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An Apostolic Faith

“To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ”

2 Peter 1:1

Simon Peter was one of the most powerful men in the history of the world. While he never gained power through politics or huge sums of wealth, he was indwelled by the Holy Spirit like few others have been. By all human accounts, Peter had the right to boast in his position. Peter has the honor of giving the first gospel sermon at Pentecost. That’s pretty special! He also was one of the most important leaders in the earliest days of the Christian church. Yet look at what Peter says to believers he’s writing to in a letter: “to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours.” Peter is saying here that these believers have faith that is of equal standing, or more accurately to the Greek text, a faith that is equal in honor, to his own faith. That’s incredible! Let’s look at this more closely.

Believers have faith that is equal in honor to Peter’s own faith.

What Is Apostolic Faith?

First, we need to realize that the faith that Peter had and all true believers have is built on the gospel as revealed in the Bible. The first aspect of this faith is sin. Sin is what separates us with God, and it all started in the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve directly disobeyed God’s command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. At the heart of their sin, and the heart of all sin, was an attempt to find satisfaction in anything apart from God. Because of Adam’s sin, everyone who is ever born is a sinner from the moment they are conceived. David attests to this: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psalm 51:5) From the moment we are conceived, we are naturally opposed to God and at odds against Him. Thus, we rightly deserve the wrath of God, because we looked to sources apart from Him for salvation.

Next, the faith of Peter entailed a Savior. Because of our sin, we deserve hell. The only way that we can have our infinite debt paid for is with the sacrifice of something infinite. This is where Jesus, the Son of God, comes in. Jesus took on humanity, becoming fully man as well as retaining His fully divine nature. Because He was a man as well as God, He could die for the sins of all who’d believe in Him when He went to the cross, making the sacrifice applicable to man (human-nature) and infinite in payment (divine-nature).

Finally, Peter believed in salvation. While the death of the Son of God is infinitely valuable and able to pay for everyone’s sins, it will only be applied to those who have faith in Jesus. To have salvation, man must repent from his sins and have faith in Jesus’ payment for sins (Acts 20:21). When we have faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes inside of us and makes Himself evident (see Galatians 5). This salvation brings eternal life, where we will constantly be worshipping Jesus, growing in joy every day forever because we take in more and more of Jesus. This is what apostolic faith looks like.

The Humbling Nature of the Global Church

Next, we need to see the humbling nature of the global church, that is, all believers. The first thing that this global church implies is that there is only one kind of faith, with not varying levels of honorable faiths. There are no “super-saints.” No, that’s not to say that there aren’t believers who submit to Christ more than others, however there is only one type of faith, that apostolic faith that we looked at. This apostolic faith is the faith that was preached by Jesus and carried on by the apostles. This apostolic faith is believed in by the millionaire in Beverly Hills who uses her talents and wealth for the kingdom with generosity as well as the serial killer who’s given his life to Christ in prison.

The apostolic faith is the faith that was preached by Jesus and carried on by the apostles.

Next, we need to see how this one way to heaven, walked on by the rich and the poor, is encouragement to the weak. While Darwin may have gotten a lot wrong, his survival of the fittest principle seems to show itself in society. All throughout human history, those with wealth and power get it good and those without simply exist as the have-nots. However, with Christ there is life, if only we repent of our sins and believe in His work on the cross for us. No one is too much for Jesus to pay for.

On the other hand, this one way to heaven is humility for the proud. Sometimes those who have been believers for a few years grow the tendency to look down on others. We may think that we have a superior faith, while they have the B-level faith. This is simply not true, and one of the greatest saints in history, Peter, patently denies this. This ought to bring humility and point us to the grace of the Almighty God who is the source of our life.

The Source of Apostolic Faith

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t bring up the source of this apostolic faith. While we have alluded to this earlier, it is helpful to look at this again. First, we need to realize that we receive faith. This means that we do not generate it. Often in American culture, we feel the temptation to think that we were the ones who earned our salvation because we believed. In reality, we would have never believed in Jesus had we not been given regeneration by the Holy Spirit. We are dead in our sins, unable to move. Dead people don’t accomplish much. Rather, all credit belongs to God, who is the source of our salvation.

And the last observation from 2 Peter 1:1 is that our apostolic faith is founded upon the righteousness of the God-Man. If Jesus had not been a pure sacrifice, we as believers would still be dead in our sins. Jesus, however, was faultless. When He was crucified, God “made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) This apostolic faith is built on the righteous Son of God.

So how has this apostolic faith changed you? Do you view other brothers and sisters in Christ as having a faith that is equal in honor as yours? Will this faith encourage you to realize that strength doesn’t come from you, rather from God? And will you be humbled and amazed by the grace of God to save the high and the low in this world?

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.

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A Family of Hearing and Doing

 Built on the Bible

“But he answered them, ‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.’”

Luke 8:21

Jesus was a busy man. He had a traveling ministry that very likely kept him fatigued often since He would have had to adjust to sleeping in a new location frequently. He ministry was outdoors and involved lots of walking. Yet Jesus expected His followers, whom He called His family, to hear and do the Word of God. Let’s take a look at this verse, Luke 8:21, and how we can learn three important takeaways.

