01 Mar Can we trust the Bible? – Mar 15

By Yosia Yusuf

It’s impossible to give detail answer of this question in one short article. There are books written on the subject. So my goal is not to answer this question thoroughly but to give you one food for thought. I believe the Scripture is the Word of God because Jesus quoted the Scripture (Old Testament) as the word of God. If you believe in Jesus, then you have to take what Jesus believes seriously. If you don’t believe in Jesus, that’s a different game. I don’t think you can out argue that there is a historical person by the name of Jesus that live in Israel few thousand years ago. Your only choice is to choose to believe he is a lunatic or he is who he says he is – son of God. For me, His words and deeds make it impossible for me to see him as lunatic. The only possible answer is that He is the son of God.

There is one occasion in the gospel of John where Jesus is having conversation with the Pharisees regarding His identity. The Pharisees accuses Jesus of blasphemy for saying that He is one with God the Father. And when Jesus argues with them, He quoted Psalm 82 for His arguments. John 10:34-35 – Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came – and Scripture cannot be broken -” Jesus says that the word of God came to them and Scripture cannot be broken! What other reason do we need to believe that the Scripture is the Word of God?

Let me give you another example. In John 19, Jesus is answering Pharisees question regarding divorce. John 19:4-5 – He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male, and female, and said, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?” Jesus is quoting Genesis 2 if you are wondering. Genesis gives us the creation account. God created male and female in His image. Then at the end of Genesis 2, the narrator, presumably Moses, write this line that Jesus is quoting from. Yet when Jesus quotes it, He did not says the thing that the narrator write but Jesus refers to it as He who created them said. Yes it was written through the narrator hand but it is God who is speaking. “For Jesus, Scripture is powerful, decisive, and authoritative because it is nothing less than the voice of God” – Kevin DeYoung.

This is true not only for Old Testament but also the New Testament. 2 Timothy 3:16 – All Scripture is breathed out by God…” Paul is fully convince that all Scripture comes from God. Therefore we do not have any reason to not trust the Bible. And if that’s not enough, read what John says about the Word. John 1:14 – And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Jesus is the embodiment of the Word of God in flesh. And He came to give up his life for our sake. So how can we trust the Bible? Because the Word of God gave himself up for me. Now I do not have any reason to doubt Him.