This is part of an ongoing series that establishes the foundation of my faith. It may seem a little academic to some, too light for others. I have endeavored to strike a balance in order to provide clear reasons and support for each belief. The bottom line of my faith is that I believe the Bible has a message from God, the Creator of all life. That message is one of truth and love, justice and forgiveness and above all, an invitation to abundant life.

Adam was created perfect, without sin or any fault; He chose to rebel against God.

Because we are descended from Adam, we bear his guilt, propensity to sin and condemnation.

          This is probably one of the most significant premises in my belief system. Everything else radiates from this one truth. Instead of believing we are all inherently good, I believe what the Bible teaches, that we have an inclination to do evil. Because of the rebellious choices made by the first man and woman (see Genesis 3), all their offspring have that same propensity toward rebellion, violence and cruelty. In theological terms it is called a sin nature. In practical terms, it means that every one of us is capable of great depravity.

          Before Eve and Adam chose to disregard God’s instruction, life was idyllic. There was no death, no destruction, no unhappiness. With that one act of disobedience and rebellion, they condemned all of mankind to a battle with a dark nature. Only divine intervention could negate the consequences of their choice.

……………………..Supporting Scripture……………………….

• Genesis chapters 2 and 3.
• Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned. (Romans 5:12 NIV)
• We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. (Romans 8:22 NIV)
• Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin”? (Proverbs 20:9 NIV)
• for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23 NIV)
• For the wages of sin is death, (Romans 6:23a NIV)
• As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one (Romans 3:10 NIV)
• Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. (Romans 5:14 NIV)

This is part of an ongoing series that establishes the foundation of my faith. It may seem a little academic to some, too light for others. I have endeavored to strike a balance in order to provide clear reasons and support for each belief. The bottom line of my faith is that I believe the Bible has a message from God, the Creator of all life. That message is one of truth and love, justice and forgiveness and above all, an invitation to abundant life.

The Bible is the infallible, powerful word of God

The internal, external and bibliographic tests (referred to in a previous post) verify that the Bible is a substantially accurate rendering of the original documents. As the internal and external tests demonstrate, it is reasonable to believe the historical accounts the Bible details are true. It takes no leap of faith to do that. The Bible has more historical proofs than any of the other ancient writings we accept as fact.

That authenticity does not verify it is God’s Word, though. The internal assertions and prophecies, when evaluated, make an almost irrefutable argument for the existence of God, or at least someone with an extensive knowledge of the entire span of time, past and future and the ability to interact with people on any point of that time-span. It does not, however, present an irrefutable argument that God inspired this book, that God communicates through it with whoever will read it. That takes faith. A choice to believe what is written in it is true.

I have so chosen. I choose to believe the Bible is a letter, if you will, written by God to His creation. My reasons for so choosing include its many assertions that it is the Word of God, its track-record of fulfilled prophecies, the miraculous way it has been preserved over the centuries (as though He is protecting and safeguarding that letter, ensuring it will be available to future generations), the wealth of practical wisdom I find in it and the seemingly supernatural help it gives through the joys and tragedies of my own life. I read what is written in the Bible, the stories, the warnings, the teachings and I find Him. I discover His truths, most particularly the truth that He wants me, and everyone else, to believe Him. I discover when I do believe Him, He gives me even more understanding, which compels me to read more, learn more, experience more. Ultimately, though, I believe the Bible is the Word of God because I choose to believe the Bible is the Word of God. .

I’m not going to try to convince you, though. I am not capable of convincing anyone to believe. That is an issue between you and God. I do know that if you look for Him, if you truly seek to know and understand Him and His Word, He will reveal Himself. Then it is your choice to believe. Or not.

Throughout this statement of faith, I give Scripture to back up what I say because that is the highest “proof” I have. I believe what I say is true because God said it. If God said it, it is true. That is my faith. Of course it is always possible I’m not understanding what He’s saying at times. That almost goes without saying. After all, I’m not God. I’m certainly prone to misunderstanding and deceiving myself. But, again, Scripture is full of encouragement and explanation. If I am misunderstanding what He is saying, and if I continue reading and studying His Word, I will come to a clearer, more accurate understanding in time.