Who We Are

The first important takeaway is finding out who we are. Before I go any further though, I would like to address why Jesus used the word mother in Luke 8:21 instead of sister. The context is key. Jesus’ mother and brothers were nearby and they wanted to come see Jesus. Jesus, however, told the crowd that “my mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.” Jesus is not indicating here that He has a spiritual mother. Nowhere in the Bible do we find indication that Jesus has a spiritual mother (obviously, he does a physical mother, Mary). If he did have a spiritual mother, I’m not sure if that would mean God the Father would have a wife, or how that would work—but I digress.

If Jesus is not saying that he has a mother or mothers, then what is He saying? Jesus is foreshadowing adoption into God’s family that He will earn for believers. By dying on the cross, resurrecting, and ascending to heaven, Jesus made the way for the Holy Spirit to descend on believers. The Holy Spirit imparts His gifts to God’s children, who have been adopted into God’s family. Hence, Jesus can call those who hear and do the word of God His brothers, because all who are saved (thus by necessity including an indwelling of the Holy Spirit) are indeed in God’s family.

Finally, it is also important to stress the fact that we do not earn salvation. It is crucial to realize that hearing and doing the Word of God, in a sense, do not give salvation. We don’t earn salvation from works. The most striking demonstration of good works without salvation is given in Matthew 7:21-23: “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. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast our demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart form me, you workers of lawlessness.'”

We Hear the Bible

Our next area of focus is the first verb that Jesus uses, “those who hear.” There are three primary ways that this hearing happens. The first way that we will discuss is hearing that is accidental. By accidental, I mean hearing that occurs when one hears the Word of God without intentionally seeking it out. This could include a teenager forced to go to church, or a friend witnessed to by a friend. Basically, they didn’t ask themselves “how can I know more about God by hearing God’s Word?” before they heard the Word of God. Most Christians were saved this way. They didn’t wake up that morning wanting to hear the Bible, but when they went to bed that night, they did.

The next type of hearing the Word of God that we will focus on is corporately hearing the Word of God. The most frequent manifestation of this type is in church. Sermons from Bible-believing pastors are excellent sources of hearing the Word of God. Jesus expects His brothers and sisters to hear the Word of God, as we saw in Luke 8:21. The next time that you are in church, hearing the Word of God preached, listen, and discern how you can do the Word of God.

God’s Word is how God has revealed Himself to us.

Finally, arguably the most important type of hearing the Word of God for growing believers is private hearing. While I call this hearing, it generally takes the form of reading the Bible as opposed to hearing an audio-Bible, due to the control of pace offered by a paper Bible. You are the reader after all. Reading God’s Word is our nourishment. Not only does it nourish us, but it guides us (Psalm 119:105). God’s Word is how God has revealed Himself to us, and it is also where He revealed to us how we obey.

We Do the Bible

Our third area of focus is on the doing. This is the second and final verb that Jesus gives us. Not only does Jesus expects believers, those who have been adopted into God’s family, to hear His Word, but He also expects believers to do the Word. The first thing that we need to realize is that doing is always built on hearing. We can’t obey if we don’t have instructions. This is why theology is so important. Often there is a hesitancy to listen to and study theology, but theology is where we find out who God is and what He expects from us. Believers, if you want to love as Jesus loved, study up!

Next, we need to understand the simple truth that doing is expected. Jesus didn’t leave doing as an optional program. Doing is not an elective class for really smart or ultra-holy Christians. Jesus expects everyone who has been adopted into His family to serve. To quote Jesus, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15).

Believers, if you want to love as Jesus loved, study up!

Finally, doing the Bible is only possible through God. Paul says in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God.” Who gets the credit for Paul’s righteousness? Not Paul. Not even a church. Jesus Christ alone can ultimately strengthen us to obey. We can try self-care, but we can’t be righteous in the end. You can go to church all your life and still spend eternity in the lake of fire. However, not only does Jesus give us salvation and give us His legal righteousness, but He also strengthens us to obey each and every day when we trust in Him to do so.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.

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Traditions

Built on the Bible

“For the sake of tradition you have made void the word of God.”

Matthew 15:6

Tradition is a topic that would have been a lot more boring for me to write about twenty, even ten years ago. Yet tradition is a very controversial thing in today’s deconstructionist society, where meaning is up to the interpreter. Take for example, the national anthem. Is it morally right to kneel during the national anthem? How about leave your hat on? While you probably did not think about these as traditions or think about it critically like this, tradition is the only reason that kneeling for the national anthem incites national outrage. Because standing for the national anthem is symbolic of respect for the American tradition and history, it is done by respectful citizens who recognize that while America is far from perfect, it is the land God has placed us in, and as such we ought to seek its good. See how complex a simple tradition can be? We as believers need to realize that tradition is not only in the church, but best illustrated by the church.

Good Traditions

First, we are going to look at good traditions. I have kept this article’s structure pretty simple: good traditions, bad traditions, and how to use discernment. As we look at good traditions, we will see how they involve orthodoxy and orthopraxy. Then we will look at how to guard these.

First, let’s look at good orthodoxy. This kind of tradition is passed down most effectively by parents. Deuteronomy repeatedly talks about teaching children God’s Word, specifically the Law (Deut. 4:10, 6:7, 11:19). Traditional doctrine not only guides rising generations in the home, but it also guides rising generations and older generations in the church. Traditional Christian doctrine is time-tested. Has there been wrong church tradition? Yes! Just ask Martin Luther. However, doctrinal traditions that have firm foundations in Scripture are some of the most sacred gifts that believers have.

