Safe and Secure

This was a short message I gave in church on Sunday before the sermon. It was from Matthew chapter 7, focusing on the parable Jesus told about building one's house on the rock.

Matthew 7:12-29 (ESV):

12 "So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

13 "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord, ' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' 23 And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'

24 "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."

28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.


Jesus was teaching people about who would enter the kingdom of heaven, and how they must live in this present world (Matthew chapters 5-7). At the last section of his speech (Matthew chapter 7), Jesus warned of the importance of entering by the “strait gate” (i.e., the narrow gate). He tells them that there are many people who go through the wide gate and the broad way, which ultimately ends in destruction. Many people in our world are happy with the easy way out of getting things done. How many of you here have tried to do something in a way that you thought was easier than the correct way, but later found out you did it wrong and actually made it worse than what you thought would be hard? Well, Jesus warned these people in the Sermon on the Mount about following the way that seems wide, seems broad, seems to be the easy way, because it is wrong, and it leads to ruin and destruction.

Instead, Jesus exhorted the people to enter the way that is strait (meaning “narrow” and “hard”, not “straight”). It is narrow, which means that it is a more difficult gate to enter and a harder path to follow. He told them this is the way that leads to life, meaning eternal life, but that only a few find it. Enter by this gate, Jesus says.

Next, Jesus warned the people of false prophets, those who would try to keep them from entering the narrow path by telling them things that are untrue and deceitful concerning the kingdom of heaven. He warned them that they could tell them by their fruits, that is, by the results of their teaching and lifestyle. Those who teach false doctrine and live contrary to the Word of God, are evidently false prophets. They are the people on the broad way, leading others to destruction, and ultimately being rejected from entering the kingdom of heaven themselves.

Jesus also revealed in verses 21-23 that many people who professed him as their Lord, will not be allowed to enter the kingdom of heaven, because Jesus did not know them and they were workers of iniquity (lawlessness).

After thoroughly warning his listeners of the judgment to come, and of the importance of having a genuine, good, and fruit-bearing life of doing the will of His Father in heaven, Jesus then told them one of the most memorable parables ever.

In verses 24-27, he made it clear that those who build their house on the rock will be the only ones left standing after the storm of judgment when it passes by. Those who build their house on the wrong foundation of sand will be destroyed when the storm of judgment comes. So let’s consider, what does Jesus want people (including us here today) to rest the foundation of their lives on? It is actually quite simple. He tells us. (But I must warn you, it is hard, it is narrow, it is difficult, and very few people actually do it.) What is it?

Well, look at verse 24... Jesus wants people to rest the foundation of their lives on... what?... on his words. He wants people, including us, to actually do what he said, to put his teachings into practice. This is the only sure and certain way to be unmoved, safe and secure from the storm of judgment.

Jesus said it was hard, and that few find it, but there it is, given to us in a parable that concludes all of what he had been teaching during the Sermon on the Mount. A parable that tells of a wise man and a foolish man. A man who built his house on the rock, practicing the words of Jesus, and a man who built his house on the sand, hearing but not doing what Jesus had said. One was swept away in the storm, the other was left standing sturdy and strong.

How many of us will take this teaching of Jesus seriously? How many of us will not just listen to what Jesus has to say, but will actually do what he said? How many of us will diligently read the Bible and seek to put it into practice with wisdom?

Let me add that Jesus never taught people that their good works would get them into heaven. He always taught this: ”The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; [therefore] repent and believe in the gospel (Mark 1:15). Jesus wanted people to follow him, to listen to him, to believe in him and to obey him. In one word, we call that “faith.” Jesus came to give his life as a ransom for all who trust in him. He went to the cross, carried our sins and our sorrows, suffered the extreme punishment for sin, and rose again from the grave on the third day. Because of this we are justified by faith alone in him. But if we have been justified by faith alone in Christ Jesus, and if he truly is our Lord, as we call him, then let us show our faith by our works, and prayerfully seek to do exactly what our Father wants us to do, putting into practice all that Jesus taught.