So, for me at least, the foundation of all truth rests on the Bible. The Bible, in my mind, is the foundation of truth, the well-spring from which all understanding, discovery and exploration must grow. It is the standard to which to compare my thoughts, desires and plans. It is the infrastructure of my entire life. That belief, that assumption will permeate everything I write. It is inevitable.

……………………..Supporting Scripture……………………….

• but the word of the Lord stands forever.” (1 Peter 1:25a)
• Every word of God is flawless. (Proverbs 30:5a)
• For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
• As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. (2 Samuel 22:31a)
• For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. (Psalms 33:4)

This is part of an ongoing series that establishes the foundation of my faith. It may seem a little academic to some, too light for others. I have endeavored to strike a balance in order to provide clear reasons and support for each belief. The bottom line of my faith is that I believe the Bible has a message from God, the Creator of all life. That message is one of truth and love, justice and forgiveness and above all, an invitation to abundant life.

I believe the Bible

          The first, most basic foundation of my belief system is that I accept the Bible as true. I have chosen to believe the Bible is the Word of God. I could use the traditional hot-button words like inerrant, infallible, Word of God and more. That isn’t my style, though. While I like and use precise “dictionary” words, I really prefer talking in a way that others easily understand. The bottom line is that I believe God inspired every word, every truth written in the Bible and then protected that Word throughout the centuries so that what we have now is substantially the same as what He originally inspired. Any differences are minor and inconsequential to the main message contained in the Bible.

          Granted, on one level that belief is faith, something that each person must choose in their own heart and mind. It is not a faith without a basis, though. The fact that the book we have today called the Bible is substantially the same as what was available thousands of years ago is well-documented historically. In fact, the Bible is the most thoroughly documented historical document in existence today.

          Historians use several criterion to evaluate the authenticity of historical documents. Those documents are subjected to internal, external and bibliographic tests by archeologists, historians and other scholars. The Bible has undergone those tests. There are no conclusive internal contradictions; the external data available corroborates, or at the very least, does not contradict the Bible, and the Bible passes the bibliographic test (the amount of ancient copies that can be compared and the length of years before the first copy was made) better than any other historical work of its time.

          Instead of duplicating work already done in numerous places on the Web, I’ll send you to a few websites which do an excellent job presenting informative explanations and examples of these tests. I’m sure you can find even more by googling “Bible authenticity,” or “bibligraphic tests Bible,” or some such phrase.

Know Truth

Grace Bible Church

Christian Research Institute

Apologia

          Since I have, on several occasions, remarked that everything I do and write about comes from a spiritual foundation, it occurs to me that it might be useful to make that spiritual foundation clear. Many months ago, I posted my statement of faith, What Do I Believe?, with Scripture references and lengthy (for me) explanations. It is unfinished in places and, even with that, a bit long. It might be easier to understand in smaller “bites.” (Not to mention that this way the unfinished bits are more likely to get finished. )

          This series also serves as another introduction, a “getting on the same page” so to speak. While anyone is welcome to visit and comment on this site, my specific target audience are those of similar culture and faith. This blog, and any other venues that grow from it, are meant to be an encouragement and inspiration to those who consider Jesus their Savior and Lord and seek to follow the teachings of the Bible within the culture of contemporary United States of America. (Ancillary to that, of course, is the desire that my ramblings and musings will make the gospel’s message of hope clearer to all.)

          Even within that precise a mission, there is room for many, many variations and differences of opinion. As a guide, and as a help for readers trying to determine if they even want to read what I have to say, I think it will be useful and prudent to lay out for scrutiny the minimal foundations of my worldview, that set of beliefs from which all my opinions and life experiences grow. Hence this series of posts, one each Sunday. Once posted, this series will be compiled into one page for easy access to all who visit this blog.