Second, let’s look at good orthopraxy. In case you have not noticed how the words are constructed, ortho-doxy basically means good doctrine, and ortho-praxy means good or historic practice, or obedience. So how do we judge orthopraxy? A great place to look at orthopraxy is biographies of past Christians. Believers whose faithfulness has been commended by history are an example to God’s people today. We as Christians can look at those who have gone before us and be encouraged by their biblical living. And obviously, the best place to look for orthopraxy was the life of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the ultimate example of obedience and love (1 John 3:16). When we decide how to live and how to make choices, we ought to look to God’s people who have gone before for wisdom in living.

Finally, we must guard good traditions. The first thing that the church can do is create a culture that respects tradition, not reels at it. We live in a society that is increasingly iconoclastic, or repulsed by traditions. Look to the national anthem, or even sports teams visiting the White House after championships, traditions that are questioned by many. This cultural influence is seen in the church too, with some denominations caving in to culture’s demands and forsaking biblical teaching on gender and sexuality. As believers, we must cling to biblical traditions that help us stay faithful in our walk with Christ and teach these traditions to upcoming generations.

Bad Traditions

Next, let’s look at bad traditions. This is what Jesus was calling out in the verse that inspired this article. There are many examples of bad tradition, but for the sake of time I’ll save those for later. As we did when we looked at good traditions, we are going to look at orthodoxy and orthopraxy. While calling these bad traditions “bad orthodoxy” or “bad orthopraxy” is dangerous since “orthodox” means good teaching, I think that you understand what I mean, in that bad orthodoxy (obviously) is not good teaching.

First, let’s look at bad orthodoxy, or faulty doctrine. I alluded to this earlier when I referenced Martin Luther, the face of the Reformation. Martin Luther rightly questioned the bad orthodoxy of the Roman Catholic Church, who taught that Scripture and the church’s teachings were authoritative. Martin Luther is famous for his teaching of Sola Scriptura, or Scripture alone as the authority for the church. Bad orthodoxy must always be identified with Scripture. If God’s people don’t invest in God’s Word daily, they will crumble when pushed by the pressures of false teaching. This is one of the biggest reasons that ABP is so focused on the Bible. The Bible is the only foundation that can withstand the fierce winds of cultural whims.

Second, let’s look at bad orthopraxy, or a failure to live according to God’s Word passed along through generations. One great example of this in the church is views of slavery. Often, pastors and laypeople were complicit in the evil of chattel slavery. Sometimes they even condoned or participated in this wicked practice. While it would be easy to say, “well we can counter this with the Bible,” many in the church used Scripture to defend chattel slavery. This is where orthodoxy and orthopraxy go hand in hand. When we look in the Old Testament, we see God command Israelite slavery to not be permanent, not to mention the other abuses that occurred in chattel slavery. In God’s Law, slavery is a contract or a debt. In a flawed world, slaves are viewed as property. As believers, we must use sound orthodoxy to advocate for sound orthopraxy.

Finally, we must guard from these bad traditions. When we identify bad traditions, we must warn believers, especially younger generations. Not only should we verbally denounce these bad traditions, but we must actively live in a way that shows that God’s Word is the highest priority in our lives, not the traditions of those around us. While oftentimes the traditions around us are good, we must be willing to go against them if God’s Word calls us to.

Using Discernment

To conclude, I’d like to add a brief word on discernment. How are believers to know whether traditions are good or bad? Oftentimes, there is grey area left in Scripture for certain traditions. How should we treat these? First, we must seek to get a whole-Bible perspective on the tradition. While there may not be one verse that specifically talks about a tradition, a whole Bible narrative can help us as our guide. Another help in discernment is the church. The local church can guide us as we seek to conform our lives to the Bible. Finally, we must ask how this tradition glorifies Jesus and points us to Him. If it has the opposite effect, we probably don’t need it.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.

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The Standard of Morality

Built on the Bible

“. . . for they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High.”

Psalm 107:11

Sin is a very controversial topic today. Thanks to the rise of expressive individualism, one of the only sins still viewed as evil is the supposed sin of denying another’s authentic self, that is, who they want to be. Obviously, morality hasn’t completely vanished from our society. Pedophilia and mass shootings are still viewed with disdain in society, and for that we should be glad. But by and large, society’s conception of sin is found lacking. Let’s take a look at what sin is against and who defines it.

Sin is Against Something

First, we need to realize that sin is never against man. Bear with me on this one. You may be wondering about murder. Isn’t that against someone? No, murder is not a sin against someone in the biblical definition of the word. While murder (and most other sins) greatly harms others, the murderer is not ultimately accountable to the victim. Rather, sin is committed against God alone. For a great example of this, let’s look at David.

David was one of the greatest men in the history of the Bible. He was a shepherd turned king, who not only killed the giant Goliath, but escaped the wrath of King Saul for years. Yet he was not perfect. One day, when observing his kingdom on his roof, he saw a woman bathing, Bathsheba. You know the story. David had her husband, Uriah, eventually murdered after he had slept with his wife. In punishment, the child resulting from David’s adultery died in his mother’s womb. Yet David said these words in his repentant prayer: “Against you [God], you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.” (Psalm 51:4) Why did he say that? Because David wasn’t responsible to Uriah or his son for the immense hurt, pain, and death he caused them. He had to answer to Almighty God.