We need the Holy Spirit to do that, and we need God’s grace, but nevertheless, that is what Jesus said, and that is what we must strive to do. Let us not take confidence in our works, but in our Savior, and let us show our love toward our Savior by our works, by carefully listening, studying, and putting the words of Christ into practice. In this way, we show that we are resting on the right foundation, the foundation laid down for us by the one who has taken away our sins with his own blood, and provided eternal righteousness and life for us who believe by his resurrection from the dead.

How We Already Know

Think about it... Why does anything exist rather than nothing? For some people, the only answer they can give to this question is simply, “I don’t know.” But for others, the obvious answer may simply be that “God created something rather than nothing.” Whatever your answer may be, that question is one philosophers and scientists have wrestled with for centuries trying to answer.

If you don’t know why something exists rather than nothing, then ask yourself (or allow me to ask you), why don’t you know? Why don’t we know the reason for why things like a universe, light, matter, water, plants, dogs and cats, bacteria and humans with brains that can build space craft, exist? Can we know?

I believe we can and here’s why...
We already know there is a Creator, that God exists. We know that, because if God did not exist, there would be no ultimate cause for why things (including us) exist, which would mean that there would be no ultimate reason for existence. Then our intelligence would be a product of a causeless, reasonless world. If we claimed to know anything apart from the existence of a Creator, we could know no more than if we knew nothing, because we could never know everything all at once. We would simply have no reason to trust our own reasoning. Why should we trust the unchanging laws of logic, if everything is subject to change, with no intelligent Creator upholding those laws? Yet if we do acknowledge the existence of a Creator, then we have a reason to trust our ability to know, and to reason, because what we do know is what our Creator has made us to know. In short, we know what we know, because God has given it to us to know.

(Please note: I am not saying that those who do not believe in God cannot, or do not know anything. Clearly they do. But that is not because our existence is purposeless or without an ultimate cause and ultimate reason. The reason believers and unbelievers know what we know, must be because we were designed to have the ability to know things. If we were not, we would have no reason to trust our own mental capabilities, or the truth or falsehood of any belief. The only reason we can have knowledge, is because God made us to have knowledge.)

Also notice that I did not say we know everything there is to know. Only that what we do know, we know it because God made it known to us. This is called “revelation”. Revelation is God communicating things to humans so that we may know things about Him. We can know that God is great and powerful, since He created the stars and galaxies and put our planet in perfect orbit around the sun. We can know that God cares about His creation, because we receive rain and sunshine to provide us with food. We can know that God is creative and that His glory is splendid, because we can see it in all of creation. We also know God is intelligent and that He communicates, because He designed humans to have certain intellectual abilities and the power to communicate. We also can know God, because we were created by Him. That may sound strange, but think about it first, if we were created by God, then it is possible He has made us to know that we are created, that we are His creatures. This is, in fact, what I believe to be the case.

The Bible is made up of a collection of the best attested historical writings in the world. It speaks of these very things that you have just spent a few moments reading and thinking about. The Bible says (in regard to the fact that we know God as a result of His revelation), “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them” (Romans 1:19 ESV). In other words, we can know God, because God has plainly shown things about Himself to us.

Consider what else the Bible says about this, “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20 ESV). This verse of the Bible is saying that we have no excuse for not knowing God, because His invisible attributes of power and divinity are clear through nature.

Far from being an old irrelevant book of the past, the Bible deals with very crucial questions, providing very acute answers. It speaks of our world in very real terms. It speaks of evil and suffering, providing the very answer to those problems. It also tells of the miraculous and prophetic manifestation of Jesus Christ as “God with us”, God in human form. The Bible provides a way to know God more personally than knowing He exists, it speaks of reconciliation to peace with God through Jesus.

So think about it, if God is our Creator and we are His creatures, then we should know Him already, and if the Bible is His special revelation, then we should be able to know that as well. While the Bible has a remarkable history, and has a mountain of proof in its favor, it should be enough for us to be able to read it for ourselves, knowing we know God, and knowing that He is able to communicate His will to us through His own special revelation. If this is so, we could know it. I believe we do know it, and I hope you will move from reading this short tract to something far greater...

