The Bible Under Fire
The Bible is God's word. Period. Some would beg to differ. Some would say that the Bible is full of contradictions, while the truth of the matter is it does not. There are many confusing passages in Scripture, but there are always explanations. You can look at other religious writings and see contradictions all over the place. The Bible has no contradictions whatsoever. The last writings in the Bible (1 John-Revelation), were written around 90 A.D., yet passages even before this proved science, that even with our modern technology we are just discovering. The Bible is consistent with science. The Bible also contains many prophecies, many of which are concerning Messiah. Josh McDowell writes in his book,
Evidence That Demands a Verdict writes that Peter Stoner calculated that for anyone to fulfill just 8 prophecies, the odds would be 1 in 10 to the seventeenth power, or 1 in
100,000,000,000,000,000.
In Josh McDowell's book he writes:
"In order to help us comprehend this staggering probability, Stoner
illustrates it by supposing that we take this many silver dollars and
lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two
feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass
thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he
can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar
and say that this is the right one. Just the same chance that the
prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having
them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time.”
....and Jesus Christ fulfilled far more prophecies than 8. No doubt about it. Jesus is God almighty and the Bible is God's Word.
Scripture Under Fire
Now that we have established this fact, I must cover another issue. Too many people, and sadly, pastors and teachers are not teaching what the Bible says. They are teaching that the Bible is not to be taken literally, and some go as far out as to say that there is no place as hell, and that's figurative also, and that all people eventually make it to Heaven. Why? Because the Bible is offensive. It's true. The Bible talks about all people being sinners and headed towards eternal damnation. That's offending, but that's what God says. God is the ultimate judge, and the creation cannot argue with the creator. No one would call a judge unfair for giving a murderer a lifetime sentence in prison, yet people wonder why a loving God would send people to hell. God made the rules, and we broke them, so there are consequences to our sin....but the good news is that God made a way out, but now even more people are twisting the Good News of Salvation and Jesus to make people comfortable.
The twenty-second chapter of Revelation gives a very serious warning; "
I warn everyone who hears the words of the
prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add
to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll
of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree
of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll." (Revelation 22:18-19) Anyone who dares twist God's word, as many other religions have done, and even some so-called "Christian" denominations, are preaching a false Gospel, and we are called by God to, through his power, do something about it.
Christianity Under Fire
Even though the Bible is the Word of God, some dare to reject it, and even to twist it to their liking. God takes his word very seriously. In fact, in John 1, Jesus is referred to as "the Word" several times. The Bible is under fire. Scripture is under fire. Christianity, therefore, is under fire, because the Bible is the source of knowledge for the Christian. The Bible is God's messages to the Christian. Without the Bible, the Christian would fall apart. Now is the time to stand up for our faith. We cannot stick our heads in the sand and hope somehow everything will be okay. It won't. We are already seeing our religious freedoms stripped away from us one by one. We need to be ready to give an answer, as we are commanded to be by God in the Bible, for the reason for the hope that's in us. Are we prepared to stand up for the most treasured thing anyone can own? God's Word itself.
So my eyes are starting to hurt, so I'll leave you with that. :) God bless! ~E-Sharp