Sin is against God alone because sin is when we transgress God’s moral law. That law is most simply put in the words of Jesus: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matt. 22:37-39) On top of these two foundational commands is the rest of the morality we find demonstrated in the Bible.

Sin is Defined in God’s Word

First, we find out what is sin in God’s Word. First, we will look at explicit commands. These are easy to grasp, but often hard to apply. Going back to the murder example, we find in the Ten Commandments a clear condemnation of murder: “you shall not murder.” (Ex. 20:13) While this seems easy, we are quick to forget because of our sinful flesh. This is one reason why Bible memorization is so helpful, so that we can remember what is right and wrong biblically when situations arise.

Another way the Bible defines morality is through biblical principles. This is something that can be very hard to grasp. Sometimes these are grey areas, and sometimes these are clear, but they still require reasoning founded on the Bible. For example, think of an abortion pill. Sure, there isn’t a command in the Bible that specifically bans abortion pills. However, we saw in the Ten Commandments that murder is wrong, and we see the personhood of fetuses in Jeremiah 1:5. Thus, abortion is wrong. While that is an easier, other practical applications can be difficult. This is one reason why God uses the local church, to help apply the Bible to daily situations.

Finally, God’s Word teaches us how to fight sin. Before we saw how to identify sin, but now we will look at how the Bible informs our fight against it. The Bible first promises the help of the Holy Spirit (John 14:25-26). The Holy Spirit helps us fight sin by reminding us of God’s Word. The Holy Spirit can’t help us remember things we didn’t already know. That would be teaching. While the Holy Spirit could teach us in moments of weakness, His chosen method is reminding us. Study up, lest you fail in temptation.

Sin is Defined by God, not Man

God, and in turn the Bible, is the only standard for morality. This is something that is crucial to the Christian worldview. While man made laws and treatises can often have great morality, they aren’t the standard that we look to. When determining whether something is right or wrong, we must look to the Bible for answers first.

Finally, we need to understand that man cannot make his own morality. First, we will look at taking away from Scripture, then adding. Taking away from Scripture is something that is prevalent throughout society today. Are homosexual acts really wrong? Is it really wrong to name-call? What’s the harm in premarital sex? All of these dominate our society’s thought, yet we refuse to look to God’s Word for clarity and wisdom. Taking away from God’s Word is sin. We cannot cut out the parts of Scripture that offend us. Does denying desires make us inauthentic to ourselves? Yes, because we have sinful desires. And being inauthentic to our sinful flesh is good. We as believers must deny the sinful desires of the flesh to lay up treasures for eternity.

On the flip side of taking away from Scripture is adding to Scripture, namely legalism. This has much more of a righteous pretext. Sometimes, adding extra boundaries in our lives is necessary. Jesus told us to cut out our eyes if they cause us to sin. However, we must be wary of imposing undue burdens on ourselves, and especially wary of doing this to others. Both extremes, adding and taking away from Scripture, are sinful. In conclusion, we must realize that sin is ultimately against God, and that God defines sin, not man.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.

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Authentic Salvation

Built on the Bible

“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

Romans 10:17

Salvation is and always has been something that everyone thinks about. From Christianity’s claim that Jesus is the only way, to Buddhism’s teachings of reincarnation, to Atheism’s denial of the subject, everyone thinks about salvation. Why is this? God made us in His image, so we have a natural inclination to think about the eternal. While we may fail to do this often, everyone thinks about eternity from time to time. Today we are going to examine Romans 10:17 as we continue our series “Built on the Bible,” and we will see where and what salvation is.

Salvation from God Alone

Our first observation is that salvation is from God alone. God is the only source of salvation. This is absolutely counter-cultural. We live in a society that teaches that everyone has their own truth, and they are all equally true. That couldn’t be anything farther from the truth! The gospel is the truth, and if a claim is in contradiction with the gospel, then that claim is false. Salvation cannot be had in any other source. Our good works can’t save us (Rom. 3:23). Other gods cannot save us, for they are false (Jer. 10:10). Our standing is before God and no one else.

Because salvation is from God, salvation is also tied to God’s person. If God were limited, our salvation would be limited too. Think about it. If Jesus were a normal person and not the God-man, than even if he lived a perfect life, he’d only pay for His own sins. Since salvation comes from an infinite God, salvation is infinite and eternal too. The free gift of God is eternal life after all (Rom. 6:23).

Finally, because salvation is from God, we need to realize that salvation is not because of us. We are not saved because of faith, rather through faith. This may be confusing, but let me explain. You don’t get into heaven because you believe in Jesus. That would give credit to you, and you don’t deserve that. Rather, faith is simply the medium for salvation. Think of a wire. You don’t praise an 80 in. 4K TV because of the wire. While you can’t have the TV without the wire, the wire doesn’t get credit for the beautiful picture. The same is true with salvation. While we have to believe to receive salvation, we don’t earn salvation because of that belief.