          If you are reading through the Bible using my Bible Reading plan, you recently finished reading Leviticus and are now reading Hebrews. You might be wondering why I jumped from Leviticus to Hebrews (yes, I organized the schedule according to my own preferences). Granted, I wanted to alternate between the Old and New Testaments. This makes reading through the Bible more interesting. There is a much more immediate reason, though, that makes Hebrews the logical next book after Leviticus (it also is serendipitous that Hebrews begins right after Easter).

          These two books are intimately related. Leviticus is a detailed account of duties and expectations of the priests in Israel. Hebrews is the detailed, precise explanation of how and why Jesus is the fulfillment of Leviticus. This book is rife with verses that reveal and illustrate this truth, such as

Hebrews 2:17

For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.

and Hebrews 1:3

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

          Easter marks the day Jesus’ work was completed and validated, when he began His new work, as outlined in Hebrews, as our High Priest. As you read through Hebrews this month, I hope you see Him and His work, in the world and most particularly in your life, in a vibrant new way.

I have no idea who Percy H. Johnston is, but this quote is powerful.

It is the height of absurdity to sow little but weeds in the first half of one’s lifetime and expect to harvest a valuable crop in the second half. Percy H. Johnston

I wonder if he knows the Bible teaches the same thing?

Galatians 6:7-8 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

What are you sowing in ‘the garden of your life’?

          If you are following my plan for reading through the Bible in a year, you have just started reading Leviticus. I wonder if your reaction is the same as mine the first time I came to Leviticus? Probably not.

          I grew up in an occasionally religious, but mostly not, household. Sometime in my mid-teens, I started attending a nearby church and accepted the truth of the Gospel. Even so, it was not until many years later that I established a consistent lifestyle that reflected that Truth. One of the decisions I made as I was developing that consistency was to read through the Bible in a year.

          When I came to Leviticus, I was amazed. This was a boring book? Not to me! It was fascinating. Full of instruction straight from God to the Israelites. Specific directions on what sacrifices to bring to Him; the exact requirements and how they could be varied, or not; complete instructions on when to bring them, which ones were mandatory, which voluntary. Just as Exodus had given instructions about living life, Leviticus revealed even more of what God expected.

          I guess what fascinated me most was that it was all there, written down, unchanging. God said, “This is what pleases me. Do this and you please me.” That stability, that assurance, that knowledge was so welcome to me. It’s not that I had a terrible childhood. I had a mom and dad who loved me, cared for me, did the best they could for me. They gave me a good, safe, happy childhood. But sometimes there had been a disconnect between what they said they wanted from me and how the responded to me and my actions. A disconnect that often left me confused, unsure, doubting myself or resenting them. Not so with God! He had laid it all out, exactly what He wanted. It was all there in Leviticus!

          I’m glad I came to Leviticus after I knew about Jesus, after I knew how He satisfied the Old Covenant, revealed in Exodus and Leviticus; after I knew his life and death had ushered in a New Covenant. Otherwise I might have fallen into legalism, based on unnecessary adherence to Old Testament covenant laws. I was that fascinated.

          But I’d already learned, at least partially, that those laws and sacrifices were meant to foreshadow the Fulfillment, not be the Fulfillment. Years before I’d read and memorized Romans 6-8, Scripture that teaches the Law came to show where we displeased God, but that was all it could do. Jesus lived the Law, every aspect of it, even becoming the sacrifice required in Leviticus. He did that so he could then bring me to the Father, atone for my failure, my sin with His perfect life, death and resurection.

          Reading Leviticus, that first time and every time since, provides a greater depth of understanding and appreciation for the work He’s done in my life by writing His law in my heart and mind, just as He said He would do. (Deuteronomy 30:6; Jeremiah 31:3; Ezekiel 11:19)

          What about you? Are you living the truth revealed in Leviticus? Or do you even understand it?