Consider what the apostle Peter wrote in 2 Peter 1:16-21 concerning the Bible:
“For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased," we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:16-21 ESV)

That is to say, that God has revealed His word to eye-witnesses through His Son, Jesus Christ. The Scriptures are His revelation to us, given by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We will do well to pay attention to the Bible, as to a lamp that brings light to a dark room, like a great star that gives bright light to our hearts.

Sin - What is it? Part 3

This is the third and final post on "Sin - What is it?" Here was part 1 and part 2.

The Result

The payment for sin is death (Romans 6:23). The Bible says that we are born spiritually dead by nature because of sin (Romans 5:12; Ephesians 2:1). Jesus often warned that sin leads to the “lake of fire,” “the fire of hell,” “everlasting fire,” where there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth,” “where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.” Clearly God’s judgment for sin is eternal and full of wrath (Matthew 5:22; 10:28; 18:8,9; 23:51; 25:41; Mark 9:48; Luke 16:23; Revelation 20:13; etc.).

The Love of God for Sinners

But that is the very reason why God sent His Son into the world, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). God does not desire to punish sinners, but He sent Jesus to be born of a virgin without any sin in Himself, so that He would save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21; 2Corinthians 5:21).

A Change of Mind

The first thing Jesus preached was “repent, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15). Repentance is a broken-hearted sorrow and hatred for sin. It is to change your mind toward God and turn from your sins, humbly learning what is right from His will in the Bible. Scripture says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). Humble repentance is turning to Jesus empty of all self-righteousness and without faith in one’s self. It is calling out to God for mercy. It is an open-hearted confession before God that you are guilty and worthy of eternal judgment. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1John 1:9,10). Jesus warned very strongly that you must repent or perish (Luke 13:3,5).

Salvation is Free

The Bible says that God shows His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Jesus did not die on the cross for good people, but only for ungodly sinners (Romans 5:6; 1 Timothy 1:15). He died for those who would repent and believe that God raised Him from the dead, and who would trust in God through Him as Savior. This salvation is a free gift through faith, apart from any good works that we could perform (Romans 4:5,23-25; 5:9,10; Ephesians 2:8-10).

Faith in God

Faith is not blind, but trusts Him who alone is faithful and trust-worthy. The Bible claims that Jesus Christ is the faithful God revealed in human flesh (John 1:1,14; Revelation 19:11,13).

How to be Set Free

Christ came to set us free so that we would live to obey God from the heart: “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people [i.e. his own special people], zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14). Jesus invites you to come to Him for rest from the burden of your sins, “Come unto me, all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest... For I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28,29).

Conclusion

The Bible says that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9). This means that God is calling you to repent today and believe His message of hope by submitting your life to Jesus as your God and Master, that you may find forgiveness of all your sins and a brand new life by the power of His Holy Spirit! Begin reading the Bible today to know all that God Himself has spoken. God gave us the Holy Bible so that we would know Him through His Son, Jesus Christ, and that by knowing Him we would have eternal life (John 17:3). Will you read the Bible to know the Lord Jesus Christ and His love for sinners who trust Him? You can begin by reading the Gospel of John and then Romans in the New Testament.

Sin - What is it? Part 2

This is the second part of a short series on defining sin and learning about the answer to it. Here was Part 1.)

How You Have Sinned

This means that every time in your life when you told a lie or said something false about someone, you sinned. Every time you disrespected your parents or refused to obey them as a child, you sinned. Every time you gave your whole heart and soul to something while neglecting obedience to God’s Word, you sinned. Every time you spoke of God in vain or lived in a way that would dishonor His name, you sinned. (See Exodus 20:3-17).

Sinful Desires

Sin includes corrupt attitudes and desires of the heart (Genesis 6:5; Mark 7:21). To covet, desiring something that belongs to another person, is sin. To lust, desiring sexual pleasure with someone outside of marriage, is adultery in the heart. Hatred and unjust anger are considered murder (Matthew 5:22; 1John 3:15). Sin says, “My way is better than God’s way. I will do what I want... whatever pleases myself.” Rather than saying, “The things that I want must be governed by God’s Word, or they are not right at all.” As Jesus prayed to His Father, “nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42).