Salvation in God’s Word Alone

Our second observation from Rom. 10:17 is that salvation is found in God’s Word alone. This is clear from the text. We can’t get saved if we don’t know the gospel. If we don’t have the gospel, our faith is empty because it isn’t in anything. The Bible tells us how we are saved. The Bible shows us that salvation isn’t because of us, rather it’s because of God’s work through His Son on Calvary.

We also see the ramifications of salvation from God’s Word. Not only do we see how we get salvation, but we also see the results of salvation. Think about it. The reason believers know they are going to heaven is found in the Bible (Rom. 6:23). The reason believers rejoice knowing that they will have glorified bodies is also in the Bible (1 Cor. 15). We know why we should want salvation because of the Bible!

Finally, we also see that no one can add to God’s requirements for salvation in the Bible. If one does so, he faces damnation (Rev. 22:18-19). That’s a tough pill to swallow, but we need to realize that any additional requirement for salvation is heresy. God requires that we believe in His Son for salvation. If we do less, we aren’t saved. If we try to do more, like cleaning up our act and then believing, we aren’t saved. To think that we need to be more righteous before we are saved is to miss the whole point of the gospel! Jesus takes our unrighteousness and gives us His righteousness!

Salvation must be Heralded

How will unbelievers hear if we don’t tell them? The only thing stopping sinners from going down their hell-bound road is the gospel. God has entrusted us with that gospel, therefore, we must share it before it is too late. The last command Jesus gave us was to spread that gospel so that others would be discipled and know God as their Savior.

Our responsibility as believers is to get as many people as possible worshipping the same God we worship. This can only be done by spreading the gospel. How will you spread the gospel this week? Who in your life will you spread the gospel with?

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.

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The Highest Bar

Built on the Bible

“The word of the Lord proves true.”

2 Samuel 22:31

One of the most precious truths of the Bible is that it proves true. This is a very simple concept, and you probably already knew it. However, do you really know it? Do your actions show that you believe the whole Bible is true? Does the way you look at the world show that you believe the Bible is true? Let’s take a hard look at this simple truth, that the Bible proves true.

The Standard for Truth

First, we’ll look at how the Bible shapes how we view the worldview. We call this our worldview, the lens through which we view the world. This is foundational to how you think, yet your probably don’t think about this often. Most people don’t, yet it is vitally important that we understand our worldview and those of others.

The first key aspect of a biblical worldview is that the Bible is the only absolute standard of truth. How do we know that our eyes tell us correctly that the sky is blue? Is that just a figment of our imagination? According to a biblical worldview, we understand that God gave us our senses as a tool to find truth in the world. God placed us in a real world, and we know that because the Bible says He did. While that was an extreme example, we see the necessity of the standard all throughout our world. For example, is premarital sex really a bad thing? How do we know it’s wrong? Well, God’s Word says so (Eph. 5:3), so that means it is wrong.

God’s Word is also the key to using reasoning. Reasoning is another tool that God has given us to understand the world around us, but it should be accountable to the Bible. For example, reasoning would tell us that God cannot be three in one. However, from a biblical worldview we find the doctrine of the Trinity taught in Scripture. Thus, while we must use reasoning, as the apostle Paul did often, we must realize that is is accountable to the Bible, not vice versa.

The Remaining Truth

Another aspect of God’s Word proving true is that the Bible is a truth that remains. First, we see that God’s Word will never change. When change happens, that generally communicates that there was a deficiency or a flaw. For example, the original iPhone was not perfect, otherwise, you would still be using it, not the iPhone 12 Max! God’s Word, however, never needs changing. We can bank on it realizing that the Word that was good for Moses is good for us too.

Another observation in the vein of God’s Truth remaining is that what was true when the Bible was written is true now. That is crazy to think about! Think about all the changes in science that have occurred since the time of Jesus. For example, a helio-centric view of the earth is something that wouldn’t have been widely accepted in Jesus’ time. Yet NASA will tell you, the earth is not the center of the universe! God’s Word, however, is something that will never change. It will always prove true, for those two thousand years before us and for us now.

This is extremely counter-cultural. We live in a world that is plagued by iconoclasm and what Carl Trueman would call “cultural amnesia.” Society today is consumed with rejecting the sacred and twisting history. For proof of this, just look at cancel culture that seeks to reject all history that doesn’t agree with today’s culture’s morality. However, we know that all of God’s Word proves true, and that means that this truth can’t be twisted. You can deny the truth of the Bible, but that doesn’t make it false.

The Tangible Truth

Finally, we will look at how the Bible applies to us today. First, realize that everything you read in your Bible this morning is true. Think about that! So often, we give lip service to the truth of what we read in the Bible. We say that we think it’s true, but our actions don’t reflect that! Tomorrow morning when you read the Bible, remember that what you are reading is completely true, and God will hold you accountable to it because it is.

Next, we need to remember that the Word of the Lord proves true when we pray. I’ll admit, I fall into this trap too. We pray, fulfilling our Christian duties, but we don’t really think anything will come of it. That can’t be farther from the truth! Thanks to the Bible, we know that our Heavenly Father hears our requests! God answers our prayers (John 14:14)! While sometimes we won’t anticipate how God answers those requests, we know that He does answer them. Sometimes the answer is no, yes, or later, but God does hear, and God WILL be true to His promises in Scripture. Pray like you know that’s true.

