus pronounced a curse on the religious leaders of his day.

Elliff remarks:

I have many friends who struggle with the Scriptures. I’m really not unsympathetic to their viewpoint. Believing in the Scriptures as true and reliable and inerrant has many detractors. Voices of disbelief come from all sides. But when you see the glory of Christ in them, something changes in the reader.

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More Reliable

April 7, 2021 By Peter Krol

Andrea Crocker has a fine piece on her blog reminding us that the word of God is more reliable.

More reliable than experience
More reliable than relationships
More reliable than society

I would guess that most readers of this blog will quickly assent to these abstract statements. But when it comes down to it, do we live as though they are true. Let Crocker’s insights provoke you to greater love for Christ and his word.

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Why You Can Trust the Bible

October 23, 2020 By Peter Krol

Perhaps you’ve heard reference to a “Bible-believing” church, or perhaps you’ve been told the Bible is the “Word of God” and can be trusted. But why is it that we can trust this book? And why would churches stake their reputation on believing it?

While I could give many reasons to support the essential trustworthiness of the Bible, perhaps the most important reason is simply that Jesus trusted it.

The Bible Speaks; Jesus Speaks

Luke concludes his narrative of Jesus’ life with a brief discussion between the risen Christ and his disciples (Luke 24:44-49). And in this narrative, Jesus’ parting words are words of trust in the Bible’s reliability.

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
Luke 24:44

Jesus believes not only that the Bible speaks, but that it speaks about him. He refers specifically to the three divisions of the Hebrew Bible (what we call the Old Testament): the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms (the Psalms were the most identifiable part of the poetic books, or “Writings”). And the things written in these three sections are about him.

In addition, those are the very words Jesus himself spoke to them while he was ministering among them. So the Hebrew Bible speaks about Jesus, and Jesus has spoken those same things about himself.

Speaks about What, Exactly?

But what exactly do the Hebrew Scriptures say about Jesus, which he underscored in his own teaching?

Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
Luke 24:45-47

The message of the Old Testament can be summarized in four points:

The Christ should suffer.
The Christ should rise from the dead.
The Christ’s suffering and rising make forgiveness possible for those who repent.
This message should be proclaimed to all nations everywhere.

This is what the Bible says. This is what Jesus himself says.

Jesus Speaks; the Apostles Speak

But that’s not all. This message must go out, but how?

You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
Luke 24:48-49

Now that Jesus has affirmed the message of the Old Testament—which lines up with his own message about himself—he calls his disciples to do something new. He wants them to bear witness of these things as well. He will send the promise and power of the Father to help with this task (Luke’s next volume, the book of Acts, will tell us that the Father’s promise and power is the indwelling Holy Spirit).

So what is Jesus (and Luke) referring to when he speaks of the apostolic witness to these things? Certainly this includes the marvelous preaching that will take place over the next generation, some of which is recorded in Acts. But it has particular reference not only to the preaching but especially to the writings of these witnesses. Matthew, John, and Peter were almost certainly present when Jesus spoke these words. Perhaps James and Jude were as well. Paul would later receive a similar commission (Acts 26:16)

So Jesus relies on the witness they will speak and write, a witness which will be empowered and directed by nothing short of the Spirit of the Father. A witness that we call the New Testament.

Conclusion

Jesus came with a message to proclaim about himself—who he was and what he came to do. This message was enshrined in the Old Testament, and it would be reinforced by the New Testament.

So why can we trust the Bible? Because Jesus did. He trusted the Old Testament, for it spoke about him. And he trusted the New Testament, because it would speak about him. “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you” (Luke 24:44).

Though Jesus has ascended to heaven and no longer walks the earth in the flesh (at least, for a time), he still speaks to us through the words of the Old and New Testaments. He trusted them, and therefore so can we.

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Can We Really Trust the Bible?

September 17, 2014 By Peter Krol

This new book from Barry Cooper looks interesting. Here’s an excerpt of his Can I Really Trust the Bible? from the Good Book blog:

Writing was the natural way to preserve God’s words for present and future generations.

For example, the Ten Commandments are described as having been “inscribed by the finger of God” (Exodus 31:18), and when the stone tablets were smashed by Moses—in a fit of anger at Israel’s idolatry—God immediately took steps to replace them. Writing was the way God carefully protected his words so that they would not be lost, changed, distorted or forgotten. As he says to Moses at one point: “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered…” (Exodus 17:14).

Again, in the Bible’s final book, we read:

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” – Revelation 21:5

So there’s no reason to be suspicious of the Bible’s divine authority simply because it’s a book. Words don’t become less authoritative because they’re written rather than spoken.

In fact, when you think about it, the reverse is true. The most important statements human beings make—whether they be legally-binding contracts or lyrical expressions of love—are most often written down, at least when we intend them to be powerful and lasting. When God specifically instructs that his words be written down, things get serious.

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