Sin is Against God

God considers sin to be enmity against Himself (Romans 8:7). Which means that if you sin, God is your enemy and you are His enemy (Isaiah 33:14; Romans 5:10). Sin is rebellion (1 Samuel 15:23). It is an unwillingness to submit to what the Creator has revealed in His Word. It is a form of self-righteousness, thinking it is justified in doing what God hates.
Lying to Yourself
Sin is deceptive, ensnaring and will lead you astray (Proverbs 5:22,23). It makes you lie to yourself, telling yourself that you are not really that bad. It is a deadly form of pride which stubbornly refuses to be corrected or rebuked. Sin will make you blame anyone except yourself, saying, “It was her fault... his mistake... their problem... not mine!” But it is your problem!

Causing Harm

Sin makes you love what you should hate and hate what you should love. It will rob you and others of everything truly good in life and will poison every relationship. Sin causes people to fight and quarrel and kill. It is a warfare of pleasures battling within you (James 4:1). It is deceptive, destructive and disastrous. In fact, all the suffering we experience in this world began with Adam and Eve’s original sin in the garden (Genesis chapter 3; Romans 5:12).

God is Holy and Just

Because God is perfectly holy and just, He cannot allow sin to go unpunished. Therefore God has promised one day to judge the world with righteousness (Psalm 98:9).

(To be continued...)

Sin - What is it? Part 1

What is sin? We as Christians hear that Jesus died for it, but what does that mean? I'm publishing the first part of a series of simple posts that seek to briefly explain this important topic from Scripture.


The Bible says Jesus died for people’s sins. So what is sin?

Definition

The definition of sin is lawlessness: “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4).

The Law of God

God created the universe with natural law and order. The Bible teaches us that mankind was made with a moral law, which is contained in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). All ten commandments are summed up in these two commands: 1) “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,” and 2) “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matthew 22:36-40).

Our Problem

Our problem is that we have each broken that standard. Jesus taught that the Holy Spirit would come to convict the world of sin (John 16:8,9), and the Spirit reveals to us in the Bible that “there is none righteous, no, not one... there is none that does good, no, not one” (Romans 3:10,12).

REASONS TO BELIEVE THE BIBLE #3

Here's a few more reasons why I believe you and I should read the Bible. This is my third post on this subject.

3) Is faith blind?

No, faith in the Biblical sense means to believe with certainty and conviction (Hebrews 11:1), to trust someone who is faithful, to believe the words of God. Contrary to blind faith, the Bible teaches we are to examine everything we hear (1 Thessalonians 5:21), to carefully consider what and who we trust in (1 John 4:1), to believe the testimony God has provided to His Word (1 Thess. 2:13; 1 John 5:9,10).

Faith is justified by the works God has performed before eyewitnesses (Luke 1:2-4; John 10:25,38; 14:11; Acts 5:32; 13:31; 1 John 1:1-4), the character of those eyewitnesses to be faithful (1 Thess. 2:10), their willingness to suffer or die for the message they taught (Acts 5:41; 21:13; Phil. 2:17; 2 Tim. 1:12; 4:6), their strict morality which makes it impossible to knowingly deceive others and remain true to the message (2 Cor. 4:2; 1 Pet. 5:12; 2 Pet. 1:16), the power of the Holy Spirit (John 15:26; 16:13; Acts 2:38; 5:32; Rom. 1:4), and so on.

Biblical faith promotes careful examination of facts (Luke 1:3-4; 1 Thes. 5:21), but discourages blindly believing something without good reason (1 John 4:1). Faith does not stop with human reasoning alone (1 Cor. 2:5-6), it is a divine gift from God's Spirit (Eph. 2:8; 1 Cor. 12:9), imparted to the people of God so that they may believe with certainty the things written in His Word.

4) Is the message of the Bible all negative, fire and brimstone?