Finally, we need to live like the Bible is true. Throughout the Bible we see God tell us what to do and that God will strengthen us to obey. However, our actions often say that we don’t believe God’s Word! When we sin, we trust ourselves more than we trust the Bible. We need to live lives that show that we trust that God can and will satisfy us, all the time. Think, pray, and live, knowing that the Bible proves true.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.

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A Solution for Our Unstable Condition

Built on the Bible

“But the word of the Lord remains forever.”

1 Peter 1:25a

Last time, we looked at ourselves and our sinful condition. As we saw, we as humans don’t last forever. We are like the grass; we wither and fall away. While this doesn’t sound like a good deal, we can realize that we do have hope. Hopefully, you got the hint from the passage today. But let’s take a second to sit back and think. What if Peter didn’t write verse 25? What if the only thing he told us is that “all flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass” (1 Peter 1:24)? Fortunately, we have stability in the Word of God.

True Stability

First, we’ll look at the Bible itself. What is this true stability we have in the Bible? We’ll look at the unchanging nature of God’s Word first. God’s Word can never change. What you find in your NIV Bible, people have been finding in their KJV Bible, their Latin Bible, and their Hebrew Bibles for two millennia. While how the Bible is worded (i.e. “Thou shalt” vs. “you will”) changes, the meaning of the text doesn’t, and it hasn’t changed ever.

Second, as we look at the true stability of the Bible, we will look at the reliability of the Bible. Often, we will rely on things in this world to give us what we satisfaction. We rely on diet plans to make us feel good about our bodies. We rely on TV programs to keep us entertained. Yet all of these will eventually wither away. However, we know that, as Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). We never have to worry about not having our needs met because God said He’d meet them (Matthew 6:25-34).

A Stable Gospel in an Unstable World

Another aspect of God’s Word is how sharply contrasted it is with the world that we live in. We live in a society that is dominated by Postmodernism, which teaches that we find meaning in ourselves, not in an external authority. While most people wouldn’t say that they believe in Postmodernism, their attitudes say otherwise. We look inwardly to see what is right and wrong. Another mistake we make is equating moral judgments with opinions. We say, “Sex outside of marriage is wrong. That’s my opinion on the matter.” If that’s our attitude towards right and wrong, it’s no wonder our society increasingly rejects biblical ethics!

We live in a world that is fueled by passions rather than truth. However, that isn’t the gospel we believe in. Our gospel is rooted in Jesus Christ, who “is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). We live in a world that is constantly changing, yet we have life in a God who has never changed. Instead of building our life on our circumstances, we build on life on Jesus Christ, who in turn helps us rejoice in Him in any and every circumstance.

A Historical Gospel

I have one additional note that I want to make before we wrap up. As we understand that the Bible is completely reliable and unchanging, we also need to see that it endures forever. And because it endures forever, we need to see that it has a history and story that grows forever. There is so much value to be had in studying the history of the Bible, and what it has done in people’s lives!

Let’s start with the easiest example: ourselves. You know your own experience with the Bible better than anyone else’s! Reflect on what God has done through His word in your life. Another way we look at biblical history is rejoice and worship God for how He has kept the Bible intact. How crazy is it, that despite persecution and more than 3,000 years passing, we have all of God’s Word! We can also be encouraged by others who have been strengthened as they trusted and obeyed God’s Holy Word.

To conclude, we find true stability in the unchanging, reliable Bible. We find stability in this Bible despite living in an unstable culture. And finally, we enjoy and praise God for the rich history that we find the Bible made in our own lives and in the lives of all God’s people.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.

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A Diagnosis and Prognosis of Our Condition

Built on the Bible

“All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, the flower falls.”

1 Peter 1:24

Often, when looking at the Bible and the gospel, we have a tendency to skip to the “good part,” where we see Jesus save us and we spend eternity in heaven. Obviously, that is in fact a very good thing. I know I enjoy being saved by Jesus and being assured of heaven with Him forever! However, when salvation is where we start, we have a limited gospel, and we fail to show others exactly why they need to be saved in the first place.

Depravity from the Start

To see why we need a Savior, we don’t have to look for long in the Bible. Frankly, all we have to do is open Genesis and read the first three chapters. In Genesis 1-2, we see God create a “very good” (Gen. 1:31) world. The world that God created had no sin at all. There was no pain, no death, no sickness, and no COVID-19! There was simple very good creation. God put man on this earth, but unlike the rest of creation, He created man “in his own image.” (Gen. 1:27)

Salvation is only necessary and valuable if there is something that we are saved from.

God commanded man to take care of His world. He told man to reproduce. There was also one additional command: “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Gen. 2:17) Here we are introduced to God’s moral law. We see God’s system of justice: sin against God demands death.

Obviously, people die today. Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the tree, and incurred on themselves and their children the wrath of God. Because of their sin, God requires a sacrifice to pay for their sins. Someone must die.

Countercultural Today

In today’s post-modern society, this truth his hard to swallow. Frankly, objective truth in general is hard to swallow. So often we see people believe that they can make their own rules, their own morality. What they think is right for them is right, and what they think is wrong for themselves is wrong. This post-modern ideology is deeply entrenched against the gospel however.

