How Can I Know the Bible Is True?

Your word is truth.
—John 17:17

It’s one thing to accept the claim that somewhere in the cosmos is an Intelligent Being who is responsible for the existence and complexity of the universe. However, it is a giant leap to conclude that such a Being is the personal God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who implanted Himself in the womb of a Jewish teenager, was crucified to atone for the sins of the world, rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and is returning to earth one day to establish His kingdom forever. Why couldn’t that Intelligent Being be Allah of the Qur’an, the Force from Star Wars, or any of the thousands of other deities that have been worshiped throughout human history?

The answer is the Bible. Almost all the knowledge we have about the identity, attributes, words, commands, and desires of the God Christians worship is contained in Scripture. Of course, there are other religious books like the Qur’an and the Bhagavad Gita that also claim to have information about their respective gods. So the bottom-line question is, “How do we know the Bible is true?”

A growing number of people doubt the veracity of the Bible. They are bombarded by attacks on the integrity of the Scriptures from university professors, movies, and books. Unfortunately, a low view of the Bible is becoming increasingly embraced by Christians, with devastating results. They are asking, “Why devote my life to studying a book that is filled with myths, contradictions, and errors?”

The issue of whether the Bible is true has serious ramifications for life and eternity. If the Bible cannot be trusted to record accurately whether Moses crossed the Red Sea, how do we know that the Bible accurately records historical events like Christ’s virgin birth, His crucifixion, and His resurrection? Either the Bible is all true or the Bible is all suspect.

Maybe you have encountered people who doubt that the Bible is true, and you were not sure how to respond to their challenges. Perhaps you have your own questions about the Bible that you have been hesitant to ask, such as:

• What real proof is there that the events in the Bible actually happened?
• What about all of the errors and contradictions I’ve heard about in the Bible?
• How do we know that the “right books” actually made it into the Bible?

This week, we will explore why the Bible is true and you can trust every word.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “How Can I Know the Bible Is True?” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2012.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.