No, the Bible contains the most positive message I have ever heard in my life, calling it "Good News".

No merely human imagination could have ever made it up. The Bible was written by around 40 different authors who lived centuries apart from each other, who came from different countries and lifestyles, yet who wrote in perfect harmony with one another.

Like a masterpiece of art, the Bible paints the darkest picture of evil, sin and judgment, contrasting that with the most glorious display of light in God's love, mercy and grace. At the same time that it speaks of the justice and wrath of the Most Holy God, it also shows how everlasting and deep His love is for those sinners whom He rescues by taking their punishment away through the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Only the words of Holy Scripture can accurately describe such loving grace: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. " (John 3:16). "For by grace you are saved through faith; and that is not from yourselves: it is the gift of God. Not by works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:8-10). "And this word is the good news that was preached to you" (1 Peter 1:25).

6) Would you consider studying the Bible yourself?

Maybe you grew up going to church, but were never taught to understand the Bible well? Maybe you were never taught the Bible at all? Or maybe you have been told it is wrong or a lie? Maybe you are of another religion, but you have not really considered what the Bible says? Or maybe you have never had an interest in learning the Bible?

Whatever your case may be, would you consider the Biblical message honestly? Would you consider that you are a creation of an eternal, all-knowing God? That you will be held accountable to Him for all you have said, done and thought? That eternal justice will be performed on the day of Judgment, which God has appointed through His Son, whom He has raised from the dead? That without a righteousness no less than perfect, you will not be able to enjoy God's presence in eternity. That your sin will be held accountable and punished with an eternity of fire unless you humbly confess it, forsake it and turn to Jesus who shed His own perfect blood on a cross so that you could be forgiven. That you can be justified from your sin forever in His righteousness by faith alone, as a free gift.

Jesus Christ only saves sinners, and He only saves them by grace, which means that good deeds or being a good person will not earn you forgiveness. You must receive it as a gift of God through child-like trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, or you will not receive it at all. Those who do believe, do obey Jesus' commands, just as the Lord said. His commands are that you believe in the Son whom God has sent to the world, and that you love His true children. Obedience is the fruit and necessary result of true saving faith. Even this faith is a gift of God given by His Holy Spirit, whom you will receive if you truly believe. Please consider these things and turn to the Savior. You only have an eternity of peace with God to gain, and sin and hell to lose.

REASONS TO BELIEVE THE BIBLE #2

2) Is there any proof that the Bible is the Word of God?

Yes, if the Bible truly is the Word of God, then it would have to prove itself true. The Bible does just that by claiming to be the very words of God Himself and backing up that claim with an enormous amount of evidence and witnesses.

HISTORICALL EVIDENCE
The Bible is a faithful historical collection of writings. One could go to Israel and visit all the archaeological discovery sites that are spoken of in the Bible, and the accuracy is astounding. Names of kings, nations, cities and wars spoken of in the Bible have been discovered through archaeology, and are continuing to be discovered. But archaeology does not prove the Bible is God's word, it simply proves the historical reliability of the Bible whenever it describes ancient people, places and events in history.

MANUSCRIPT EVIDENCE
Scholars have also learned over many years of study that the thousands of manuscript copies of Biblical texts are more numerous than any other historical documents in the world. The most well known and trusted historical documents known to man have been copied and recopied for centuries, yet today only a few of them remain, while Biblical texts number in the thousands. If anything was added or subtracted through error or with intention from the original copies, the multitude of other copies make it impossible to go unnoticed. The manuscripts themselves are remarkably well preserved in their accuracy, with the exceptions of various spelling mistakes, marginal notes or other copiest errors that could be made and corrected over time.

The many different versions of the Bible are simply translations. The Bible has been translated from ancient Hebrew and Greek into more languages around the world than any other book, including languages that never before had a system of writing until the Bible was translated for them. There are both good and bad translations depending on how well the versions are translated from the original languages.