As we have seen, God makes the rules. God told Adam and Eve what was right and what was wrong. In the Bible, we see God show us even more of His moral law, how we are to live in ways that please Him and help us enjoy a relationship with Him. God expects us to align our ways with His, not the other way around. So often though our society wants to reverse those.

Salvation Rightly Viewed

So going back to our passage today, why do we need to start with death? Because we won’t appreciate God rightly if we don’t understand our limitations. We simply can’t live forever. Not only are we mortal, but we are accountable to a just God too for a lifetime of sins. No matter how much good we do, we still face an eternal sentence to hell on our own.

Now that we understand our depravity, our condition of being dead in sin and accountable to God for all our it, we can rightly understand salvation. Salvation is only necessary and valuable if there is something that we are saved from. When we understand what Jesus saved us from, we can worship Him more fully.

For believers, I implore you today to mediate and reflect on what God has done for you in Jesus. Jesus doesn’t just tell you what to do and get all the credit for it. He took away your infinite sins! Because of his sacrifice, you can have eternal life! Instead of being like the grass and fading away forever, you are promised a resurrected body and glorification with Jesus! If you don’t know Jesus, I beg of you, don’t reject Christ’s offer of salvation. He wants to have a relationship with you, but He can only do so as your Savior. Confess that you are a sinner, and believe in this glorious gospel that Jesus is the Son of God who died for you!

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.

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The Authors and Their Genres Continued

Built on the Bible

Two weeks ago, we looked at some of the authors and their genres. Today, we will continue that study of who the biblical authors are and what their styles are like.

Wisdom Writings

Wisdom writings are an interesting portion of the Bible. I think it goes without saying that the wisdom writings were written by wise guys. But who exactly were these wise guys? Well, it really depends on how you classify the wisdom writings. If you organize them like I do, then Solomon was the primary writer of the wisdom writings, since he is the primary author of all the wisdom writings, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs.

Solomon was one of the most complex men in the history of the Bible. He was the son of David, who along with Solomon made up the greatest kings in Israel’s history. Solomon asked God for wisdom (2 Chronicles 1), and God gave it to him in abundance, making him one of the wisest men in the history of the world! Solomon also built a glorious temple for God. So far, Solomon seems like probably the greatest man who ever lived.

Unfortunately, Solomon also had his fair share of folly. Solomon is infamous for having an astronomical amount of wives, 700 to be exact, as well as 300 concubines. So wouldn’t this invalidate his wisdom writings? No, and actually it makes his wisdom writings even more valuable.

Solomon knew exactly how to live in godliness and exactly how not to live in godliness. Because of his, we can learn much from the wisdom writings. Solomon shows us how to walk in wisdom, and he shows us the folly of walking in sin. In Ecclesiastes, he shows us the fleeting nature of this world, and how only hope in God can last. In Song of Songs, we see how sex is not a sinful thing to be avoided, rather a treasure to be pursued biblically, and in marriage, not outside of God’s commands. That leads us to the great book of Proverbs.

Proverbs is one of the most well-known wisdom writings. It shows, going back to Song of Songs, why sex outside of marriage is a horrible thing, and that fornication leads us down the road of death, not life or joy (see Proverbs 7). Proverbs is one of the most practical books of the Bible. One of the best ways to read Proverbs is to read one chapter of Proverbs each day, in correlation with the day’s date (for example, on January 28, read Proverbs 28).

The Prophets

The prophets are probably the scariest of all the sections of Scripture to read, but they are some of the most fascinating and nourishing portions of Scripture. From the major prophets to the minor prophets, we see how God looks to redeem His people from their sin and how He uses painful discipline to break Israel from its sinful habits.

As we read through the prophets, we need to remember the covenant between God and His people. God promises to be faithful to His people if they were faithful to Him. If they kept the sabbaths in spirit and in truth, then God would bless them and protect them. If they didn’t God would let them know through painful discipline.

One of the grandest prophetic writings, and frankly one of the greatest books in the history of the world, is Isaiah. Isaiah is a book that we will be studying soon on ABP, and it contains some of the most beautiful poetry that this world has ever seen. As we study through the prophets, we see God’s faithfulness to His people and we get a sneak peek into His grand plan of redemption.

The Gospels and Acts

The gospels are some of the most read books in the Bible, and for good reason. These five books show us the works of Jesus in the flesh and through His church. We’ll first look at the gospels, then take a look at Acts.

The four gospels each have their own points of focus on Jesus’ life, which show why each is necessary to be in the canon of Scripture. Matthew and Luke give much more in-depth focuses on Jesus’ life, and they were written for Jewish and Greek audiences, respectively. Mark is a much shorter book, simply giving a condensed biography of Jesus.

John is different from the other three gospels (often called synoptic gospels). John’s focus is on the divinity of Jesus Christ. John begins with one of the most important passages for Christology, John 1:1-18. John also gives the High Priestly Prayer, John 17, which shows Jesus’ relationship with God in 4K resolution. The gospel of John is one of the first books that a new believer should read. It is also a book that should be often studied by seasoned believers.

Finally, Acts is a sort of epilogue to the gospels. If. the Old Testament shows God the Father’s interaction with His people, and the gospels show God the Son’s interaction with His people, then Acts shows the Holy Spirit’s interaction with His people. Beginning with Jesus’ ascension, Acts shows how God works through the apostles to kickstart the spread of the gospel. We also get some background for the writers of the epistles, which is handy for understanding the context the epistles were written in.

The Apostles and Epistles

Finally, we look at the apostles and their epistles. God gave the ability to write inspired Scripture to the apostles, and to select other men. The epistles (I’ve included Revelation in the epistles for brevity) are generally the easiest to read. This fact is because they are the most practical! The epistles are, in essence, God’s instruction manual to the church. God shows us how to live in books like James and the latter half of Romans.

Another big aspect of the epistles is the theology that they show us. While some might want to avoid these aspects of the epistles, we must never forget that God put theology first, then practical writings. He did this because we can’t obey rightly if we don’t know the God we serve. That being said, we must also realize that theology without love and obedience is dead. Romans is a great example of a balanced Christian life. Chapters 1-11 more or less are dedicated to theology, and chapters 12-16 are given to practical living. We learn why and who we obey, then we learn how we obey.

Finally, we have apocalyptical writing in the epistles. Often, Revelation is treated separately from the epistles, but I do appreciate keeping together. Revelation gives us a glimpse into God’s plan for the future. In Revelation and in other portions of the epistles, we see most importantly that God will win in the end. We also see that in eternity, we will reign with our Savior Jesus Christ in glory.

Now that we’ve met the biblical authors and taken a look at their styles, let’s dive into passages that teach us about God’s Holy Word! Tune in in two weeks for our continued series.

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The Authors and Their Genres

Built on the Bible

A fifth-grade teacher assigned her class a project: make an ornate stained glass mosaic. The whole class had to contribute to this mosaic. They had very different personalities. Some enjoyed their art to be very stylish. Others enjoyed their art simplistic. However, they all had to contribute to make one mosaic. But there was a catch: they had to make their piece for homework, so they couldn’t talk to each other for guidance coordination. Obviously, the end result was a disaster, with no cohesiveness. On the bright side, the finished product did look like great modern art!

This is similar to how the Bible was created, but unlike the Mosaic, the Bible is one of the most cohesive books ever written. How is this possible? How does the whole Bible point to Christ if most of the books were written before He came to earth as a man, died, and rose again? The answer to that question is easy. “All Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Timothy 3:16). We must look to the words of Peter in his second letter, in which he discussed the Scriptures: “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 1:20-21)

As we examine the Bible, we must always remember that its writing was “carried along by the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit guided men as they wrote the Bible. What type of men did the Holy Spirit guide and use to create the Scriptures? Did He use kings? He probably used educated people. But maybe uneducated fishermen. Or maybe shepherds. Maybe He spoke through poets. Or maybe he used men who had multiple of these professions on their resumes. The answer to our question is all the answers above and more! We will now take a look at who all God used to speak to man. 

The Historians

The historians are the first type of authors we see in each of the Testaments. Actually, the first seventeen books in the Old Testament (Genesis-Esther) and the first five books in the New Testament (Matthew-Acts) are historical in nature. As someone who teaches the Bible regularly, I will admit that historical passages are actually the hardest to teach for me personally. Why is that? Because unlike epistles or poetry, the meaning and application of historical writings takes a little bit more digging to uncover.

There are two ways that we can understand the historical writings. The first is when the Bible itself does the work for us. One of the biggest analyses of Old Testament heroes comes in Hebrews 11, the “Hall of Faith.” Poetry, Law, Prophets, and Epistles help us understand the godly characteristics we see in the men and women in the historical writings. 

With that being said, the other, more common way that we analyze history is by using general principles found in the Scriptures and seeing how the characters we read about exemplify godly traits or show ungodly traits that we must avoid. For example, I was recently meditating on Job 1:1. This verse talks about the character and actions of Job. As I mediated on this passage, I asked myself, can God say this same stuff about me? How am I meeting these standards? How am I failing to meet these standards? That is just one example of how we study historical writings.

Poetry

The next genre of biblical writing of interest to us is the poetical writings. While these are generally categorized as Job-Song of Songs, in reality Job-Malachi is much more accurate since almost all of the prophetic writings are written in the form of poetry. As we start studying through Isaiah on Adopted Believers Podcast, we’ll get to see one of the greatest poets in history, Isaiah. Isaiah 14 is viewed as one of the greatest Hebrew poems in history because of the incredible poetic devices Isaiah uses.

Another biblical author that you are likely familiar with is David. He is responsible for making a large portion of the Psalms. He is another poet who was very versatile. From psalms of praises to imprecatory (i.e. “strike him down!”) psalms, David used his poetical talents for the glory of God.

Understanding and applying the poetical writings is one of the most enjoyable and easiest in the Bible. I would highly recommend using a more academic commentary while studying the poetry so that you can see poetical devices that the author may use that are lost in translation. While the loss of the poetical devices doesn’t change the meaning of the passage, and the English poetry is still inerrant, realizing how the author crafted the verse is very rewarding.

One helpful way of understanding poetry is realizing that the author often writes in blocks. That is one method I use as I plan to teach a passage. I see what one three or four verses mean, what the next three or four verses mean, and how they relate. Hopefully that is a method that helps you, and please, try other methods of studying poetry!

Be sure to check back in in two weeks for more authors and genres!

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.