UNITY AND BIBLICAL PROPHECY
The Bible is a collection of books which fit together and are intertwined as one whole. The Old Testament was written before the time of Jesus Christ and the New Testament was written after Jesus Christ. Jesus claimed that all of Biblical Scripture was written about him and pointed to him as the only Savior of the world (Luke 24:27,44; John 5:39). That is a shocking claim that only a crazy person would make! Unless it is really true. If we would take the time to examine the many prophecies in the Bible which have been fulfilled through Jesus Christ, or even the hundreds more that have been fulfilled in known history, it would either be unbelievable or very strongly convincing. For example, king David wrote the prophetic Psalm 22 nearly a thousand years before the time of Christ, which describes in vivid detail nearly the same crucifixion account found in the four gospels. The very words that Jesus used on the cross were prophesied, including what his enemies said about him, the way his enemies treated him, how they mocked him, how his hands and feet were pierced through, and also how the soldiers cast lots for his garments. There are hundreds of additional Biblical prophecies that can be mentioned, including the birth of Christ, his resurrection from the dead and the commissioning of his Church (his people) in the world.

SCIENTIFIC FACTS
Science has also made many discoveries over the years which were mentioned in the Bible long before they were known to be true. For example, the Bible mentions the circular or spherical nature of the earth (Job 26:10; Psalm 8:27; Isaiah 40:22), how the earth turns on an axis (Job 38:14, where the Hebrew word "haphak" means "to turn", indicating a turning motion to the earth), and how it is suspended on nothing (Job 26:7), how the stars are more numerous than the sands of the sea (Genesis 22:17; Hebrews 11:12), how each star differs from another (1 Corinthians 15:1). It gives prescriptions for how to protect people from diseases and contamination long before medical science understood those principles (Leviticus 13). The hygiene laws prescribed in Leviticus 13 were also used to help protect people from the spread of the black death epidemic in the 14th century A.D.. The Bible even mentions creatures that are remarkably similar in description to dinosaurs! (Check it out for yourself, Job 40:15-24.) When all these things were originally written people were not at all aware of the scientific facts that are now known in modern times about them. But God, to whom the Bible credits itself, knows all things!

INTERNAL EVIDENCE
The Bible proves itself even more powerfully by its ability to explain reality in a way that is coherent and logical. Many skeptics scoff at this idea, but denial doesn't change the fact that countless skeptics themselves have been converted after examining the Bible closely. It explains creation and nature as a purposeful work of God. It explains the reason for evil and suffering and death in the world. It explains the break between the human relationship with God and the downfall of mankind as a result. It explains how God operates in both judgment on evil and mercy toward mankind. It explains God's purpose and glory in sending His own Son, as a real human being and yet God, to redeem people from every nation and language and tribe through His suffering, death and resurrection. It explains how Jesus brings victory over sin and death, with eternal hope through resurrection of the body. It explains God's eternal perspective, from the creation to consummation of all things. Contrary to popular opinion, the Bible is not a book of fairy tails, but a dramatic history and source of knowledge concerning God and His relationship with mankind. It even explains why people refuse to believe the truth and why they turn to other things rather than the Creator for hope and guidance.

REASONS TO BELIEVE THE BIBLE #1

1) Is there really any proof for God?

Yes, there are many ways to know that God is. First, consider the need for a cause to produce the kind of universe in which we exist. Our universe contains order, design, progress, function, intelligence, communication, and much more. There is no other option than that it is the work of an intelligent Creator. Otherwise, it would be the result of coincidence or chance, which is literally impossible. It makes sense to believe the universe was created by God.

We can even see the "fingerprints" of our Creator's hands in the design and complexity of the natural world. From brilliant galaxies to the microbiology of a single cell, there is clear and distinct design and order to everything. It is so astounding that many scientists have willingly acknowledged the divine origin of creation, something the Bible has been doing since the first verse, written over 3,500 years ago where it said, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

Our own consciences also testify that there is an eternal and divinely powerful God, to whom we are accountable for everything in our lives. We ought to acknowledge Him, honor Him and express our gratitude to Him for all that we have.


Consider what Romans says about how we all know God exists from nature:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
(Romans 1:18-25, NASB)